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“Is a peanut really a nut? I mean, they grow underground off of little plants, not in trees. Ooh, cashew! Hmm, I kind of feel like how this cashew looks.” -This was the stream of thought I had this morning while eating my gorp and may be a good example of what goes through my head all day long.

I went to sleep last night under clear skies, knowing that the forecast called for several nice days ahead. Well, wouldn’t you know, I woke to the pitter-patter of raindrops this morning… Actually, I first woke to a thief. I was dreaming that someone was knocking on the door and woke up to someone, or something, either tripping on my guy line or throwing something at the tent from above (like angry squirrels will sometimes do). I peered out and saw that some of my body armor had been dragged off from my tent door to a tree. Later, I discovered that someone had also gnawed on my unicycle seat. It must’ve been some salt-deprived critter. Now I’m worried about porcupines stealing my stuff and eating my tire.

Another cyclist pulled up behind me as I was about to stop for lunch. It was an Australian named Murray who had been riding from Jasper for two weeks. Before this, he had been touring through Europe and rebuilding in Japan. We rode the long climb up to Cabin Pass together; it was nice to have some company, and helped me climb much faster than I would have otherwise. On the way, we ran into a researcher seeking the endangered Williamson Sapsucker, a woodpecker. He played a recording of a Sapsucker call out into the woods to rile up any that might be in the area, but no response was received.

Murray coasted on ahead after the top of the pass, but we met up here at camp. It was another 15 miles into camp after having already ridden nearly 30 – a big day for me! When I pulled into camp, Murray unsuccessfully tried to make pancakes. Instead, he ended up with a big bowl of pancake batter, not the easiest thing to clean up or dispose of in the backcountry.

Tomorrow should be another big day. It looks like a big climb the first half of the day, then a steep 4300′ descent to the Port of Roosville, where I find out if the US will take me back. Excited to move on to Montana!