5/3/18

I can see the road!!

Plow unsicking himself again

Retreat

Back Again

Bad weather then good weather then mixed.  So late start two PM (not good).  Tail wind is a great help.  Storms roll through as I head up the pass.  They bring pellets of snow that I feel on the backs of my legs.  Road get a little muddy.  I push the bike up the steeper hills.   Start getting white out conditions.  In the white out conditions I hit my first major snow drift.  I can’t see for a while any road ahead.  The bike is sunk to the bags.  Lifting the bike front wheel I move the bike one foot at a time forward.  When I look south pellets of snow sting my face.  I begin to see the road ahead.  I decide to pack a trail through the snow drift.  I have walked out about half the trail being packed when I look behind and see a front end loader with a snow plow blade behind my bike.  I quickly drag the bike off to the side.  After he passes I head pull the bike though the mound of snow he pushed up and onto the plowed road.  I follow the front end loader as he disappears into the white.  Easy going for a short while and then ruts are filled in with snow and the road is difficult to see as white out conditions close in.  I go slowly as I try to find area of the road my bike does not sink to deep.  One area I am able to ride my bike 50’ before it starts to slide around.  Another has deep long ruts filled with water that I must go around.  GPS shows me near or at the top from the elevation.  The front end loader comes back as he is not able to see the road.  He offers a ride back down in a van coming to pick him up.  I had been thinking about returning as it was getting late and pushing the bike down through show drifts in the dark would be challenging.  He takes my bags and I follow back on a much lighter bike.  Snow pellets bounce of my face as I push against the wind.  After a half mile or so he parks the front end loader and we wait for the van.  They drop me off where I camped the night before.  I gather bigger rocks to keep the tent from moving in the wind and then settle in for the night.