USA - Day 5 - Mount Baldy - Applewhite Campground

This is the route we biked today

This is where we wildcamped previous night. In the end we were really happy to have found this spot.

As we were only 10km away from Mount Baldy village where we hoped that we could find something to eat. And it was all we could have hoped for: coffee as much as we want, a real american breakfast and chocolate pancakes for dessert. We really needed this and were super happy with this surprise!

Yesterday we had our first confirmation that going tubeless really pays of. We both rode through thorns and each of our tires had dozen of thorns in it. We didn’t even notice this until a couple of kilometers further. We gradually removed each thorn and made sure we continued riding so that our sealant could close up the holes.

After breakfast we continued on and today we needed to climb up to the highest spot of our route: Mount Baldy. The first section was all paved roads and we frequently encountered other cyclists (but no bikepackers). It was again hot and steep so I needed frequent rests. My bike also started making sounds while pedalling so we checked all bolts and it turned out that my rear axle was loose. I was so relieved to be rid of the creaking sound 😅

After the asphalt we got started on the offroad section and pfew! The first part was a hike-a-bike with a grade of 25% which was exhausting. After that we continued on a fire road which was max 10% but I was still struggling. I guess yesterday’s effort were still lingering. So I wasn’t unhappy when Bart discovered that he forgot his waterbottle a while down as I could rest while he went down and up again 😂

At around 14:30 we reached the top and got some drinks and chips. From here on it was only going to be downhill, ow yeah!

When we started our downhill we came across a guy in a truck who had seen us as well at the bottom. He asked where we were going and then proceeded to tell us that that road was washed out and that it wasn’t going to be easy. We continued on and we encountered quite some rocks but it was going pretty well.

Untill we reached the part where 4x4 trucks were allowed. The road got super bumpy and quite heavy. We were so relieved to ger to asphalt!

We arrived at the campground and while riding around we came to the conclusion that it was fully booked. The lady that was overseeing everything was very friendly and we talked to a group that had reserved a couple of campsites (max 2 vehicles per spot so they needed multiple) but were not using all of them. They gratuitously offered us a spot for free so we were really happy.

The lady was really friendly and even offered us a small present: a rose pine cone from a cedar tree. It looks really cool but I’m unsure if it’s going to survive the whole month 😊

All in all it was another heavy day but we’re really happy that we soldiered on yesterday as the rest of our route seems doable from here on. We’ll probably take some rest in Big Bear Lake in 3 days or so but untill then it’s going to be 1000+m elevation per day 😅

See you tomorrow!