USA - Day 18 - Pinyon Flat campground - Idyllwild
This is the route we biked today
When we woke up our tents were dripping because of the humidity. That was a first for us during this trip. We got going at 7:45 and we started with a 12km climb on a highway.
When we started going downhill on the highway we came across a place to have breakfast. Of course we stopped 😇 I got an omelette Genovese with pesto and sundried tomatoes.
Breakfast
After another 6km on the highway (luckily downhill) we were able to get on a dirt road. I was so happy to be off the highway!
Magical dirt road
Cycled 23.0km, climbed 359m, currently at 1364m high.
We crossed the highway and did another part of dirt road under high voltage power lines. This one was a bit more tricky to get on too but we managed.
Riding the powerlines
Cycled 25.7km, climbed 395m, currently at 1372m high.
As we were doing a loop to Idyllwild we checked out some possible campsites at this point. They were barebones but we planned on coming back here.
But then we started going up on a downhill track. Man, all those little hills and the technical parts exhausted me.
Doing downhill uphill
As you’ll see on the next photo I was not amused. Although it was a really cool singletrack and I would love to do it again while not exhausted and without bagage 😌
Me not being amused
Cycled 37.9km, climbed 627m, currently at 1437m high.
And at last we got off the singletrack and back on a dirt road. At this point we still had to climb 250m or more in elevation to Idyllwild and go back down. I tried my best to cycle as fast as possible but I was too exhausted and had to take it slow.
Once we were at the top we did get treated on amazing views over the valley. It’s special to see this combination of desert and pine trees.
Cool view
Cycled 43.5km, climbed 921m, currently at 1674m high.
We descended down into Idyllwild and arrived around 14:30. As it gets dark at 17:00 and we needed to cycle another 15km to our planned campsite (mostly down but also a hill of 200m in elevation) I was not optimistic I could make that for dark.
So we looked at our options and discovered a campground in Idyllwild so we decided to go there. It’s a nice campground and they even have showers (although the shower building is unheated so it was pretty cold even with warm water).
Our campsite for the night
Cycled 47.3km, climbed 969m, currently at 1611m high.
When I look at the elevation and distance of today’s route it doesn’t compare to how exhausted I feel. I guess offdays happen and hopefully tomorrow will go better.
Tomorrow we’ll replace a section with highway to ensure we still get to our planned campground as we booked a hotel the day after.
See you tomorrow!