USA - Day 20 - Atáxam Mámta’ash Campground - Ramona
This is the route we cycled today
It rained a bit during the night but it was dry although chilly in the morning. Yesterday evening we discovered an ants nest at our campspot but in the morning they were gone again. The ants were really big (never seen them so big) so we moved our food away and we didn’t get disturbed luckily.
We got going at 07:45 and we were hoping to see some sun but it stayed chilly. The climb up did help us get warm.
Climbing up
I saw sun on other mountains but the skies never cleared enough for us to get some sun.
Hoping for sun
We saw on the map we could get some supplies in Warner Springs but when we arrived the store was closed. We took a small break and I noticed I had internet so I send a happy birthday to my brother’s son.
We continued down but experienced a lot of headwind. Luckily Bart was in the mood and he rode in front the whole way. Thank you Bart 🙏
Once we were out of the winds we had to climb again and that’s when we saw another sign. We were getting our hopes up for some coffee and maybe some breakfast. When we arrived it was 09:40 and they would open at 10:00. As we were eating warm tonight we decided to keep on going.
After the climb we entered a really nice valley and part of it was and Indian reserve. While riding through it we did get the feeling there was a lot of poverty there (combined with being in the middle of nowhere).
Cool valley
We went downhill on a very even sandy road for a long time and due to the lack of sun combined with our sweating we were getting pretty cold.
But then we started an another road and suddenly the sun popped out and we could feel the warmth! Amazing after 2 days without sun. You can see evidence of my happiness in the following picture.
Me shouting ‘suuuuuuuun’
After this road we entered a valley and we immediately saw our last hurdle: the climb out of the valley. It wasn’t a very hard climb (it took us around 20 minutes to get to the top) but seeing this in the distance while feeling tired is not good for morale 😉
Our climb out of the valley is in the center of the picture
We arrived in Ramona at 13:00 and immediately cycled to McDonalds which was closed for renovation (no kidding ). So we decided to go to Wendy’s instead.
After lunch we decided to go buy a gas canister but after visiting a couple of stores we didn’t find it. The only one we could find was behind the doors of a closed store (and they open on Wednesday) 😌 We’ll probably switch to Bart’s alcohol stove for the next section.
And now it’s time to enjoy a good dinner and bed. See you tomorrow!