Day 6

It's nice waking up in a warm cabin with a heater powered by wood. The sun is shining and today we expect to ride to Roosville and celebrate 4th of July in the States. We begin riding in the nice sunny weather the first in many days. We climb lazily and get to a bridge and stop for a rest in the sun on a bridge. We continue climbing and run into a car which stops. The driver is Brett and he is a spelunker. He just came from a meeting of the Alberta Spelunking Society (A.S.S). As e chatted we questioned Brett about the roads ahead to which he replied it's a bit muddy. Well we continued climbing and just as we hit the top we were stopped. Not by bike malfunction, or lack of energy but because of the Goose Mud. Goose mud is a super thick clay filled mud that grabs onto your tire and doesn't let go. This mud then piled and jammed the gears stopping all movement forward by the bike. The mud was so bad that we picked up the bikes and carried them. We walked for a mile slowly and clearing the bike gears as we went. We found a small pond and dunked the bikes in it cleaning the bikes but turning the little pond murky with mud. To make matters worse, it began to rain as we were walking the bikes and not just rain but cold and windy rain. We finally cleared the goose mud and continued screaming down the descent. The storm had gotten worse and my fingers and body began to shiver from the cold. We blazed down the descent throwing safety to the window. Survival meant getting to the valley throwing up the tarp and escaping the rain. I was descending at 35 mph, I'm not sure of Uncle Jeff I was to afraid to take my eyes off the road in such muddy and wet conditions. We pass a car it's empty. We could make Roosville it's only 40 miles more. I'm praying for trail magic or something to get us out of the rain. I can see a ranch. We turn into he ranch and knock on the door asking for some where to hide from the rain. Steve, the owner, let's us sit down under a wooden roof. Steve explains that the ranch (which has a main wooden cabin, a small single cabin, and a wooden bunkee all powered by generator or solar energy) is a hunting lodge that he owns called Rams Creek Outfitters. Steve notices me shivering and let's me use his hot shower to warm up. The shower is the best I have ever had! While I was warming up Steve offered the bunkee for us to stay in for the night. We eat dinner with Steve's family and he explains that hunting isn't just about the prize but the journey and adventure through the wilderness to get to the prize. I am super grateful to Steve and his family for letting us stay the night. I learned a great deal to boot too.

Day miles: 25.47
Average: unknown due to speedometer messing up in mud
Ride time: unknown
Total miles: 217.23

Thanks Steve!