12 miles

Today is our first true rest day since Angie’s house. We are at Apgar Campground, just inside the west entrance of the park. We are planning to spend a couple of days here. Until now, our “rest” days have mostly just been shorter riding days. So far today I’ve had a leisurely morning. I set up my hammock, read some more of my book, and took a pleasant nap. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, yesterday and today – high of 73 and blue sky with just a hint of a breeze. 

I keep thinking about tattoos, which is funny because I’m reading and thinking a lot lately about impermanence. I am remembering a moment earlier in this trip where I caught myself looking ahead on Google Maps a lot, and when you stray too far on the screen from your current location, the map shows you a button with an icon that says “Re-center”, which you can select to bring your map view back to your present location. It’s obviously literal, not spiritual, but it made me chuckle. I thought about it a lot on my way up those first few serious mountain climbs. I just kept repeating “re-center” to myself each time I found my mind wandering past the struggle of the present and skipping ahead to imagine the part where I’d already reached the top. 

We met another cyclist today. His name is Chase. He is going into the 10th grade next year, which is crazy, because he is riding alone, and apparently very fast. He told us he started a week ago, from his town in Minnesota, and tells us he has to be back there by July 4th. I think there might be some train travel along his route, but I’m not sure. He strikes me as maybe a bit of an embellisher, but he seems like a really sweet kid – very outgoing and full of wisdom for a 15 year old.

Danielle suggested we all go on a night ride, and the four of us went up to a small pebbly beach about 6 miles further around Lake Macdonald. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go at first, but I am so glad I did. There were almost no cars on the road, it was super quiet, the stars were coming out, and it felt very surreal to be there. Night riding feels very different, especially in a place as dark as this. It struck me that it was an experience most people don’t get to have here. I certainly wouldn’t have thought of it, so I was grateful that she did. 

We sat on the beach with just the lake and the mountains and the stars and despite a bright moon, pitch black all around us. While we sat and chatted, I felt a sudden impulse, and without thinking it through at all, I picked up a large pebble, and silently hurled it into the water. The splash it made (seemingly out of nowhere) naturally scared the living shit out of every single one of my companions. People were leaping up from the edge of the lake and there was a frantic discussion of what kind of animal could possibly make a sound like that. The mischief gremlin that lives inside me decided not to tell anyone that it was just me. I am the kind of animal that makes sounds like that. 

Tomorrow we are going to ride up to Logan pass and back, with no bags.