Total mileage - 1,987
It was a beautiful morning for biking - we actually got a good night of sleep, the temps were mild, and we had plenty of time off the bikes to rest our legs. The terrain is still hanging in the "high desert" theme - lots of brown, craggy rock formations, and some ranching or farming thrown in for good measure. We spotted three male antelope hanging out in a field as we rode through the canyon that leads out of Baker City...we are used to only seeing females and babies in groups together.
We were planning on a long 70 miles today, including 3 mountain passes near the end. The first part was mainly flat or rolling - we climbed our first little bit to be greeted by a beautiful view of Phillips Lake.
We passed and interesting overlook...it was actually just a lake overlook in a state park...nice name :)
We were about 20 miles into our day when Mel's shoulder started hurting. She tore her Labrum in her left shoulder during a fall during a bike ride last October (the Beer Ride in Columbus...but no beer had been consumed yet!), and had to go through physical therapy just before we left. It's been painful here and there, but today was pretty bad.
We stopped for a rest and lunch at a narrow gauge railway station, and shortly after that, decided her shoulder was in too much pain to tackle mountains today. We rode the three miles off-route to the small town of Sumpter to get a room and get some ice on her shoulder. We stayed in a place called the Sumpter Stockade - there actually was a stockade built around the thing!
We stopped by a state park with an old gold dredge and checked it out - this thing was massive, and pretty much tore up the entire meadow in Sumpter around the 40's digging for gold. Neat machine, but there are still rows of rock covering the valley from these things.
We hit up the grocery store for an ice pack and some snacks, relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
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