“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬-‭10‬, ‭12‬ 

We woke up to our first really hard day out here. A longer day of miles and lots of climbing. So we got up a bit earlier around 4 and were out at 5. It rained during the night and I was a bit worried for the road. Dad said it wouldn’t be too bad. We got going and it was pretty bad. Very muddy. We had lots of climbs too. As we reached one of the first ones, I took a backpack to try and limit some of the weight dad carried. He’s a beast for carrying so much. I also started to realize my brakes are starting to go. We descended a hill and I was praying the entire time. It was so scary. The hill could’ve gotten steeper and I would’ve been completely out of control. So scary to do it on gravel. We ascended and these hills are nuts because there is not turns in the road. They simply go straight up the steep hill and then straight down the other side. I just kept praying that dad would be able to make it up. His bike started to brake too. The bolts that hold his packs in place sheered off. He replaced one, and then another. If we lots another I started to think he might have to get a hitch while I ride the rest of the way. To go back to doing this alone was a terrifying thought for me. It was so frustrating to have so many bike failures. As my bikes were completely gone, we created another hill. We had many today. We peaked and I decided to walk my bike down was the safer way. So frustrating to be moving so slowly. I walked and dad’s packs were broken again. We stopped. Had a van offer us some zip ties. We tried them. They held for a bit. Eventually the same thing happened again. This time an AT&T truck stopped for us. We got wire and more zip ties. But at that point we had decided that I was going to take the packs as my bolts worked. Dad bent the rack and put it on. He had the idea for bungees. I didn’t really like the idea. He was gonna attach bungees to my bike and wrap them around his own and brake for us. It sounded like it wasn’t gonna work. We tried it. It worked. There were many moments where I didn’t think we could make it. I didn’t know if the bikes would hold up and if your bodies would either. We ended the day and could see the Brooks range. We came into Coldfoot on pavement in a valley so it was flat and smooth. Incredible! A truck passed us and stopped me. They had a tent and asked if it was ours. It was! Truly incredible. Apparently it fell off and we had no idea 🤷‍♂️. So grateful for the kindness! Made it to camp and got to sleep pretty quickly. And got to talk to SJ as we rode in cause dad had cell! I think I’ll put all my pictures on the last day from these 5 days :)