Day 3: Abbott Campground to Worswick Hot Springs
Last night Caleb and I both decided that we should take today much slower than yesterday, so we set our sites on covering 30 miles. This plan would work quite well, as there is road construction coming up that we cannot get around until workers leave after 6pm. We therefore decided that we'd have an easy morning before first making our way to Bamgartner Hot Springs, where we'd spend a few hours resting and recovering before continuing through the construction.
The rain abated as we were waking up, and we were greeted with beautiful skies. There are reports that we may be getting more rain and possibly snow in the next few days, so we'll take whatever good weather we can get.
Unfortunately, however, the rain quickly picked up right as we were leaving camp. It was steady for the entire 8 mile ride from camp to Baumgartner, and we were soon covered in all forms of dirt and grime. Our bikes too were bearing some wear too, as with each pedal turn it sounded as though our gears were rubbing against coarse sandpaper.
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We finally stopped at Baumgartner, and spent time cleaning ourselves and our bikes while we waited for the forest rangers to finish their weekly cleaning of the hot spring pool. We took a short walk through the woods before they finally wrapped up, and we were gleefully soaking by 1:45. We soaked for close to two hours before drying off and heading out under the now clear blue skies.
The next 15 miles were sublime. The road was smooth, the sun was shining, and the wind was at our backs as we wound ever upward alongside a flowing river. After enjoying our ride for some time, we soon reached the road closure and subsequent reconstruction of a washed out road. The ACA published a LONG, paved detour around this closure, but word of mouth was that cyclists could sneak through the construction after hours. Given that it was 6PM, we decided to take our chances and proceeded past the closure sign.
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Only a few minutes after passing around the closure, we were greeted with an incoming SUV. The driver pulled alongside us and informed us that we couldn't head this direction. We shared with her what we had been told about going around the construction, and how the alternate would be backtracking nearly 20 miles to Featherville on the paved detour. She begrudgingly informed us that we could not pass through the construction area, but could try to bushwhack on the opposite side of the washout. We thanked her and went on.
We soon reached the construction area and took an alternate road to the right. This road quickly petered out into a narrow, 12 inch muddy path several feet above the river. We delicately balanced our loaded bikes as best we could and traversed the section for about a quarter mile before the "road" gradually becoming rideable again. We had made it around the construction and were back on track. Hooray!
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From Smokey Bar, we continued on FS227. We stopped after only 4 miles and had a lovely soak at the tiny soaking tub at Preis Hot Spring. From here, it was only another 4 miles to Wassmsn Hot Springs, where we set up camp surrounded by burbling streams of warm water. This site was spectacular, certainly my favorite thusfar, and cannot be missed on this route. It also set us up nicely for our ascent over Dollarhide tomorrow morning. Enjoy the photos and start planning your trip soon, because this route is incredible!
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Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 139 miles (224 km)
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3 years ago