July 7, 2014
Day 29: Beaver to Wah Wah
Today we headed to Wah Wah pass. Or, more accuratly, just beyond it, where Terry said we could find water.
We set out from the Beaver KOA, which was great I might add, and rolled real easy like west towards Milford and beyond. About ten miles from Milford we were moving pretty well, being pushed by a bit of a tail wind, when I looke over to my right and saw a bunch of tents.
"What are all those tents doing there?" I asked Leo, who would have no more idea than I would, but I still had to ask.
Then I saw a bunch of people in the middle of a field digging around in the dirt.
"It's a dig!" I said to Leo. "An archeological dig!"
Which didnt interested Leo much but it interested me. So he soft pedaled while I stopped and walked over and asked what it was all about. It turns out its a Fremont site, and is being used more as a training ground for future archiologists, to teach them the trade, from schools like UCLA, and a couple other community colleges in California. Very cool.
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After that I caught up to Leo and we rolled into Milford and prepared outselves for The Big Empty, the long stretch from Milford to Baker, with a big meal and stuff at the store for the next 2 days.
It was hot when we set off and we had two mountains to climb; Frisco and Wah Wah passes. It was hot and I lagged a bit but of course I made it.
The wierdest event of the day was on the way up Frisco Summit. Leo was about 30 yards/meters in front of me. It had been windy all afternoon but at that point we both heard a "whoosh" about a 100 yards to our right. We looked over to see a dust devil form before our eyes. It swirlled and swirled and picked up momentum, then turned towards us. All I could think was, "It seems to be moving in my diection" and "what should I do if it does?" By this time both Leo and I had stopped riding and were watching it. We were more or less too far to talk to each other.
Then, suddtnly, it lurched forward and moved right towards Leo. It kept going, and going. Then it went right through him! It knocked him to the left, shook him about, his shirt tail flipped up, and then it was gone. It was the wierdest thing! I so with I had a video of it, but I was so surprised at it all I couldn't react.
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We were pretty tired by now, I gotta say, but we were so determined to make it to, "the abandon house with the tree" that we kept going. Even when it started raining, and the wind picked up so much it was blowing us all over the road.
But we made it and it was just like Terry said. The House was long abandoned but still had some chairs and dishes and kitchen table. But more important, it had water. A hose was coming out of the ground and lead straight to The Tree. We cooked with it and made coffee but it tasted fine and was likely safe to drink as is. It looked like someone dropped a well just to water the tree.
Soon the wind died and we set up our tents. It was a beautiful night and a great place to camp.
Tomorrow we head to Baker Nevada. Another state for Leo!
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How much (if any) traffic was there on the road during the night? There was very little during the day. It was a lot lonelier than US 50, AKA The Loneliest Road.
6 years ago
Today's ride: 78 miles (126 km)
Total: 1,643 miles (2,644 km)
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