It's all gravy from here

Those were the words of the last eastbounder I saw, and now that I'm finally done with all these mountains, I'm looking forward to some easy days.

Today was hard though: almost the hardest of the trip. I think it was about 5,000' total of climbing. The initial climb to get over Carson Pass was just the beginning as there were two more big hills ahead of me and the entire 6,500' descent was punctuated with small hills every few miles.

I didn't get much relief from the downhills either. For the first half, the road quality was really bad (lots of cracks and potholes) and there was lots of traffic. For the second, the route took a turn and I got on the backroads: road quality got worse, it got more winding, and gone were the turn-specific speed limit signs which are very useful. During the fast parts I had to constantly scan for potholes directly ahead, turns in the distance, my current speed, and cars behind me in the mirror. It took a lot of concentration.

However, during the second half the traffic was almost all gone, and I went through a national forest with very big trees right up the shoulder. It was actually very nice, just me and the trees. It was slightly depressing because there were so many dying trees, but overall very enjoyable (mild winters and early springs are leaving way too many pine bark beetles alive which is killing huge swaths of trees and turning the pacific northwest into a tinder box).

I reran into the Indiana couple last night when they rolled into the campgrounds past 8pm. I also ran into them at my destination in Placerville. Hopefully we'll ride a little tomorrow. I didn't see them last week in Austin because they got a motel and took a rest day.

Speaking of camping, it was really windy last night and I got very little sleep. I'm very tired, especially considering how hard the day was.

It was really hot again. I took an hour rest mid-day because it was getting to me.

I'm at 2,000' elevation. I haven't been this low since Kansas. Tomorrow I'll be at almost sea-level. I haven't been *that* low since Albany.

I did 86 miles. Last long day of the trip :)