Day 31: Missouri Miles

Fair Grove, Missouri to The Rusty Gate Inn – Summersville, Missouri

It was dark when I was setting up camp last night, and I found out that my headlamp was broken (not just out of batteries). On the bright side, that’s one less thing to carry, and I can reduce the weight of my packs. I set up my air-mattress to sleep inside the cabin, but it was too hot. The bugs weren’t too bad, outside, so I opted to sleep on the porch. I woke up at 2:00 a.m. cold, and moved back inside. I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was awake again at 4:00 am and on the road by 4:45 am.

I encountered steep hills right away – this is going to be the norm for the next few days – lots of steep hills. Before the sun came up, I saw an owl, fox (or some sort of cat), and a family of raccoons in my headlight. Dogs have been chasing me more often these days. They’re easy to deal with if I see them coming, but when they surprise me, it can be scary. They come out of nowhere and are right on top of me barking and growling. Usually yelling a loud “NO” in a deep voice sends them off. Hope that method continues to work. These crazy hills have taught me to be a master of gear shifting – you need to use the downhills to gain as much momentum for the up-hills as you can. I met a biker, Ritchie, who gave me the heads up that I could ride right on through the next road closure. Good intel. Talking to friends helps pass the time on the road, so I called my friend Nolan, and we talked for a while. He set me up with some audio books for the rest of the trip. Game of Thrones has plenty of hours to listen to!

I stopped for lunch at Dogs Bluff on the banks of Big Piney River. I saw some kids playing in the water and decided to jump in too. I guess it’s a popular swimming spot in the summer. It was another 100+ degree day, so the swim felt really good. I arrived in Summersville in the early afternoon, just as thunderstorms started to roll in. I met some locals at the convenience store who got me a deal on the only hotel in town – $48 for the night! Early to bed for me. I need to rest up for more steep hills tomorrow. I’m staying with a Warm Showers host tomorrow night. He wants to make me lasagna for dinner- definitely something to look forward to!
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Distance: 102.76(2329.35 total miles)
Time: 8:18:12
Ascent: 5387
Descent: 5363

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