Hut 5 to Hut 6

We started the day off early. I think our goal was to be on the road by 6 or 6:30. The main objective was two fold, beat the heat, and give us as much time as we needed to make the ride. We rolled away (actually walked for fear of rolling over more Goat's Heads and flatting) from the hut just about on time. When we hit the road everyone checked their tires for Goat's Heads and fixed our flats.

This set us back about 45 minutes so we started to climb as the sun rose. The canyon walls were so steep that they provided much needed shade for the ride and the cool morning air provided an ambient temperature just about right for this climb. We started the climb in Gateway at 4560' the total climb to the top of John Brown was about 2000 feet and was completed in less than 6 miles. This is probably similar to climbing Saddleback via Maple Springs. The major difference is we had been riding for 5 days prior, with about 25 pounds of additional weight and we started at an elevation almost as high as Saddleback and climbed to an elevation almost as high as Big Bear! It was no walk in the park, but everyone made it and no one had to walk! As we crested the top we all took a well deserved break!

This milestone in the day's event represented about half of the climbing we would do that day. With the total mileage for the day estimated at 23, and 6 of them out of the way with almost half the total climbing done we knew we couldn't wait around much longer. The sun was coming up and it would only be a matter of time before we started feeling the heat.

Just under 4 miles from our last rest stop we crossed the Colorado border in to Utah. We could see the La Sal mountains in the back ground and it was at about at this point I knew we were home free. We had a little more climbing and by this time tomorrow we would be on our way in to Moab. This would be our last night in a hut and would bring us closer to civilization.

The riding went on for another hour or so when Mike stopped to fix a flat. Al had forged ahead, but the rest of us took a break. I can't explain what it was about this break, but it was so surreal and tranquil. We all crowded under a huge tree that reached over us and provided shade from the sun like a mother's hand over a child. The setting was a beautiful meadow with a cool breeze blowing. We all just laid there, no one really had the motivation to move forward or the desire to ride another foot. We knew we were only miles from the hut, but the ambiance of the situation had a paralyzing effect on us. For a fleeting moment we had some concern for Al since he kept riding, but that moment passed....and we continued to lay there.

Eventually reality set in; we acknowledged the fact that the hut was only a couple more miles and the longer we rested the more our legs would hurt when we mustered up the strength to continue on our journey. We saddled up and rode on to hut 6. The ritual was the same, open the door, claim our bunk, raid the food cabinets, change out of our riding clothes and hang around the hut.

This hut was still on the backside of the La Sal mountains. As good as it felt to reach our final hut we all knew we still had some climbing the next day.

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