WABDR: Section 6

SECTION 6

Cows, a Celebrity, and Canada

Today was the day!! We must have been pretty excited because we were packed up and on the bikes by 6am. (One would think being up that early I would have been able to get a picture of the sunrise. Nope. From my experience in the west, the sun must stay out 24/7.) Jennifer told me her research said that Section 6 was the easiest part of the WABDR. After the last few days, I welcomed easy! 

In no time we were back on dirt and in another National Forest. Not only was I looking forward to easy, Jen told me about a different areas we would be going through: ghost town, a cabin, and Skull and Crossbones Trail. Okay, so I wasn’t so excited about the whole Skull and Crossbones part of things. Although, I was looking forward to taking a picture with Poet Lover in front of it looking all badass. 

The research was spot on. This was my dream trail. There were no “slopes”. There were no steep downhills. And the switchbacks were big wide. The biggest challenge of riding that day was being intentional about staying on my side of the road. Even with no cliffs, after the previous couple of days of hugging the mountain, I frequently found myself drifting over to the other side. 

“Get your pansy ass over to the right side of the road!” Jennifer’s voice came out of nowhere. Repeatedly. 

Gone were the days of “Do what you have to do.” There was no fear on this day and we were going to act accordingly. Jennifer would see to that! I would like to tell you I only needed that one reminder. The reality is, there were a few more. 

It was a beautiful ride! Serenity was offered to us in the form of blue skies, bursts of color blanketing the ground, and seeds to wish upon. The sun shone bright as the aroma and beauty of sage surrounded us.This is what I imagined our trip would be! 

And wish I did! For those of you following the story, I am sure it comes as no surprise that the wishes contained flat, good roads surrounded with drop-offs far from me. Those were the superficial wishes. I sent other desires floating into the breeze. (More about those in the book.)

The abandoned cattle alley came into view unexpectedly. This was our first significant stop. Sounds of nearby cows brought me back in time. Rather than use words to show our explorations, I will let the pictures speak for themselves. 

Remember that cabin that was somewhere on our trail? While exploring, I found it on the other side of the trail. I love listening to abandoned homes telling me their stories. It was no different with this one. Even though it was no longer standing, if one listens close enough, the stories will reveal themselves. 

The Skull and Crossbones Trail sign was supposed to be somewhere nearby, but we never found it. So much for getting proof of the badass I imagine myself to be...instead I was drawn to the sage.

Remember those cows I spoke of earlier? Today was a big day for cows. We were riding through their world. They were there when we least expected it. Cows of all sizes and colors. It was quite common that day to stop and wait for them to get out of the road. 

In previous posts, I spent a lot of time talking about the road and how it freaked me out. Today’s roads were everything wonderful! 

When we were back on asphalt, we stopped to get gas and lunch. A stop like any other day...until we met a celebrity. Truth be told, I had no idea who Jennifer was talking to. I figured he was a friend of hers. After all she was asking how is mother was doing. Asking about when he was going back to Alaska. And then she asked for a picture. Jennifer doesn’t typically ask to get pictures taken with people. Come to find out, it was Gabe from the TV show, Alaskan Bush People. Super nice guy! 

We said our goodbyes without asking for an autograph. We never did get lunch due to the only restaurant in town being closed. Onto Nighthawk, the ghost town I had been anticipating all day….only there was nothing there but a sign. Very disappointing.

 I did take a picture of an old house, or maybe a store. We stopped on a bridge.I walked over it to get pictures of the river and the old house/store.

The anti-Semitic graffiti stopped me in my tracks. The town had a population of 7. I was sick to my stomach to see such hate. 

Other writings were on the bridge. I took a few quick minutes to think of Kellie and Duane and what there story might be. 

The beauty from the bridge on such a beautiful day….

We were nearing the end of the WABDR. Before I knew it, signs for the Canadian border were in our face. 

WE DID IT!!! A couple of sisters in our 50s mastered the mountains on two wheels! Crashes, washouts, and drop-offs did not stop us!! 

We decided we needed to go over the Canadian border because we were there. See that white building behind our bikes? That is the Canadian border. On we went. Jennifer with her bigass knife strapped to her bike. (We needed some form of protection against wild animals.) Me with my expired passport, license and birth certificate. After a lengthy conversation with the friendly border agent, he let us in. 

Come to find out, he also rode a dualsport bike! He suggested a place for us to get some lunch and we were on our way...to the sign to get pictures of the destination point (or so we thought) of our Epic Adventure.

Did you notice Jennifer’s bike now has everything on it but the sleeping bag? Poet Lover threatened to burn anything else, so…

The past few days submerged me in rushing waters in the form of all that challenged me. I emerged from that baptism into my fears a changed woman. 

The story does not end here. Did you really think it would?  We had a celebratory lunch to get! After riding through Canada and not finding a spot for lunch, we headed to a different US border entry...and waited in line. 

Would you believe the border agent would not let us go through together unlike the Canadian side? Once again, my helmet came off. I gave my documentation and answered their questions. I was only in Canada for about 20 minutes. No, I had no tobacco products. No, no weapons. He sent me on my way. I waited in the US, out of radio range, for my sister looking at this sign. 

 It was taking awhile. At no time while on bikes during this trip did I like being out of radio range of my sister...especially when we were in two different counties. 

Come to find out when the border agent asked if she had any tobacco she replied, “I have some cigarettes I took off a picnic table.” Remember Zeb’s cigarettes? The ones that were actually in my backpack that I did not acknowledge when I was asked? (I forgot I had them.) The agent did not have a sense of humor about the story and gave her the third degree before finally sending her on her way. It was now somewhere around 2pm and we had yet to eat that day. We were HUNGRY! Celebratory lunch he we come!

We stopped at the first restaurant we came to and decided to split fish-n-chips...not fully cooked through at that. It wasn’t much of a celebration. We ate it because we were hungry. 

Back on the road. Our goal was to get to Republic for the night. Revealing in all that we accomplished, we road down the road. Epic Adventure Playlist in my ear as we watched big dark clouds form. Riding in a big storm is no good on a bike made for the roads, let alone a little 250 made for trails. The wind was tossing us all over the road. We were riding through nothingness. We saw a sign for a store three miles ahead. We pulled into a mobile home turned store only to find out it was closed. We continued on until we saw a driveway. Time to meet some more people and avoid the storm.

They were sitting in the garage enjoying the afternoon. “Do you mind if we hunker down here until the storm passes?”

They looked as us kind of funny, but said okay. We chatted for awhile before heading on our way. The storm never did come. 

That is a stuffed animal hanging out the window. The story will be told in the upcoming book. 

Back on the road to Republic looking for the first gas station. We found one in Wakanda...no, I mean Wauconda. I can’t even begin to tell you my disappointment. While I was lamenting the lack of kings and queens of color, my sister struggled with empty gas pumps. 

In no time, we made it to Republic. A hotel and a real celebratory dinner was the plan for the evening. And so it was. But first a bath…

You may think the story stops here. It doesn’t. Remember we started with Section 2 and skipped Section 1? We went back to the F-it motto of the trip and decided to end at the beginning.