John Wayne Trail 2014: Day 4

Between trains and deer, I didn't sleep great in Marengo

I was a little bit sleepy but feeling good the next morning. I tend to wake up early and was on my bike just before sunrise. It was another beautiful day full of promise!

I hit 100 miles pretty early that morning!

This was my last day of dry farms and pastures

In the late morning, I came across a really interesting dilemma. There was a large valley where a bridge used to be. The bridge was gone and the valley was now fenced in for cattle pasture. I got to climb over some barbed-wired fences with my bike, scale the valley wall, and cross through the cattle. When I got to the other side of the valley, it was way too steep to be climbing with a bike, so I followed a gravel road until it brought me back near my trail. Then, I cut through to continue my journey. That was a first for me!

There should be a bridge here

My bike is leaning against a foot of the old bridge

Not gonna carry my bike up that!

Cool of railroad signal

That elevator is Ralston

Resting in the shade

 As I approached Lind, I took to the empty road that was parallel to my bumpy trail. It was a nice break and my butt appreciated the pampering.

Is he waving at me?

I would love to go to this event one day!

In Lind, I bought lots of snacks at the local grocery store! Milk, Ice Cream, JoJos, Chips, and more. I also bought safety pins to fix the old backpack I had been give. Then I rested at the park and went to the public pool to cool down in the early afternoon. It was an amazing oasis in the miles of dry farming going on everywhere.

Stores mean cold food and drink

Backpack started to fall apart

Went swimming here

Took a short nap here after pigging out

I chose to take a road out of town because it was parallel to the trail and the trail was rough, with some major missing bridges. The upside of using roads was their smoothness. The downside was that they were terribly graded for biking, going up and down continually.

This was a BIG hill... I am talking miles long

One last look at golden wheat farms before irrigation in Warden

What a sunset!

Hurrying into town before dark

I finally arrived for dinner at Warden. It is a small farming community north of Othello. I pulled into a Subway on my bike and asked about places to camp. A nice guy across the counter suggested that I not sleep in any public park as there had been gang related activity in the past. I was going to find a spot behind a church but he made a call and asked if I would mind staying on a farm for the night. I was game! A couple hours later, I was taking a shower and getting into a real bed. What a great ending to a nice day!