Thankfully no visitors during the night and my food was still intact where I’d secured it away from the tent. After breakfast I finished off the final few miles of the climb up to the top of Lava Mountain. This is another section notorious for steep gradients and rough terrain. Although I was going down, it was still a challenge trying to dodge the football size boulders whilst not building up too much speed. By the bottom my hands were tired from the constant breaking. I then had an equally steep and rocky climb which required some more hike-a-bike. 

 

I opted to take a detour to avoid going into Helena. This saved me some miles but was equally tough going. By the time I reached the valley at the bottom I was feeling pretty beat up. Stopped for some lunch before pressing on with further climbing. The afternoon was spent battling the gradient, rough roads and the heat - I realised this was the lowest elevation I’d been since before joining the route at Silver City. 

 

Time was pressing on and I thought I still had another big pass to go over before I got to Llama Ranch. This was until I stopped to speak to a Kiwi who said it was at the bottom of the next hill. I’d marked it wrong on the map and this time was very happy to leave the additional climbing to tomorrow. 

 

Rolled into the ranch which was an oasis with a fridge stocked full of cold drinks and sandwiches and the chance to have a shower. I even managed to get myself in one of the cabins which the owners provide completely for free. I’d got a text from Zach that afternoon to say they had had to go back to the ranch due to a mechanical problem. It was good to see them even though it was due to frustrating reasons on their part. But he had an offer of a lift into the bike shop in Helena to hopefully get things fixed. 

 

A really nice evening spent talking to other bikers and hikers - another amazing act of kindness by people along the route to provide such a resource for an ever rotating cast of strangers.