Day 2 of the Flint Hills Bikepacking

Following a decent nights sleep it was time to pack up the bikes once again. We're off to see the Wizard, The wonderful Wizard of Oz well in a manner of speaking I suppose sense we weren't really there for the museum and it was closed but we did roll by and confirm that there is indeed a Wizard of Oz museum in Wamego. In case you had any doubt. 




Temps were up and wind was way down for the start of day 2, butt was a little sore and the chunky road out of Wamego was not helpoing matters in that area at all but spirits remaind high despite the "butt hurt". Old stone buildings dot the county side in Kansas, some still in really good shape and some a bit more dilapidated but all of them old and pretty cool.


Friendly doggos in the morning is always a good sign for the day or at least that's my opinion on the matter.





11 miles out of Wamego, perched atop our first real climb of the day, sat the neat little oasis known as Shamrock Cafe.




This little section of rocky ground on the corner of two diverging gravel roads was likel setup by the owner of the similarly named Shamrock Farms just down the hill. It was pretty cool to see that the family had set aside this otherwise unusable slice of land stuck between fence line and small cliff for use as a resting area for those who happened by. Setup with a table and chairs the cafe provided great views, a box of treasures that you could add to and it even had a guest book for visitors to sign. Not to be outdone by new fangled technology the "Rock" also has a Facebook page where people can share pictures and stories if they so choose to.





The good part about almost nonexistent winds on Thursday meant that we didn't have to worry about fighting any cross or head winds like we did on Wednesday, the down side was that the annual Kansas prairie burn was back on in full force. At times it was a little eerie riding through the country side with it all a blaze thinking about how quickly it could get out of control if not properly tended too and how it almost blotted out the sun turning the world to a orangish-brown color at times. With ash falling like snowflakes at times it was also not great to breath in but who needs oxygen or lungs.





Rolled into Alma, Kansas and stopped into the El Corral Mexican Resturant for a delicious steak salad before hitting up the gas station for some locally produces Alma Cheese Curds. Not sure if little miss muffet shops there for her curds but they were fantastic... didn't see any tuffets to sit on while eating them however.





More impressive than the stone buildings that dotted the landscape were the miles of stone walls that still stood along some of the gravel roads with nothing but gravity and the tetris skills of the original builder still holding them up.



More friendly dogs and curious cows at one of our rest stops, note the orangeish hue to some of the pictures that is not the camera being wonky but from the smoke in the air from the fires. We are not bikepacking on Mars, although that would be super cool.





Speaking of super cool, our route took us down Little Egypt Road from DK and Unbound fame, it's quite the road and lives up to it's reputation. The loose, rocky climb at the end was very taxing and required focus and great line choice to sucessfully make it up it, probably on any bike but especially on a loaded bikepacking rig. Once at the top we figured we earned a little respit and snack so I ate some of the curds, still tuffetless.





Two donkeys and several miles later we rolled into Dwight and our stop for the night, while it would have been fun to camp in a tent a shower felt pretty amazing in the camper. Dwight is putting in a camping area that will be have power, water and a place to dump your tank as well as a new community building that will be pretty amazeballs later this summer when it opens up. Day 2 by the numbers was 52 miles, 5 1/2 hours on the bike and almost 3500 feet of elevation.