Day 6 Stanley to Hailey.
Day 6 Gallery
Ketchum proved a disappointment if bargain hunting was on your itinerary. Over-priced and high-priced items were the rule. After hitting the quite excellent trail system at Sun Valley, we stopped in Ketchum for burgers and fires. The meal cost Linda and I about $18.00. Most interesting feature of Ketchum: Intersectiosn had poles with large orange flags set into six inch metal tubes. One takes a flag and warns the traffic on ones left. Crossing to the center line, one now warns the traffic on the right. Achieving the opposite sidewalk, one replaces the flag in an awaiting tube. I tried it but didnt actually see anyone else using these flags.
The peak challenge of the day and the week was, of course, Galenea pass. The summit is 8700 feet and about 30 miles from Stanley. The first water stop came at 27 miles. I had to ask what it might mean that the first stop was at the bottom of the pass and the second on the other side and both less than halfway through the days schedule 75 miles. The answer was a laugh and a question: What do you thing that message might mean?
Galena Pass is only about 5 miles long. It is a steady climb at about 6%. I found it easy enough to spin at 8 to 11.5 miles per hour and while I was breathing hard, I didnt think this was any worse the Lewiston Grade which is 8 miles long. The air was thinner but you get a great down hill on the other side and the rest of the ride, some forty miles, is all downhill. We saw many riders coming up from Ketchum probably on day rides to the summit. I think the climb from the Ketchum side is more difficult because of the long run up.
Hygiene: Porta-potties were always clean and surprisingly equipped with a chemical hand cleaner. We had porta-potties in camp and two pump stations for washing our hands. The shower truck provided clean stalls daily and basins for shaving etc. Hot and cold water aplenty. I never waited to get a shower. The mobile showers were available both in the morning and the evening until 10 pm.
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