I stopped briefly at the top of Ebbetts, but only long enough to wash the salt crusts from around my eyes. I then descended down the other side to Hermit Valley. It’s a howling descent and I mostly just rode the brakes for there were a large number of cyclists, in clusters, coming back up.
Hermit Valley where you collect the fourth sticker.
Pat and I reconnected at the Hermit Valley rest stop where we did indeed rest. Ebbetts was hard. The above picture shows the start of the climb back up the back side of Ebbetts. This is a steep, exposed, hot climb. I kept remembering last year, when I was injured and climbed this thing in pain. No pain this year. Just another pass.
And here’s the top. No fanfare. The cutoff time has passed and no one is allowed down the other side. The scene is winding down.
Pat and I are on schedule. We’ve done the worst of the climbing. Ebbetts is the highest Pass.