Day 22 Chloride to Hoover Dam in Four Hours July 3, 2001

! got onto 93 and started moving fast right away. ! was cranking along
about 25 mph. until ! got to 20 miles. ! only slowed down a little then. It
was hot for sure. ! didn't even open up the sleeping bag last night. About
half way it started to climb. Not much, but ! could tell. Then for the last
15 it started getting steep. Almost granny gear climbs and then big descents.
Then the descents ended and just the big climbs. They were hurting and it was
really hot. ! found out later that it was 118*. A steep 1 mile descent to the
Dam and then crossing it was a traffic jam. ! pulled into the visitor center
for H2O and dumped a few bottles on ME. It's a two mile steep, narrow climb
w/ switchbacks up from the dam. ! rode the whole thing. Cars were lined up
all the way to the top coming down and moving slower than ME. ! had decided
that ! would camp in Lake Mead and then just 25-30 miles into
Vegas tomorrow. That's the new strategy. Get close to a hotel so its just a
short day to it. That way ! get to spend more time there. ! talked to the guy
@ the visitor center. He said it's usually about 15* hotter out in the desert
than here. It's way to hot here. Dangerously hot. And since ! have more money
than Mother Nature. ! must. ! see bus adds telling ME "otters don't have
annual incomes" !'ve decided to see the rest of the desert by bus. !'m really
sick of the desert. !'ll be in Gilroy, CA (garlic capital of the world) on
Friday. Not nearly as hot and different scenery. And a far better chance of
not dying. ! like that part. !'m sitting in the tent right now dripping w/
sweat and it's long after dark. It was 102* @ 8am here. This campsite has
trees all around ME. And birds. Noisy birds. They were making all the sounds
you've ever heard from a pinball machine. It sounded like an arcade. ! was
wondering when the deaf, dumb, blind kid was going to show up. 76 miles today.