Diary Day 2: Benton Hot Springs

All set up and ready to soak! We pulled into Benton Hot Springs at about 2:30... But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Let's start back at Fossil Falls, about 5:00 am, when I was being held hostage by a giant spider...

Fossil Falls is a beautiful campground with an amazing little hike to the old falls. I posted some photos yesterday. But all that beauty has some hidden adversity. Let's start with the wind. At about 6:00 pm I was tucked into my tent, completely exhausted from the first day of marathon riding. And it started blowing. Hard. I thought my tent was going to get ripped out from under me. I barely managed to sleep about an hour at a time. Then at about 5 amI needed to get up and pee. I unzipped my tent an there I was face to face with a giant black spider!!

Ok, this photo he's gone into hiding, but last night he was staring right at me!! I finally overcame my fear before my bladder burst. 

We rolled out of there on our way up 395 to see some sights and end our day in Benton. Along the way we met some great people who turned us on to the best breakfast in Lone Pine, Alabama! 

Then we headed up toward Mammoth to catch 120 and hopefully some winding roads. 

While we were stopped at a viewpoint, just past Bishop, a California Highway Patrol pulled up by us and stopped. We walked over and it turns out he used to be a motorcycle cop for 15 years and was nearing retirement. So we talked about motos and going on trips. He pointed us toward this little side route we could take to get to 120... Something only a Moto guy would know. He said, "Go past Crowley lake and look for the green church. If you get to the airport you went too far. But the old green church is on the right side and you can't miss it. Turn at the church and that road will take you over to the 120 and right into Benton. It's a great motorcycle ride." Well, we did as we were told and he was right, perfect way to end the ride.