Scorching Day 2

This from the GDR updates blog:

A quiet day for call-ins, but not for movement out on the Great Divide route. Around 3:30 p.m. Pete Basinger and the film crew found Geoff Roes, Rainer Lenninge and David Blaine on their way up Richmond Peak - the next big snowy barrier where Tour Divide racers reported deep snow, steep sideslopes and lots of deadfall. Just behind them came Simon Kennett, Carl Hutchings, Fred Wilkinson, Jenn Hopkins, Keith Flury and, just a little ways behind that group, Nathan Bay.

"They were all within three miles of each other, and none of them really knew it," Basinger said. "But the most exciting part of the day happened when we were coming into Lincoln about 11 p.m. We were expected to get some sleep and then wake up to film the racers when they came through in the morning, but then we bumped into John Nobile. He had some pretty good stories to tell."

Nobile, the first racer into Lincoln at 11 p.m. Saturday, definitely did have an interesting day. First he saw two small black bears, followed by a big black bear. Then he met a hunter with at least two dogs "with heads as high as my handlebars" that gave chase. "One chomped into my left thigh and one chomped into my right knee," he said. "Now I guess I have some puncture wounds I have to wash out."

"But he was so stoked about (the bites)," Basinger said after talking to Nobile in Lincoln. "He's talking about it like it's some huge adventure."

Richmond Peak is still a complete mess. Nobile said he was lost up there for about an hour, and Nathan Bay, who called in from Seeley Lake around midnight, said "it really was that bad." But Basinger said racers seemed to all make good time over the nasty pass, and were rolling into Seeley Lake close together after 9 p.m.

"Nobody seemed to have too many problems on the pass," Basinger said. "Mainly, the problem today was the heat. Everyone said something about that. I think it was in the upper 80s, at least 88."