Onward through Wyoming

On the morning we left Lander, we were all able to laugh at the horrors of the night before; we had to, facing a 76-mile ride to Dubois with minimal services along the way. Much of the route went through the Wind River Indian Reservation, and the only two spots where we could stop were Fort Washakie and Crowheart.

We did have an excellent downhill, over five miles at 6%, after cresting Beaver Ridge. We descended to the Wind River Valley, and just a few miles after turning at the junction with 26 we found a nice rest stop with cold water and shade where we all met up for a snack (we, of course, lagged well behind). There was a tiny bat up in the corner of the roof, sleeping; Jess was able to identify it for us (she has the degree in Biology). It was a nice rest, and gave us the strength to continue to Fort Washakie.

Fort Washakie has a great general store with all kinds of crap you can buy to attest to having visited there. Jess bought a t-shirt that says "Planes Indians" and has drawings of Indians in airplanes hunting buffalo with their bows and arrows. It's funny in an irreverent way and might ont be so funny if it were on sale anywhere else.

All the way to Crowheart, we could see Crowheart Butte to our right. It stood out against the sky like a sentinel, flat on top and flanked by curved escarpments, dotted with sagebrush. Crowheart itself is small, and our stop at the service station there was spent worrying about the approaching dark clouds.

As we left, the wind that the Wind River Valley is famous for picked up in a ferocious way. We rode into sustained 30 mph headwinds for many miles, casting serious doubt on whether we would get to Dubois before nightfall. We still had 27 miles to go, and at the 4 mph rate we were able to sustain, that meant arriving around midnight.

Fortunately, the wind died down after about an hour, as we progressed into even more interesting geology; purple layers interspersed the orange and brown in the gently curved bluffs, and then red cliffs appeared as we rounded a curve at the bottom of another descent. We haven't seen red that red since leaving the red Georgia clay; we certainly haven't seen cliffs as majestic and stark as these before.

The climb to Dubois was not as severe as the profile on our map indicated. In fact, the profile on the map has failed us numerous times, like when it indicated the road into Lander was dead flat but it turned out to be a series of 100-foot rolling hills. We no longer trust the profile; but in this case, where it showed a steep incline into town, it turned out to be relatively flat. Nice.

As we rolled in to Dubois, we looked around for the Fab Four's bikes, and saw them in front of the Cowboy Cafe just as Jess came running out to greet us. Before meeting this group, I thought we would spend the night at a hotel here; but instead we ended up at the KOA in town, which was really nice.

The KOA was also where the nearby firefighters were stopping to take showers and rest. These are the firefighters who are working on the Purdy blaze just 14 miles distant as the crow flies. Fortunately, two drainage channels and some open areas (not really prone to fire) separate the fire from where we are.

The showers were full of firefighters when we got there, and by the time I got in the shower the hot water was pretty much gone, so I ended up with a cold shower. Better than no shower, I guess.

We slept well in the campground, and it was cold before we went to sleep; it was still very cold in the morning when we got up, and decided to go have breakfast at the Daylight Donuts down the street from the KOA. We would need it; Nancy and I had already half-decided to go ahead and climb Togwotee Pass instead of stopping halfway as we had originally intended.

We left Dubois after breakfast, about 10:30; that was the last straw for Phil, the cyclist who had invited himself along with us on our route. The pace was too slow for him, and he didn't like our hour-long rest stops. He said he would go on to at least Colter Bay this day, while we would stop somewhere short of there. We soon lost sight of him and the Fab Four as we progressed up the climb to Togwotee Pass.

The road up is under construction in many places; at one point, near the Wapiti Lodge, we had to get aboard two pickup trucks and be driven though the worst of it, about four miles, to the Lava Mountain Lodge. We had been able to catch up to Deanne and Jess since they had to wait for the trucks, too and rode up with them. On the way, we decided to go on to the top.

It was a long haul, and we had to go through some more construction on the way; we had to stop numerous times to give our butts a rest. But we made it; and as we approached the actual pass (sooner than I thought we would because I had neglected to deduct the four miles we had been ferried), we could see a note had been taped to the sign. It was from the Fab Four, alerting us that they were waiting for us at the lake which was at the top of the pass, just off the road. That was a real joy; we have come to really enjoy their company and friendship, as they are all genuine and interesting people. We sat by the lake there and enjoyed a snack before going back to the sign for the triumphant photo.

The actual continental divide is marked a short distance further up the road, so we had to stop there for another picture; and then as we began the true 17-mile descent, we saw the Tetons for the first time. They were a jagged and imposing rend across the bottom of the horizon, and as we coasted down the mountain we had just climbed, the vegetation abruptly began to include pines, tall ones, with full foliage all the way down (unlike the loblolly pines of Georgia that just have a few branches up high and a long trunk). The view on the way down just kept getting better and better.

Our destination for that night was an RV park that USED to be a KOA, so I got us a discount on a 6-person cabin and we were all able to sleep under one roof for the first time. We celebrated passing Togwotee with a 6-pack of Moose Drool Ale (Kurt will know what this is); Nancy, of course, does not drink beer, so each of the rest of us had one and then shared one communal beer. None was wasted, rest assured.

We ate camp dinners and listened to some music from Rob's laptop, which he was able to charge up for the first time in some time. We were able to shower, do some laundry, and do some communicating with our loved ones (now that we are back in areas with phone coverage).

Rob also managed to complete piecing together his movie remake of Children of the Corn, and we got to watch it before we went to bed (the cabin had one double bed and four bunk beds, which was perfect). We got to relax, read a bit, and not worry about sprinklers or rain or even having to get up early, since we had decided that the next day was going to be a short ride to Colter Bay and a long day of enjoying Teton Natinal Park. We would sleep in and go have breakfast at the Buffalo Valley Cafe less than 4 miles down the road, and then ride the 20 miles to the campground at Colter Bay. We slept well, although our cacophony of snoring eventually drove Melanie to go sleep outside on the ground. It's her way.

By the way, Mom, when she and her Dad head up the coast, they might stop in and stay the night there with you. Remember that Melanie is vegetarian, so have some suitable things for her. Thanks! Have to go now, battery is running low; more on Teton National Park tomorrow!