August 1 The Trip Continues

August 1

We left the campsite first and headed to Red Rock Pass. The folks we met last night told us that the road was in bad shape after the pass. It is all relative now. We have seen a lot of rough roads and this one was not that bad nor was the rough section very long. The pass was mostly gradual until the end where walking was required.

It is always nice when there is a sign marking the pass.

And then came the sign welcoming GDMBR riders to Idaho.

Unlike hikes we have done there is very little signage on the route. The app and maps are our guide.

We saw the Red Valley RV park and pulled in to see if Don could get some coffee. It was a very welcoming place and Don was given a free cup. I opted for ice cream which seems I can eat ice cream regardless of the time of day. After a nice break, we headed out to the road. We had barely started peddling when a north bounder peddled toward us. His name was Jim and once again we exchanged information. We have some places to look forward to. The route took off from the gravel road onto a two track and then a single track.

These are always fun and you don’t have to worry about vehicles.

Soon we were back to the pavement and being brought out to a very busy intersection. (culture shock) We were on the tourist route to Yellowstone. Getting across the highway was a major event. Across the highway was Robin’s Roost, a great grocery store for hikers and bikers. There was a group of CDT hikers, It was fun to talk with them and realize that what we peddled in a day sometimes took them a week to hike.The store had a great selection of food as well as plums, cherries, salad and yogurt which we enjoyed eating for lunch. Tom was also there, he is slowing down as he is going to meet one of his son’s in a couple of days. It is unlikely we will see him again. The next section of trail goes on the Yellowstone Rails to trails, which should be an easy peddle, however the surface is volcanic sand and can be challenging due to its softness. Jim gave us a way to avoid some of the worst sections. It involved more pavement and then a longer section of gravel before we hit the rails to trail section. We were glad that we took his advice. We even got to see one of the old tunnels that were used on this route.

The tunnel is blocked off so one had to carefully go around it.

Caution was needed here as the side dropped off rather abruptly.

The next section was some of the best single track that we had been on. It was about 4 miles of consistent downhill, but at a grade one barely needed to brake. What a great way to end the day. Camp tonight was at Warm River Campground. Our campsite was right next to the river. Had we gotten there earlier I am sure we would have gone for a swim. Patrick was here enjoying the site as well. We washed off our bikes and settled in for a good nights sleep. It was a long day of being on the bike.

Campsite Warm River

Miles peddled 70

August 2

We really hated to leave this campsite, but our mode of travel is to go when the weather is good. The road out of the campground was quite steep, but the good news was that it was paved for easier peddling. When we finally got to the top we were pleased to see some freshly paved road. Some sandhill cranes in a nearby field were enjoying the morning as well.

There were huge fields of wheat and potatoes on both sides of the road. Quite the contrast from the hay fields of Montana.

Soon we were back on the gravel roads which varied between great to sandy to rocky. I am not sure that I would like driving these roads on a daily basis. When the roads have a lot of large rocks our pace slows down as we are focused on being in control.

One never knows what one might encounter on the road. Today covered wagons passed us.

We later found out that it was an adventure travel tour. Can’t say that all the people in the wagon looked like they were having fun. In fact we actually saw some of them walking instead of being in the wagon.

The flowers seemed to be at peak.

As we continued on we rode thru the Rockfeller Parkway and had views of the Grand Tetons. This road will take us to Flagg Ranch where we hope to have some lunch . We got there a little after 2 and to our dismay

the dining room was closed. They had some wrapped sandwiches and ice cream so we had something to stave off the appetite. Patrick showed up and joined us for our picnic lunch. We checked out the forecast and thunderstorms were forecast. It is time to get to our camp. We have 1000 feet of elevation, all on pavement, but still will take some effort. As we get closer to Coulter Bay where we are camping tonight, we hear the thunder in the distance. The skies are darkening. We increase our pace.

We take a moment to take a photo and then are off as if in a race. We contemplated stopping, but feel that we can make it to the campground before the storm hits.

Just as the first rain drops begin to fall we make it to the office to register. There is a hiker/biker site which during a lull we are able to get our tarp and tent up before the big rain fall comes.

Nice to have bear boxes near your site.

We walked over to the store, had ice cream, took a shower, did laundry and charged our electronics. It was a good day!

Campsite Coulter Bay Campground

Miles Peddled 65

August 3

Last night we decided that we are going to eat breakfast at the cafe so no need for an early wake up. My internal clock doesn’t work like that so I was ready to roll at the usual time. Don had the breakfast buffet and I had the breakfast burrito. It was too much for me so looks like we will have some later. We checked on our van which still is having problems. The part that is needed is hard to find. Not much that we can do about it so time to pack up and enjoy the day. As we are packing up camp, a park employee stops and says I think I have your drivers license. it was left under a card reader in the office. Wow, glad we didn’t do an early start, Don probably wouldn’t have noticed his license gone for several days.

We were on the road about 11;00. The storm had cooled the temperature and it was a nice temperature to peddle. The first part of the route today is paved and has many scenic view spots.

If it was clear we would have a good view of the Tetons from here.

The next stretch of road had some options. If the weather has been raining, it is recommended to stay on the pavement if not there is a gravel/dirt section. We were enjoying the view when Don said whoa, we need to turn around if we want to go the gravel way, The gravel road should be fine. Fortunately we hadn’t gone very far when we needed to turn around. The paved road would take us to Turpin Meadows where there is a lodge and campground. As we were headed that way, a couple of bike riders were pushing their bikes. Don asked them if they needed help. They had gotten a flat tire, but they said they were renting the bikes from Turpin Meadows and would just walk back there as it was close. As we continued on and didn’t see the lodge we realized that it was farther than they thought . When we arrived at the lodge, Don went in to tell them about the bikers and they sent out a truck to get them. Meanwhile Don noticed that the restaurant was serving lunch. This could be a feeding opportunity. For once we had made it in time to eat. We set down and ordered a very flavorable meal. The huckleberry cheesecake was a winner!

It is a good thing we are burning lots of calories.

We rode and hiked the bikes up to Togwotee Lodge.

All the shade was highly appreciated as were the flowers along the way.

Guess this place is pretty busy in winter as well.

We are enjoying the beauty of this trail today.

We had hoped to get some ice cream and drinks at the gas station, but it was closed. The lodge had a water fill station so we were happy to get cold water.

Back to the pavement, this road has a very good shoulder so it felt very safe to be on it. That was until we saw the flashing orange sign that said “stay in your car” “bears in the area.” Of course we noticed that apparently it was difficult for some people to understand the English language as people were parking their cars and heading to a nearby hillside to watch 3 large grizzlies. We took a photo from afar and kept on the move.

We definitely want to camp at a site with bear boxes tonight.

Shortly after the bears we came upon this sign. Not sure how many divide crossings we have done, but they are adding up.

Now the down hill begins. We turn off the paved road to pick up the dirt road to Brooks Lake Campground. A big warning states do not attempt this road if it has rained or is raining. We feel okay about the conditions and weave our way around the ruts and mud puddles.

We stop several times to just take in the view.

Finally we see the lake and the nearby campground . It looks pretty full, but we find a site and quickly set up our tent. We eat the rest of our sandwich from lunch and make a pot of cheesey potato soup.

The trout are rising and the mosquitoes biting!

Home for the night

Campsite Brooks Lake Forest Service Campground

Miles peddled 50

August 4

We went to sleep with the brookies and slept soundly with our food secured in the bear boxes. It was one of the cooler nights that we have had so far. I even pulled out my long underwear, By morning there was a heavy dew on the tent and it was quite chilly. We ate our bars and quickly packed up. There was 5 miles of downhill and no sun. It was the first morning that I rode with my down jacket on. BRRRR! Don was hoping for coffee at Lava Mountain, but alas they were closed and there wasn’t a sign saying when they would be opened. So on we went. We decided to take the Wind River Alternate which had been suggested to us several times. It was more pavement but also included a steep up hill towards Union Pass. We were surprised at all the nice houses we passed that were built along the road. We saw a sign about Crooked Creek Guest Ranch and asked a man passing by in a vehicle if it was open. He thought it was and it was close. He also said they have good food which meant we were going to go and find out. When we first arrived they were closed, but would open shortly. We laid out our very wet tent and watch it dry quickly in the sun.

We are excited to eat here!

We asked about filling up our water bottles and they said sure, you can get it out of the filtered water machine.

Lunch was a winner along with the dessert which was enough for both of us.

This should give us energy to head over Union Pass!

The road continued up till finally we made it to the pass. The wind picked up and we had to remove our DaBrim hats which were slowing us down.

The afternoon build up was not looking good for travel.

We knew there was a shelter nearby that was free to stay in. It had been built recently and we had heard about it from thru bikers that had used it.

It was a perfect place to spend a stormy afternoon.

And to take a nap.

Severals hours later a man on a motorcycle arrived and we shared the accommodations with him. No worries about bears or lightning tonight.

Campsite Strawberry Shelter

Miles peddled 42

August 5

It was a pretty peaceful night in the cabin. Our motorcycle friend slept quietly after he took what he called his vitamins. When we packed up and left the cabin shortly after 6 he didn’t even stir. We are off to Pinedale today and most of the route is downhill. There is definitely unsettled weather in the area as we watch the clouds move around us. The trail is pretty bad and quite rocky. It jars our bodies as we head downhill. We are glad that we are not doing this section in the reverse direction. It most likely would be a lot of pushing, We passed a couple of bikers from Switzerland that were just having breakfast. They plan to do the whole route and are enjoying it as well. We had several drops of rain, but not enough to need rain jackets yet. It is Friday and the campers are coming and the road is quite dusty. We are looking forward to being out of the dust. The rain that has fallen helps with the dusty conditions. We take a break at a parking lot at the end of the gravel road. This sign catches our attention.

As we head towards Cora, the rain finally catches up with us and we need to stop and put on our rain gear and make sure our bike lights are working. The rain is short lived and by the time we are on the bike path to Pinedale the sun is out. First we stop at the bike shop, Geared Up to see if we can get a new chain for our bikes. Andrew (is a good friend of our friends in Pinedale) can work on them tomorrow and it would be great to leave them with him overnight. We then head to where our van is parked and get the news, they have found the part but it hasn’t arrived yet. They give us the keys and we head to the van to take the bags off of our bike. Sure is convenient to have the van right here. Since no one is working tomorrow it shouldn’t be a problem for us to stage out of our van.

Our Home!

We take our bag free bikes to the shop, mail our resupply boxes to Steamboat Springs and Salida and do laundry. Our day ends with a meal at the cafe which has run out of things on the menu and pie! so sad.

We return to the van and quickly fall asleep in our own sheets!

Campsite Van in Pinedale

Miles Peddled 58

August 6

It was a day of great timings .The rain pounded on the roof of the van last night and continued for most of the day. There were breaks in the rain so for the majority of the day we stayed dry. It helped to be able to use our large golf umbrellas that we had in the van. It was a leisurely wake up followed by a game of Wordle. Donna headed to the grocery store to buy fruit and yogurt for breakfast plus a couple of items that we will need for the next few days till we get to Rawlins.(lots of M&M’s) We looked over the route for the next couple of days and talked to our friend Cady from Lander who we plan to meet at South Pass City.

Our next task was to head up to Yellowstone RV park where we could get showers for $700 which included a towel, soap and shampoo. The facilities were spotless. Just as we were finishing the sky opened up and the first very hard rain fall of the day began. We set under the porch and watched it keeping dry. When that storm passed we headed back to our van, we didn’t get very far when the thunder started and flashes of lightning occurred. We headed to the nearest convenience store, bought a drink and watched the rain pour once again from the safety of an overhang.

yikes

Another lull in the rain so we quickly headed to a restaurant that I had passed this morning. We barely made it in that door when once again the skies opened and the rain poured down. We highly recommend the Heart and Soul Cafe. They close at 2 and we just made it in time to still be served a wonderful breakfast. By this time the rain had stopped once again, but the streets were full of water and we had to jump small rivers trying to get to the bike shop.

A great place to have breakfast and lunch

Andrew had our bikes ready to go, back to the van we went and began getting ready to leave. We were able to pack up our bikes under a little porch located right next our van.

We were packed and ready to leave Pinedale about 4:30 and head to Boulder where we plan to stay at an RV park. The RV park was quite clean and not real close to a highway. We ate dinner at the park and headed to sleep.

Campsite Highland Trail RV Park

Miles peddled 14

August 7

It rained and the wind picked up during the night and we had thought that this storm system was over. By morning though the rain had moved on and we were ready to pack up. A couple of older men were packing up as well and began to ask us some questions about our trip. We soon discovered that one of them had worked at NOLS in Baja during the 70’s . We had met him over 50 years ago.

The road that we are on goes past the NOLS Three Peaks Ranch. Both Don and I have been here when we worked for NOLS. It is a very large ranch that does horse packing resupplies of NOLS courses in the Wind River Range. We stop to take a photo and meet one of the managers who is out for a run

Today we are carrying extra water which we plan on doing for the next several days. Water can be challenging to find sometimes so we are being prepared.

We start to see herds of antelope bounding across the sage brush.

Several informative signs gave us a feel for the history of the area and we wonder how much it has changed.

Both Don and I have worked courses in the Wind River Range and seeing them brings back memories of their beauty.

The road goes up and down. We soon realize if we pick up speed we can get most of the way up the next hill.

We are thankful for a clear day.

Ah the Winds!

A large antelope looks at us from a hillside. We are surprised when he doesn’t run off.

This is a big Antelope!

Our nice gravel road turns into one of the worse sections of washboard that we have been on. The downhills are relatively smooth then you are almost stopped at the bottom by the washboard. We need to be more in control of our downhills, but still are quite jarred by the end of the day. We meet a couple of thru bikers from Ireland who are northbound. They tell us about some of the roads that they would avoid in New Mexico. Conditions may be different when we get there, but we have a lot of miles before then. We finally made it out to the paved road that will take us to the turn off towards South Pass. At a rest area, we stop for water and hope to call our friend Cady, however there is no cell service and instead we use our inreach to text them. We still are not sure if their family will make a flight connection that would enable them to come visit us.

The road towards South Pass is very scenic and we stop at an informal campsite. There is no water but with the extra water carried we are fine. We check our bikes over for loose bolts and find that my rack bolt is loose and Don has lost some air from his tire. I tighten my bolt and Don pumps his tire back up, we will see what his tire does in the morning.

The road toward our campsite

Home for the night

Campsite wild camping near South Pass

Miles peddled 64

August 8

A great night of sleep at our remote campsite. We got a later start than usual as we thought that we couldn’t get our box till 10 at the South Pass Museum store. We got a text from Cady saying that their son and his family had a canceled flight so would not be able to make it. It was a chilly morning and a steep climb over a pass before dropping down to South Pass City. There is a ghost town here as well as people that live here to maintain the area. The museum and ghost town don’t open till 10 so we opted to have breakfast and wait till we could get our box. Shortly after eating , a woman walked over to where we were sitting and asked if we had a box there. She asked for our name and retrieved it. We are free to go. We decided that we would just move on and not wait for the museum to open. The weather looked good for us to start riding across the Great Basin. It was another climb back out of South Pass and then a steep descent to Atlantic City.;

We see the city of Atlantic City Below us.

There are a lot of miscellaneous buildings, but not all are occupied.

It is Monday and all of the eating places are closed. We are in need of filling our water containers so bike to several of the buildings. At the Miners Delight Inn, we meet Chris who shows us where we can fill our water containers. As we talk, we learn that he took a NOLS course In Alaska in 2014. We were retired by then, but know the instructors. Chris is a bike mechanic and had some suggestions to fix Don’s tire. One was to let the air out and add more sealant. Don did and it seemed to work. Time will tell. He gave Don a cup of coffee and a couple of bananas for both of us. He then pointed to the road out of town towards the Great Basin. He added that it is a very steep climb out of town, but the basin is relatively flat. Off we went peddling a little and then pushing a lot to get up to where the Great Basin begins.

The basin can often be windy and the road very wash board. We had a big smile on on our face when we realized that it had been recently graded and there was no wind! (nor rain in the forecast) We have a lot to be thankful!

Rawlins is around 135 miles away. We hope to be there in two days.

The road continues as far as we can see. In the beginning there were a couple cars that passed us but later in the day we went hours without seeing any vehicles.

We had hoped to see some of the wild horses that live here. and….

We did. There was about 8 horses in the first group that we saw.

Sometimes we walked to give our sit bones a rest.

We stopped at diagnus well for lunch and to check out the water source,

No Shade here.. love our DaBrim hats

The water is an artesian well. It needs to be treated, but what a great resource.

Our day continued with no wind and just a lot of peddling. We talked to a couple of north bounders who assured us that there was water at the reservoir. And then we saw our second herd of wild horses.

These horses stood still and gave us an opportunity to take several photos.

We stopped and cooked dinner and figured that we might be riding into the night.The riding conditions were good and there was going to be good moonlight.

Time to fill the bodies with food.

The roads continued on, We thought that we might get some downhill, but it was not so.

As the sun set, we had fun with our shadows.

We also realized that it was time for us to stop. We were about 8 miles from a water source and could get water there early morning. We started looking for a flat spot to set up the tent. As the moon rose we found one!

Can’t beat a full moon in this environment.

Campsite informal one about 8 miles west of A&M reservoir

Miles peddled 70

August 9

As the sun reddened the sky, it was time to get moving. We have already noticed the days are getting shorter. We now are waking up at 5:30. It was an easy peddle to the reservoir where we met Jason. Jason was peddling to Pinedale when we crossed paths. He is on a time schedule so we wish him luck and watch him peddle away. There is good water here, we have breakfast and fill our containers. Don adds a gallon to what we usually carry. We can tell it is going to be a hot day!. We had to go a mile off route to get water, but that was are only option until Rawlings about 50 miles away. The road is similar to yesterday some up, some down and no shade. We cross this sign.

And finally get some good downhill. We are amazed at how much cooler biking is than hiking . As long as we are moving we created a breeze.

But when we stop… it is hot!!!!

We soon intersect an old paved road that had very little traffic. In several hours we saw one car. This road was the first time I got bored. This is what we saw in both directions.

looking ahead

looking from where we came

We would peddle for awhile and then walk. Finally Don pulled out the Ear buds and we listened to Undaunted Courage about the Lewis and Clark Expedition until they lost battery power. I guess we really shouldn't be complaining. We kept looking for any shade, but there was none to be had. Our water could have made tea, Don needed a break so where this road met the road to Rawlins, we stopped but that just made us hotter. Our only solutions was to get back on our bikes and peddle the 18 miles to Rawlins. There was a lot of climbing and a lot of traffic. It was getting the right mind set and saying amor fati. Eventually we made it to a sign that said Rawling 6 miles away. At that point we were happy to see the downhill that took us to town. We immediately looked for a store to purchase ice cream and cold drinks. We set in the shade of the building and tried to cool down. Another trip to the store for more drinks was necessary. Time to find home for the night. We headed to the KOA which was very nice for bikers, having laundry, showers and a covered cooking area. We thought that we might go out to eat, but decided that it was too hot to walk so used one our our meals. All was well until we headed to our tent and realized that this KOA was right next to the busy interstate. It was not going to be a quiet night,

Campsite Rawlins KOA

Miles Peddled 63