BETH writes of July 6th - Yeah, I have company!! Dave and I would ride to Brook Lake 48 miles from Colter Bay, most of it on paved road which is part of the TransAmerican bike route. The Tetons are incredible! Everytime, I saw them today it was like they were a painting in the background and not real. The first part of the day was fairly flat riding out of Teton National Forest and into Towsagee National Forest. We had some gradual hills on dirt to reach Cowboy Village where we stopped to have a drink and ice cream. Just before we left, I finally got to meet Steve and Jeff who my mom had run into days earlier. Steve and Jeff are from Georgia and have been chasing me for weeks. It was great fun to discuss the beauty and pain we had been through since the border of Canada. The funny thing is most of the conversation was about food. Steve and Jeff are crazier than I am. They often do 60+ miles a day with their highest day being 103 miles. I am not sure I could do that! Dave and I said our goodbyes and we were off to Towsagee Pass - my highest so far at 9,600ft. It was a tough climb, but it was all paved road and we got to enjoy seeing Moose and Mule deer. The road to Brook Lake was facinating! The whole northwestern part of Wyoming was formed from Volcanic activity over 2,000 years ago. There were rock formations everywhere and we even saw a small caldera - when the volcano erupts the lava flows out and then sinks forming a ciruclar plateu - neat!! Yes, I am a nerd and I am ok with that!!! :0)
BETH writes about July 7th - I woke up to the same feeling I had when we reached Brook Lake - Wow! The lake streched out in front of the campsite with towering walls of rock on one side and mountains on the other. The sky was perfect and the lake reflected its sides - absolutely breath taking! The first 20 of the 45 miles Dave and I did today were easy. We had a fun descent on the gravel road back to the highway - which was also mostly downhill. We passed many TransAmerican bikers today. It was neat to see how much they carried and the variety of bikes they rode - mountain bikes to road bikes and everything in between. Most of them were heavily loaded. The plan today was to drop our stuff at the campground and take a 18 mile detour into the town of Dubois. Well, we did not find the campground so we ended up leaving our stuff behind a convenience store after some help from a nice couple who offered to drive us into town. Don't worry, we did not take their offer. Dave and I enjoyed a nice lunch at the Cowboy Cafe on main street in the Old Western town of Dubios. We then headed to the Big Sheep Interperitive Center. It was a center dedicated only to bighorn sheep - very cool!! Well at least a geek like me finds that stuff cool! There are 11 species of bighorn sheep all over the world and I will have the chance of seeing two of the species - Mountain and Desert. Their horns are like trees the rings indicate age and each horn spirals a different direction depending on which side of the body it is on. For those of us facinated by their social behavior - of course the rams fight by bumping horns, but they also have quite a courtship process in order to attract females, including licking ears, making sounds and the great chase. Their skulls and brains are twice as big as a domesticated sheep. In Wyoming, the Big Horned Sheep have a huge range, but only a population of about 200 individuals. I hope to see one, but they say I would be lucky. On the ride back from Dubios Dave and I were introduced to the Wyoming headwind - UGH!!! - that is the only word for it. We watched the thunderstorms and lightning move away in front of us thank goodness. We ended the day with a 5 mile climb toward Union Pass to a primitive campsite on very bumpy ground - but we were tired so it did not matter!
BETH writes of July 8th - Today was a hard 45 miles as Dave and I continued to climb to Union Pass. The road was steep and filled with loose gravel. I have decided after today that I am not a fan of loose gravel! Union pass was awesome at 9,100ft! We were in a subalpine/alpine habitat with no trees, lots of short grass and flowers. There was also snow in several places. We later learned that they had 10 inches of snow 3 weeks ago! You could see in every direction for miles - I continue to be blown away by the immense amount of country out here. We climbed and descended for most of the day, after Union Pass, going from high prairie to groves of Aspens. We had a great decent on winding roads to end up in the sage brush. We were entertained for the last few miles of the day as we watched two loose horses frolick in the prairie and two cowboys chase them on beautiful horses. Part of me wished I could join them for the chase. We reached the campsite, had dinner, thanked the wonderful people next to us who gave us cold cokes and took baths in the Green River. Really, I attempted to rinse three days worth of dirt, sweat and sunscreen off, but the river was raging and my fear of being swept away kept me on shore with only my hands to splash water. Wow, did the clean water feel amazing!!
BETH writes of July 9th - Waking up to the raging Green River and 28 degrees is definitely one way to start a day. Dave and I rode 37 miles today from the campground to Pinedale. The ride itself was not as interesting as the rest of the day. We were in the plains and there was nothing but miles of rolling hills and sage. We saw tons of Pronghorns and the unreal Windriver Mountains with their pointy peaks and deep valleys off in the distance. Once in Pinedale, Dave and I had "real" food, rented a room and finally had showers for the first time in four days. I took my bike to the local shop - in the hardware store and soon discovered maybe they should not be a bike shop. Dave had to return his bike to Jackson anyway so we took my bike also. The shop laughed at me when they removed the Bottom Bracket and about 4 ounces of water came out - maybe that was more of the problem. They did not have the right part to replace it, so we tracked on down the part at another shop just before they closed. So needless to say I have a new bottom bracket and now all I need is a bike shop - Steamboat Springs - 300 miles - keep your fingers crossed that I can make it that far or I'll be walking for a long time! At least now my bike is 4 ounces lighter :0) We had dinner at a Cowboy Bar in Pinedale and went to the tail end of the local rodeo - FUN!
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