Pedal the Rockies: Pinedale

Coming to you today from Pinedale, WY, a little (well, decent sized by Wyoming standards) cowtown beside the Wind River Mountains. I've even gotten a hotel for the night to wash off a week's worth of dust and sunscreen. I'm actually sharing the room with 4 other cyclists on the Divide, all of whom have appeared elsewhere in the blog.

I had been riding solo for about three days before I ran into Kyle and Lauren again at the Jenny Lake campground in Grand Teton NP. I thought they would be well ahead of me, but some bad pizza in Macks Inn set them back two days. The next day I rode north from Jenny Lake to Colter Bay campground to relax for a day before getting back on the route. If you follow the SPOT coordinates you may have wondered if it got screwed up, but no, I did in fact ride 50 miles south to Jackson Hole, then another 50 back to where I started at the top of Teton NP. Almost to the campground, I happened to run into Mike and Amy at a gas station getting supplies. We have paced and camped with each other for the past four nights since then. Good company makes the miles easy. I feel like I could write an entire post about the crazy coincidences that happen out on the route. Maybe next time.

The day hike from Jennys Lake in Teton was amazing! Very, very tiring, but very rewarding. To avoid the crowds all you really have to do is walk a mile past the parking lot. I hiked up to Lake Solitude which sits to the west of the Tetons, up Cascade Canyon. Saw two bull moose at close range (~50ft.) and they didn't seem to even notice me. Nearing the lake, the canyon opened up into a spectacular alpine valley. I've never been to the Alps, but from all the pictures I've seen, this come pretty close.

All three Teton's framed

The climb up Togwatee (say Toe-guh-tee) Pass was the first big one in a while but conveniently there was a bar halfway up to get a cold one. That really pushed me over the top (actually I probably should have chugged more water). This was also the most exciting CD crossing. A random minivan of people stopped at the summit, piled out, and fashioned a finish line for us! They all cheered as we finally got to the top. Their adventure was just getting started. They had driven 22 hours from Cincinnatti and were going to look for 2 million in buried gold. Supposedly they had some clues to its whereabouts, and even if they strike out, I'm sure they'll have a damn good time doing it.

Amy breaking the tape

Yesterday we crested Union Pass, an ancient route used to traverse the CD in the Wind River Mountains. The last four miles were seemingly endless, and very steep at times. Atop the pass, there were no less than three wildfires visible. The largest of the three was behind us and downwind, but the other two were on ridges we would skirt later in the day. Luckily, these were also downwind of us, so we didn't have much to worry about. Still, a wildfire is a wildfire, and it did add a bit of an edge to the day, which I quite enjoyed. Much like a good thunderstorm, potentially dangerous weather events are exciting to me.