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We spent 14 days and travelled 654 miles in Wyoming
The nights were cold, the days sunny and hot. The locals were praying for rain because the place was tinder dry and although the clouds rolled in during the afternoons and frequently brought thunder and lightening, they very rarely brought any rain. We rode across the high plains of North Park with see forever views where we came across jack rabbits, pronghorn antelope, moose, buffalo, cattle and wild horses. The views had changed to desert sand, scrubby bush and grass. We came across a very interesting area near Split Rock where the Trans American cycle trail intersects the Oregon Trail and the Pony Express Route. We were also on the Washakie Tribe Route; they were friendly towards the white man, and fought with them in the Indian Wars. We actually crossed the Continental Divide twice in one day, we didn't know if we were coming or going. Jeffrey City was the closest we came to staying in a ghost town, it had a post office a café a bar and a church, which was where we spent the night.
Moving on the scenery improved as we headed through Red Rock country to Wind River Indian Reservation. At Fort Washakie we took the opportunity to do some window shopping. I really wanted to buy some of the beautiful Indian arts and crafts. As we peddled our way through the Wind River Valley we emerged into a region of layered red cliffs and snow capped mountains.
Togwotee Pass was our next big stretch, a 20 mile 3,700ft climb to the summit of the pass 9,658ft. There is always a head wind so there was no point in waiting any longer. It was a hard climb, but on the summit was a spectacular fishing lake over looked by Sublett Peak rising above the pine trees. We were well above the snow line, and we were also in Grizzly Bear country. We crossed the Continental Divide again and started the 17 mile descent. That is when we first set our eyes on the fantastic Tetons, rugged and snow capped. It was one of the most memorable moments of the trip.
Our first night in Bear country was a bit of a worry, I was thinking that any bear worth his salt is not going to wander past us in the night without noticing our bright yellow tent. The camp sites had big steel boxes (called bear boxes) in which we put all our food, toiletries, and anything else that a bear might like. We considered letting the bears have all that stuff so that we could sleep in the bear box. I was lying in my sleeping bag, ears straining to hear bear steps, with [to-day's the day that teddy bears have their pick-nick] playing in my mind. We had no problem with bears but the mosquitoes were man eaters.
Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton National Park was to be a holiday for us. We had decided to spend a few days in this perfect setting. We rode into Jackson Town, a touristy town but very nice it had a lovely atmosphere, nice shops and some great places to eat. We spent the 4th of July in Jackson with a music festival in the park and fireworks in the evening.The holiday was over it was time to pack up again. Next stop was Yellowstone.
There was a lot of holiday traffic on narrow roads, as we climbed alongside Lewis River Canyon it was hard to concentrate on the road ahead because of the breath taking scenery. The sheer drop to the raging river bed a long way below us made sure we kept one eye on the road, and said a silent prayer that no big RV would squash us. We passed through forest that burned in the fire of 1988, which consumed more than one third of Yellowstone. 2.2 million acres. There is a lot of new growth but the old skeletons of the pines still tower above the new ones. To our animal list we could now add big horn sheep, coyote, wolves and mountain lions, although we haven't actually seen any mountain lions, wolves or bears. We have crossed the Continental Divide eight times now and only mention it again because of this lovely lily pad filled Isa Lake we found here at 8,262ft.
The long down hill took us to Old Faithful in the upper Geyser Basin. We had been looking forward to this day and we were not disappointed. Old Faithful blew for us several times in the three hours we spent exploring the area. On the way down to our camp site we visited middle Geyser Basin to see Excelsior Geyser once the most powerful geyser in the park. Then followed Fire hole River (don't you just love these names) to our camp site. With all the hot water in this area wouldn't you would think they could have rigged up some kind of shower. But it wasn't to be, no shower again. Phew.
