We cross the Continental Divide for the 9th, 10th and 11th time today. We tour South Pass City, another well-preserved ghost town with a mining history. We see pronghorn several times a day in this sage brush/salt brush country.

Map by Adventure Cycling Association.

We start this map with another Ghost Town, South Pass City. Then on through the Great Divide Basin, where rainfall flows neither to the Pacific nor the Atlantic, but stays within the basin and evaporates. We then emerge from the desert for a resupply in Rawlins, then head South to Colorado.

We ride a solid 50 miles today to get to Little Sandy Creek and set up a free camp. We are getting up earlier all the time as the days get shorter.

We rush to Pinedale for a resupply box at the Post Office, shopping, a little internet (the last flurry of posts you saw). The afternoon goes by too quickly, though as I write posts Dave takes in the Mountain Man Museum.

39 miles, 4:39/6:00

Today the roads are really rough, but the scenery makes up for it. We go from forested mountains to sage brush and back and forth through both. There is one downhill where we’re gliding through the shade of a huge stand of aspens and it instantly seems five or ten degrees cooler. We see antelope and more hawks and golden eagles. I’ve seen more on this trip than in my whole life before.

We ride along a washboarded road and dip down a canyon to the campground. If you read what I said before about washboarded roads, please do forget about that. They are not lovely or lovable. But anyway, we drop down to our campground along the Green River, the same Green River that flows through Utah, though it’s much bigger there. We find a perfect spot where the river bends around us. We bathe and the water feels good because it’s been a hot day. And for the first time Dave makes us a fire. It’s all so perfect. I sit on a log by the fire and type up some blog entries, wondering if Pinedale will have any wireless.

45 miles, 4:58/8:00

Today is a big climbing day in cool, forested mountains. One climb is Togwotee (TOE guh tee) pass, Continental Divide crossing #7 at 9,658 feet. The last few miles we turn onto pavement and on the way up we’re stopped by road construction. They say they can’t allow us to follow the lead vehicle line, we have to ride up in a truck. The flag woman calls someone on her radio, and pretty soon a guy comes down in a pickup and we load our bikes and ourselves in the back. After a mile or two he stops and lets us out. We crest the pass on our own and turn off on a dirt road. This one climbs up and down and comes around a bend showing us a wide open view of grassy valleys and big rocky ridges. Then we start down a canyon and we’re flying on gravel, winding left and right. My eye catches something huge flying in front of me on my right, and ahead when I catch him Dave stops and points. It’s a great horned owl sitting in a tree, looking at us. He’s so huge I can hardly believe it. We way goodbye and sail along downhill for some time and soon we meet back up with the highway that we left earlier.

They’re doing more road construction, and we have to wait for a truck to take us through. But the flag guy doesn’t have a radio, and he just chats it up with us about all the riders and hikers he’s seen come through in the last two years he’s been working on this road. He wanders around and waves at various men in trucks driving by, but doesn’t seem to have the power to get anyone to give us a ride. So we do what we always do when faced with a frustrating delay. We eat. A half hour or 45 minutes later a woman pulls up in a truck and we decide it’s our ride. We get in again and this time go probably three miles and then she stops. Neither time does she talk to us or help with the very confusing tailgate. Except when we said thanks, she said have a nice ride.

Now we’re in the middle of another zone where they’re still leading vehicles through but no one is going our way. So we take off on our own and have the smooth gravel to ourselves as we zoom down hill. We do get over a couple of times when big rigs come snarling by, but other than that it’s pretty fun.

After a few miles we turn off the highway and onto Union Pass Road. We’ll climb halfway up this afternoon, and the rest tomorrow morning for our 8th Continental Divide crossing. But it has been a long day of delays shopping for things we won’t find in little country convenience stores and road construction and wildlife watching and picture taking and now the day is getting long. We’re faced at the end with four miles of extremely steep road that has not one bit of flat or decline to it. Four miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain. Ugh. It takes us about an hour but we get up there, have a wee bit of a descent and find the first place possible to camp once we get onto Forest Service land. It’s actually a pretty nice spot with the Warm Spring Creek running through.

44 miles, 3:28/9:30

We get up quickly this morning and pack up to ride seven miles to Flagg Ranch for breakfast at the lodge. I have already told you about my love for breakfast. The waitress brings us a thermos pitcher of coffee and LEAVES IT AT OUR TABLE. Yes! I add half and half and think I’m really living it up. I have a veggie omelet with hash browns and toast. It’s all super yummy. Dave has the same, only they put bacon in his, so he has to send it back (he’s a veg-head, you know).

Today we have a mission: to find a new back tire for Dave’s bike. We’re coming up to some of the most isolated areas we’ll be riding through (much of the route in Wyoming is both rugged and far from towns) and his back tire is finally giving up the ghost. Or maybe it did a few days ago and he’s been riding it beyond death. You be the judge.

There are no bike shops nearby, and we are having to consider going off route a 40-mile round trip in order to get to one. That would be no big deal, but we’ve got a schedule to stick to if we want to be able to ride back up North at the end of the trip with our friend Susie. One possible way to do it is head South to Jackson to find a bike shop and from there take an alternate route that the map describes as: “Intrepid cyclists seeking even greater adventure might want to consider looking into the alternative route from Jackson Hole to the Green River drainage… At least four miles of it are composed of remote and technical single track, so it’s not for the timid or the extremely heavily loaded. Also, if it’s raining or has been recently, the gumbo clays of the area can present real problems…” I’m thinking this might not go well for me. I’m getting stronger and better at riding these sometimes extremely loose and rough rocky roads, but I’m not great at technical mountain biking even unloaded. Dave thinks it would be cool. We decide to eat breakfast and then make some phone calls to find out all our options for bike shops.

After breakfast we do a little shopping in the lodge convenience store, and as we’re checking out Dave asks the guys working there if there’s a bike shop anywhere near because we need to get a tire. The one named Wayne discusses the kind of tire with Dave, and then says, “Hold on a minute, let me see what we’ve got over in maintenance.” They have luggage carts at the lodge that use 26″ mountain bike tires. He thinks they might have a spare. We wait outside the store, trying not to get too hopeful. But soon Wayne returns with two other guys from maintenance with two tires. One new and one used. Dave’s got to have a fairly narrow tire on the back because of tight clearance, and the new one is just perfect! Dave asks how much they’d like for it, and Wayne says not to worry about it. If you’re ever visiting the lodge at Flagg Ranch and need something, Wayne’s the guy to see.

40 miles, 4:30/6:30

Today we start on pavement from Warm River fairly early. We come across the last few stragglers in the Warm River Marathon, and I cheer a couple of them on. They’re on mile 18 and they are the ones who will be putting in a five to six hour day, I’m guessing. Dave comments on how it just shows how inefficient running is as a way to get around. These poor people are struggling up this hill at a crawl, and we glide by on bikes loaded down with gear and leave them easily behind. I tell him that’s not the point. I also tell him I hope he doesn’t go on like that if or when I start running half marathons again. He says of course he won’t. We’ll see.

Today we ride between Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks on a gravel parkway maintained by the National Parks Service. There are lots of trees and streams and the road is pretty good in places. The streams eventually come together to form the Snake River, and it looks clean and clear and sounds refreshing. There are eight primitive camping areas within eight miles before Flagg Ranch, and it’s getting late on a Saturday evening and I’m nervous about finding a free one. The first three are taken, then we find one. It’s only got one camp site, so we’ve got the place to ourselves. There is a creek flowing behind it and lots of trees so it’s shady and quiet. It even has a bear box so Dave doesn’t have to hang our food. I have to say, I usually prefer the free sites to the paid sites. The free ones are usually quieter and we’re almost always alone, especially if we find our own spot on NF land. And we always make sure we’re camping by some beautiful creek, river or lake. I love the lake sites! Much better swimming.

33 miles, 3:48/5:00

We follow a rail-trail all day today, which means they removed the rails and ties from an old small-gauge supply train track. It’s mostly used in this area by 4-wheelers and the base is about eight inches of volcanic sand, but the grade is easy and generally flat or downhill so we cruise along at a slow but steady speed. We come across several creeks and a few wide open views of the Tetons to the Southeast. The last few miles we descend a canyon with steep walls and the Warm River below.

Within a mile or two of the campground Dave stops ahead of me and points ahead to a bear cub on the trail. He’s small, this year’s cub, and he looks at us for a few seconds before running up the hill. We look around for mama but don’t see her, so we move on.

The Warm River campground is described in the route book as one of the nicest Forest Service campgrounds we’ll ever see. It’s pretty big, and there are many tent sites right on the river surrounded by grass and trees and bushes. We find a site pretty close to the river and set up. Then we go for a swim to clean up. The river may be named Warm, but warm it is not. It’s not glacier water, its not 50-some degrees, like we swam in a few times earlier on the trip, but I would not call it warm. However, we’ve arrived with just enough time to get a wee bit of sun while we swim around and once we’re dry and changed into our warm camp clothes we’re cozy. Every evening it’s like this – we get to camp and bathe in some crazy cold water making a noisy fuss the whole time, but afterward it feels great. I’m tougher than I thought I was, and probably getting tougher. But I do still enjoy a hot shower now and then at the nicer campgrounds, don’t get me wrong.

34 miles, 3:28/5:30

We make our sixth Divide crossing today, but it’s a fairly easy day overall. When we get close to camp there’s a small store and we do a little shopping, including a nice pint of Ben & Jerrys. We sit outside eating our ice cream and watch the people on 4-wheelers go by. Two older people here, four there. A couple younger guys. Some have cute little flags sticking high up on the back. We see one flag with a mug of beer on it. A couple have baskets for little dogs, while others have big dogs balancing on the back. Dave tells me they’re called ATVs or quads now, that “4-wheeler” is an archaic term. I refuse to call them quads. They’re ridiculous and not cool enough for the name. And they’re noisy. I don’t like noisy motorized things. Kind of weird for a girl who grew up going to drag races to watch my dad and brother. They must be shaking their heads right now reading this. Anyway, I’m wondering when these things got to be so dang popular? They’re everywhere in this area. Dave calls them motorized Lay-Z Boys.

We finish our ice cream and head to the camp ground a couple miles further. This is the first campground on our ride so far where we are allowed to have had a legal campfire (though we don’t make one). While it’s called Big Springs campground, there is no river to bathe in and we can’t go in the springs area. So we walk into the woods and take a dromedary shower before setting up camp. It’s a beautiful campground, and we chat it up with our neighbor who is helping mark the Continental Divide hiking trail. We get a bit of a rain shower just as we’re heading to bed, which always makes for a good night’s sleep.