Day 16: Jackson Hole to Dubois, WY

Today was amazing. We cycled out of Jackson Hole. On the right was a wildlife refuge, which was pretty, but not teaming with wildlife. But on the left was the Grand Teton mountain range--about 50 miles of soaring craggy, snow-capped, mountains. I had first seen these mountains on a July morning in 1974 when I was camping with Missie. The night before, we had set camp amidst an unrelenting assault by monster mosquitoes. When we crawled out of our pup tent the next morning, we realized that it was worth it. The mountains were simply breathtaking. I had the same reaction this morning.

At one point, I saw a path that went up the side of a cliff. I figured that I should get some mileage out of the mountain bike shoes I have been wearing. I got a very nice view, but also noticed how much less air there is to breathe here. From a height of several hundred feet, I notice the ABB sag wagon checking out my lone bicycle, but I had no way to signal that all was okay. I think they just thought, "Oh well. We've lost Len again." I reestablished my existence further down the road.

There was a lot of climbing today, but it was much less steep than yesterday. In fact, with fresh legs, it would have been a piece of cake. Having scaled two mountain passes yesterday, today's climbing was something of a challenge, but we had spectacular scenery to look at all the way up the 20 miles or so that we climbed. I stopped many times to take pictures. I was looking out for wildlife and saw a bison and a juvenile grizzly snacking on a deer. I also saw a beautiful bull deer, but he bounded off when the rider behind me yelled out, "slowing." I had signaled that I was stopping with a hand signal and hoped that those following me would do the same, but safety first… So that's why there's no picture of the bull deer. I didn't realize at first that grizzly was a bear. I thought it might be a wolf. I then figured out that it was a bear (I thought of the golden bears of UC). Only after I had taken half a dozen pictures did someone tell me that I had been standing 200 feet from a grizzly. I did mentally plan an escape in case the bear or its mom decided to charge me. I figured I'd ride back downhill, and assumed that adrenaline would make me faster than the beast. Given that grizzlies can run 35 mph, that was assuming a healthy dose of adrenaline. In any event, the bear occasionally seemed to note my existence, but was too interested in disemboweling its prey. After a while, he ambled off. The experience made my day.

Today we scaled the Continental Divide at Togwotee Pass, elevation 9,658. From now on, it's all downhill. At least that's the theory. In any event, it should be somewhat easier for the next few weeks. In two days, we cycle 120 miles into Casper, WY. That ride is not so exciting, but we get a day off. The city manager of Casper is trying to help us get publicity for our fundraiser. Even more important, Missie will be visiting. We are very excited about that.

[Since I'm posting this a day later, I can report that today we had a pretty easy 79-mile ride from Dubois to Riverton, OR. After many days of climbing, this was mostly downhill and we had a tailwind for the first 50 miles. There were more beautiful red cliffs. At the end was prairie, which was a little boring, but I think that was mostly because we were tired of bicycling. Riverton seems to lack charm, but our hotel room was ready early, we showered, and have our luggage so all seems well. Dubois, by the way, was a very charming western village with wooden-plank sidewalks, a saloon, a nice cafe, and shops suitable for shopping for an anniversary present. Missie is visiting tomorrow, and our anniversary is in a few days.]

Cheers,

Len