GDT Day 13 - Colter Bay to Togwotee pass

Monday Aug 1, 2016

Start - 6750'
High pt - 9732'
Lo pt - 6600'

End Elv - 8700'
Climbing   approx 3500'

Miles - 50.7

Total time 7:05
Ride time 5:17
Day with BOB - 12
Divide crossing - let's call it a yes, even though I rode down the same side

Total miles to date - 555

A few of new milestones the last couple of days; As of the previous days riding, this is the longest milage bike trip I've done, beating a 460ish mile BTC tour Mike Beyers talked me into 4 or 5 years ago.
New high point for this trip at the top of Togwotee Pass. Nearly 2000' higher than previous high points. This may well be the most elevation gain with the BOB yet too.

It was smokey today, worst yet of my 4 days in the Jackson valley. Could not see the Tetons even when riding in the NP. After riding  13ish miles in the park, I exited and turned up the  Buffalo valley. It was quite a nice ride up that beautiful valley upto Turpin Meadows.

The climbing begins in earnest after Turpin Meadows on very bike freindly forest roads. After 8 miles of mellow climbing on forest roads, one pops out on Hwy26/287 @ the Togwotee Lodge (good WiFi). Then up the Hwy to Togwotee Pass; mostly rolling up hill, with the last two miles being steady and steeper. Turned around due to fire induced road closures on route, and headed back to the Lodge where Glenda was waiting for me. The Red Fox Den Saloon has a decent selection of local craft beers to enjoy while we relaxed and got caught up digitally.

Day 11 + Cascade Corner Cruising

Stopped into the Bechler Ranger Station and picked up some good info from the old hand manning the desk. We ended up doing a hike along the Falls and Bechtel Rivers. We saw Lower and Upper Cave Falls and also the smaller Bechler Falls.
This overlooked corner of Yellowstone has a much different vibe than the main loop areas. We got to enjoy each the falls by our lonesome for notable spans of times, no distractions to interrupt the hypnotic rush of water. At Bechler Falls,  Glenda even spotted noticed  few fish try to swim up the water fall just a few feet from us. There were a couple dozen attempts while we were dwelling in their reality.

The afternoon found us boucing down a 4wd road looking for Sheep Falls on the Falls river. I bit unusual, in that the falls is working it's way up a crack parallel to the water fall,  and it was also a split falls to boot. All and all, an enjoyable day of exploring.

Tomorrow, I ride the Ashton - Flagg Ranch road, 35 miles of gravel and dirt road up and over a low spot in the Teton range. Nick, one of guys working at Squirrel Creek Ranch, told me that us where the Park Service relocate problem bears. So my route will be taking me though a bad bear penal colony! The bear spray will be kept handy.

GDT Day 12 Squirrel Creek Elk Ranch to Teton NP Colter Bay

Fri. July 29, 2016

Start - 5900'
High pt  - approx 7300'
Lo pt - 6730'
End Elv - 6730'
Climbing - maybe 2300'

Miles 53.2
Total time 8 hrs
Ride time 6:05
Day with BOB 11

Long day with 35 miles off pavement on the Ashton-Flagg ranch road before  16 miles on US 287 thru the park.
I did not see any bears, good or bad, whilst  riding thru the bear penal colony.
But a lot of gravel roads today, and I want to ask you;

Have you ever contemplated gravel roads?......

I ... mean ... REALLY ... studied ... gravel ... roads  ... closely??  

From 4 feet above the road
at 4 mph?
For hours?

Let me tell you, I am beginning to steel myself when the route description says "all weather road". In these parts the gravel is liberated from moraine cobbles, nice and round and smooth, the size ranging from foosballs to golf balls or bigger, liberally applied. I am sure I will appeciate these roads more in wet weather, but in the hot and dry weather, coupled with good stretches of washboard, the ride turned in to one long optimization problem of what line to ride to reduce rolling resistance, with much second guessing.
One is continually evaluating which tire track has less cobblestones, whete the firmer underlayer that is exposed, how long does the run last, is there wash board. There is much second guessing.
I turn a corner, lifting my head from my study to reconnoiter. Oh crap, a hill, with wash board AND loose gravel. Sigh .... what could be worse flashes through my mind as I start grinding up. But wait, I here a rumbling growing behind me; Gads it is a dually with an eight horse trailer passing , billowing a long tail of road dust in its wake. The dust hangs  laguidly in the still air, as if waiting for me to struggle through it ......

The road changed to more typical forest service roads, and this was better for the steeper climbing of the day.
The forest was beautiful along the way, the forest had not burned in any of the of past few decades, lots of meadows, and lush creek wetlands.
I completed the route through Idaho, my second state. It was only about 80 miles in the land of famous potatos, but it certainly has more to offer than spuds!

Quenched my thirst at the convienence store at Flagg Ranch and met a couple of other riders. One fellow, Terry, from N Carolina was doing the TransAmerica road route. He had had both shoulders, and one knee replaced, and a femur/hip held together with rods. More remarkable, he was doing this 3000+ mile  ride at the bright young age of 78 years young. What an inspiration!

After a decent climb out of Flagg Ranch, 10 more miles of rolling highway brought me to Colter Bay, and some incredible views of Mount Moran and the Tetons.

Glenda and I will stay in Teton NP and hike for the next couple of days, and meet our friends Dennis and Karen. We will need to assess the route closure and possibilities due to several local fires.

GDT - Day 11 Big Springs to Squirrel Creek Elk Ranch

Weds. July 27, 2016

Start - 6400
High pt  6400
Lo pt Warm River
End Elv 5900
Climbing 500?

Miles 45.3
Total time 7ish
Ride time 4:53
Day with BOB 10

Squirrel Creek Ranch is on the Ashton Flagg Ranch road.

What an enjoyable day. The route today followed the old rail line that went from Ashton to West Yellowstone, following the Warm River much of the way. This route was probably the main route into Yellowstone a century ago. Today it took our intrepid rider down river, through the flat island park caldera floor, until plunging with the Warm River over the edge of the caldera. It is a rails to trail trail, normally easy cruising, but half of this length is bogged down with soft lava rock sand. Fortunately, good forest service roads (FR150 &154) paralleled the worst middle section with some of the finest cruising forest road yet.
Along the first portion of the rail trail, just after crossing the Buffalo river, I entered a very large, thick meadow area, perhaps a mile in diameter. Half way across, I saw a herd of 20+ pronghorn make a sometimes tentative dash across the meadow to cross the rail trail, in one's and two's. I could not help but think this sort experience drew both myself and the travelers of century ago to this same spot.
When I regained the rail trail after the forest roads cruising, the trail was in great shape and raced with river to see who could descend fastest. The river quickly got ahead and twinkled at me from far below, but the trail would catch up.and bring it close enough to touch, with a short hike. Which I did, and soaked my feet of a bit while I embraced the scenery with my eyes and the comfortable and incredibly clear water with both eyes and toes. I rarely pedaled this stretch, wanting to not rush through this section. A large group of horse riders moving slower passed me heading downstream, which gave yet another excuse to tarry. I coasted much of these 7 miles, but the race between the trail and the river ended in a predictable tie at the Warm River CG, where many families were enjoying tubing down the river on a hot summer day.
After a respite in the shade under Old Man Willow next to the river, it was back on pavement for the modest climb out of the valley into the table lands of eastern Idaho, with the Tetons beckoning off in the distance. Yes indeed, I rode through many large potato fields, but also fields of barley and wheat, in lesser numbers.
The folks at Squirrel Creek are hospitable and friendly, with a nice piece of land to camp.
The ranch is hosting is a LARGE family reunion, with 70 people, however we were told that is only a third of them! just the siblings of the oldest generation and their direct families!

Tomorrow Glenda and I will explore a forgotten part of Yellowstone NP, the cascade corner and the SW, via the Becker entrance.

Day 10+ - Break Day

It feels soooo good to not sit on a bike seat today.  A chance to rest  my legs and pressure points and to refleect.

I am on track to my itinerary. I have traveled 406 miles  to date, right about on the target of  40+ miles per day. The riding elevations have been accommodating, being near Colorado Springs elevations, if not below. I am feeling a bit stronger than the start.

Climbing - The route has been kind to me as I estimate I have done 18000' of climbing in the first 10 days. I estimated I would be climbing 3000' per day, so the future hold some big days, me thinks. I will hopefully be in better shape for those.

Sag - Glenda sagging with the trailer is working out well. Glenda is getting more and more comfortable with the trailer towing and even set up. She is getting a chance to explore a bit as well. We have a morning routine where we often depart at the same time after jointly breaking camp. Of course, fresh food, showers, heater and cooling make the camp ritual more amenable. I will mostly certainly miss Glendas company and camping amenities when she heads back home in less than a week.

Other riders - I must have met and talked to a dozen other divide riders, many are doing it south to north. Some observations.
.
All other bikes were hard tails. Only a couple had front shocks, one fellow, Mike Shrek had a Surly touring bike with mountain tires; several did comment on my nice bike, envious of the front shock  methinks.
Only one other couple with a BOB
The predominate gear carrying method is a bikepacking setup followed by panniers. Suffice to say, I have a lot more gear than some of the leaner bike packers. I will probably triage my clothes down a bit.
More than one rider is using general delivery to get food drops, rotate gear, or replacement gear ( size 13 bike shoes)
Most start at Banff or the Mexico border, though one started at Canadian border and a couple from Pagosa Springs were doing  the route pieces over several seasons, working theirway north from WY this summer.
Two or 3 were my age or older, but I estimate not more than 5 years older.
There is about an even mix of solo riders and groups by headcount.
No one seems to be following the books itinerary like we.have been, all have been doing mo re miles. A couple of parties were mostly focusing on mileage.

Montana - on my 4th  and l longest visit to this state, I continue to be impressed. It IS  BIG SKY country. The valleys are long and wide, watered by substantial creeks and rivers. One see more of the Cabellas sort of outdoor recreation over REI type, which is different than Colorado. The mountains are lower and many are mellower, but are still familar, with aspen and lodgepole forests, but accented with more sage and parkland. The lodgepole.here appear to.have been hit hard by the beetle as well.
By mellower, I refer to the fact I can ride a loaded bike over a half dozen continental divide crossing and many other minor watershed divides. When I think of the continental divide in Colorado,  I don't think of gentle grades on gravel roads to mellow forested passes like I experienced here.
Populations here  are impressive;, I have seen a LOT of cattle, and not alot of people along the route, even in the forested  mountain areas. I think people recreate here, it just that there ia a lot of space in a sparsely populated state.

Looking forward - Uncertainty is heading our way.
Glenda and I have been on a scheduled itinersry, wirh reservations for many stips.aling the qay. Our last two nights of reservations will finish up Thursday.

Glenda needs to score a campsite in the very popular Tetons NP,  and the route after that has closures due to fire evacuations from the Lava Mountain fire, perhaps blocking one of 2 automobile routes south as well. I may well need to skip a few days of the route and jump to Pinedale, however that direct auto route closed to traffic this morning due to another, larger fire south of Jackon.  Getting  Glenda heading back to our kids, and getting my bike, BOB and myself to Pinedale  abd relaunched may be another seperate adventure in itself. On the plus side, may get to explore more of the WY-ID borderlands. Looks like they have mountains!

GDT Day 9 - Lima to Redrock Lakes Wildlife Refuge

Sun July 24, 2016

Start - 6250
High pt  approx 6650
Lo pt 6250
End Elv 6650
Climbing  ?700'

Miles 57.7
Total time  7:45
Ride time 5: 51
Day with BOB 8
No divide crossings

Today was cruising eastward upstream  though 50 miles of a 65 mile valley/park area, paralleling the continental divide that is also the border between Montana and Idaho. The divide runs along the Centennial Mountains, and I watched as the peaks grew taller and craggier as I persisted through the emptiness.

After the half mile start through Lima, I did not see a car until 27 miles into the ride today. I did however run into a cow jam on the road earlier. As I came around a turn, I met a phalanx of cows across the width of the road. They were wedged between a hilldide and a gence, and were lowing  loudly and discontentedly at my presence, stopping at this perceived threat. There was no way to pass them, nor did I want to try to force my way through them,  so I abandoned my bike in some sage in the ditch and walked up hill to stop intimidating them. From up on the hill I saw that this was a cattle drive, and the lead cowboy was wondering what had stopped his herd. He waved back at me and worked to get the herd moving again.
A man and a woman worked the back of the large herd ( 300 - 400) as well. I enjoyed watching this working of the west for over 20 minutes, all the while hoping no cow stepped on my rig. I did not, however, enjoy 'running the gauntlet'  of cow leftovers when I started riding again. Choosing good lines and precision steering were most definitely required! More so than traditional trail mountain biking, for sure.

During the endless miles, I saw many many falcons hunting, no doubt hunting the plentiful ground squirrels running across the road, at times parting like  water to the prow of my wheel.

Before getting to the lakes and wetlands of the refuge, I did pass by Lima reservoir  (5+ miles long) and saw my first pelican of the trip, plus a fair number of dark geese.

At the refuge, Glenda hiked during the afternoon, and saw about a dozen Trumpeter Swans, lots of geese  and ducks. We drove down to the lower lake campground at dusk, and saw many different birds species, including curlews, a first for me.

Some may find this land boring, but I enjoyed the day, and set a nre personal distance record for the BOB on this gentle route as well.

GDT Day 10 - Red Rock Refuge to Big Springs CG

Mon July 24th, 2016

Start - 6650'
High pt  7120'
Lo pt 6400'
End Elv 6400'
Climbing maybe 1000'

Miles 34.3
Total time 5:45
Ride time 4:30
Day with BOB 9

Finished my first state today as I rode out of Montana and into Idaho.

Highlights are the Centennial Mtns and the Island Park caldera

Eek gads, what is this, US HWY 20! Motor homes, ATVs, RVs, passing lanes, ATVs,semis, ATVs,  road construction - it is bit of a shock to the system after the better part of a week in remote backcountry, briefly touching a few lonely state roads along the way. However we do avail ourselves to some fresh food for our camp dinner, a pleasant side of the modern world.

The Centennial Mtns just get better and better as I ride the 13 miles to Red Rock pass and another Continental Divide crossing.  I pass a number of abandoned homesteads, with many structures imperceptably wilting forlornly in the wind as I push to the low pass at 7120'.
I am facing south in the pass picture below. Oddly enough, Idaho is to the east, and Montana to the west. Also, unusual is that the west side of the pass drains to the Atlantic and the east side to the Pacific. Such are the peculiar wandering of the divide  (and my tour) as it separates our continent from north to south.

We are now back in the Greater Yellowstone Area ecosystem, and the grizzled bear warnings are back as well. No bear sightings as of yet, though I remain aware of my path in front, and keep my singing voice active in places, accompanied by my bike bell.

The descent off the pass is fun, passing the large Henry's Lake, and entering into the Island Park caldera. It is a bit older than Yellowstones', but is caused by the same hot magma bubble below as the North American mantle slides over it.

To show not all of the route is gravel roads, I added a shot of a primitive, seldom used forest route I was on for a few miles today. I rather enjoyed that more than some of the loose gravel roads as it seems they purposely pick a size of rock that is particularly unhelpful when travelling under peddle power.

Once down in the caldera, it is forested and pretty flat jaunt over to Big Springs and the pleasant campground (shady, no mosquitos, and friendly host) next door.
The springs themselves is a cool place, with 100's millions of gallons released every day. Poised just above Big Springs is the amazing hand built cabin of Johnnie Sacks. His unique style incorporates both heart wood and cambrium of the bark into his home and furniture.