Day 6: Greybull to Lovell

July 14, 2024

The forecast calls for another unusually hot day, so once again I got up at 6 and on the road at 7:15 when the temperature was in the 60's.

At the beginning of the ride I detoured east 4 blocks to see the Bighorn river in Lovell. I've glad I did because it was my final view of the Bighorn river.

Bighorn river in Greybull, looking upstream.

Bighorn river in Greybull, looking downstream.

I pedaled west out of Greybull on US 14, then turned north on US 310 to Lovell. The first 5 miles or so are in the irrigation zone. The northernmost extent of a large valley irrigated by the Bighorn river.

Northernmost irrigated field in the Bighorn river valley.

Then I gently climbed out of the irrigated valley into high desert, with panoramic views. Unfortunately the visibility was degraded by smoke. It's technically sunny sky, but the sky is silver because of the smoke. Passing motorists continue to cross far into the left lane, making deafening noises when their tires cross the center line rumble strip.

In the distance to my right I could see the mouth of the Bighorn river canyon to the northeast, far in the distance. The canyon is roadless, and the far end of the canyon is in the Crow Indian Reservation. I can't go there.

Smoky distant view of the Bighorn river entering a canyon that slices through the Bighorn mountains.

I stopped to read a sign that describes a geologic formation to the east called an anticline. This unusual fault formation is 15 miles long, a major navigation landmark. When passing close to exposed rock layers, Wyoming highways typically have a sign that displays the name and age of the rock layer. I have never seen that in other states.

15 mile long anticline fault to the east.

I stayed on US 310 all day today. Parallel roads were all unpaved. The highway continues to have a wide, smooth, clean paved shoulder. Traffic was light. Today's route has big rolling hills but the grade is 3% or less and I had a gentle south tailwind.

There are no towns to explore along today's route. No old farms. No store. Shade is rare and usually behind a fence, so I didn't take long stops.

Today may not actually be cooler than yesterday but it feels cooler because the sun is less intense. The smoke weakens the sun noticeably.

Today I cross big hills that separate the Bighorn river valley from the Shoshone river valley. After pedaling gently uphill for most of the morning, I was rewarded with a grassy 700 foot descent to the Shoshone river valley.

Final descent to the irrigated zone of the Shoshone river valley.

Smoky Bighorn mountains in the distance.

Thanks to the early start and easy terrain, I arrived in Lovell at noon when the temperature was 85F. Lovell is a remote farm town, population 2320.

The downtown area is quite dreary. It's Sunday, so everything is closed. About half the storefronts are vacant. There's not much going on in Lovell other than the factory that makes candy using local honey.

Looking in the window of the closed Queen Bee Gardens candy factory store.

Hyart Theatre has a unique steel lattice.

I stopped to look at an outstanding mural of the Bighorn river canyon with a sculpture of a bighorn sheep.

Lovell is dreary but extremely clean and tidy. It has all the hallmarks of a Mormon farm town. A little past downtown I saw the LDS church, one of the biggest LDS churches I've ever seen. Later I learned that this valley was settled by Charles W. Penrose, an early Apostle of the LDS church.

This is a portion of the huge LDS church in Lovell.

On one hand I'm surprised to encounter a Mormon farm town in northernmost Wyoming, far from Utah. On the other hand I'm not surprised because I know that Brigham Young dispatched settlers far and wide to claim land in places with abundant irrigation water.

Mormon towns are very pleasant on the surface. Never any trash, graffiti, or vandalism. No homeless drug addicts sleeping in parks. Everybody is polite. Safe and functional for a touring cyclist, but there's not much public life outside the church and schools. I wouldn't want to live there, but the Mormon world fascinates me so much that I did a 19 day bike tour of the majority-Mormon heartland in 2022.

Craftsman style houses in Lovell. Mormon tidy.

Tonight's home is the tiny Cattleman Motel near downtown. It has nice Mormon landscaping. A/C, fridge, microwave, but no breakfast. Only $100.

I ate at the Mustang Cafe which is the only restaurant in town open on Sunday (lunch and dinner today) and Monday (tomorrow's breakfast). The obese smokers running the cafe don't resemble Mormons at all.

Today was my second consecutive easy day, so I feel pretty good. I was glad to arrive at noon to avoid the afternoon heat. Lovell is dull and boring but it adds variety to this tour to see a stereotypical Mormon farm town.

Smoke was very visible today but I couldn't really smell it. The smoke seems to be above ground level. Hopefully it will stay that way. I was hoping for good views of the Bighorn mountains to the east, but they were shrouded in smoke. I'm now in the Shoshone river valley but I haven't seen the Shoshone river yet...

Distance: 36.2 miles
Average Speed: 8.9 mph
Ascent/Descent: +1197/-1134 feet

Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 263 miles (423 km)

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