July 12, 2020
Tetonia - Island Park, ID
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2,584 elevation gain
Our upstairs neighbor woke up at some wee hour and walked back and forth across the floor multiple times. I don't know if I would have heard a crying baby, but that was the only reason I could think of for the incessant pacing. Ugh. The AC in our room didn't work, so we left the window open. That was fine as far as temperature - but we didn't account for the rooster. Jacinto said he thought the rooster sounded sick. I don't know what a sick rooster sounds like - to me it sounded like he had a healthy (loud) voice!
It was 55 degrees when I left at 8:20. I was taking the direct, easy to follow route. Jacinto was going to follow the back route which included dirt. He said if the quality of the dirt looked too bad, he would figure something else out. That doesn't work for me at all. I want to know for sure where I'm going. I have no internal compass . .
Technically, it is possible to ride from Tetonia to Island Park entirely on trails. Jacinto rode the first three miles of the trail and didn't like the surface, he got onto 32 and rode it until Komoot (routing app) sent him on the back roads.
II stayed on 32 from the start. Traffic was fairly light. Mostly it was RV's passing me. What I didn't like was the climbing and descending. That's not my style of riding. I like to climb and feel like I've accomplished something. Rollers are not my thing. I'm sure Jacinto was very happy. He did say the second part of the route had some 10-12% grades on the short climbs that he was sure I wouldn't like. Is that the truth!
This is exceptionally pretty country. I passed a lot of hay fields, a lot of wheat fields, and just a few potato fields. From a distance I watched a forklift moving giant hay bales from a semi and making a large stack. He could get three bales at a time. I'm sure it took skill, but the operation looked easy. After I passed the hay stacking operation, I saw another forklift picking up single bales of hay and stacking them into piles. I guess the semi would then come by and they would load the semi.
All of the yards and roadsides in this area were exceptionally tidy. As a general statement, highway shoulders the entire trip have not been cared for. My speculation is that highway crews are working minimal hours because of COVID.
I tried to give myself the pep talk about the rolling climbs. I can do them. I'm perfectly capable, I just don't like them. I was really looking forward to 32 ending. Then I would have one big climb from Ashton and the road would level off.
Temperatures have been perfect for me for days. Mid 50's upon departure in the morning, 70's when I arrive in town. Today we were supposed to have a tailwind. So far it had been a cross wind for me, but when I made the turn at Ashton, it was behind me. Ashton was larger, with services. I didn't need anything, so kept moving, but stopped slightly out of town to drink some Spiz and use the facilities at the guard rail. A State Patrol pulled up beside me. I'm glad I wasn't on the other side of the guard rail with my shorts down! He was checking did I need anything. No - just preparing for the climb. I asked if the climb had a name, I always feel better if there's a name for my efforts. Ashton Hill . . . that makes sense . . . I asked if the nice shoulder continued. He had to think about that a little and said, yes, there were a couple of spots it narrows, but there was a shoulder. He was correct. I had a good, usable shoulder all the way to the top and up to Mesa Falls Drive.
As soon as the State Patrol pulled off, I quick hopped over the guard rail before he had a chance to turn around and come back!
Traffic was very heavy coming toward me. Strings of vehicles 10-12 long. Mostly RV's and vehicles towing toys. There were very few semis. It was easy to see this is a recreation area and plenty of people were out recreating.
Not too far down the road, I saw the State Patrol again. I stopped beside him, partially for an excuse for a break. I interrupted his Subway sandwich lunch to ask where were all of these vehicles coming from? Island Park (our destination). I asked if they would be coming from Yellowstone. The answer was a firm no. All of these vehicles are from Island Park. It must be a big area. I was happy to be heading north, since the large majority of the traffic was going south.
The climb was just my style. I got in the granny, but not the bottom of the granny and kept moving. It was a 1,200 foot climb. I did it with one stop. I felt good at the top. I stopped and had a short break. Jacinto had giving me some BBQ pork to carry. I ate a couple of bites and drank some Spiz. The elevation profile showed only a slight downhill, a couple of rollers, but mostly flat riding for the next 15 miles. I was so ready to be there.
With ten miles to go, I admitted to myself that I needed to actually stop and eat something. I had finished the Spiz, and the Liquid IV. I found a little side road, parked the bike, and sat down to eat some of the BBQ pork. It was very tasty. I mixed more Liquid IV and surprised myself not many miles down the road when I discovered I had finished it already. I must have been thirsty!
Once I passed Mesa Falls Drive, the nice shoulder disappeared. Poof! That changed my day. The little bit of shoulder there was had a rumble strip smack in the center. Why in the world do they do that? Seven more miles - I can do this. Unfortunately, Mesa Falls must be a destination. Now I had traffic going my direction also. Everyone was considerate - it just wasn't good riding.
Island Park is very spread out. There was a gas station/grocery store several miles before our lodging. I debated stopping there. Tomorrow we are at the Blue Moon Saloon (a cabin, NOT over the bar). It is our luck that they are closed on Monday, so we have to carry food. Jacinto assures me that he regularly carries enough food to cover him for dinner. He has some breakfast sandwiches that he's been carrying 5-6 days - just in case! You know me, I didn't want to stop at the grocery. I would call Jacinto and ask him to sherpa some food from there.
Soon I came to what I thought was our lodging. It was a gas station, cafe, convenience store and was very busy. I almost passed by, but the reader board did say Pond's Lodge. I pulled in. A man was walking toward me, drinking a fancy looking root beer. I asked if he knew where the office was. He didn't, but we had a nice conversation anyway. He and his wife were vacationing from Pocatello. They had passed me and had seen my lights from at least a half mile back. He said it was very safe to see me from so far, which made me feel good, because of the amount of traffic.
I finally looked at the building where I was stopped. It said front desk. Perfect! It was also the store. Busy, busy. I waited by the check in desk. She was going to charge me $249. Even in my befuddled, sun baked state, that didn't sound right. I couldn't pull the reservation up on my phone, so I had to go to the bike for the old fashioned paper with all of our reservations on. I had the date, person, amount, etc. of when I made the reservation. She called someone else. I felt disjointed. I needed some sugar. I went and got a fancy huckleberry soda from the cooler. It tasted like sugar to me, no huckleberry flavor . . . I waited long enough for her to straighten out my reservation that I drank the entire soda. I also tipped it over by accident. Luckily, it was almost gone and I did grab it fairly quickly. End of story was she said the computer was charging us for a queen instead of a king and neither she or the person on the phone could get the computer to correct the price. No mention of why the price was so high to begin. In the end, our room was $47. less than what I had written down.
I checked on Jacinto with Strava. It looked like he might be stopped at the grocery store. No, he found another dirt road to ride.
I did look around at this store, they have canned chili - so I have something for dinner. Jacinto was firm in his opinion he is not eating canned chili, he can have 5 day old breakfast sandwiches if he has to. His real plan is to stop at a restaurant along the way. There's Mexican or Chinese. I said I would eat whatever Jacinto was kind enough to bring. It sounds like Mexican.
When I got into our room, I mixed a Recovery drink and also put my legs up the wall. I haven't done the wall thing for days. This unit looks very nice, almost brand new. The carpet looks like it was just laid, I left giant footprints going across the floor. It's a bit small, we have the bikes squashed in. There isn't enough porch to leave even one bike on.
I I got in late today. I'm just finishing this and it's already after dinner time, which is usually at 5 PM. I wonder what's for dinner at the cafe?
Later - Dinner was surprisingly good. I ordered pork tenderloin, Jacinto ordered trout. The veggies were especially good, with pearl onions. I brought half back to the room. I'll have lunch for tomorrow. Look at me save food like Jacinto!
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Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 1,752 miles (2,820 km)
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