Day 18: From Boulder, Wyoming to Atlantic City, Wyoming

September 5, 2024

This morning we woke up in our glamping setup and it was a cold night. It is hard getting used to these elevations after living at sea level for decades. It’s not the thin air it’s just how cold it gets at night. It was wet and there was frost outside.

The night before we both took advantage of the showers and discussed the start of the next day. We found a place for breakfast 700 m from the RV Park and that had us very excited. When we arrived the door was open and I sat down at a booth. There was a woman standing in a doorway between the restaurant and the convenience store. She asked if I was just taking a break and I laughed and said no I was hoping for breakfast. Unfortunately the kitchen was closed so we had some heated up sandwiches and coffee and started just before 8 AM with a big day planned.

We started on pavement for about 10 km and then spent the rest of the day on nice and quiet gravel roads. The scenery continued to improve throughout the day.

Along the gravel road we came upon some road maintenance where a grader was creating a better surface. We really enjoyed the stretch he was working on and then we came upon the section he must have finished hours before. After they create a better surface a water truck comes and sprays the entire road with loads of water. We started on it, and although it was smooth, it kicked up huge amounts of mud. We stopped at a rest stop after the gravel stretch turned to highway and spent 45 minutes cleaning ourselves, water bottles and bikes.

My legs were caked in mud. Fortunately my clothes were okay.

There were a few memorable experiences today. I thought I spotted a massive herd of pronghorns in and around the road about 300 yards away from us. We tried to approach quietly only to find it was a huge flock of sheep. They were all ages and very cute and I enjoyed watching them bound across the road to keep their distance from us. It was a nice change from the thousands of cows we have encountered along the way.

So many sheep and the sounds were great too.

The other funny experience was seeing 3 pronghorns to our left that were at full speed and clearly aiming to cut in front of us. We were on a downhill so I jumped into sprint mode and got to view them running across the road in front of us from 30 or 40 feet. Very impressive speed.

The scenery approaching Silver City reminded me both of westerns and cartoons.

Our goal for the day was to end in Atlantic City. We thought the distance was manageable given our start time but as we got closer we were modestly concerned the store would close before our arrival. That would mean a later start to the day because we needed to restock.

Historical signs in Silver City at the mine. The mine was impressively preserved and they still run tours.

After stopping briefly at the historical sign about the mine in Silver City we continued on for the last 6 km. The last 6 km delivered 3 very long hill just to zap any energy we had left. We arrived at 5:30 and went straight to the store which much to my disappointment was also uphill. When we got to the store I was concerned. It was located beside a house in what you might call the residential part of town, although with 50 people there seems to be the store and the restaurant and that’s it. The building was small but we were greeted by a very friendly lady from the house who came over and opened it for us.

We managed to put together enough meal and snacks for 2 full days away from services. We are entering a 200 km section with only one reliable water supply about 1/5 of the way in. That means we will each carry 8 L of water to drink and make food.

After the resupply we darted down to the bar for dinner. Walking in felt very much like travelling back in time maybe to the early 80’s but with a very distinct western feel with animals on most walls and funny signs posted throughout. We both enjoyed a burger and then met another rider, Todd from California. There were two camping options but we all settled on the RV park in town, rather than climbing another few kilometres out of town to a State Park. At the campground we exchanged stories and met another rider who is doing the ride in style; his wife is driving an RV and meeting him wherever possible.

Tomorrow we hope to start early. We will be out of service for a couple of days.

Highlights:

-Herding sheep

-Beautiful scenery

-Sunshine and great temperatures for riding about 17 C

-Reaching 2480 m of elevation again

-Pronghorn sighting multiple times

-Very friendly and accommodating woman running the store

-A meal we didn’t prepare

Distance - 122 km / 1363 m elevation

Today's ride: 122 km (76 miles)
Total: 2,083 km (1,294 miles)

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