September 4, 2024
From Wilderness, through Pinedale and into Boulder, Wyoming
Our day started very fresh. It makes sense as our cowboy camp was at 2000 m. It was a stark contrast from basking in warm sunshine when we arrived. The night before we surveyed our options for getting to Pinedale and back on the GDMBR. One option was unknown gravel roads and the other was faster on the highway, although possibly less desirable. We decided we’d go the highway route.
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We got going about 7:45 and by 8:30 we thought we’d approached a coffee break. Hopes were dashed as they were still closed. Back on the highway and another option. Again they were closed but we had a nice chat with the lady who owned the new Tesla ‘truck’.
We continued on the highway not stopping for photos. It was head down and two eyes on the road. We had to grind our way up one massive hill. You know the kind where there are two lanes going up and one coming down. It was noisy and tested my resolve somewhat. But, with every big climb there will be a descent and even better a perfectly placed convenience store and coffee. We enjoyed a nice break and updated our journals from the previous amazing day. Interestingly, in the store they had a photo of a water bomber dropping fire retardant about 500 m to 1 km away. I asked the store attendant and he said the fire ripped through in 2018 and it’s been slow to recover.
After 51 km of highway we finally hit a side road and enjoyed lunch by a ranch. The side road was followed by a nice gravel road and then a bike path into Pinedale. It’s an interesting town that’s a spoiled by a 4 lane stroad that makes it feel less desirable; a stroad is a road made to move cars quickly with no plans for bikes or pedestrians.
We stopped for groceries at 2:30 and planned to ride at 3 but Mother Nature had a different plan. It started teeming rain, then hail, then more rain so we are hunkered down in the store with a view of our bikes. One thing that would seriously derail this trip would be theft but as Peter pointed out we move fast.
When the rain started we thought we could just hang out under the awning but it was coming sideways so we moved the bikes and went in the store. It ended up lasting for 1.5 hours and again we got lucky with where we were located for rain!
We started back out on the road to Boulder, about 18 km, and an RV park with glamping. The biking was cold. The temperature dropped from about 20 C down to 6 C with the hail and rain. We made it to the camping just before 6 and settled on a canvas tent. It has a couple of cots, and showers so luxury for us these days.
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We had some nice interactions with people at the grocery store while we were getting bundled up for the ride. One guy said we could stay at his house if we were going the other way. That was super nice. We also met a hiker with a dog who was debating his next move. Next time we saw him someone was giving him a lift. People seem very nice here.
Highlights:
-Coffee stop at the top of the ugly road climb
-People we met at the grocery store in Pinedale
-Glamping
Distance - 104 km / 655 m elevation gain
Snickers count - 7
Alcohol - 0 (trying for zero the entire trip)
Today's ride: 104 km (65 miles)
Total: 1,961 km (1,218 miles)
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