Day 54 - June 26 - Lander, WY to Dubois, WY - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

June 26, 2023

Day 54 - June 26 - Lander, WY to Dubois, WY

Up, Up and Away!

John’s Story

It rained last night fairly heavily about midnight, so everything was wet this morning. Not quite so cool this morning, only 52 degrees. We hit the road about 7:00 AM. Not far out of town we entered the Wind River Indian Reservation, and were in it most of the day.

We were chased by an angry dog who just moments before was chasing ducks along a canal. I got a good wind sprint out of it.

I’m not sure this is a wild horse, but it could well be. Shortly after I took this shot it was joined by another, and they rubbed against one another. Mates?

A very large badger crossed the road right in front of me at one point. I hollered to get its attention hoping it would stop long enough to allow me to get a picture. It stopped, gave me a baleful “I’m going to tear you apart” glare, and then disappeared across the road. No picture.

I saw two small birds harassing and chasing a much larger bird. When they approached I saw the large bird was a bald eagle!

After the first eagle flew off into the distance, a second bald eagle flew by. I managed to catch a short video.

About 35 miles into the ride today we came to the Bull Lake Dam rest area. When we were planning the itinerary we flagged this as a possible overnight stop between Lander and Dubois in case of bad weather or some other circumstance. We were here by 10:45 AM so stopping was out of the question. It is a green oasis in a world of brown that can be seen on satellite imagery. Had we needed to stay here we would have had to ignore the No Overnight Camping sign.

The farther we went into the day the more interesting the scenery became. After climbing for several hours we lost significant elevation in a long downhill. We had to make up that lost elevation as the day wore on.

I took this video part way down the big downhill.

Crowheart Butte. In 1866 Shoshone and Bannock Indians defeated Crow Indians in a battle over hunting rights. The victorious Shoshone chief speared the heart of a dead Crow warrior on the end of his lance. Hence the name.

My picture of the Wind River with Ed taking a picture of the Wind River.

More scenery pictures. As I said, the terrain became much more interesting as we continued northwest.

I found this poor weatherbeaten butterfly on the roadside. I put it on my handlebar for a picture, then back on the ground. It did not look too healthy.

Just past Crowheart was a sign, “Road Work Next 15 miles”. Shortly thereafter the road surface looked like this. Riding was slow and excruciating. It continued for 7 miles before we came to a flagman and a “One Lane Road” sign. I rolled past the stopped traffic to ask the flagman what we on bikes were supposed to do.

The flagman, Jason, said we would load our bikes onto the pilot car, a pickup truck, and be carried the three miles past the active road work.

And so it happened. I rode in the cab of the pilot car with Tracy, and Ed sat in the bed of the truck holding onto his bike.

Tracy the pilot car driver and Jason the flagman (no picture) get today’s Road Angel Award.

All good things must come to an end. We eventually left the rez.

This photo is a geology lesson. The angular, fractured rock is much harder than the softer rock in the smooth slope. This sort of relationship is found wherever you have rocks with contrasting properties stacked on one another and eroding away. The harder rock forms cliffs, and the softer rock forms slopes. Next time you go to the Grand Canyon, take a peek. You will see the progression of cliffs and slopes in the side of the canyon.

We stopped at the National Museum of Military Vehicles about 8 miles before Dubois for a bio-break. I thought I could use one of these to help clear some of the heavy traffic.

This WWII German vehicle must have been used in North Africa given its desert camouflage and the palm tree with swastika markings on the side. What interested me was the Ford V8 emblem on the front. The steering wheel also had the Ford emblem.

What a beautiful spot for a house, up against the Wind River Painted Hills.

For hours before we arrived at Dubois the sky looked threatening. There was rain falling from clouds on both sides of the highway in front of us. It he off until 3 miles before Dubois. We had to don our rain jackets because it was coming down pretty hard.

We arrived at the bicycle hostel where we planned to stay, and it was jammed with bikers on an organized tour. I had spoken with a woman at the church several days before who told me there was room for eight (I’m guessing there were several dozen bikers already there) but that they had an “overflow church”. I called her and she gave me the alternate address a few blocks away, where we found the 4 bikers we’ve been camping with the last couple days. It is a tiny Church of Christ. We have completely taken it over My sleeping gear is on the floor behind the pulpit. I may get up in the middle of the night and deliver a sermon.

Soon after we arrived in town, after being drenched, the clouds parted and the sun came out. It was a very rapid transition.

We rode to the laundromat where there are a few coin showers. Three minutes for $1.50. Then to the Outlaw Saloon for beer. Then to the Cowboy Cafe for dinner. I had the Wyoming Wild Plate with elk and buffalo sausage. Scrumptious. Now to bed.

Ed’s Story

Before I talk about the day I want to wish my daughter Jane a Happy xxth Birthday.

Woke up in Lander and started the day. Packed up my tent while my oatmeal cooked in the thermos.

Hit the road knowing it would be a long day…75 miles with a lot of climbing.

Shortly after we left, as John noted, we entered the Wind River Reservation. Shortly after entering the reservation we came to the Shoshone Rose Casino Hotel. We didn’t stop but it was just interesting that it was there.

We continued riding. The climbing had already started and we looked forward to our first rest stop which came at the 15 mile point. There was a nice size grocery store we stopped at. It was the only one we saw until we would get to Dubois.

You can tell you were on the reservation because the majority of the customers and workers were Indian background.

After we left the store we passed through Fort Washakie. Fort Washakie is the oldest community on the reservation. Originally called Fort Brown, the name was changed in 1878 to honor Chief Washakie, who negotiated the treaty establishing the reservation. The legendary Buffalo Soldiers-the name given to U.S. Cavalrymen of African descent-were stationed at Fort Washakie in the late 1800s.

I’ve seen many of the Jurassic Park movies, especially the recent ones where the dinosaurs escape into the US west. I guess I wasn’t surprised then when I looked up into the hills and saw one.

We kept riding and came upon a lone horse. We thought it might be wild as there are wild horses in the area. It finally found a friend.

We arrived at our next rest area at the Diversion Dam rest area. It was beautiful with covered picnic tables and plenty of green grass. We thought this might be a good place to camp if conditions were bad but we were there by 11:00 (too early to stop). On the way out I saw a sign that said No Overnight Camping. Oh well!

This was a potential overnight camping site if conditions were bad.

Oops I was wrong but it is a famous butte.

We’ve been on the Wind River Reservation…now we find the river.

We kept riding coming across a volcano. Well it turned out not to be one. And we finally got to the Wind River.

We came upon some horses playing in the field but they just watched us.

We finally got to the Crowheart Sinclair station and post office. Had a light lunch and thanked the owners for being there. The post office was in the same building and had like 25 boxes. Very small town.

We hit about 7.5 miles of road where the asphalt had been taken up and was entirely grooved. It was very rough and slow going. I think it was payback for the good road we had in Nebraska next to the grooved pavement.

As John noted we were shuttled over the one lane road where they were paving. Then back on the bikes.

We reached the Museum of Military War Vehicles. It would have been nice to tour but it was getting cooler with the chance of rain (which it did our last 3 miles). I almost bought a book but my bags are already stuffed.

Would have liked to tour it but was running out of time.

Made it to Dubois where the main church was full with a bike tour group so we are staying at their overflow church, a Church of Christ. It has a kitchen and bathrooms. The other 4 cyclists we’ve stayed with were already there so we squeezed in. They are leaving tomorrow so we will have the place to ourselves.

Showers were at the laundromat…$0.50 for 1 minute. It cost me $1.50 but the water was warm.

On to a beer at the Cowboy Saloon. Seemed like a bunch of children there.

After dinner, it was back to the church, journaling and bed.

Tomorrow is a rest day so the only riding will be to town and back.

Today's ride: 75 miles (121 km)
Total: 1,497 miles (2,409 km)

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