Day 324
Chief Washakie
Mike and his wife Danine took pity on us and suggested we stay an extra night to recover. We gratefully accepted. The bikes needed a service, Tom has yet another seat to fit, so this meant we could update the blog, do all our chores and have time to relax a bit too. As a thank you we cooked dinner on the second evening and we stayed up late chatting away and enjoying a beer or two. We felt so relaxed, as if we were with old friends, the magic that is Warmshowers was working extra hard!
Monday morning dawned bright and, err breezy, well what did we expect?! Ah well the views were getting better and better, the wind was relatively kind and the roads were quiet. Every turn of the pedal was taking us nearer to Grand Teton and Yellowstone, all the hard work would soon be rewarded. I have been quite anxious about camping in the National Parks, especially wild camping due to the Grizzly Bears and via Facebook I had asked fellow cycle tourers their advice. I had an amazing response, lots of useful tips and a ton of common sense comments to calm me down, thanks! A wonderful man, Don Verner, also messaged me with up to date information from the Park Authorities, thanks Don for going the extra mile. He had found out that at the moment wild camping was not permitted and knowing this we have managed to book pitches for all but one night of our trip. Without Don’s advice we might have left it too late. Thanks Don. We are advised that the sites won’t leave cyclists stuck but this means we can stop where we want.
The wind started to pick up and Tom and I decided we needed a break. Fortunately, there was a rest area and we popped in. As soon as the coffee was made we again sat inside the toilet block! There was even a photo of Butch Cassidy, but no Sundance Kid! We were just so relieved to be out of that incessant wind. The information panel outside was titled Wyoming Winds, very apt. It informed us that about 1,000 big horned sheep living in the area, we didn’t see any though, I expect they were sheltering from that blessed wind.
Since we had left Rawlins we had been riding along the Chief Washakie Route. He was the chief of the Shoshone Indians during the turbulent 1860s. He appears to have been a wise leader and had excellent relations with the pioneers, working with them during the movement of the Indian tribes to reservations. In his youth he was a ferocious warrior. We paused at a memorial to a battle, where when victorious, during his war dance after the battle he displayed the heart of a defeated Crow Indian on his lance. The area is now called ‘Crowheart Butt’ in Washakie’s honour.
Tom had planned where we would wild camp. 60 miles he said, well let me tell you, that’s a long, long way in today’s conditions. Finally, though we arrived! Tom as usual had found a fantastic spot. Down by the river, you can probably guess it’s name, yep, the Wind River, on a relatively sheltered track, safe from the road with stunning red cliffs all around us. We didn’t spend long admiring the scenery as it was getting very cold. We had the tent up extra quick and settled down for an early night.
The reason we had done a fairly big mileage yesterday was so today we had only 34 miles to reach our destination for tonight, Lava Mountain Lodge. After a stunning 15 mile ride through what looked like a mini Grand Canyon we reached the town of Dubois. It looked straight from a picture postcard view of a wild west town. Fortunately there was a coffee shop, whilst we drank our daily fix, we met Pat. We had a great chat , and she mentioned that she had seen 2 cyclists riding from Florida to Alaska just a day or so ride behind us. As we now plan to have some shorter days we are hopeful that we may meet up!
Leaving Dubois meant we were entering Bear Country! Signs along the road warned us to be bear aware, a flashing sign even informed us that they had been spotted on the road ahead of us. Keeping a wary eye on the surrounding hills we braved a stop at the Hack memorial . This was a tribute to the hardy souls who felled trees during the winter months and floated the logs down the Wind River to the railroad, it was called the ‘long walk to Riverton’. A skilled and dangerous job. They bred them tough in those days. Fortunately for us 2 weary cyclists they had left enough wood to construct the Lava Mountain Lodge, just 2 miles away and our destination for tonight.
Tomorrow we head into the Grand Teton National Park, 10 miles uphill then 50 miles of downhill and out of the wind. I’ll believe that when I see it!
