Robyn's 2021 TransAm Bikecentennial: On Wyoming Shoulders (Missive 8)

NOTE:  This is the eighth missive for Robyn's 2021 TransAm Bikecentennial ride.  The seventh missive can be found at https://attitude-maneuver.blogspot.com/2022/03/robyns-2021-transam-bikecentennial_26.html .  The ninth missive is at https://attitude-maneuver.blogspot.com/2022/04/robyns-2021-transam-bikecentennial.html .

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Slideshow

A slideshow of photos from Wyoming can be found at https://photos.app.goo.gl/chRPiiwbGnAP884u9 . 

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Missive No. 8:  On Wyoming Shoulders

You were perhaps expecting a missive title extolling the Tetons, Yellowstone, buttes, and geysers?  Instead, I offer the shoulders of Wyoming's roads and highways as one of the wonders of the state.

Until now I had known only one state with shoulders that are consistent and wide.  That's Maryland, my home state for 25 years.  Maryland roads are a pleasure for cyclists.  Almost all roads have shoulders, and most of them are wide.  Cross the Potomac into Virginia, and there are none.  Maine is inconsistent on shoulder policy.  Some roads have them; most do not.  In my U.S. travels I have found Maryland to be unique.  Shoulders in most states either do not exist at all, are rendered unusable by rumble strips, or are too narrow for a cyclist to use safely.

Enter Wyoming.  As different as Maryland and Wyoming are in their politics, they have reached the same policy on shoulders.  In short, Wyoming roads are heaven for a cyclist.

Those wide shoulders allow a cyclist to relax and enjoy the views.  Southern Wyoming through Rawlins to Jeffrey City remind me of western Kazakhstan.  Both are arid with unusual geological formations.  As one continues north, the mountains come into view.  (Alas, the smoke from fires further west creates a haze that dims the view.)  Beyond Dubois one climbs the Togwotee Pass, which at 9658 feet is the second highest point on the TransAm.  Trees and green views return.  Nights and mornings are cold with temperatures dipping to 2-3C (upper 30s F).  I appreciated the cool weather clothes that Ellen and Ron held and mailed to me in Pueblo.

Finally one enters the Grand Tetons National Park.  The Tetons provide the most dramatic mountain views I have yet seen, more impressive even than the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.  Then there is Yellowstone with its geysers, canyons, and buffalo.  From my 3-4 days crossing the two parks, I know I want to return.  Yellowstone in particular requires more than just a few days to appreciate.

I'm happy that after a motel rest day in Rawlins, I camped or stayed in hostels for an entire week.  Finally I feel justified in having lugged my camping and cooking gear over the Blue Ridge, Appalachians, and Ozarks.  That includes my stovetop espresso maker.  (Hey, it weighs only 15 oz.!)

As usual, meeting new and old friends was just as exciting as the scenery and the challenges of bike-packing.  Alas, my Foreign Service friend Cheryl and I did not manage to meet up despite our best efforts as she supports her daughter and son-in-law on their Great Divide bike-packing journey, but my friend Lily from Maine wowed me by meeting me at the hostel in the ghost town of Jeffrey City.  She even brought me dinner.  Lily is trying to buy a motel in Wyoming and was an hour or so away from Jeffrey City when I got there.  I just had to take photos of me, Lily, and her dog Mickey next to her car with a Maine license plate in the middle of nowhere in a Wyoming ghost town.

As to that one-time church that is now a hostel in Jeffrey City, the walls are covered with bicycle graffiti and art.  When I found that someone from Maine had been there a few days before me, I added my own next to his.

In Lander I spent the night with Mike and Danine.  I had met Mike in Virginia in the early days of my trip just as he was coming to the end of his W-E trip.  He extended the invitation to me right then and there.

I shared the church hostel in Dubois with two backpackers and one bike-packer.  The highlight of that night came on the dancefloor as I went square dancing for the first time since I was 12.  The dance was happening at the barbecue restaurant where I shared a table with a couple and their friend.  After Frank danced with his wife, he grabbed my arm and said, "Now it's your turn!"  It was one of the most fun evenings of my trip.

As I entered the Grand Tetons NP, I got into conversation with Judy and her husband Frank (?) who gave me fruit and some salt tablets.  Frank, it turned out, had been with the ExIm Bank, and I related my experience as Econ Officer in Tashkent.

At the campground in Grant Village in Yellowstone, I met Estefania and also Joy and her husband.  It all started when a car pulled up to my hiker/biker site.  Joy, the driver, asked if I was Estefania.  Joy and her husband are WS hosts from MI who are working at Yellowstone for the summer, and Estefania had written to them that she would be arriving that evening.

An hour or so later when it was already getting dark, I saw a bicycle light coming up the road.  I called out, "Estefania?"  She stopped, surprised, and I told her that Joy had been looking for her.  I had just finished cooking dinner and invited her to share it.  Good thing we did.  Just as we were finishing, the sky opened up on us.  We threw the leftover food and stove into the bear locker and ourselves into our respective tent and bivvy.

The storms continued through the night.  Estefania is a medical student with a deadline and opted to push on when the rain began to let up late morning.  I, with no deadline -- the joys of retirement -- called it a day and remained in Grant Village.  Joy and her husband took me on a short hike through one of the geyser fields and then invited me to their RV for dinner.

My final day in Yellowstone took me to Old Faithful and the historic inn next to it.  I admit to a child's thrill at watching Old Faithful erupt.  I recalled watching the Ken Burns series on the national parks when I was posted to Tashkent in 2008-10, filled then with the hope and wish that one day I would visit our parks.  On this year's trip and last year's, that wish is coming true. 

Today is my rest and laundry day at a cheap motel outside the park in West Yellowstone.  (Cheap in West Yellowstone means nearly $200/night, on the level of Ocean City, MD, and similar resort towns.)  I have just over 1300 miles to go before reaching my end point in Oregon.  One sign of the approaching end is that people who ask where I am going actually know where Florence and Astoria, OR, are.

That's my story from Wyoming shoulders with journey's end no longer far over the horizon.

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Daily Log 

 

Thursday, July 29, 2021 -- 19,444 km cum - 113 km/day

An excellent 70 mile day from Walden, CO, to Saratoga, WY.  I had breakfast in Walden together with Blaise before we headed our separate ways.  Tim caught up with me in Riverside, WY, where we both stopped for snack breaks.  Tim decided to go on with me the additional 18 miles to Saratoga.  We are at the Episcopal church together with Jason and Kelly.  I showered at Ho Bo Hot Springs and had dinner at The Fireeater, where it turned out that my waitress is Ukrainian.  A good day.

I will have to start early tomorrow.  Rain is in the forecast for the afternoon.

Friday, July 30, 2021 -- 19,516 km cum - 72 km/day

By design today's was a short 45-mile ride from Saratoga to Rawlins and a rest day.  Even so, I was pretty amazed to roll into Rawlins before noon after a four hour ride that included a rest stop in Wolcott.  The ride from Saratoga to Wolcott was scenic and easy with a tailwind on a road with little traffic.  I was going 32 km/hour for long stretches with little effort.  The section from Wolcott to Rawlins was harder with the wind against me.  The portion from Wolcott to Sinclair was on I-80, but half of that was on the closed dead lane.  It was particularly nice to ride on this newly paved half of the Interstate and have it entirely to myself.  This was one of those rare instances in which road maintenance works to the advantage of cyclists.

Rest day has arrived!

Saturday, August 1, 2021 -- 19,632 km cum - 116 km/day

I think this was the best riding day yet, over 70 miles in only six hours from Rawlins to the ghost town of Jeffrey City.  The roads were wonderful on easy terrain with a breeze that was more a tailwind than a crosswind.  The landscape was reminiscent of the ND Badlands last year, marred only by haze from the fires further west.

Best of all, my bike-packing friend Lily from Maine came down to meet me in Jeffrey City.  She is in WY and SD in search of a motel to buy, and she drove all the way from Thermopolis.  I don't have words for my joy in seeing a familiar face so from home.  It was Lily who together with Ellen saw me off from the Brunswick Amtrak station on May 14.  Lily even brought dinner with her from Thermopolis.

I'm at the church-hostel for the night.  The walls are covered with wonderful bicycle grafiti.  I'm no artist, but I'll have to add something.

My rest day in Rawlins was a good one.  I went to the Lions' Club pancake breakfast and then went to the parade opening the Carbon County Fair.  After this I wrote my latest missive and postcards while sitting on a bench on Front Street.  I finished the day with a tour of the Wyoming Frontier Prison.  All I can say about that is freaky!  I'm glad I didn't have nightmares afterward.

Monday-Tuesday, August 2-3, 2021

-- Monday:  19,732 km cum - 100 km/day (to Lander)

-- Tuesday:  19,857 km cum - 125 km/day (to Dubois)

These were good 62 and 78-mile days.  I spent Monday night with Mike Lowhan -- whom I met as a W-E cyclist in Virginia -- and his wife Danine.  I took them out to dinner -- the least I could do -- and then had a luxurious, restful night in their guest bedroom.

Before going to Mike and Danine's house, I spent a good couple of hours at the bike shop in Lander.  I replaced the chain and bought a new helmet.  (A part of the tensioning harness in the old helmet had broken.)  I enjoyed talking with Jen and mechanic Frank while downing a free ice cream and beer in that order.

I got going at 7:30 a.m. after coffee with Mike and started a long uphill day.  Tonight I'm at the Episcopal church hostel in Dubois together with two backpackers -- one of them a solo woman from Japan -- and Luke, another E-W TransAm cyclist.

Tomorrow the climb gets steeper over the Togwotee Pass.

PS -- I unexpectedly ended up at a square dance when looking for dinner.  I hooked up there with a group at a shared table and had a wonderful time dancing with Frank.  When I returned to the hostel, everyone was jealous.

Wednesday, August 4, 2021 -- 19,968 km cum - 111 km/day

I'm in Grand Teton National Park!  A dream from watching the Ken Burns National Park documentary over a decade ago is coming true.  Tonight I'm camped at Cotter Bay Village on Jackson Lake.  The air is hazy from the fires further west, but the mountains are still immense and impressive.  I hope to see more in the morning.

I was at the top of Togwotee Pass by 1 p.m. and did not need to dismount at any point.  The traffic here was much less intimidating than on the way up to Hoosier Pass.  I had several nice conversations along the way, especially with Frank and Judy when I first entered Grand Teton NP.  They live in Oregon, but Frank used to work for ExIm Bank.  I shared with him a few of my stories from my two years as economic officer at the Embassy in Uzbekistan.

Thursday, August 5, 2021 -- 20,039 km cum - 71 km/day

A lovely short day by design from Cotter Bay to Grant Village in Yellowstone.  Yes, I'm in Yellowstone!  Gorgeous views all along the way during today's ride.  I actually like the road in Yellowstone because it has no shoulder at all.  Lane positioning and lane control are the rule of the day.  That's how I like it.  There is no muddled confusion about whether a cyclist should be on a sub-standard shoulder.  The travel lane is the only place to be.

I stayed at Cotter Bay late to do a short day hike.  The Tetons are the most spectacular mountains I have ever seen.  The views are incredible.

I cooked dinner at my campsite this evening and actually have someone to share it with.  Stefania from Mexico just rode in and is setting up camp next to me as it starts to rain.  This evening I also met Joy, a WS host from Michigan who is working at Yellowstone this summer together with her husband.

Saturday, August 7, 2021 -- 20,126 km cum - 87 km/day

It stormed all night at Grant Village and on into the morning.  One look at the sky was enough for me to call it a day before the day had even started.  I returned to the check-in booth and paid for another night at Grant Village.  (Stefania, who has a deadline to get back to medical school, rode out in the rain in the late morning.)  In the afternoon I went on a short day hike with Joy and her husband, after which they had me over for dinner.

Today I got a really late start, almost noon.  Everything was still soaking wet from yesterday's rains, and it took forever to dry out my tent and gear even with the sun.  Despite the late start, the ride was a good one.  I got to see Old Faithful and two buffalo in the wild.  At the same time, I feel a twinge of sadness.  There is so much of Yellowstone to see, and I just experienced a sliver as I rode through.  Perhaps one day I should return like Joy and her husband to work as part of the summer staff?

I'm checked in for tonight and tomorrow night at Al's Westward Ho Motel in West Yellowstone.  It's a cheap motel at $190/night.  For West Yellowstone, that's cheap.  Ouch.

I crossed into Montana just outside Yellowstone.  For the first time on this trip, I'm in a state I was in last year on the Northern Tier.