Continental Divide Ride
July 18, 2009
 

Our route from today is here.


Our cumulative route is here.





    Sorry folks, no quote of the day today.  The above photo is quote enough.  Wow!

    Those are the Tetons, by the way. 

    We left Ashton, Idaho this morning and rode through flat fields of green.  Soon we were climbing the west side of the Teton range.  Fifteen miles from Ashton, the pavement ended and the gravel began. 

    The scenery was great, even though a bit dusty, the road went for miles.  It seemed that the road was the only connection between Ashton and Yellowstone/Tetons, and the traffic showed.  There were many vehicles. 

   
Soon we were passing within several hundred yards of the south end of Yellowstone National Park and a few miles of the northern boundary of Grand Tetons National Park.  We rode for maybe 35 miles and then emerged on U.S. Highway 287 and turned south towards Grand Tetons.  We marveled at the fact that if we stayed on U.S. 287 we could be in Crockett, TX in a few days and never change to a different highway.  Cool.   

    Jackson Lake appeared on the west, against the craggy, snow smattered, mountain range.

    We’ve seen almost all the mountain ranges in the Continental United States and we believe the Tetons are the most spectacular of all.  They are striking and make you take notice.

    We rode along the lake and enjoyed the views.  Soon 287 diverged with the mountain range and we moved southwest, but the scenery just kept coming.  We rode above 9000 feet for miles and the green, with a touch of snow, was great.

   
We had to slab it on 287 for about 30 miles and then we turned south into the Shoshone National Forest and started climbing Union Pass.  We rode for 20 miles and finally arrived on the green, windswept summit.  The meadows that stretched out were beautiful, and we spent the afternoon riding among high balds, with snow-capped peaks in the background.
   
Mid-afternoon we decided to stop and eat our lunch.  The scenery was great, the food was great, but the mosquitoes were relentless.  We scarfed down our tuna and crackers as fast as we could and we were off again.

    Soon, we were paralleling the Green River. 

    The Green River is a tributary of Colorado and we enjoyed thinking we could put in right there and be in the Grand Canyon in a few weeks.  Wow, again.

    Late in the day we came to our destination of Pinedale, Wyoming.  We’re still in the Yellowstone and Teton bubble, so the town is a bit lost for an identity trying to cater to roughnecks as well as extremely overdressed tourists.  The first person you see is a poster child for not doing meth and the next is a lesson in how wearing $100 “outdoor” sandals doesn’t make you look any more like you know what you’re doing.

    See y’all down the trail.

   

                                                    July 19