On July 1st I did 63.9 miles to Fruin Spring. On July 2nd I did 60.5 Miles to Warm River. On July 3rd I did 61.2 miles to Colter Bay. On July 4th I did 77.5 miles to Union Pass. On July 5th I did 65.3 Miles to Pinedale, WY.
Listen to "Changes" by Faul, Wad AD, PNAU. I've been riding through the national parks and cranking up the passes listening to some fun house music. Occasionally I can hit the washboards at the perfect time and they add a little extra bass to the music. Maybe I should be a DJ when I get off trail?
After Wise River, MT I hit Old Banack Road which I followed for 30 miles as it slowly climbed up leaving the flat farmland behind and continued into the mountains. About 20 miles on the dirt road I could see the actual Continental divide ridgeline infront of me. Right before we hit the base of the mountains the road veered South and I followed the range about 2,000 feet below the crest. I track my adventures with a GPS and automatically send waypoints out every 15 minutes. There isnt much use for the tracks other than at the end you get to see a giant line across a map that you know you hiked or biked. I still had my 2019 hike tracks on my phone and I have been able to see a bunch of times where I have crossed paths with my old markers which is a fun trip down memory lane. This time I watched as I paralleled my old tracks for a while as I took the low road into town.
The next day I got up early and did a quick 35 miles to Lima, MT. I didn't plan on staying in Lima when I set out on this ride but my head still hurt from the crash so I figured a town day wasn't the worst way to recuperate. I walked up to the only motel in town and the woman behind the counter said "hey you are a type of bear aren't you?" I just started to laugh and thought there was no way she remembered a random hiker from 3 years ago and then she said, "yeah you're Samson-The-Bear" I was shocked and wondered what the hell I could have done for her to remember my name. She wasn't sure either why she remembered me, but she was excited for a return guest and gave me a six pack of beer (they collect all the left over unopened beer people leave in the motel rooms). I spent the day laying in bed drinking beer, eating ice cream and polishing off a few bags of chips; I figured there was no better way to recover than this. Maybe I should be doctor when I get off trail? (who am I kidding, I should be a nurse since we all know they actually run the hospital)
I left Lima and headed directly East into the Centennial Mountains. You would think that a Easterly direction would give me a nice tail wind but that didn't seem to be in the cards and endured a strong head wind. It felt like I had a parasail attached to the bike as I worked my way across the land and fought for every tire rotation. The area was stunning and the wind kept the mosquitoes away but I was absolutely exhausted and completely bonked at mile 64. Unfortunately there was no flat or clear land around me and my body was in complete opposition to moving any further down trail so I just layed down ontop of some sage brush and drapped my sleeping bag over me and passed out. That spot will go down as one of the top 5 strangest places I slept (#1 being a traffic circle in Luxembourg) but I felt great the next day and the bushes stabbing my back all night actually seemed to have relaxed some muscles. Maybe I should become an acupuncturist
The following day I broke into Idaho and left Montana behind. It was a nice accomplishment to finish the big state but it definitely beat me up and I certainly didn't feel like I conquered it. I did a quick resupply in Mack's Inn, Idaho (resupplies are quick when you already know where the grocery store, coffee shop and charging outlets are) and pushed out to make some miles. I was meandering through Idaho when I hit the Warm River Valley which was absolutely stunning gorge that I followed along an old rail road bed. I planned on doing a pass in the evening but a super nasty storm popped up and I setup camp early, climbing into my tent just as the skies opened up.
I intended to get an early start the next day but ended up sleeping in (ooops). I quickly jumped onto a forest road in Bridger National Forest and made some miles. I stopped for a coffee break to keep my pace going. My adventures are fueled almost exclusively on caffeine and anxiety from the thoughts of all of the relationships I have ruined, and when I combine caffeine and anxiety I can go for hours until I've had my fill and fall asleep in a bush. I guess when I ate breakfast I didn't clean my spoon very well and when I mixed my coffee up I inadvertently added some peanut butter to the coffee. The flavor combination was surprisingly great and I don't think it tasted good just because I have low food standards. I wonder how many other flavor combinations we take for granted were originally due do to bad cleaning practices? (This is where I should insert the joke about being a chef, but I think it's overused by this point).
I hit pavement again at Flagg Ranch where I met up with Melissa and Mary who I met a few days prior. They convinced me to stop early and share a campsite in Colter Bay inside Grand Teton National Park. Campgrounds are the bane of my existence, especially in National Parks, and especially over a holiday weekend but I had been traveling solo for awhile and the company was great. We snagged a few beers from the convenient store and did our best to not get hit by a car in the parking lot (National Park parking lots are easily the most dangerous part of any trip) and we stayed up way past hiker midnight swapping stories and laughing at ourselves for signing up for one of the silliest adventures you can do on a bike.
