climax and falling action..

the past week and a half has been interesting, indeed. a little over a week and a half ago i left riverton, wy. and started heading into the mountains, which, are both literally and figuratively the climax of my tour. there is no phone service to be found and few towns with any resources so for the most part, you're on your own. by this point in my tour that type of isolation is familiar and actually quite comfortable. it's something that i'll miss when this is all over.

the landscape surprisingly looked very much south-westy in palette. orange and red rocks sprout from the ground and the land is relatively barren of trees. around every corner is another stretch of road with beautiful cliffs on either side. it did not wear thin. i could ride these roads over and over again.

the further i rode the more i could feel a change in elevation, though, there were no signs. my lungs were fine and i never went lactic but i just could not generate any power whatsoever. it was low-gear all the way, which made for some slow miles.

going up in elevation definitely means a change in weather. i had found a spot on the side of the road that looked good for a campsite and decided to call it a night. not having service i had no idea what the weather was going to do so i just prepare for the worst. i pitched my tarp, buttoned it to the ground and tightened it like a drum. i brought everything inside i might need and called it a night. during the night the winds whipped up and started dumping rain in spurts. by morning it had changed to ice. preparing for the worst paid off for sure this night.

just after sunrise the clouds broke and let a little light through, and man oh man, light just doesn't happen like this at sea level, for sure. i had just enough time to get out, grab some more food from the bike and enjoy the contrasty light. the clouds closed up and the precipitation started up again. all you can do is tighten the guy lines and get back into your sleeping bag and just wait. sometime around 1 o'clock the weather lightened up and it was time to make some distance. a quick pack job and i was on my way.

while climbing through the shoshone national forest i came across a campground and decided to call it a night. i wasn't going any further that night and having a campsite would be nice seeing as though i was definitely in bear country at that point... not that that would really have any affect on a bear, it just made me feel a bit better. while setting up my tarp a guy from the one other campsite being occupied walked over and offered me to join him and his family in their camper for some dinner. absolutely i would. dinner, snacks, coffee, and fresh cranberries from their farm in wisconsin were had. afterwards i head back to my site and set up my tarp. again, prepare for the worst. i awoke to a winter wonderland. i heard a voice calling through the trees, "breakfast is ready... so is your coffee". well, you can't say "no"  to that.

when they had packed up and were on their way out of the park the stopped by and offered to drive me in to jackson hole. i declined, i had ridden this far and had to continue on my own two wheels. they wished me luck and drove off leaving me in the snow cave that had become of my tarp. around mid-day the weather broke and the sun came out. it was time to get moving. up through the mountains i rode.

the higher i went the grayer and colder it got. when you get to that point there is no turning back, you just have to go up and over. not having access to any data i had no idea how far "over" was just that it was somewhere up there and i needed to get there. continuing in my bottom gear i crept on. it was getting bitter cold and my pedals were icing up almost immediately. i had to stop and scrape the ice off with my multi-tool every twenty minutes or so. stopping for any length of time was bad news. freezing cold would stab its way in at every opportunity.

grinding on with no idea how far i had to go i looked up and saw a sign. a good sign. the continental divide sign. 9584 feet. then another good sign "6% grade next 17 miles". although crossing the divide was literally the high point of my tour, the second sign was perhaps even better. it was time to lose some elevation, and fast. but first, i needed to put some socks over my gloves... i was a bit under prepared. 

coming down from the pass the snow quickly disappeared. this was a good sign, though still cold. i stopped at the first campground i came by and called it a day. i was beat and i deserved a good sleep. the campsite was right next to a ranger station and i struck up a conversation with one of them. "do you have bear spray?' he asked... i did not. he popped back into the station and gave me a bottle and said, "i could save your life". all that means is i was not going to have a good sleep that night. don't get me wrong, i was glad to have it, but, dammit.

it was a cold night. very cold. a sturdy layer of frost covered everything and all of my water was frozen solid. i packed up as fast as i could, being painfully cold, and got on my way. still riding slightly downhill the wind burned my eyes... it made looking at the wild buffalo off in the distance difficult. even if they're blurry their size is quite clear.

now, here is where things get interesting. i pulled off on the side of the road to get a good look at the tetons and there was a guy there sitting in his car near by. "not a bad sight, eh?" he said and we struck up a conversation. he invited me to go hunting in the teton wilderness on horseback the day after next and i said "yes, absolutely" are you kidding me? people pay thousands of dollars for this experience and i just happened to meet the right guy. awesome. this is what my tour is all about. we head back to his cabin a few miles away and got the fire going. it ceases to amazes me how friendly people are outside of the northeast.

the next day we drove around, got coffee, talked to people he knows in the area and just talked about everything late into the night. the following day we head out into the backcountry. i should mention that this was my first time on a horse. not a bad way learn how to ride, right?

we got lucky. very lucky. about an hour into the ride he had spotted what would become our dinner. he dismounted, aimed, and fired. now, remember how i said this was my first time on a horse? right, well at the gunshot the horses bolted, mine with me on it. they all took off back down the trail and i could not get my horse to stop so my only job was to stay in the saddle. trees, branches, fallen trees, rocks and dirt flew past as i juggled between trying to get control of the horse and bracing for an unwanted dismount into any of those obstacles. i managed to bring him to a stop and immediately hopped out of the saddle in case he decided he had some more running to do. that was an exciting minute, for sure. that night i had the most mind-blowing steak ever.

after a few days of insane hospitality i bid my host farewell and set off hoping to get ahead of some snow coming in the next day or so. my time in the tetons has been unforgettable but it was time to get going. weather waits for no one and i still had about 1000 miles to seattle. a day riding towards jackson hole downhill into a stiff headwind and having to work for it is enough to demoralize the fittest tourer out there.

keeping an eye on the weather i did what i could to get ahead while trying to stay dry. sometimes there's nothing to do but seek shelter and wait it out. unfortunately, this day i'd still get caught in some downpours and get soaked. cold and wet is a bad combination and all i could do was motor on to stay just warm enough. i spent the night in a luxurious gazebo that had electricity so i was able to charge my phone and get a good night of sleep.

i'm into idaho now and still have damp clothes. nothing dries at 37 degrees, especially if the sun hasn't shone in over a week. there's not much i can do about that but keep moving. it's getting late in the season and i have places to be. the last time i checked i'm about 800 miles from seattle. there is an end in sight, for better or worse, but i'm not there yet. i still have some riding to do.