Fedor and I bid farewell to our Warm Showers hosts, Mike and Dannine, riding north and west along the TransAmerica trail as it climbed gradually from 1700 meters to the town of Dubois at 2159 meters over 119 km and 965 meters of climbing. It was a lovely cool day with a pleasantly unusual tailwind that quite benefited us but enraged the TransAmerica racers who we encountered along the road. Some of them had expected a big push as they headed to the southeast, gradually downhill across Wyoming, and a respite from the mountains between their start in Oregon and here.
We ran into this guy racing the TABR from Australia, who was suffering from the altitude and glad to be heading down to lower elevations.
His meal of Cheez Whiz and bagels was the norm for most of the racers who we had met. They just wanted to inhale calories as quickly as possible and get back on the bike.
It was my birthday, June 11, and I treated myself to a motel room in Dubois. The Chinook Winds Motel, located on the southeast side of this small town, was the perfect little cycling motel and there were some TABR riders (who came and went during the night) and a few other casual TransAmerica riders who were also staying there. My Russian friend, Fedor, shared the room and joined me for dinner. We dined at the Cowboy Cafe, one of my favorite spots on the entire trip. Just plain friendly folks and, when Fedor mentioned that he as paying for my meal since it was my birthday, the waitress told us that my meal was already free since it was my birthday.
This photo of Cowboy Cafe is courtesy of Tripadvisor
Fearing the next day’s climb up and over Togwotee Pass, this piece of rhubarb strawberry pie with a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream was offered up as a sacrifice to the coming effort.
Dressing for the next day, I set up my bear spray, moving it from my front bag to a prominent position, strapped across my chest. We were heading through grizzly country and the last thing that I wanted to do if confronted by a bear was to have to fish the spray out. The bear spray canister remained very easily accessible for the next weeks as I moved through bear country. However (or maybe thankfully), the only bears that I saw were surrounded by tourists in Yellowstone, although I did “smell” a grizzly near the road climbing to Chief Joseph Pass coming out of the Big Hole a week later.
Riding out of Dubois early in the morning was the last that I saw of Fedor. We had agreed that if he was way ahead of me at the top of the climb, he would ride on. Fedor was a stronger rider and he was very gracious to ride with me on my birthday, but I could sense that he could have ridden harder (although he said that he had exhausted himself riding hard the previous day before we met in Lander.)
It was a long, exhausting slog up Wyoming Highway 26 to the top of Togwotee Pass, the highest point that I would reach on the entire trip, topping out at 2944 meters (9659 feet). While the grade was never more than 10%, it was relentlessly between 4% and 8% and the twenty-five kilos of clothing, camping gear, equipment, food, water and electronics in my panniers were always a constant presence during the climb. How slow could I go without falling over? There was not a lot of oxygen at that altitude and I was working hard for five hours from Dubois up to the col.
On the climb to the summit there was an ominous electronic traffic sign with the message, “BEAR ON ROAD, REMAIN IN VEHICLE”. Well, that is little help if you are on a bicycle.
The owner of the Lava Mountain Lodge, close to the Pass, said that a Grizzly boar (male) had killed one of a sow’s (female) two cubs the day before and she was now on a rampage. The sow would not mate with the boar while she still had cubs and this was his way of resolving the situation. (I’ve told this story several times since the ride, and there is a predictable female response to hearing that the male would commit murder if thought that it might help his chances of getting laid.)
With my bear spray on the ready, I descended quickly down the pass. It was my first view of the Tetons off to the west, my destination for the day.
It was a long day and I just missed lunch at the Hatchet Resort (five minutes after their lunch hour and they were not flexible.) I had to ride on another 35 km to Moose, WY to get a late lunch. This photo below was taken at the entrance to the Grand Teton National Park coming into Moran, WY.
The road from Moran to Moose is spectacular! This is the view…
It was a long day.. lots of climbing at altitude
I’ve been in a lot of bars over the years, but none with the view from the stools inside the Dornan’s Pizza & Pasta Co. in Moose.
The Grand Teton National Park is located on a spur off of the TransAmerica Trail, a bit off of my route from Lander up through Yellowstone. I think that one of the reasons that many cyclists don’t take the spur is because it is difficult to find camping in Jackson or economical lodging. However, the Adventure Cycling Association GPX file for the “Teton Spur” of the TransAmerica Trail included a reference to Grand Teton Climbers’ Ranch located inside the Park, just to the north of Moose. I contacted them a few days before and reserved a platform in one of their bunkhouses.
This was my home for two nights, hanging out with the “dirtbags” who come every year at the beginning of the climbing season to work for free for one week as they maintain the camp, making it ready for the season. This is what US$27 a night gets you at the Climbers’ Ranch (non-member rate).
There is a certain connection between long-distance cyclists and mountain climbers. After all of the RV parks, motels, and even camp grounds, this was one of the best places that I have ever stayed. I was in total awe of the climbers and listened with fascination as they told stories of routes and pitches that they had climbed over the years. They, in turn, wanted to hear all about my ride across the US earlier in the year and seemed genuinely impressed that I had ridden my bicycle, fully-loaded, over Togwotee Pass. It was great hanging out with these wonderful men and women.
Although I’d planned to ride on the bike path down to explore Jackson, my better angels argued that resting my legs after two days of hard riding and visiting with mountain climbers was a better choice. I did return to Dornan’s, about 8 km away, for a huge late lunch/early dinner and to purchase some food for the next push north through Yellowstone National Park.
Next: Riding north through Yellowstone and into Lamar Valley
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