Baker City, OR to Mt. Vernon, OR
I got a good night of sleep at the hostel last night and was up early to start what I knew might be a long day. I got out on the road around 6:45 and had 25 miles of slight uphill before I hit today’s 3 big climbs. We had originally planned to stop after climb number 2, but we got through those 50 miles quickly and it didn’t make sense to sit around a campsite all day.
Richland, OR to Baker City, OR
I somehow convinced myself last night that today was going to be an easy day. Only 43 miles and the elevation profile didn’t look too bad. I knew there was a climb towards the end of the day, but before the day started I was ready to consider today as a rest day.
Cambridge, ID to Richland, OR
Today was another day that started off immediately with climbing. That’s three days in a row where the climbing has started within the first 5 miles of the day. Luckily, today’s climb was the easiest of the past 3 days. It was 16 miles to the top of the climb and then there was a nice 6 mile descent down to the Snake River and into Hells Canyon. I was surprised to see some snow covered peaks off in the distance, but I know there is a lot of climbing left to do before I get to the Pacific Ocean.
Riggins, ID to Cambridge, ID
This morning was the first time my alarm has woken me up in weeks. I usually set an alarm just in case, but I’m up before it goes off. The time traveling yesterday did not help my sleep. We lost an hour by going back into Mountain Time from Pacific Time. My body decided it was still on Pacific Time this morning. The alarm went off at 5:30 but I fell back to sleep. I woke up again at 6:45 and got up. The group of 3 older guys were already on the road by that point. By the time I packed up my tent and had breakfast it was later than I would have liked. I got on the road at 7:45.
Kooskia, ID to Riggins, ID
When I set up my tent under the pavilion in the park last night, I was excited to be under a shelter. It makes it much easier to setup and take down my tent without having to stake it down or put a rain fly on. While I was completely fine, Stephen probably could have used his rain fly. Around 3:00 AM the sprinklers turned on and he was in range of them, even though he was under the pavilion. I heard the commotion and was very confused until I realized what was going on. With the sprinklers going off and the lights in the park being very bright, it wasn’t a great night of sleep.
Powell, ID to Kooskia, ID
When I got out of my tent this morning it looked like it was going to be a miserable day. There had been light rain on and off since 3:00 AM and when I woke up there was thunder rumbling. I haven’t had phone service since Missoula, so my phone had not changed to the new time zone. I set me alarm for 6:30, knowing that meant it would wake me up at 5:30. I’ve generally woken up before my alarm goes off, but I was still the last one out of my tent. The only place to get food this morning was the lodge, but it did not open until 7:00. There were also no stops from the Lodge all the way to Lowell, 65 miles away. That meant I had to survive on pop tarts and dried fruit until lunch time.
Missoula, MT to Powell, ID
Last night was a great way to end my time with the group I’ve been riding with the last week. Missoula was the point where we were all going our separate ways, so we decided to meet up at a bar for one last drink together. Mike, Dave and Camille were all headed north from Missoula to Glacier National Park. Liz had always intended for her last stop on the bike to be in Missoula. Noah and I are continuing on the Trans America Route. I also found out that Stephen was still in town, so I shot him a text and he also joined our group for a drink.
Hamilton, MT to Missoula, MT
Today didn’t start out great. I was on the road right around 7:00 AM, but not more than 5 minutes into the ride I took my first fall off the bike this trip. I giant piece of metal wire got caught in my front wheel, bent my fender into the tire and stopped me in my tracks. It happened so quickly that I was on the ground before I even knew what happened. Luckily, I was only going 5 mph, because I otherwise would have had more injuries than the slightly skinned knee I ended up with. My bike sustained no injuries which was great because the piece of metal could have easily broken a few spokes.
Wisdom, MT to Hamilton, MT
It was weird to start the morning knowing the rest of the group I’ve been riding with was 17 miles up the road. This trip has been defined to some extent by the groups that have formed for a few days or weeks at a time. I’m fine riding on my own, but my decision making and experience has been very different in a group versus riding solo. I was on the road this morning at 7:30 and had thoughts of pushing all the way to Missoula to catch everyone else as long as the conditions were good. Read More
Dillon, MT to Wisdom, MT
Lots of climbing today. There were two large climbs that took me from 5,000 feet elevation in Dillon, MT to 7,400 feet at the highest point. I knew today was going to be tough and was happy to be in a motel last night so I could get a good night of sleep. That sleep was interrupted for a few seconds by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake about 100 miles away. I woke up and it felt like I was all of a sudden sleeping on a waterbed. It didn’t last long though and I fell right back to sleep.
Ennis, MT to Dillon, MT
The 4th of July celebrations were loud in Ennis, MT last night. There were 7 of us camping behind Willie’s Distillery in town and everyone got into their tents around 9:00 PM. As I was trying to go to sleep, some fireworks started going off. It was clear that it would be a while before things quieted down. I heard Noah get out of his tent and he mentioned he was going to head to the bar across the street to wait out the noise. I of course followed him and we had a few beers. I wasn’t surprised this morning when I woke up and found only 3 tents still set up. There were four cyclists heading west who were on the road before I woke up. Noah and I were left with the one cyclist heading east. He was also on the road before us. Everyone was up early, so even though I was the last one on the road, I still started the day before 8:00 AM.
Yellowstone National Park, WY to Ennis, MT
Another long day today. I started off at Madison Campground in Yellowstone National Park. Noah and I said goodbye to our Aussie friends and got on the road around 8:15. It was a quick 15 miles from the campground to West Yellowstone, MT. There was nowhere to get food in Yellowstone, so Noah and I found a place to grab some breakfast when we got to West Yellowstone. After our meal we headed to the grocery store to pick up some food for the day. The only stopping points along the route after West Yellowstone were campgrounds and RV parks with no convenience stores or gas stations.
Grand Teton National Park, WY to Yellowstone National Park, WY
Today was the first day back on the bike after a long stretch of rest days. I was a little worried it would take a few days to get back into the routine, but I felt great riding today. I left Adam’s house around 7:00 AM. Adam drove me back to a point in Grand Teton National Park that I had passed through on my way to Jackson. I wanted to keep my continuous tracks on the trail, so I made sure I started today slightly behind where I had left off 5 days ago. We stopped by Jackson Lake Dam where I unpacked my things from the car and said goodbye to Adam and Greg.
Grand Teton Nation Park, WY and Jackson Hole, WY
Today was the last day of my break in Jackson Hole, WY. I started the day early, heading out with Greg and Adam to do a guided hike to Taggart Lake in Grand Teton National Park. At first it looked like we would have a small group to walk with the ranger, but at the last minute a family group with 18 people showed up. The large group wasn’t great for the hike, but did provide good people watching as we covered the 1.5 miles from the parking lot to the lake.
Yellowstone National Park, WY
I’m going to make this a really short post today. Greg and I left around 9:00 this morning and headed to Yellowstone. We covered a lot of ground and saw a lot of stuff in the park. We never got too far from the car, which probably wasn’t the best way to see Yellowstone, but it really is impossible to see everything in just one day. We were in the park almost the entire day and didn’t get back to Jackson until 8:30 pm. I hope the pictures are enough to give a sense of what our day was like.
Ramblin' Dan: Bike Touring Adventures 