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31: Into the Great Basin

I left the Sweetwater campground early and enjoyed some very pleasant riding across the southern tip of the Wind River Range, which reminded me of nothing so much as being back in the Vedauwoo area in the mountains west of Cheyenne where I grew up.

I arrived in South Pass City a little before noon, and enjoyed the state park’s shade, Wi-Fi, and a few sodas from their gift store. Chain lubed and sodas consumed, I willed myself back into the sun and baking heat. Temps remained in the 90’s through the rest of the day under an unrelenting sun on a landscape denude of any shade. Having learned my lesson from the Grand Loop Race (you can’t really wait out the heat… just dial back the intensity and keep rolling), I spent the rest of the day slowly grinding.

Having seen relatively few hikers on the CDT so far, I seem to have finally caught the main group of southbound hikers. Reactions to my presence on the trail have varied, from indifference to curiosity to confusion that I am not on the Great Divide route. I have so far encountered zero equestrian users on the CDT itself, and wonder if/when bicycles will be a more common means than horses for the route.

Having grown up driving around the perimeter of the Great Basin, it comes as a shock to experience vast and desolate it truly is. I don’t think I’ve traveled a landscape with so little shade—the scrubby sagebrush (the tallest thing around) growing only a foot or so high in a smooth, undulating landscape devoid of rock outcrops or other shady topography.

I had intended to sleep under the stars, but ended up pitching my tent tonight to keep my things from blowing away. Classic Wyoming! 😀

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30: Easy Miles Over the Pinedale Anticline

Despite a couple of small hitches, today mostly consisted of easy and pleasant miles.

Found another broken spoke this morning. Fortunately, this time I was prepared with a spare spoke and some recent experience and the benefit of the compressor at the gas station next door to reset the tire bead (and, had that failed, a kind stranger offered help). 30 minutes later, I was back in business with a properly repaired bike!

After giving my bike a thorough bath at a car wash (using only the gentlest of sprays), I rode the nice shared use path from Marbleton to the Big Piney post office to pick up my resupply box that Ruth and Sam mailed a week ago (shout out to Sam and Ruth for printing the labels and shipping my boxes!!). Unfortunately, for inscrutable reasons, the usually-quite-reliable USPS had some sort of SNAFU and my Big Piney box never left Billings when it got there a week ago. So, Plan B, I hit the grocery store and stocked up on no-cook food and snacks (the small canisters of isobutane fuel that my stove runs on our difficult to come by outside of places that cater to backpackers).

Being now out of grizzly territory for the rest of the trip, I’m happily discarded my bear spray. Since it was already two years expired, rather than ship it home, I found a good place to discharge it (a fun and educational novelty for me, having never actually discharged bear spray before).

After an early lunch back in Marbleton, I packed my bike and was on the road by the prompt hour of noon.

The rest of the day offered smooth, swift miles—with a tailwind much of the day. By 4 pm or so I turned onto the GDMBR, and enjoyed the fast, smooth, and familiar roads that Sam and I rode in June during loop around the Wind River Range.

Being thoroughly engrossed in the Theodore Rosevelt biography also helped the miles melt away!

I arrived at the Sweetgrass Campground around 8 pm. This evening is my first stay in a campground, first campfire, and second night sleeping out under the stars of the trip. Sipping tea heated over campfire coals and enjoying one of those gas station fruit pies, heated through like fresh out of the oven is an excellent treat. Back on the CDT tomorrow!

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