The Teton mountains were made for pictures. Almost everyone is captured by its stunning beauty. However, after three nights stay it was time to say goodbye and move on.

On leaving Teton National park I had to go over a pass that was 30km to the summit. The three hour ride was smoke filled due to the forest fires in the vicinity, but once over the summit the sky was clear. On arrival at Dubois, I learnt that the pass was closed at 3pm as the fire was too close to the highway.  I felt like I dodged a bullet. 

The next day was a 124 km ride, so I left early in the morning but it was largely downhill and I realised I had entered the Wyoming basin – the land of nothingness, generally flat, monotonous views and just cows all along. This landscape was to stay with me for the next 4 days. At times it felt brutal as there were no distraction and headwinds made it even worse – this was more a mental challenge than physical. 

Jeffrey city deserves a mention. This was one of my stops. Contrary to what the name implied this was a ghost town, quite sad to see everything boarded up. There was a church with was quite popular among tourist cyclists because it provided shelter with even hot showers and a kitchen. This town at its peak had about 5000 people living including a school with 650 pupils. When the uranium mine was closed down, almost everyone left it seems. There were just a handful of houses that were occupied. The Split Rock Cafe is the main landmark that provided food for anyone that stopped by. The couple who ran this place were typical example of humble and resilient rural folks. I admired their strengths and kindness.

Rawlins was the biggest city along I70 corridor where I took a break. I had the oppourtunity to meet up with Tyler again, whom I met several days ago. There were several cyclists here, as this town is on The Continental Divide trail. It was great to spend time with Tyler and another cyclist Emery. We exchanged lots of ideas and several survival stories.  I was quite moved by Tyler’s personal survival story.

Walden was the first town after crossing into Colorado. This town was not much different to the towns I came across in the Wyoming basin. After leaving Walden, about 20 miles, I was headed straight into the mountains, another pass – Willow Creek pass. I am now firmly back in the mountain territory.  I took a slight detour as I wanted to go over the Rocky Mountain National park. From the campground at Grand lake it was 20km ride over some flat roads before the ascent started. The 20km of ascent was a bit more difficult as it took me over 3710m, above the tree line. The descent as expected was great fun and I arrived in Estes Park which is the east entrance of RMNP. From Estes Park I cycled to Boulder where I met up with two of my past students – the privilege of a teaching career. It was great to meet up with them and find out more about their education in the USA.

Route: Colter Bay Campground – Hatchet campground (30km ) – Dubois KOA (77) – Lander town (124) – Jeffrey City hostel (94) – Rawlins (108)- Longacres campground (98) – Walden (79) – Grand lake KOA (114) – Ester park Adventure hostel (73)- Boulder (63)