Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Thermal Baths and Wind River Canyon
Yesterday I rode up through the spectacular Wind River Canyon after bathing in the Wyoming State Bath House in Thermopolis, WY. There are mineral hot springs in Thermopolis and apparently according to a treaty with the Native Americans signed in the late 19th century, the state is required to offer free access to all people to bathe in the waters of the springs. It was pleasant enough, but I'm not sure that soaking in 104-degree water for 20 minutes immediately before getting on a bicycle and riding in upper-80-degrees temperatures was something to be repeated! But the scenery of the Wind River Canyon was so nice, it was easy to forget about the heat.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Too Much to Tell!
My journey back up and over the Bighorns was full of interesting people and places. First, the big climb to 9,666 feet ... no problem I am happy to report. I feel ready for the mountains of Colorado!
At the campground where I stayed two nights on the shore of a lovely mountain lake, Lake Meadowlark, I met Meg and John from Vermont, who let me borrow a couple of extra pads they had (since the tent sites were paved with coarse gravel!!) and were fun to talk to in the evenings. I also met Lee and Carol from Minnesota--Lee had made a similar bicycle adventure several years ago and it was neat to hear his stories. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of any of these people. I also did not get a picture of the moose that I practically bumped into on my way to the toilet one evening--it was really quite scary but, since I did not get attacked, kind of cool in retrospect.
But I did get a picture of Michael, who is a true maniac of a bicycle adventurer! I met him at the convenience store at the bottom of the mountain today at around 11am. He had just come up and over the mountain, making his descent on some dirt road that wasn't even on my map, and he was going to bicycle back up the mountain and back down the other side before the day was done.... WOW!! He said he was a "collector of mountain passes and peaks" on his bicycle and has a website at cyclepass.com.
Here are some scenery pictures from the past couple of days.
Finally, I made another video on the descent this morning--not quite as awesome as the first one, but still a pretty amazing experience! I'll post a link to that after I have a chance to upload it.
At the campground where I stayed two nights on the shore of a lovely mountain lake, Lake Meadowlark, I met Meg and John from Vermont, who let me borrow a couple of extra pads they had (since the tent sites were paved with coarse gravel!!) and were fun to talk to in the evenings. I also met Lee and Carol from Minnesota--Lee had made a similar bicycle adventure several years ago and it was neat to hear his stories. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of any of these people. I also did not get a picture of the moose that I practically bumped into on my way to the toilet one evening--it was really quite scary but, since I did not get attacked, kind of cool in retrospect.
But I did get a picture of Michael, who is a true maniac of a bicycle adventurer! I met him at the convenience store at the bottom of the mountain today at around 11am. He had just come up and over the mountain, making his descent on some dirt road that wasn't even on my map, and he was going to bicycle back up the mountain and back down the other side before the day was done.... WOW!! He said he was a "collector of mountain passes and peaks" on his bicycle and has a website at cyclepass.com.
Here are some scenery pictures from the past couple of days.
Finally, I made another video on the descent this morning--not quite as awesome as the first one, but still a pretty amazing experience! I'll post a link to that after I have a chance to upload it.
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