Pinedale - Rawlins is a 220mile stretch of desert with not much in it other than some Pronghorn antelope, wild horses, lots of sage bush and huge, wide open views, and not much water.
The first night into it at Little Sandy Creek we finally saw some clouds, lots of them in fact, along with strong winds, hail and snow. After a month of blue sky I guess that it had to break. A blessing in disguise I guess as we were well looked after by Mike Wade, wife & daughter who run a horse trekking operation there. It didn't take much convincing that the mess tent with wood burning stove was a better place to spend the day rather than up in the desert (NZ'ers, think Desert Rd mid winter).
Yet again, some really nice people.
My new tent was saying 'what storm?"
The next few days to Rawlins thru the desert were great . Awesome views, good fast riding on a great surface, and even a tail wind :)
Scott from Banff has joined us, at the A&M reservoir. He's been slowly catching us over the last month while hearing all about us as he's passed thru various towns.
A&M Reservoir
Brrrr...
Mike, Bobby, Emily and the crew
Our 'haven'...
Pinedale
A bit rushed as we got there after a 100km day and had to get groceries for the next four days. The central CG was a bit dodgy but way preferable to a 8mile one way off route ride to the other option.
But, finally, I got a new tent. Yaa.
A Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2 from REI and delivered to the Pinedale A-Z Hardware/Bike shop (who also sent my tent home, cheers:). Half the weight of my Fairydown Assault, even more room, easier and faster to set up, and I think that I can set up / take down in the rain and stay dry'ish (time will tell).
Anyway, I'm a happy camper.
South Fork Fish Creek
A cruisey ride to Fish Creek from Brookes Lake. Knocked off Union Pass which wasn't too bad. First half great on a well formed dirt road, then bit harder on much looser gravel to the Divide Crossing. A big lunch at the Sawmill prior to the 'second half' probably made it a bit harder.
Anyway, enroute to Fish Creek we were invited to stay at the rangers station with Rob & Maria. Apparently there were plenty of bears in the are due to the cattle being ill and thus easier prey, such that they wanted us to be safe. As if we'd pass up such as request. So we had a great evening with them. Maria conjured up a nice Lassange for dinner and pancakes for brekky while Rob entertained us in his great 'Alabaham' style. Awesome!
Brookes Lake
Yellowstone
Was a bit disappointing.
Basically a tourist trap with a some hot pools and a few Bison wandering around (Old Faithful epitomising things by being very lame). If you're into thermal activity then NZ is way better and I hear the Greenland even more so.
Still, good to kick back for a day or two.
Although hiring a car for a spin around the place was a good idea, we all felt much better riding thru on our bikes.
And we did get four more divide crossings.
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