Day 35: Tuesday, May 9

I woke up this morning and could feel the repercussions of my system "rebooting" two days ago. The good news is that my appetite has returned. Eating on the trip has become a delicate balancing act. It is necessary to eat enough to keep your energy up, but to not eat too much at one time to slow you down. While Shayne prefers to take a take a break in the middle of the day to eat lunch, I prefer to eat small snacks all day and then eat a big meal once I am done for the day.

I struggled this morning as we climbed to cross the Continental Divide again. However, I was feeling better by the time we made it to Rawlins in the early afternoon. I stopped by the Rawlins Post Office to mail home some pictures and another set of maps. (Rawlins marks the completion of Section Five.) We considered stopping, but it was still early in the day so we decided to push on. There was a city park in Sinclair, however with a "No Camping" sign posted, we figured we would be pushing our luck since the park was right next to the town's main street. From Sinclair, the route turned onto Interstate 80. We rode about six miles before we came to a rest area. The sun was close to setting so we decided to set up camp. Tomorrow we have about seven more miles on Interstate 80. I believe this is the only time we will have to ride on any Interstate for the rest of the trip. We are about 73 miles from Colorado, so we might cross the state line tomorrow, but definitely by Thursday.

Day 34: Monday, May 8

Despite the short night last night, I woke up this morning feeling better. Shayne has been riding faster than me the past couple of days, so I left ahead of him today. I figured that if I did run into problems, I didn't want him to have to backtrack to find me. The sky became overcast late in the morning, and it threatened to rain. I was waiting for Shayne in Jeffrey City when it finally started to drizzle.

Thankfully, everything has turned out alright so far as we rode over 72 miles today. I haven't had too much to eat since I don't want to push it. We set up camp (illegally, again) at Split Rock Historic Site. I am grateful that there is a bathroom here in case of an emergency.

Day 33: Sunday, May 7

I woke up this morning not feeling very well. We went to meeting, had lunch with the Majors, and then ran some errands around Riverton. Wayne Major Sr. and his wife were kind enough to drive Shayne and I back to Lander. Since it was late in the day, and I was still feeling bad, we decided to take the day off. Wayne took us to the Rise of the Sinks, a picturesque state park. The water flows into the mountain (below on the left) and then comes out about a quarter mile downstream (below on the right.)








This evening, the stomach bug caught up with me and I spent most of the night in the bathroom. I wasn't able to get to bed until 2:00 in the morning. For the first time in the trip, I am concerned that I will need to drop out. I hope that I wake up tomorrow morning and feel better. The scary part is that once we leave Lander, there aren't any big towns for over 100 miles. It would be awful to push on and then get stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

Day 32: Saturday, May 6

Today was a great day! With the exception of a couple of climbs, we rode downhill pretty much the whole day. Plus the wind was at our backs, so we were able to make really good time. I averaged a new record 15.1 mph! The scenery was a visual feast of canyons, rivers, mountains, and open plains.

In the morning, we rode through a cattle drive. That was an interesting experience. We made it to Lander where we left our bikes and our gear at the Sleeping Bear Campground. Wayne and Wanda Major from Riverton drove down, picked us up, and invited us to spend the night with them in their home. Tomorrow, we will go with them to meeting in Wayne's parent's home. An interesting side note: Wayne is Brett Major's uncle (who worked with me at the South Rim of the Canyon two summers ago.)

Day 31: Friday, May 5

Today is Cinco de Mayo and a shout out to Erik and Katie... Happy Anniversary! We woke up this morning to a perfectly clear sky, so we were able to get a great look at the Grand Tetons in the full sun.








We spent most of the day climbing from below 7,000 feet to the 9,658 foot Togwotee Pass. This is our second highest pass on the whole trip.








I struggled to get over the pass today, however, the scenery on the other side was amazing.








We finally made it to Dubois where we ate at a less than satisfactory cafe. Tonight we are camped at the Dubois KOA. We hope to be able to make it to Lander by tomorrow.

Day 30: Thursday, May 4

It was a good thing we stopped to camp where we did. The rest of the picnic and camping areas were covered in snow, and the snow banks along the road were huge. In fact, it was interesting trying to find a bathroom in the morning. Thankfully, we found one that was still unlocked. We woke up to a light dusting of snow, and it continued to snow on us through most of the day. We crossed the Continental Divide three times. Since the roads were closed, it was nice to be able to ride without worrying about any traffic.








Unfortunately, despite the new tires, Shayne got another flat tire today.






We exited Yellowstone and soon entered Grand Teton National Park. All of the services we came across were closed for the winter season. While we still had enough food for a couple of days, we were running out of water. We were considering hitching a ride down to Jackson since we weren't sure how long it would be before we would find something that was open. Thankfully, there was a gas station near Colter Bay Village that was still open.









We are camped (illegally, again) just outside the park at a Forest Service parking area within view of the Tetons.

Day 29: Wednesday, May 3

Today we entered Yellowstone National Park and crossed into Wyoming! It was difficult to leave the comfort of a real bed this morning. Shayne stopped by a bike shop in West Yellowstone to buy new tires. We also checked with a Ranger Station, and they recommended that we ride around since the park was closed beyond Old Faithful, and they couldn't guarantee that the roads would be plowed. This was disheartening as it would add over 100 miles to our trip. We didn't end up leaving West Yellowstone until after lunch. The plan was to take our time and enjoy the park as we rode to Old Faithful. I had never been to Yellowstone so it would have been a shame to be this close and miss it, even if it meant adding another couple of days to our trip. We saw lots of wildlife, including bald eagles, bison, and elk:

Once inside the park, we stopped and talked to a maintenance worker. He told us that all of the roads in the park were indeed plowed. We hoped that the Rangers didn't want to tell us that we could go past Old Faithful since then they would be responsible if anything happened to us.

We made it to Old Faithful by late afternoon. After we stopped to watch, we waited for the crowds to disperse, and then we rode past the barricades. A couple miles beyond Old Faithful,
we set up camp at the observation deck overlooking Kepler Cascades. This probably wasn't allowed, but we weren't within view of the road, and even if a Ranger did stop, we figured we could talk our way out of it.