20th August
Peter and I have a chat through the morning, and I pack the bike in slow time. Last night and this morning Peter helps me plan a route which will take me up towards the Beartooth Pass and Chief Joseph Highway. I load the route into Bettie and, just after 1300, I say my thanks to Peter for his and Elaine’s superb hospitality, and set off down Interstate 15 towards Soda Springs. It’s a great morning – not too warm, but sunny with broken cloud cover. The forecast is for a 20% probability of rain, so I keep the waterproof cover on my tank bag. At Soda Springs, I head north up Highway 34, pausing to do some shopping at Henry…
…only to find that the department store is closed. I move onto gravel roads, still heading north towards the Palisades Reservoir. Across the other side of the wide, flat bottomed valley, a rainsquall is doing its thing…
That’s the direction I’m headed in. Hopefully, I’ll just about dodge this particular storm. I’m soon turning off on another dirt and gravel road…
…which, this sign reminds me, was probably built as a mining road in the first instance…
I’m soon into the Caribou National Forest…
…where I come across this sign by a small hut – I’m guessing it’s some form of Bothy – a refuge for lost hikers…
Soon, I’m climbing into the hills. The track here is different – it’s basically just dirt – virtually no gravel – and it’s been rained on recently. Where the sun is on it, there’s not a problem…
…however, where it’s protected from the sun, it’s very slippery. Because I’ve not got knobbly tyres fitted, the treads fill up with mud quickly, making both steering and applying power very difficult. I successfully get to the top of the pass, then, descending the other side…
…the road suddenly goes into the shade of some large conifers. As I ride the bike slowly down the slippery slope, I’m confused by what’s happening to the steering – I’m not using the front brake but, despite using the throttle to keep the front as light as possible, it’s twisting and turning like a twisty turny thing. Very soon, the inevitable happens, and I dump it on its right side.
In a break with tradition, I unload the bike before taking pictures. In some ways, I’m better placed than I was last week. I’ve plenty of water, and I had a good breakfast with Peter a few hours ago. The road I’m on is clearly used fairly regularly, too. The bad news is that, after I’ve used the right rocker cover as a pivot and placed the bike in the most favourable position to lift it, I find that the mud is so slippery that my boots can’t get enough purchase to raise the bike. Bugger. I struggle for 30 minutes or so, when I hear the best sound in the world – an approaching pick-up truck…
This is Duane and Eric Shorma. They’re out for a drive with Duane’s wife (& Eric’s Mum), who very sensibly stays in the cab
They’re real good Samaritans, and not only pick the bike up, but put all my kit in the back of their pick up and follow me down hill to where the road reverts to gravel. I gingerly set off and, embarrassingly, almost immediately dump it again. There’s definitely something wrong here …
As we pull the bike upright again, I see what it is – the front mudguard is so clogged with mud that the front wheel is completely locked – I’ve been riding a sled…
Duane and Eric cut some sticks and we get to work trying to clear the mud out – it’s amazingly hard packed and is very difficult to clear. Eventually we clear sufficient clearance…
…to allow the wheel to turn and I slowly start to ride down the hill again. After another mile or so, I can feel the resistance from the mud start to increase and we stop and clear more mud. Eventually we reach the bottom of the hill and dry gravel. I give my heart-felt thanks to my benefactors and exchange cards – Eric, it turns out, works for Wyoming Game & Fish Dept as a Bear Management Specialist. I’m not sure what that means – but it doesn’t sound like a job I’ll be applying for any time soon…
Once again, I’m rewarded for having faith in the kindness of strangers – good people.
In slow time, I re-pack the bike and then set off – carefully – along the pre-planned route. The forest road takes me up towards the Palisades Reservoir, which is looking very low…
I ride up the west side of the lake and then across the top of the dam – back on asphalt – hurrah!
Anybody know what rip rap is?*
…
I turn left up the 26, turning right at Sun Valley towards Jackson Hole. I’ve stayed at Jackson Hole, in the Motel 6, on 2 previous occasions – it was very cheap ($30 per night) – I expect it to be more expensive this time, but it’s a nice place to stay & has an excellent Internet Café virtually next door. I climb up the Teton Pass and clear the summit…
…to see Jackson and Wilson laid out before me on the valley floor. I ride the last 7 miles into Jackson – to find that Motel 6 are now charging $90 a night!
I’m tired, hungry and my leg hurts – I book in for a single night, grab a burger from the local Wendy’s and collapse onto the bed. I examine my left leg. I appear to have bruised a bruise – can you do that? - anyway, it’s sore and swollen – I take some painkillers and decide to see what it looks like in the morning. My guess is ‘colourful’…
Not such a great day – you can get too much adventure sometimes…
EDIT - An answer from Pierce on ADVRider - "its broken rock used to prevent erosion. Ranges from car sized boulders used to slow ocean incursion on cliffs to what you saw on that dam."
Peter and I have a chat through the morning, and I pack the bike in slow time. Last night and this morning Peter helps me plan a route which will take me up towards the Beartooth Pass and Chief Joseph Highway. I load the route into Bettie and, just after 1300, I say my thanks to Peter for his and Elaine’s superb hospitality, and set off down Interstate 15 towards Soda Springs. It’s a great morning – not too warm, but sunny with broken cloud cover. The forecast is for a 20% probability of rain, so I keep the waterproof cover on my tank bag. At Soda Springs, I head north up Highway 34, pausing to do some shopping at Henry…
…only to find that the department store is closed. I move onto gravel roads, still heading north towards the Palisades Reservoir. Across the other side of the wide, flat bottomed valley, a rainsquall is doing its thing…
That’s the direction I’m headed in. Hopefully, I’ll just about dodge this particular storm. I’m soon turning off on another dirt and gravel road…
…which, this sign reminds me, was probably built as a mining road in the first instance…
I’m soon into the Caribou National Forest…
…where I come across this sign by a small hut – I’m guessing it’s some form of Bothy – a refuge for lost hikers…
Soon, I’m climbing into the hills. The track here is different – it’s basically just dirt – virtually no gravel – and it’s been rained on recently. Where the sun is on it, there’s not a problem…
…however, where it’s protected from the sun, it’s very slippery. Because I’ve not got knobbly tyres fitted, the treads fill up with mud quickly, making both steering and applying power very difficult. I successfully get to the top of the pass, then, descending the other side…
…the road suddenly goes into the shade of some large conifers. As I ride the bike slowly down the slippery slope, I’m confused by what’s happening to the steering – I’m not using the front brake but, despite using the throttle to keep the front as light as possible, it’s twisting and turning like a twisty turny thing. Very soon, the inevitable happens, and I dump it on its right side.
In a break with tradition, I unload the bike before taking pictures. In some ways, I’m better placed than I was last week. I’ve plenty of water, and I had a good breakfast with Peter a few hours ago. The road I’m on is clearly used fairly regularly, too. The bad news is that, after I’ve used the right rocker cover as a pivot and placed the bike in the most favourable position to lift it, I find that the mud is so slippery that my boots can’t get enough purchase to raise the bike. Bugger. I struggle for 30 minutes or so, when I hear the best sound in the world – an approaching pick-up truck…
This is Duane and Eric Shorma. They’re out for a drive with Duane’s wife (& Eric’s Mum), who very sensibly stays in the cab
They’re real good Samaritans, and not only pick the bike up, but put all my kit in the back of their pick up and follow me down hill to where the road reverts to gravel. I gingerly set off and, embarrassingly, almost immediately dump it again. There’s definitely something wrong here … As we pull the bike upright again, I see what it is – the front mudguard is so clogged with mud that the front wheel is completely locked – I’ve been riding a sled…
Duane and Eric cut some sticks and we get to work trying to clear the mud out – it’s amazingly hard packed and is very difficult to clear. Eventually we clear sufficient clearance…
…to allow the wheel to turn and I slowly start to ride down the hill again. After another mile or so, I can feel the resistance from the mud start to increase and we stop and clear more mud. Eventually we reach the bottom of the hill and dry gravel. I give my heart-felt thanks to my benefactors and exchange cards – Eric, it turns out, works for Wyoming Game & Fish Dept as a Bear Management Specialist. I’m not sure what that means – but it doesn’t sound like a job I’ll be applying for any time soon…
Once again, I’m rewarded for having faith in the kindness of strangers – good people.
In slow time, I re-pack the bike and then set off – carefully – along the pre-planned route. The forest road takes me up towards the Palisades Reservoir, which is looking very low…
I ride up the west side of the lake and then across the top of the dam – back on asphalt – hurrah!
Anybody know what rip rap is?*
…
I turn left up the 26, turning right at Sun Valley towards Jackson Hole. I’ve stayed at Jackson Hole, in the Motel 6, on 2 previous occasions – it was very cheap ($30 per night) – I expect it to be more expensive this time, but it’s a nice place to stay & has an excellent Internet Café virtually next door. I climb up the Teton Pass and clear the summit…
…to see Jackson and Wilson laid out before me on the valley floor. I ride the last 7 miles into Jackson – to find that Motel 6 are now charging $90 a night!
I’m tired, hungry and my leg hurts – I book in for a single night, grab a burger from the local Wendy’s and collapse onto the bed. I examine my left leg. I appear to have bruised a bruise – can you do that?
- anyway, it’s sore and swollen – I take some painkillers and decide to see what it looks like in the morning. My guess is ‘colourful’…Not such a great day – you can get too much adventure sometimes…
EDIT - An answer from Pierce on ADVRider - "its broken rock used to prevent erosion. Ranges from car sized boulders used to slow ocean incursion on cliffs to what you saw on that dam."
