Chapter 5 – Avoiding the Divide

After the National Parks the Great Divide route leads to the Great Basin, a 135 miles stretch known as the biggest graveyard in the USA. We knew there were works along the way and some bit had been rerouted, and because the temperatures have been very high over the previous weeks and especially because we couldn’t really be bothered to spend days in a desert, we decided to follow the Trans American route for the following 4 days and rejoin the Great Divide in Rawlins.

Cycling on pavement is so much easier, but following busy highways is not always fun. The landscapes changed dramatically. From the woods of Montana we found ourselves in infinite plains with no shelter nor limits. At the beginning the contrast was new and welcome, but things started to deteriorate over the days…

We did meet some inspiring characters, especially an Alaskan surgeon that was cycling the Divide with his wife and 5 of his 11 children, this is truly amazing!

Day 35 / 8 July - Campsite in the middle of nowhere to Dubois – 79km and 950m elevation gained

The day started with some rain but lucky enough we woke up right before it started to pour down and we managed to move all the stuff to the toilets, where we had a good breakfast and packed all the stuff. 

Breakfast in the toilets

 By 8 it stopped, the sky still looked threatening but we wore all our waterproof kit and decided to give it a go. We knew the day would have been long and hilly. The climb up to the Togwotee Pass (2944m) started soon and lasted for 30km. the climb was long, steep and arduous but the gray and wet landscape reminded us of Scotland and it felt good to go up surrounded by woods and peaks.

All that goes up goes down and the next 10 km stretch was a sweet freezing downhill. At the Lava Mountain resort we stopped for a warm up coffee, a nice place with friendly people inquisitive of our trip. 

Then we went on and after a turn we were suddenly faced by a totally different landscape, the real Far West with striped pinkish hills paralleling the road, beautiful and unexpected!

Finally in Dubois it started to rain and we opted for a motel, the first after 10 nights of camping. As soon as we entered the room the sky opened for hours, so glad we were not camping! We were told it only rained like that 3 times over the last 20 years! 

Day 36/ 9 July – Dubois to Lander – 124km

After a quick breakfast and a few pictures around town (which was pretty indeed) we set off for a long 124km day. The road was undulating, we entered the Wind River Indian Reservation with an eagle flying high over us and it felt the proper Far West. 

After a couple of stops to recover energies, we looked at the sky and could see a thunderstorm approaching. We pedaled as fast as we could to avoid it but a turn sent us straight to its arms. We stopped under a few bushes and heard a woman knocking at her window telling us to get shelter in her porch. When the rain turned to hail we got inside their home and got to know the Leonardi family, such nice people! We swapped some delicious water melon with our stories and spent a good hour with them. 

The sun was shining again and it was a quick 10k to Lander, where we ate the best pizza in ages and I was proudly asked for my ID on ordering a beer :) There we met a group of 8 guys who were doing the Transamerican, we would meet regularly during the next few days.

Day 37 / 10 July - Lander to Muddy Gap – 130km

The day started with a man knocking at our door as he saw our bikes outside and was wondering where we came from and were going to. He wished us good luck, which is always a good way to start the day.

After an initial relatively flattish 40km stretch, a long hill was waiting for us, and it was a killer! It lead us to an infinite plateau up to 1900m with beautiful views of the plains and hills nearby. We were blessed by a strong tail/lateral wind who pushed us all day, I just felt so sorry for those going the opposite direction, but we’d pay for it soon… 

 By 3pm we were in Jeffrey City, a mining town who was abandoned in the 80s when the mines closed. We were planning to spend the night there, but when we stopped in the only café it felt so depressing that we decided to take advantage of the wind and keep going 20 miles to Muddy Gap.

Muddy Gap is a gas station with nothing else. They charge 10$ to camp outside it but at least there was a store and we had a good chat with the group we met the day before who was camping there too. That was the windiest place on earth, the tent was shaken all night. The ground was not even and it was set in between an highway and a 24h pump, not the quietest place to camp but I was so tired that I slept like a log. 

Day 38/ 11 July – Muddy gap to Rawlins – 70km of headwind

The key word of day has been WIND. We started early and started a 10k hill with headwind, optimistically thinking it can’t be windy forever, and it can’t go up forever. We were wrong in both cases: it was a fierce 20+ miles/h headwind all the way to Rawlins, with no descent. By the time we got to town we were so tired that we just booked a room and stay there resting and eating pizza watching TV, it really felt good to do nothing. We rejoined the Great Divide route at this stage and wouldn't see much pavement for a while so we thought it wise to rest and recuperate energies.We knew the next day would be even tougher, with headwind and nothing to be found for 2 days.  

Not a single tree or bend to shelter us from wind

Day 39/ 12 July  - 60km to god knows where

Today a 2 day nightmare started. We were originally thinking to have a day off in Rawlins, but the Sage Creek Road that we had to take was only open on Sundays due to works. That was our 14^th day of cycling in a row, legs were tired and the head started to say “give me a break”, but sometimes you just have to do things, so off we went, resigned at a long day with headwind.

After 40km of fierce headwind and a hill with no end I gave up. It was not fun, it was spending so many energies to go nowhere and I told Paul “let’s hitchhike”. We could have counted the cars passing on that road on one hand so that the odds were not on our side, Paul suggested to go on a wee bit and stop for a while after a turn, and guess what was after the turn? An RV with a trailer supporting 4 cyclists who were doing a section of the Divide and were on their first day. We had a chat with them and found out they were planning to stop in the campsite we were heading to. Quite cheekily I asked if we could get a lift for those 26 miles and they took us in, such nice people, they really saved me! We started driving and at half way the 4 cyclists gave up too, so that we all drove down the road.

They were looking for a campsite that only existed on the map and somehow ended up 2 miles down a road not suitable for RVs. At that stage, thinking they would camp there, we took our bikes out of the trailer, had a beer with them and decided to go on.

Where we parted

 Our map showed that the road we were on would have rejoined the Columbine alternate in about 10km, where a campsite was to be found. We decided to follow that road but that was a big mistake. The road was not cyclable. It was all washed out and muddy. We pushed the bike up and down for 2 hours when I said “what else can go wrong?” In ½ h we realised we were lost. At no stage we saw another junction, but that was not our road. It was late by then so that we just set up the tent and went to sleep exhausted and with no dinner. It was our first wild camp, and we just hoped that bears would not visit us that night. At the thought to walk back the same way I really wanted to cry, the feeling of dismay was overwhelming.

Day 40/ 13 July – From ? to Steamboat lakeside – 40km

We woke up early at the shouts of a very pissed off squirrel who didn’t like Dharma to be leaned at his tree and even tried to attack her. We quickly packed everything as were determined to get out of there as soon as we could. We decided to go back the same way, but after a km of pushing there was another track forking and the Garmin showed it would rejoined our road. It was a gamble but we decided to follow it (5km of pushing is better than 15). After an hour in the wood and mud we reached the top of a hill from where we could see all the valley below, and our road too!!

It took another good hour to scramble down the hill, but we finally made it, Wyoming goodbye! We will never be back again!!! We entered the Three Fork Ranch (a beautifully big and rich mansion that looks like a castle) from the hills on its back, and since the gate was closed we had to take off the panniers and throw them and the bikes on the other side of the fence.

When we thought that the nightmare was over, we didn’t realize that we still had a 20km cycle up a steep and endless hill on gravel before getting to Columbine – a village of maybe 40 people with a store consisting of a fridge. It felt like a whip after another. It took me ages to get there. The legs were not responding, no motivation whatsoever, I pushed the bike most of the time and finally, on reaching the top in Columbine, rewarded myself with 2 ice creams. From there it was all downhill, life was starting to smile again.

Originally we planned to reach Steamboat Spring that day, but given the level of exhaustion we just made it to the campsite at Steamboat Lake a few miles down the road. Despite the modesty of the only store in the area (I entered dreaming with a huge can of pine apples and went out with a bag of chips...) that was the best camp spot ever, the view on the lake paid us back of all the efforts.  

So, what happened? We have no clue. What did we learn? mmhhh...not to do it again?!

Day 41 / 14 July  - Steamboat lakeside to Steamboat Spring – 57km

Today was a short 26 miles ride to Steamboat. We took it easy and had a late start. Finally, the road reminded me that cycling IS fun! Perfect weather, road, landscape, it was a pleasure to roll around the hills. We even met the RV guys again and stopped to catch up, we all had a good laugh at our misadventures!

We finally arrived in Steamboat Spring from its cycling path and met a couple of British guys that we met at the exit of Yellowstone. It was nice to catch up and exchange experiences over a pint, we will probably meet again along the way.

So, after 2548km and 15 days of no rest we decided to spoil ourselves and do nothing for 2 full days, Steamboat Spring is the ideal place to be right now, life is good again!