Day 24 - A Seventeen-Miler Mountain (June 25th, 2024)

City To City:  Colter Bay Village - Debois

Miles: 66

Miles Total: 1,539

Video: https://youtu.be/iiQsS_hIbco?si=8vbHKXeoPPRRd9ci

The Sign Saying What We Went Up

Our Beautiful View For Lunch

The Elevation Sign

Our Afternoon Snack

Dinner

Square Dancing

An Actual In-Tune Piano

    After packing everything up and eating breakfast, we headed out. We stopped at the post office, mailed something, and continued on the rolling hills. Then we got to the day's big climb: seventeen miles of six percent grade uphill, with about three thousand feet in elevation. It took us two hours and fifteen minutes to get to the top of Togwotee Pass.  We stopped for lunch near the top, looking at the beautiful view.  Close to the top is an elevation sign with an elevation number two hundred feet higher that what the map said, so we're guessing they meant the top for the number.  From there, it was twenty-five miles down, a nice break from climbing!  We flew over the terrain from there with a strong tailwind and a slight downhill.  Averaging in the upper twenty mph, red rock mountains blurred and soon disappeared.

We stopped for groceries and a snack. Since we had some spare time, we saw a jackalope exhibit. On our way out, another cyclist was on the Trans Am heading west. We chatted with him for a while and then headed our own ways.

A church in Debois has a ministry for bikers and hikers, so we asked if we could stay there for the night, and they said yes.  So, a woman, Nancy, came by, let us know about some things, and then asked us to pass on the information to the others coming later.  So, we waited for the people to show up, all the while using body wipes to shower and changing out of our biking clothes.  Nancy had told us they said they would arrive around 4:30 pm and 5.  We waited until 5:30, and they still didn't show up!  So, we called Nancy, explained the situation, and then left to eat.

    There, we ate a bison burger mixed with elk and similar meat and had pie and ice cream for dessert.

As we passed by the tavern where the square dancing was going to happen, the sign said it would happen an hour later than we had been told, so with time to kill, we worked on blogging and video editing. My dad went on a walk and ended up talking to a couple from Louisiana who come up every summer to work at their honey shop.  Once the couple heard about our trip, they gave us three honey sticks, and in addition, my dad bought honey from them.  And since we've consistently bought more honey than necessary, we had plenty of honey to last us for at least two weeks.  

    At square dancing, Henry and I had a blast. Henry was reluctant to join at first but soon forgot his fears and had fun. Every time someone went the wrong direction than what the caller called out, he picked on the person, and everyone laughed good-naturedly. With a lot of confusion and going in the wrong direction, laughter and the taping of cowboy boots filled the room.  

    After square dancing was over, Henry and I headed back. There, we saw the two others who would be our roommates for the night. A man from Cambridge, Masseuchutets, was going westward along the Trans Am Trail, and his sister was coming along for a week and taking all his belongings in her car to make things lighter for the uphills. The guy had just turned thirty and wanted to do something, so he decided on the Trans Am Trail.  

    So, with the guy and his sister on one side of the room and us on the other, we all lay down on our cots. Sleep didn't come due to trucks passing right by us, and at 11 p.m., a tornado siren went off, and we all just lay there. After about ten seconds, it shut off, and then we went to sleep.