Day 9: Baggs to Riverside. Battle pass.

July 11, 2018

Today is the second most difficult day of the tour. Douglas Pass on day 4 has just as much climbing and is 18 miles longer.

Today we climb from 6247 feet elevation in Baggs to 9955 feet elevation at Battle Pass. Add some rolling hills on the way up and the total climbing is 4322 feet.

I got on the road at 7:15 heading east from Baggs on WY 70, upstream in the wide valley of the Little Snake river. I enjoyed the contrast between the green fields and surrounding brown hills. The temperature was 65F and rising rapidly when I started.

Looking back at Baggs and the Little Snake river valley.

WY 70 crosses the Little Snake river only one time but stays in the valley for 20 miles. I seldom saw the river but did see many green fields irrigated from the river.

Some places the hills intrude and the scene becomes more desert-like. Other places the valley opens, allowing the occasional irrigated field.

From a hilltop east of Baggs I had the first good view of today's mountains. Roadside signs informed me that the mountains have a surprising name, Sierra Madre range. That name isn't used very often in the U.S. because it's the name of Mexico's most famous mountain ranges, Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental.

I stopped for a few minutes in the shady city park in the tiny village of Dixon, figuring it would be the last shade for quite a while. Dixon has a historic village across the highway from the park. I would go there if today was shorter and easier. Not today.

A few miles past Dixon is Savery, the final farm community. It doesn't have a village, just a cluster of farms. After Savery WY 70 swerves into Colorado for a mile, then returns to Wyoming.

Jacinto passed me while I was stopped in the shade on the roadside. We chatted for a few minutes, then he continued while I rested.

Traffic was very light today and WY 70 mostly has a paved shoulder. It's basically a road to nowhere, a great bike route if you don't mind the huge climb and lack of services.

Highway 70 dips back into Colorado for about a mile. Great contrast between the desert hills and irrigated valley.

A few miles east of Savery WY 70 turns away from the river and climbs steeply into the hills. The mountain climb has begun. The landscape was mostly sagebrush and bunchgrass, with a growing number of junipers. Aspen trees suddenly begin at 7500 feet elevation. The remainder of the climb is forested.

The sky became increasingly cloudy as I climbed, pedaling towards a building mass of gray clouds. The temperature quickly dropped from 80F to 68F. I occasionally heard distant thunder coming from the mountains ahead.

Sierra Madre range coming into view. The lower elevation forests have a lot of dead trees.

Conifers appear at 9000 feet elevation. I enjoy climbing through the various climate zones.

I finally climbed into rain 500 feet below the summit. Just light rain with not much wind. The temperature dropped to 55F but that's not very cold when climbing a steep grade.

I saw several small cascading creeks near Battle Pass.

I didn't stop very long at Battle Pass because it was cold and my clothes were wet. I did take pictures and truly appreciated the sight of such a verdant forest high in the craggy mountains.

View from Battle Pass. NOT the stereotypical Wyoming scene.

I didn't know that Battle Pass is a Continental Divide crossing. I thought this tour would cross the divide twice but it actually crosses the divide four times. Today I'm crossing from the Little Snake/Yampa/Green/Colorado watershed to the North Platte/Missouri/Mississippi watershed.

First of four Continental Divide crossings during this tour.

I didn't put on a jacket for the descent because I expected the temperature to rise rapidly. But it didn't. Drizzle persisted for the top half of the descent, the sky remained stubbornly cloudy and the pavement was stubbornly wet. The temperature only rose to 65F in Riverside.

I enjoyed the expansive views after exiting the forest, including my first views of the snow-capped Medicine Bow mountains in the distance.

The descent took me through the "large" town of Encampment which has a population of 400. My destination is 2 miles downhill in the smaller town of Riverside, population 55.

Town of Encampment below. Snow-capped Medicine Bow mountains in the distance.

I rolled through the 1-block long town of Riverside, crossed the Encampment river, then turned right on a 0.4 mile gravel road to Spirit West River Lodge. My room has a panoramic view of the river. The place doesn't have air conditioning but it shouldn't be needed here at 7142 feet elevation. I enjoyed listening to the river until the middle of the night when it got so cold that I had to close the window.

Encampment river in Riverside, Wyoming. 7142 feet elevation.

It was a long day! I got on the road at 7:15 and arrived at 5:25 PM. 10 hours and 10 minutes from start to finish. We had a much-deserved big dinner at Bear Trap Cafe, the only restaurant in town.

Today was much cooler than any other day of this tour so far. High of only 80F instead of 95F. I have finally climbed into a cooler climate zone. Thanks to the cooler weather the flies weren't a problem at all today. That's a relief.

The other 4 riders were hours ahead of me. They got drenched and very cold. Kelly and Tom persevered through a lot of rain. Ken waited out the heavy rain standing under a tree. Jacinto got less rain but still much more rain than me. In the Rocky mountains it usually pays to get an early start to reach the destination before afternoon thunderstorms. Today was the opposite-it was better to be late.

Today had much more climbing than I prefer to do in one day. Sometimes you have no choice. But I know my limits. Tomorrow must be a rest day.

Distance: 61.3 mi. (98 km)
Ascent/Descent: +4322/-3420 ft. (+1310/-1036 m)
Average Speed: 7.6 mph (12.2 km/h)

Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 407 miles (655 km)

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