Day 21 Sheridan

June 8, 2018

Sheridan Wyoming

What an epic day! That climb. Wow.

We started out just before 7 with a 6 mile rolling up and down out of Shell and then we entered the Big Horn National Forest. And climbed for the next 15 miles. I was a little concerned within the first mile and a half when our hearts were racing and it was hard to catch our breath. I swear it was the steepest portion, but it could have just been our bodies saying wtf. Once we got warmed up, we worked our way up through gorgeous mountain sides along the Shell River. We stopped at the pull out for Shell Falls and Jon got roped into answering a survey about visiting the Forest. It was ridiculously long. I went in search of water only to find out that they had none due to a power issue. The staff said there is some at the top of the climb (12 more miles) and maybe at one of the campgrounds in 6 miles (and 2 miles off the main road) Jon then took a look around and found a spring though almost directly across from the pull out. That’s my boy scout. We finally reached the top of the climb at Granite Pass at 11:30 after climbing 4800 ft. We had 6 miles of mostly downhill along rolling forests and grazing lands. We had to go through a construction area that was all packed gravel; Jon said it was like cyclocross! We stopped at the Elk View Inn near Burgess Pass and took a lunch break...sammies and a cold drink from their little store (mmm...Starbucks latte😋) The clerk at the registration desk also filled our water bottles with ice water. So nice. After Burgess Junction, where Rt 14 and Alt 14 merge, the forest changed from the exposed rocks and pasture lands to pine forests. We passed several nice park campground areas that looked very inviting, but we had to keep moving. We had one more climb before we went down to the valley. I was definitely not feeling it and it seemed interminable, but was really just about 3 miles. Then came the 8% downhill with all kinds of hairpin turns and fabulous overlooks. One area called Fallen City was a hillside of huge boulders that had broken lose. It was pretty amazing to see. After that, we came to an overlook of the Sheridan Valley and the road ahead. Very cool to see the twists and turns ahead of us. We fled down the hill, reaching a top speed of 39mph, but mostly around 25-30. Once in the valley, we hit Dayton, Wyoming. We stopped at the Dayton Mercantile for ice cream and more ice water. One of the owners is from Miamisburg Ohio and said she’s jokes that she was born in Dayton Ohio and will die in Dayton Wyoming. They told us the best route to take to Sheridan, which involved 5 miles in the interstate. We weren’t super keen on this and Jon had an alternate route planned, so we took that. Unfortunately it lead us to a 2 mile dead end. (Only the 2nd time in 1200 miles). So, lesson learned; listen to the locals. So we had to get on the interstate, which wasn’t horrible, but we were both weary by this point. We went through downtown Sheridan (where everyone was great about giving us room on the 4-lane streets.) We stopped at the grocery store for provisions and headed to our hotel for the night. We got a big salad at the store and ordered a pizza once we’d checked in. No laundry facilities here, so we did a bathtub wash and have a rope strung across the room. Reminds us of some of those AT stops! Hopefully it’s dry by morning!

Today's ride: 84 miles (135 km)
Total: 2,691 miles (4,331 km)

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