Day 56 - June 28 - Dubois, WY to Colter Bay Campground, Grand Teton NP, WY - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

June 28, 2023

Day 56 - June 28 - Dubois, WY to Colter Bay Campground, Grand Teton NP, WY

A Day of Ups and Downs

John’s Story

It was a cold morning, and it didn’t warm up for us. As from the moment we left town we were climbing towards Togwatee Pass. The increase in elevation counteracted the normal morning warmup.

Soon after we left town, we saw rugged mountains in the distance. Little did we realize at the time that we would have to climb almost to the top of them to get across the pass.

We climbed 1000 feet in the first 20 miles, and then another 1900 feet in the next 10 miles to get to the pass. It was a demanding uphill ride.

We passed an Aussie couple riding in the opposite direction on our way up. They are riding from Canada to Mexico.

I saw several deer along the way. It was humorous the way they almost hopped up the hill sides, rather than running. I also saw a coyote run across the road in front of me.

The sign at Togwatee Pass had one elevation posted…

… and a short distance later the Continental Divide sign had a different elevation posted.

Finally, Finally, FINALLY we have crossed to the Pacific side of the Continental Divide! It won’t last long, however; we will cross it three more times in Yellowstone National Park and end up back on the Missouri River side by the time we get to Missoula, Montana. Shortly after that we will cross one last time to the Pacific.

There was a beautiful little lake just below the pass.

More than one person told us about a grizzly bear that hangs around the pass, but we didn’t see one. I guess that’s a good thing.

The 2900 foot climb was followed by a drop of almost the same amount over the next 17 miles. All the work we did to get up that high was taken back by riding down the other side of the mountain. It was a cold ride down. The temperature was much lower on the northern side of the pass, and I’m glad that I layered up and put my warm gloves on before I started down.

Partway down the mountain, we crossed paths with a young man biking in the other direction wearing just shorts and a T-shirt. We talk to him for a moment. I think maybe the cold was addling his brain. He didn’t seem too coherent, but told us he wasn’t cold. I hope you made it over the top and back down to warmer weather.

We met Jim and Michele once we were at the bottom of the mountain out on the relatively flat terrain again. They left Seattle on Memorial Day and are headed to Boston. Along the way they plan to ride Ragbrai in Iowa. They were traveling light because they are staying in motels along the way. They plan to camp while riding Ragbrai. We told them they’re doing things exactly backwards. They should be camping now while the weather is beautiful and staying in motels on Ragbrai when it’s likely to be oppressively hot.

At one point we saw a big flashing sign at the side of the road, informing motorist not to stop to watch the bears. I half expected to find bears frolicking all over the place, but we did not see any.

We finally got our first view of the Grand Teton Mountains.

And, finally, we reached the western border of Grand Teton National Park.

There is a narrow shoulder on the road into the park, so we can do something to get away from the traffic, which was not as heavy as I feared it might be. We’ll see how things are when we ride up into Yellowstone tomorrow.

Once in the park, we came across a stretch of road on which there were many signs telling motorists not to stop. So what did we find? Stopped motorists. I paused to ask someone what the attraction was, and was told that Bear 399 had just crossed the road with her cub and disappeared into the woods beyond. Apparently Bear 399 is the most famous grizzly bear in the park. How they know it was Bear 399 is a mystery to me.

We had planned to stop today at a Forest Service Campground at the bottom of the mountain, but decided to press on to the national park. We’re glad we did. We found a hiker biker campsite that cost a whopping $7.22 at the Colter Bay Village Campground. We were able to take showers and go to the restaurant for a beer.

I saw new flowers galore once we entered the park.

These interesting looking plants are growing right next to my tent in the campground. I would’ve pitched my tent right where they’re growing, but I could not bring myself to do that.

I was a bit wary of this plant at first, as it is growing very close to my tent on both sides, and I was afraid it might be poison ivy. I took this picture and showed it to a ranger when we went back to the center of the village for showers and beer. The ranger identified the plant as Oregon grape. He said later in the summer it will have tasty blue berries on it.

Before I went back to our campsite, I rode down to the marina on the lake to take this picture. I think this may be THE Grand Teton.

Because we added an extra 20 miles onto our day to get here, our ride tomorrow will take us to the campground where we would otherwise have camped day after tomorrow. So we may cut a day out of our itinerary, instead of adding one as we have done a few times already.

About the time we finished eating dinner, and cleaning up it started to rain, so we are in our tents. Right now it’s just dripping, which may be coming out of the trees, and not from the sky, but we’re pretty much retired for the night.

Ed’s Story

Fell sleep last night to snoring. There were nine people in the community room at the Episcopal church where we were staying. Woke up at 5:30 and started breaking indoor camp. It was tough getting ready because although four riders weren’t leaving today, we all fought for the bathroom.

Ate breakfast, loaded the bikes, and were on the road by 6:45. As John noted it was cold. I had four layers on top, ear coverings, and heavy gloves. I stopped one minute after we started to put my sunglasses on. Although it was cold, it was bright.

The first 20 miles of the ride was not bad at all. Although we were constantly climbing, it wasn’t that tiring. The berm on the road continued to be good after leaving Dubois.

We made a brief stop at the Tie Hack Memorial. It is 12 miles northwest of Dubois and honors the men who cut railroad ties out of Wyoming forests and floated them down flumes and rivers for the Wyoming Tie and Timber Company.

We took our first real break at the 20 mile point at a mountain lodge. We needed to regain our energy for the climb that was ahead of us.

When we left the lodge, we started a 10 mile climb increasing our elevation about 2000 feet. It was grueling. Although the average grade was 3.3%, we generally climbed in the 5 to 7% grade range. I probably stopped every mile to mile and a half just to regain my legs (which ended up feeling like jello at the end of the day).

We eventually made it to the top of Togwotee Pass (elev 9584’) and also crossed the continental divide (elev 9658’). I’m guessing one of the numbers might be off because there was not 100 feet of elevation between the two markers. But what the heck, we’ll take it the greater one. Yes, I know John put these pictures in but this proves that I was also there.

Another crossing of the Continental Divide.

There was a little lake in the vicinity. There was a sign that said due to increased bear activity do not clean fish at the lake.

We then started an almost 18 mile downhill with grades up to 6%, and more signs for truckers to use lower gears. It was exhilarating and scary at the same time. Constantly feathering the brakes and glad I have at least 1 disc brake.

By the time we got to the bottom, we had dropped almost 2800 feet.

In a way, we had it easy. We met several other touring cyclists, heading up the hill we just came down. We had a 10 mile climb, but they will have an 18 mile climb.

At the bottom of the hill is the US Forest Service Hatchet campground. We were going to stay there initially, but opted to continue on to Colter Bay in the Grand Teton National Park. This would add 18 miles or so to the days ride.

Sometime later, we entered the Grand Teton National Park. Both John and I have senior lifetime passes for the park service. If we did not have these, it would’ve cost us $20 to enter the park.

The traffic really picked up once we were in the park compared to the highway. There were cars and RVs always passing us. Only one or two RVs did not move over when they could have, and we had to move more to the side of the road to evade them.

Colter Bay has showers. a small grocery store, and a restaurant with a bar. Once we found the hiker/biker campsite, we set up our tents and headed toward the shower and the beer. Showers were in the laundromat and cost $5.00.

John’s tent is hiding in the background.

It was then back to the campsite for dinner. All campsites in the park have a bear box. A bear box is a metal storage container used to store any type of food, cooking gear, water, or anything with an odor that could attract a bear. The picnic table has a list of what should be put in the box.

A bear would need tiny hands to open this container.

It rained briefly after dinner, so I am doing the journal in the tent. I finished watching Captain Phillips on Netflix when I was done with the journal.

Tomorrow will be a short mileage day, 40 miles to the Grant Village Campground but will still have over 2000 feet of climbing.

Until tomorrow happy biking.

Today's ride: 69 miles (111 km)
Total: 1,419 miles (2,284 km)

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John ShinstockThis seems like an epic day. Have been waiting for you two to get to this area! Thanks, John
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10 months ago