July 18,
2001. Crowheart to Dubois, Wyoming. (33 mi.) Mile 2899
More
of the Winds
Last night, as soon as we pitched
the tent, the wind calmed and we had a quiet night (except for the singing of
coyotes), but this morning, as soon as we got on our bikes again, it was as if
someone flipped on the switch to the wind machine. The combination of 20-25
mph headwinds and climbing toward another Continental Divide crossing reduced
us to an average of 7 mph for several hours. Unlike a hill though, the wind
feels like a personal assault.
Roadside
memorial to a motor vehicle fatality in the Wind River Reservation:
Indian spirituality combined with Christianity.
1) 
2) 
1) Red rock near Dubois
2) Dubois plays up a Western theme
Just before reaching
Dubois, we stopped to offer assistance to a couple whose van had blown the
transmission. Ironically, they had been unsuccessful in waving down assistance
from passing motorists. They had bicycles with them, so our assistance was
offering Ed company as he bicycled with us into Dubois to get help.
Scenery has been
improving as we gain altitude in the Wind River country.
After we had lunch and
visited the Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center and a few art galleries in
Dubois, we
reluctantly hit the road again to climb to our destination at Pinnacles
Campground, another 20+ miles. About a mile out of town, Mike pulled off the
road and exclaimed, "I'm so tired of dealing with this gosh durn
wind!" (Or maybe it wasn't "gosh durn"). He said he could take
rain, hills, dogs, but he was tired of grinding away so slowly in this gale
force headwind, he was feeling demoralized today, and wondered if we should
just make it a short day again and try for another early start. After all,
we're slightly ahead of schedule and "this is supposed to be
vacation."
This wasn't like Mike
to throw in the towel. I admit I usually feel pushed too by some unexplainable
drive to rack up the miles so we can say we did it, but it didn't take much
arm twisting this time, especially considering my sore black, blue, and red
road rash today. We opted for another inexpensive motel since we'll be camping
a lot in the next week, and just figure our budget is already blown.
When we checked in,
the motel guy said this was the worst wind in quite some time, and that it
often blows the other direction. Just as we settled into our room, the
building started to shake as if a big truck was rumbling past, or we were
having a mild earthquake. We looked outside to see that it was the wind, even
stronger. Another thunderstorm was raging. Whoa! Maybe Mike was onto
something. Within a few minutes, it was over, the sun was out, and everything
was calmer than it had been all day. "Shoot!", said Mike. It had
become perfect riding weather again.
I try to make the most
of our time off the bikes to catch up on this journal, a very time consuming
project. Tomorrow we'll try to make it over the Continental Divide again, at
9,658 ft. Togwotee Pass, then on to the Tetons and Yellowstone.
Dubois plays the
Western tourist town theme to the hilt.
This is the
entrance to the Dubois Veterinary Clinic.
