Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'......

06/19/08
With the hour's time difference, getting up at 0700 was ez to do. Shower and pack, and roll down the road...... one block to "The Grounds" coffee-shop for breakfast croissant, internet fix, and (duh) coffee. Then on down to I-80 West to Rawlings WY.



Interstate is Interstate, even when there are mountains in the distance, and northern plains all about you. Try not to get killed, that's my motto. One highlight was passing through Sinclair WY, complete with the Sinclair dinosaur!
Turning north at Rawlings we're on US287 again (Really Dad? Yup.) and it's two lane and empty. Now's the time to think of Indians, er, Native Americans, Cowboys -ah - horseback herding specialists, and all that 1860's stuff. I think Em is enjoying things so far, but it's hard to tell. She, like her brother, John, makes a point of not holding on to me at all, so I cannot feel if she is shifting around in discomfort or what. We dismount to check out Split Rock, a landmark for the Pony Express and stagecoach line.

For lunch we are in Landers WY, and enjoy a leisurely meal at a family diner (GREAT milkshakes) and stroll up mainstreet. No less than 3 bookstores grab our attention. Neat town.
Back on the road through Dubois (also a neat town, much smaller than Landers, and really tucked into the mountainsides) toward the entrance to Teton National Park. We've been riding about 5 hours now, and though I know Emily must be getting weary (I certainly am) she is still not complaining or demanding. Atta Girl!
FINALLY, after 6 hours, we enter Teton NP, and all I can say is WOW. Snow on the peaks, snow on the ground in the passes, and the smell of clean, cool mountain air. I'm eating it up.

At the entrance I pay 20$ for the privilege of riding through both Yellowstone and Teton for the next week, and inquire about camping. Seems the sites are filling up, and then I misunderstand about the place I'm planning to throw down my gear tonight. I asked if I paid him (the ranger) and he said no, do it at the campsite. My confusion is in the fact that where I'm heading, Spalding Bay, is considered backcountry (I guess because it is unimproved) and I'm required to get a permit. We press on, trying not to get a strained neck or cross the double yellow while gawking at the razor sharp peaks.
As the guidebook said, 2 miles south of the Moran Mountain Turn-out, on the right (west) side of the park road is an unmarked dirt road, which we follow back about 2 miles. It dead ends at Jenny Lake, with but 2 campsites and a boat put-in. Again, WOW is all I can muster. It is late in the day, and the sun is low behind the mountains, bathing the scene in soft light. As we pull our gear off the bike and begin to set up camp, all we can think is MOSQUITOES!!!!! Yikes! It is like a feeding frenzy as millions and millions of the blood suckers attack. Luckily I kept the bug spray in my tank bag, and we are spraying down before the helmets are off.
Our only neighbors are nice, but somewhat detached, as good campground neighbors should be. They do, however, enlighten me about the permit, and the fact that a properly documented camper will be able to ask us to leave. Great. I don't think either of us would be very gracious if forced back onto the saddle. Sure enough, later on a Mercedes Benz station wagon bumps slowly down the road, turns around, and stops in front of us. A woman wearing capri pants and sandals gets out and we begin to discuss the situation. I think it was the fact that after a short paragraph each her ankles were covered in mosquitoes that convinced her to kindly allow us to spend the night.
The night. It got down to 34 degrees sometime around 0130, and it finally occurred to me why I have such a tough time in a sleeping bag. I've been approaching it as though the temp was not going to change overnight, that is, I simply prepare for the lowest temp I expect, and go with that. I start off too hot, work my way through comfortable, and wind up cold when my expectations are exceeded. What I need to do is set out layers for the various conditions in order (wearing pants and shirt while having long-johns set out nearby doesn't make much sense, whereas putting on longjohns first, laying out pants/shirt and riding liners, makes it easy to layer up as necessary). Better still would be something to pull over the bags to trap warmth.

It was a really, really long day for Emily, about 6 hours/350 miles, and I don't think the view overcame that and the bugs and the cold.