Day 16 Jackson to Dubois

Today we loaded early, then headed up the road to a restaurant for a "supplemental breakfast" Apparently nobody felt the complimentary breakfast at the Days Inn would be adequate for a fairly long day, including a long climb. We bagan the ride by heading out through what has to be one of the most beautiful stretches of road anywhere, up along the Tetons. I had to keep stopping to get pictures.



Each time I took one, I was sure that there wouldn't be a better shot later, and that I could actually start riding to get somewhere. The problem was, I always found that better shot, and it was everything I could do to finally make the turn that took us out of the valley, and toward the climb to the continental divide. I can't get enough of big mountains. I feel like I belong here, and am out of my element elsewhere. These are especially imposing mountains, ramparts rising over a mile above the flat floodplains of the Snake river.




The climb up to the continental divide was not quite as steep as yesterday's ride over Teton Pass, but it was much longer, and kept teasing us with false hints that the climb was almost over. I had the advantage of having an altimeter, and used it to keep track of our progress. We would almost be at maximum altutude, thn we would go down briefly into a new nook of the river valley, and then have to gain elevation all over again. At least there was a lot to look at on the way up, like the stunning alpine valleys, full of wildflowers and the occasional deer.



I had been riding mostly alone on the climb, but found a group at the top, waiting to get pictures at the sign. In the group picture, I am the second from the right. I am barely recognizeable because I was on the low end of the slope, and I am wearing a Doo-rag. (Allison, stop laughing!)





After elation and celebration, I reluctantly began my descent back to the desert. I very much enjoyed my brief time in the mountains. I really want to come back here with the whole family and do some hiking and camping. Julie, get out the calendar for next year.

We quickly plummeted down the eastern slopes, heading for lunch at a small roadside cafe we had been told to look for. At this point my day went downhill as fast as my bike. I had been careful at every stop to keep my stupid camera running. I had found this technique seemed to work to keep the camera from erasing the pictures when it shut down. When we stopped, I was ready to turn the camera off manually, but found that I was parked by the wrong building. I moved my bike, and lost my train of thought. I forgot to shut the camera off, and it erased all 500 or so pictures that I had taken of the route so far today. That included the whole Teton valley, the climb, and descent. Fortunately I am now using my new camera for snapshots of important stuff, but my route movie project is basically more than my poor main camera can handle. I think I will continue to get what I can, but the demands of keeping the camera running is just too much for me to keep track of, and I feel very defeated. I wanted to be the first to document the entire road from coast to coast, and now I have many, many holes in my coverage. Bummer.

Still mortally frustrated, I continued on down to the town of Dubois. My brother Doug (a native French speaker) would be horrified to find that it is pronounced "Do-Boys". On the way I passed this great road cut showing lots of complex rock strata.



I pulled onto Main Street only to find myself incorporated into a 4th of July Parade, complete with fire trucks spraying the kids with their hoses.


I pulled into the motel parking lot just as the fire trucks were approaching. There was a little boy and his sister by the road whose anticipation of the immenent spraying was evident in their faces and their jumping around. I caught this picture of the little girl just as the incredible shower from the fire hose was arcing her way. I got soaked, and so did she, but it was worth it to see her utter joy at such a simple thing, right when I was feeling so sorry for myself at the loss of my pictures. It pretty much took me out of my funk.


Dinner was, you guessed it, pasta. I am so sick of pasta, and always look forward to getting something else, like the bbq chicken we had back in Blackfoot, Idaho. Stu, Ilkka, Abe and I went over to the drugstore later and had ice cream. We met some of the locals, including one nice young man getting ready to trade in Wyoming for NYC. He was accepted at the Julliard in drama, and has worked in his Mom's dinner theater back in Jackson. He was in Dubois with a group of guests from the dude ranch where he works. He was taking them square dancing at the place we had dinner.