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On the way up Togwotee Pass

Day 1: Moran Junction to Dubois It's pretty cold at night in Wyoming, in the low 30s. So we figured we wouldn't get on the bikes at the crack of dawn like we usually do and instead have a nice leisurely breakfast while waiting for the sun to warm things up. And it was a nice sunny morning. But we're both early birds and the anticipation of climbing Togwotee Pass (at 9,600+ feet the highest pass either of us has ever biked over) was just too much for us. So it wasn't long before we were up at the snow level (~8000 ft.) and marveling that we were still able to breathe the rarified air.

And we soon found ourselves at the summit. A beautiful, balmy day by Wyoming standards and the only reason we stopped along the way was to soak in the scenery and shoot some pictures. Neither of us could believe how easy this climb was. I think we'd both had some trepidations about starting out with an immediate ascent at these altitudes and our confidence was soaring when we reached the top. After lingering and shooting photos at the summit, and the Continental Divide marker, we began an exhilerating descent.

At the Top

Red Rocks along the Wind River

The clean, dry road with nice shoulders and no traffic drops about 2000 feet of elevation pretty rapidly. Then the scenery changes abruptly from snowy pine forest to red rock cliffs reminiscent of Southern Utah and begins a gradual downhill along the headwaters of the Wind River.

Early afternoon and we pulled into the little town of Dubois and the Stagecoach Motel. Dubois is only about 3 blocks long and the best place to eat is the Cowboy Cafe. We were really pleasantly surprised at the gourmet quality of the food we found everywhere in Wyoming and the Cowboy Cafe was no exception. The night's entertainment, as always on this trip, was the NBA playoffs. Our one and only conflict - we were never rooting for the same team! Next