Great Divide, Wyoming

Page 9 Third bit of my Great Divide Trail experience from Yellowstone to Colorado. The Great Basin, getting high, tired and flippin’ cold

America’s famous Yellowstone National Park is a small detour off the official Divide Trail but it’s somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a while so for me it had to be done, I took the highway off route for a few hours to one of the park entrance points, West Yellowstone. As it worked out, Hélène and Manon had similar plans and made good progress so we managed to meet again before riding through and visiting the park together which was a pleasure. This area is high up, over 2000m so besides some very cold nights camping, bike touring around the park was outstanding. We made a three day route through the whole park and stopped here and there to see all the mad thermal activity going on. The whole area is basically one super volcano and it’s hard to fully comprehend it all even when working your way around it. Very cool trip and I’d been pushing on a bit prior so it was nice to drop the pace down for a few days and enjoy slow mornings in the campsites, cruising the nice roads and generally being more of a tourist.

After leaving Yellowstone National Park myself, Manon & Hélène we’re all feeling pretty high on life, three days or so enjoying very chilled bike touring through a truly beautiful area. Other than the frosty cold nights, and Hélène having some rear tyre mechanicals, we couldn’t have asked for a much better experience. Before parting ways we had a final camp in Colter Bay at the foot of the Teton Mountain Range, the sky wasn’t super clear but passing by those views on the bike was pretty epic. We said goodbye for now here as they were then taking a route west across the states to head down the California coast. I was still committed with my Divide Trail to Colorado plan so kept on trucking south.

Teton Nationl park views and a fresh legs feeling might have got me a bit excited as I ended up doing a big day riding after Yellowstone. By late afternoon, instead of stopping to camp before a remote section called Union pass I decided to push on up the climb with the prospect of camping at the top. I felt I could summon the energy so it wasn’t the worst idea but what I underestimated was the cold. I did the last hour or so into the dark and at the top of the climb I really needed to stop but at over 3000m it was feeling mighty chilly, thankfully dry though.

I found a clear camp area after the high point and got a fire on the go to take the edge off. My tent and bag were capable in below zero temperatures so I was fine tucked up at night but on a whole, camping in below zero is pretty uncomfortable.

Finishing Union pass off the next day to try and get to a place called Pinedale was tough going since the descent wasn’t something you could just bomb down. I was always so conscious of not taking silly risks, rough downhill bits take a lot of patience and energy, it can be harder than pedaling up at times. It’s all epic, real back country amazing stuff again though, narrow dirt road winding miles through vast rolling mountain views sparsely littered with alpine trees and plant life but with 100km to Pinedale it was a big job. I was very ready to get into town, shattered, and realised here I had not had a proper day off the bike in the last two weeks. I got myself a few nights in a not cheap room in Pinedale and had a day off to eat, call home and sort my kit out.

It was an excellent call because day off was all day heavy rain, the problem was my proceeding section through the Great Basin of Wyoming. One of the most remote parts of the route, it’s a desert and my strategy was going to be to leave at 4am from Atlantic City, the next town, and attempt to one bang the 200km to Rawlins. The rain turns the surface to peanut butter mud and a few local riders in Pinedale told me quite directly, either wait three days for it to dry or just don’t bother. I could really feel the trauma one chap had clearly experienced so decided to listen to the advice.

I did get my fair share of the nasty surface riding to Atlantic City the following day anyway though as there’s a big 60km sand section. I got caught in a rain storm for a few hours here and it was a horrible quag in places with the rest only just rideable. The challange was that keeping the bike moving took near maximum effort, spinning slowly was not possible with my tyres and load so I was either walking or giving it everything on the pedals. Went through the mill a bit that day even with rested legs, when I arrived in Atlantic city it was well into dark again and the rain was still coming. I found a campsite laundry room to sleep in, got warm and dry and was thinking that skipping the great basin section is probably a good call for my situation.

The road route east around the basin was no walk in the park since the sun came out, very exposed long desert road but I knew I could keep moving on that, easy in comparison you could say. It’s also part of the Trans America road cycling route across the states and I coincidentally crossed paths with a couple of riders from Alabama taking it South East home. We rode a bit together and found a church in Jeffery City that offered free cyclist camping in the basement, hundreds of people had stopped there over the years and the walls had been left as a huge guestbook we had the place to ourselves it was perfect.

A repeat day on the desert road to Rawlins wasn’t too painful, nice and cruisy with big wide open views. The rattle snakes caught me out here though since they would usually be dead by the road, occasionally they where not, just lay on the hot tarmac. I had to do a last second e stop or swerve into the road on a couple of occasions to avoid putting my legs in striking distance, at least you can hear them.

Rawlins is a big town with nothing really around it, perfect for a resupply and chill before getting back on the desert road out. The route resource suggests camping in the Walmart car park which I was originally dubious about but it was pretty quiet and safe feeling, it did the job for us. Camping in public places like that also helps for an early start, the direct sun all day was starting to wear me down so getting an hour on it early doors felt a little more efficient. Colorado was in reach now and I was looking forward to this section as I’d heard good things and always wanted see some of the state.

Before things got good though the desert road, South, out of Rawlins was killer, quiet and paved but too windy and the climbs where tough in the exposed heat, I would have run out of water at one point if it wasn’t for a cooler left out for riders/hikers to take what they needed. You know it’s bad when you stop to take a break in the shade from a fence post. My 5am start paid off though and after around 70km the route crosses into an area of Aspen trees near the Colorado border. The change from difficult to dreamy was instantaneous, shade and wind protection from the forest was magic. Some beautiful colors across the valley views to enjoy and fresh water popping up everywhere it was like an oasis. I caught up with Abby and Aly here too who I met at the Llama ranch near Helena. Fun girls and they where going for it, riding the full Divide trail without much stopping which was hardcore. We were all feeling worn down after the tough morning but meeting up and leaving the desert behind us for a bit seemed to boost the energy massively for the rest of the day. We found a middle of nowhere cyclists campsite that evening to stop, nice big garden connected to a real American farm house that was basically on the border of Colorado. We were knackered with it being another long day but it was a beauty of a place to be and although cold, the starry night was on full show.

The girls left early the next day to make their plans but I gave myself a slow morning, by this point I was running out of days left to comfortably make my flight out of Denver. So, I decided this would be my last day riding the Divide trail, I intended on making it to Steamboat Springs where I could use the bus service to get to the big city and pack up. Seems like a sad way to end my divide trail experience but i’m still happy with the decision, had to happen and, in honesty, camping was getting seriously cold at the altitude around then so it was less fun anyway.

As it turned out my planned 90km day to Steamboat Springs was cut short during lunch break at Clark rest stop. A kind and curious couple on a weekend break came over chatting to me, after realising my plans they offered to host me at their place in Fort Collins just North of Denver where I was aiming for. It made good sense really so before I knew it I was loading my life into the back of Gary and Rebecca’s van, hitching a ride. They were of course fellow bike travel lovers and seemed more than happy to host me at their beautiful home for a few nights, Fort Collins is an amazing place to live especially if you’re into beer, bikes and outdoor stuff in general. Lovely few days experience living there.

The kindness continued after saying goodbye to Gary and Rebecca, I myself into Denver on the bus and was hosted by another couple, arranged through the Warmshowers website. This I really needed as prepping for a flight with the bike ideally requires time to acquire a bike box and some floor space to pack everything up. Cynthia and Nathan were super laid back hosts and having them let me use their place and garage space so openly was massively appreciated. I got to mooch about the big city a bit too, buy socks and enjoy a little more downtime before the flight.

Coincidentally my good friend from home Sam was staying with family in Los Angeles at this same time and they kindly offered to have me for a few nights before I needed to leave the US. Getting picked up at the airport by a familiar face and catching up was a nice feeling but also a gentle reminder of it being the longest time I’d ever been away from home.