June 24, 2010 – 47 miles
The general thought for the morning was to eat either in Boulder or Pinedale (an hour ride away). I woke up early, took a shower, and cooked my own breakfast. Eating at restaurants often gets prohibitively expensive.
Mathieu left for Pinedale before us. It was odd because he always waits to leave together. We figured he wanted to Pinedale early to look for a canister of bear deterrant a TD racer said he left at a motel.
If the TD racers are dropping their bear spray here, it surely means we’re entering or already in bear country.
Auke and I left a little later. Somehow a bungee cord wrapped itself into his rear wheel and hub. A quick fix later, we were moving onwards to Pinedale. The 12 miles should have been easy, but were not. Yesterday’s long haul added a number of new saddle sores to my rear. Putting any weight on the saddle was uncomfortable.
In Pinedale, we met at the Subway. Even though I had breakfast two hours earlier, I had a footlong sub.
Our goal for the day was the Whiskey Grove CG, 35 paved miles away. It would be a cakewalk compared to yesterday, so we had time for shopping in town. I went to a large grocery store and replenished my food supply. For once I did not buy too much food! Next stop was an outdoor shop where I replaced my water filter. Even though I was not overloaded with food, I was weighed down by two water filters AND extra parts.
Two more days until I meed my mom and sister in Colter Bay and unload more spare gear.
Auke and I left Pinedale together. Mathieu stayed behind for computer time in the library. I’ve long since given up the hope of keeping this blog up to date.
The road led through a mountain valley. It really should have been an easy ride, but my butt hurt like hell.
Auke was waiting at the entrance to Bridger-Teton National Park. Among the warnings of bear in the area were notices that some campgrounds in the area were closed for tree removal, including Whiskey Grove.
We decided to ride there anyways since Mathieu knew to meet us. The campground was gated, but a NP ranger drove up. I asked to go in to filter water out of the Green River, which the campground skirted. It was alright, so I went in.
As I filtered, Auke talked to the ranger. The tree removers (the Montana Conservation Corps.) weren’t coming in the morning until after we’d be gone, so we were allowed to stay for the night. I appreciated not having to ride the 14 miles to the dispersed campsite at Mosquito Lake.
We pitched our tents and cooked dinner (away from our tents) and waited for Mathieu. Either he saw the CG was closed and rode on, or stayed extra long in the library. The latter held true.
After my dinner of mashed potatoes, tuna, an apple, and MMs, I washed myself in the river. It was so cold that I could only bear going in up to my knees.
Before bed, we put our food and trash in the outhouse – finding a good tree to hang food is difficult.
The bear spray came into the tent with me this night. The MCC guys said they’ve had lots of bear encounters in the area.