Wild Wyoming

WHO SAID SUNDAY WAS A DAY OF REST

After leaving Provo I headed East towards Park City before taking St Route 65 North in search of a place to rest for the night. St Route 65 was a jewel of a road and offered up some of the most amazing views of the Utah high country. This scenic byway connects I-80 to I-84 and t-bones into a speck on the map called Echo. I pulled off just outside of town on a dirt road adjacent to a seemingly abandoned set of railroad tracks and went to bed. I lost count after 4 but I am pretty sure that I woke up at least a half dozen times to the rumble of the trains last night. So much for the abandoned railway theory.

I awoke around 8 am and continued heading North with the goal of driving to Jackson, WY and spending the night in Grand Teton NP. I stopped a lot along the way to take pictures of the wide open WY farm land, small towns (Cokeville, WY), and the vast scenic beauty of the countryside. This is my third trip to WY and it never ceases to amaze me how big the landscape looks. The wide open green farm land juxtaposed to the tall and broad snow capped peaks create panoramic views across the windshield and make reality look like an IMAX film.

After a few hours of driving I decided to take a break and go for a run. I stopped just outside of Geneva, WY and ditched the car at a road side pull out, laced up the running shoes and followed a fire road into the high country. The views were unimaginable and no photographs or words could describe the beauty that I found at each bend of the road. I followed the muddy trail for 5 miles to a confluence of three small creeks all swollen from the spring run off and merging to form a giant basin of churning white water. I sat with the hopes of eventually seeing some wildlife migrate down to the water edge but retreated and headed back up trail defeated after 10 minutes.

Wyoming is bear country and this detail is never forgotten when traveling in the back country. To help ward off any unwanted encounters I developed a habit of yelping whenever I find myself in an enclosed section of trail with limited views of what could be lurking around the next corner. Every 30 - 40 yards I will yell out "Yaaa Bear, Yaaaa!" I also carry 4 - 5 stones that I can use as ammo to ward off any charges. Let me say that again, 4 - 5 stones to use as ammo. What am I an idiot? Like a 2 ton, hairy, skull crushing wild animal is going to be frightened of my Sound of Music yodeling and pebble tossing. It would be like David vs. Goliath, only I forgot my sling back at the tent and have to face the giant with my little league throwing arm. I would be better off just stripping down naked and covering myself in honey and offering myself as a sacrifice then piss the bear off by clunking him in the nose with a rock.

Once back at the safety of the car, I made lunch, sat out in my lawn chair and watched the clouds move over the mountains. By noon I was back on the road and headed toward Jackson only to run into more rain. I took refuge in the town of Smoot and detoured up to a place called Cottonwood Creek Lake. The 5 mile dirt road zig-zagged across the swollen Cottonwood Creek all the way up to its source, Cottonwood Lake. This unsuspecting detour lead me to some of the best back country mountain biking I have ever laid eyes on. I ended up riding for 3 hours out and around the lake and even ventured up to the snow line where Slide Lake sat nestled among the 10,000 foot peaks that surrounded it. The ride was epic and the scenery was amazing.




(The best part about this video is that I had to shoot it 5 times to get it to come out right. If you watch closely you can see me grimace a tad. That's because that water was like 34 degrees and at that very moment I lost all feeling in my toes. Hopefully you enjoy it because I had to amputate my pinky toe due to frost bite.)

By the time the ride was done the ominous black clouds moved back in and unleashed another 2 hour down pour. I decided to head out of the mountains with fear that the dirt road would wash out over night and I would be stuck in Smoot for a few days. I traveled for another hour up 89 before eventually stopping at a rest area just outside of Afton, made dinner (spicy jambalaya - be glad you weren't in the car that night) and went to bed. Tomorrow it is off to Jackson and The Grand Tetons. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.