Day 73: Rawlins, WY to Jeffrey City, WY

Distance: 68.4 mi, Climbed: 1,614 ft
Completed: 2,871.5 mi, 128,887 ft

Joanna and I returned today from a trip to New York to attend a family event. We are now back on the bike after a two-week hiatus. We are excited to be back!

We actually tried to ride to Jeffrey City before we left for New York. It was going to be another hot day in the high 90s. Joanna got up, got dressed, and packed her bike. But I could immediately see something was wrong. Joanna looked pale and uncomfortable, but she was really determined to ride. I had to convince her that sixty-seven miles in high heat was not wise if she wasn’t feeling a hundred percent. She reluctantly agreed, and before I knew it, she was sound asleep.

I took Joanna to the doctor later in the day and discovered she had a cyclospora infection. Yes, that cyclospora, the parasite on lettuce that has been in the news with outbreaks across the country. The good news is there is an antibiotic specific to cyclospora that works well. It took a couple of days, but Joanna was back to herself just in time to head home for our family event.

Flying to New York from Rawlins is not easy. The nearest major airport is Denver, which is three-and-a-half hours away. We decided to fly from Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport in Rock Springs. From there, there are two commercial flights per day to Denver. That is the entire schedule.

We arrived at the airport two hours early. We were almost the only ones in the building. There were no gate agents. TSA was closed. The market was self-serve. TSA did not open until an hour before the flight. The airport has two gates, one with a jet bridge. Fortunately, that was all we needed. We had an easy flight home.

We flew back to Rawlins on Sunday. We had an interesting conversation on the taxi ride home with our drivers Mike and Dee. Mike had worked in the oil industry. We learned that the pipes we were seeing all over the plains were oil wells. We learned that the local term for pronghorn antelope was prairie maggots. They also had very strong opinions on coal. They very much saw windmills as a threat to the local economy, which I completely understand. Unfortunately, they tried to back that opinion up with dubious statements, such as when fifteen windmills burn in a fire they create more pollution than what a coal plant produces in a year. They also emphasized that petroleum is needed for the oil used for windmills to operate. While this is true, cradle-to-grave analysis (which are not perfect) estimate that windmills produce 95% less pollution than coal per kilowatt-hour.

Today, we finally got to ride to Jeffrey City. We started out early because there were possible thunderstorms forecasted for late afternoon. We also had a big day planned, 68 miles, our longest ride of the tour. Fortunately, it had cooled down a bit, and the temperature was only in the mid-80s. It was also cloudy, which helped keep the temperature down.

We were out the door by 5:45am and got a quick breakfast at McDonald’s before heading out. We immediately ran into a road closure leaving Rawlins. Fortunately, Mike and Dee told us yesterday about the closure and even took a quick detour on our drive back from the airport to show us how to get around it and how to avoid some busy streets in downtown Rawlins. So nice. Thank you!  

The first ten miles outside of Rawlins was a gradual climb. Along the way, we saw a number of slanted wooden fences on the side of the road. We have been seeing these fences throughout our journey. Yesterday, I asked Mike and Dee about them, and they told us they are snow fences. They are put up along the highway to prevent wind-blown snow from landing on the highway in snow drifts.  

After the climb, we descended into an area known as Separation Flats. It was a vast flat plateau surrounded by mountains. It was so flat, we could easily see the mountain pass that we would use to ride out of the flats from twenty miles away. The valley was filled with sage brush, and we passed several dry lake beds.

The second big climb of the day took us over the Continental Divide. I had naively assumed we would cross the Divide three times, at the top of the three large passes on the TransAmerica Trail. I was wrong. It appears we will cross the Divide a total of nine times.

We were treated to some beautiful mountain views after crossing the Divide. But soon the wind picked up, and suddenly we were riding into a twenty-mile-per-hour headwind

The last few miles to Muddy Gap were a bit of a slog, but soon we arrived at the Muddy Gap convenience store — the only services on the route.

At the convenience store, we met Tavina who was working behind the counter. She is 23 and has three kids ages 3, 2, and almost 1. She works two 12-hour shifts and is paid $12 per hour, well above Wyoming’s minimum wage of $7.25. She pays $300 a month for rent, but she says her income is not really a living wage.

In Muddy Gap, we turned left at the sign for Yellowstone National Park. This was the first sign for Yellowstone we have seen, and we were very excited as we know we are about a week away from the park. Unfortunately, while we at the convenience store, the wind also turned, and we faced a strong headwind all the way into Jeffrey City.

We would soon run into Doug, who is riding the TransAmerica Trail. He had limited time so it was a quick meet and greet. He is riding from Florence, Oregon, to Yorktown, Virginia. He is the second person we have met who skipped the ride from Astoria to Florence along the Oregon coast to save some time. Amazingly, he grew up in Dix Hills, New York, which is only twenty minutes from where Joanna grew up. He now lives in Bethesda, Maryland. Doug gave us some details about the Jeffrey City Community Church, which is where we were planning to stay tonight. And just like that, he was off as he was planning to ride all the way to Saratoga, about 85 miles away, and it was already mid-afternoon.

Along this stretch in Wyoming, we had been seeing signs for Free Range Livestock. That was all fine and good until we actually saw some cows walking down the road. We definitely did not want anything to do with them, so we patiently waited until they were far enough away for us to pass safely.

When we were about five miles out from Split Rock, a famous Wyoming landmark, I stopped Joanna. “There it is!” I could see the pronounced split in the top of the mountain that travelers on the Oregon Trail used to use for navigation. I wish I had thought to look for it earlier as it is supposedly visible for twenty miles, which made it an ideal navigational aid.

The last ten miles into Jeffrey City were tough for me. We were riding slightly uphill into a strong headwind. I was experiencing tightness in my calves, which I felt on every pedal stroke. I have not had any problems with my calves all trip. I am guessing it was due to the long break off the bike. And, my seat was not happy.  Let’s just say, I was ready to get to Jeffrey City.

Jeffrey City was once a vibrant uranium mining town. Shortly after the 1979 Three-Mile Island accident, the global demand for uranium plummeted, and the town because a virtual ghost town.

We passed by the Green Mountain Hotel, the only other lodging option in Jeffrey City. The main building visible from the road was in terrible shape, with several rooms boarded up. Our first thought was that we made the right choice staying at the church.

We rode the dirt road behind the hotel to the Jeffrey City Community Church. The church is the only building in a large field. Doug had told us we needed to go to the entrance in the back. When we walked in, we found a large concrete room with basketball nets and a ping-pong table.

Since visitors are encouraged to sign their name on the wall, the wall was a masterpiece of hand-drawn artwork and the signatures of the thousands of people who had preceded us. It was a little like visiting a shrine to the TransAmerica Trail. Very cool.

We picked up a basketball and shot a few baskets. After a few minutes, Chris came out to greet us. Apparently, he was sleeping at 6:00pm, and our playing woke him. Sorry, Chris! Chris is originally from Buffalo, and he is biking from Fort Collins, Colorado, on a fat-tire gravel bike to either Utah or Idaho. He is hoping to find himself on this journey. We wish Chris all the best.

Unfortunately, the church accommodations were less than amazing. There were several rooms with cots on the floor or old mattresses on simple platforms. The rooms had unpainted stone walls. Some had carpeting. And the rooms were completely bare, not a chair or desk to be found. For those looking for inexpensive housing, it was perfect. If we were younger, we probably would have stayed, but we decided to take our chances at the Green Mountain Motel. We have heard it’s much better on the inside than what it appears. We will see.

We called the hotel and reserved room 8. We went back to the decrepit building and looked for our room. We found rooms 5, 6, and 7. The next room where we assumed eight would be was unlabelled and had no door knob. The door was held closed with chicken wire. The door to room 9 was broken, and cats were coming in and out. Could this be our room? The church is sounding better and better.

And then Joanna figured it out. The building we were looking at was the old hotel building that is not in use. Right behind us was a newer building in much better shape. Whew! The hotel was indeed quite reasonable inside. We made the right choice.  

After washing up, we walked a few minutes to the only restaurant in town. Though it was very worn and had a dog running through it, we were happy to be sitting down for dinner. We had an unexpected surprise when Chris walked in, so he joined us. It was nice chatting with him about life and about bike riding. After a long day riding and a good meal, we were happy to call it a night.