Distance: 60.6 mi, Climbed: 3,451 ft
Completed: 3,067.1 mi, 137,666 ft
Today was a huge effort, huge reward kind of day. Joanna and I had a big thirty-mile climb up to Togwotee Pass followed by a massive descent into Grand Teton National Park with fabulous views of the Teton Mountains. What we did not expect was today would prove to be the most social of the ride.
We had our first hint that we would see many bicycle tourists today as we left town. We were passed by three cyclists with bags descending into town just as we were leaving. We would be seeing many more.
On the way out of town, we were treated to beautiful red-rock cliffs along the side of the road. The red rock eventually gave way to sage-brush hills surrounded by mountains.
The first twenty miles were a gentle climb. The challenging ascent of the day is the last ten miles to the summit. I was a bit concerned about time as we had a long day with lots of climbing, and I really did not want to finish in bear country after dark. I started watching my computer, constantly recalculating our estimated finish time as we progressed up the climb.
At some point, I realized I was pushing too hard and looking at my bike computer too much. I put my bike computer on the map page where all I could see was the next turn was in fifty miles. I lifted my head up, slowed my pace, and started just enjoying the ride. Much better.
We would soon run into Pat, who was heading the other way on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Ride (GDMBR), the bicycling version of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). She was riding the entire 2,700-mile, mainly off-pavement trail from Banff, Canada, to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. Apparently, the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail (TransAm) and the GDMBR both go over Togwotee Pass. Pat is from Virginia and plans to complete this trek in two months. She told us that she is wild camping this trip, so she pitches her tent each night whenever she feels done riding for the day. Near the start of her trip in Banff, Pat crossed paths with two grizzly bears that thankfully had scampered away from her. More power to her!
Just a few miles later, we met Rocket, a CDT hiker who had just been dropped off by a trail angel and was about to walk over the pass. Rocket is from Portland, and he will be walking to Glacier National Park. We hopped off our bikes for a few minutes as we walked along with him. Rocket had some interesting ideas about artificial intelligence and the ballroom bunker planned to be built at the White House.
Shortly after meeting Rocket, it was time to climb. The climb was 10.4 miles at 4% for a total of 2,064 feet of climbing. This climb would be rated a Category 1 climb on the Tour de France, the second-highest difficulty rating.
The first 1.5 miles were pretty easy, less than the 4% average. The next mile or so was tough averaging 6% before leveling out again. Joanna was a little ahead of me on the climb. I came around a bend to find her off the bicycle, and there is a gentleman walking Joanna’s bike up the hill. My first thought is did something happen to Joanna’s bike?
As I got closer, I realized the gentleman was 79, the CDT hiker we had met weeks ago. Our two-week hiatus off the bike had given him a chance to leapfrog us. He was taking Joanna’s bike up to a spot he had found to rest in the shade.
79 gave us much-appreciated peanut-butter cookies, and we talked for a while. As he is in his sixties, with his wife planning to retire in four years and the two of them intending to move to Spain, 79 had begun thinking about his next big adventure and is considering riding the TransAm next year. I assured him that since he has the fitness and mental toughness to do the CDT, I am sure he would have no problem doing the TransAm.
79 was actually waiting on the side of the road for his big surprise. He had gotten a call earlier that day that four of his sisters had driven out from Wisconsin to see him because they hadn’t seen him in months. We were there when they arrived. What a moment!
We continued up the climb for a few more miles. Just before the start of the next difficult section, we pulled over for a quick rest. Jane, the GDMBR rider we met yesterday, was apparently just behind us and stopped to say hello. While we were hanging out, a moose walked by in the field behind us. Very cool.
We said goodbye to Jane and started back up the climb. Soon after, we saw Joker on the side of the road. He was trying to hitch a ride to Dubois. He had run out of food and water on the trail. He managed to get some food earlier in the day from people at a campground who shared with him. He was out of water again when we met him, so we gave him some of ours. Joker is from Wenatchee, Washington, and we discussed which mountain pass we planned to cross to ride towards Seattle.
The last two miles to the top were the toughest, averaging 5-6% the whole way. We alternately had a strong headwind and a strong tailwind as we rode the switchbacks up the mountain. The upwind sections were brutal. We saw seven more bicycle tourists whiz past, crazy. I kept thinking about taking a break, but I was determined to ride the last two miles without stopping. The tailwind sections helped. Joanna and I reached the summit and celebrated. Joanna was bursting with emotion after completing such a difficult climb and finishing the last big obstacle between us and Yellowstone National Park. We made it to the top of Togwotee Pass!
While we were still celebrating, a car pulled in next to us, and a woman came out holding a sign – “Cyclists Snacks Here.” A trail angel had arrived! Cheryl was providing SAG support to her husband Jeff as he is riding the TransAmerica Trail from west to east, and she thought it nice to help others as well by handing out much-appreciated cold water and snacks. Cheryl, you’re awesome!
And now, the reward. A twenty-mile descent into Grand Teton National Park. I had heard that the descent has some of the best views of the Teton Mountain Range available anywhere. The first two miles were a pure steep descent where I averaged about 35mph. Thereafter, the descent was broken up here and there with some small climbs.
A few more miles and we started to see our first views of the Teton Mountains sillouhetted across the sky. Wow! We would have great views of the Tetons all the way into Moran. To our dismay, those views included a massive storm hovering over the mountains. Lightning and thunder soon followed.
Fortunately, we shortly came to a lodge where we could refill our water bottles and get some cover. But we had a problem. We could wait out the storm at the lodge, but if we did, we would arrive at our hotel after dark and that would increase the chances of a dangerous animal encounter. The storm was due south of us and heading west, mostly parallel to our route. We decided to chance it and get back on the road.
As the descent winded down to Moran, we would alternately turn towards and away from the storm. At times, it felt like we were going to bike right into the storm. But alas, as I had assessed, the storm stayed to our south, and we did not get hit with anything more than some wind swept rain.
The last few miles after the descent were gently rolling hills as we pedaled towards the park. At the entrance to the park, there are toll booths for paying your park entrance fee. I was excited as I pedaled towards the booths as to me it meant reaching Grand Teton National Park, an accomplishment in itself. But, I was a bit disappointed when I reached the booths to find they were closed and we would have to pay the fee online. A bit anti-climatic. I wanted to be able to bike up to the attendant and say, “We rode here from New York.”
We reached Jackson Lake Lodge shortly after passing the toll booth. While the toll booth was a bit of a let down, the lodge was amazing. We had a great view of the Tetons from our hotel room. After a quick dinner, we watched the sun set over the Tetons from our room. Spectacular.
