Trip Report Day 8: Jackson Lake, WY to Lander, WY

Date:  Thursday, August 26, 2010
Start: 1000 (0730 wake-up)
Finish: 2030
Travel Time: 10.5 hrs
Distance: 274 miles
Total Distance Covered:  2728 miles

I was feeling it from the night before and did not want to part with the soft mattress one bit.  Weather predictions remained unchanged and we were still headed for a shit-storm the next couple days.  We finished up with the bike check and decided to head over to the lodge for breakfast.  Beforehand we published our most action-packed deal-of-the-day, complete with ninja hair, rain sticks, and punch-jumping.  We were both anxious to check out the Tetons during the day and they didn't disappoint.  The back patio was packed with TV cameras, cables and chairs in support of CNBC broadcasting a morning show live.  We avoided the surrounding chaos and tried for a photo op with the mountains behind us.  Y'all know how this works.  You're with some friends, you find a dope photo op, you look for the most likely person in the area that could snap a good pic (usually a kid or young adult), and you're left with a memory to last a lifetime.  So we did just that.  We found a handsome young lad with a University of Wisconsin shirt to take our picture.  He asked all the right questions, shifted us around a bit, and snapped.  It was a little chaotic with the whole set, so he handed the camera back and left.  We checked out the photo and it turns out our big noggins were totally in front of the Tetons...FAIL!

We were soon back en route and off the tarmac.  The roads were particularly dry and dusty and that's when we got stuck behind a truck.  Well we didn't really know it was a truck at first, because when we approached it was like a Tasmanian devil whipping up a blinding dust-storm of epic proportions.  It was getting inside our visors and causing a hawt mess.  Before we knew it we were only 10 ft or so behind the truck itself and had no idea we were that close.  We couldn't pass because there was no way to check for oncoming traffic.  After several fruitless attempts of swinging off to the side to let him know were behind, we contemplated stopping/  He eventually pulled over and we blew past.

The roads were rather twisty with some very loose gravel.  This combination was a recipe for some close calls around the turns.  Several times I found myself coming in too hot and having to brake hard.  This wasn't exactly the most effective approach on loose gravel.  Eventually Yobo noticed that something definitely wasn't right with his bike.  When he looked down, he observed the first mechanical of the trip, a flat rear tire.  We had practiced changing a tire before the trip and now it was prime time.  And really, a motorcycle tire is just a jacked up bicycle tire, and we've both changed countless number of those.  We got the bike on it's center stand, stabilized it, and got to work.  The whole operation set us back about an hour, which wasn't too bad considering.  The bead broke easily and Yobo's compressor saved our tired arms.  We even survived a small scare when we bent the needle in the valve for the spare.  I'm not really a gear-head, so it felt good get over this little setback.

It was probably a combination of the late night sauce and 7 looooong days on the bike, but we totally hit the wall and were way tired by early afternoon.  I think stopping to change the tired wiped us out and let things catch up.  We pushed through and eventually had our first encounter with sand.  It got way fun as we navigated through some rutted jeep/quad trails.  This was my first exposure and I was getting all wishy-washy.  This perked us up because it required extra concentration and it was the first major change in terrain we'd encountered since we got on the trail.  I led the way for a bit and noticed a bit of kicker climb coming up.  I picked up some momentum.  Soon the hill got ruttier and ruttier.  Before I knew it, I was trying gain control of my bucking bronco bimmer and soon found myself off the left side of the trail near the top with a dumped bike.  I gave Yobo a head's up and ranback to the hill to watch him successfully navigate to the top.  We both checked out what we had conquered, and naturally it didn't look half as bad as what I felt when I road to the top.

After the adrenaline wore off, we were back in the funk that we found ourselves earlier that afternoon. We knew that we were paralleling a road and soon enough we found ourselves at a gas station in Pinedale, WY.  We stocked up on Coke and snickers and got in line.  I noticed the young girl behind the counter and something seemed different.  She was blond, and kind, and soft-spoken, and the purest being to ever set foot on this great earth.  She asked about our trip and expressed how she'd love to do something similar, but couldn't see herself breaking free. I was pretty close to grabbing her and throwing her on my saddle to join us on the remainder of our journey, but I opted to be less aggressive and wished her the best on whatever adventure she found herself.  Yobo and I pulled our bikes over to the side of the building in the shade and just sat on the ground eating our snacks.  A nap was in order, but we still had some big miles ahead of us.  The upcoming stretch also happened to be some of the most remote miles on the trip through the Great Divide Basin in SE Wyoming.

Not sure if the Great Divide Basin can be described.  I guess you can start by picturing yourself on some remote planet with dirt and rock extended out to the horizon.  Straight ahead of you was a dirt road and your ticket out.  The dirt road had dips and hills as far as the eye can see, almost like you were riding the neck of a Lochness Monster arching in and out of the water.  This remoteness made it one of the most memorable portions of the trip.  Unfortunately for Yobo, it would be memorable for another reason.  He started not feeling right and it couldn't have come at a worse spot.  His heart was racing and he couldn't control his pulse.  We figured it was a combination of several factors finally catching up.  We had been on the trail for 8 full days now and over 2700 miles without a rest day.  Remember those consecutive early wake-rises...they add up.  All of this combined with the fatigue we were feeling earlier and a caffeine binge in Pinedale created a perfect storm for his insides.  We made it back to the Tarmac and figured we'd stay in Atlantic City.  Well here's the deal with Atlantic City in Wyoming.  It couldn't be more of an opposite of the Atlantic City in NJ.  I'm not sure this ghost town even had electricity.  We passed a few campgrounds, but with Yobo feeling the way he did, he wanted to be close to civilization and suggested heading to Lander, WY for the night.

I gotta admit, I wasn't too down for backtracking on the highway and heading off course, but it was definitely the smart choice.  Yobo knows his body and his body said..."let's be sure you're good before we continue through the middle of nowhere Wyoming."  We checked into a cheap corner room at a motel in Lander and headed to Tony's pizza for a rooftop dinner.  We chatted briefly with a two dudes from Alabama and a couple from Steamboat as we dined under the clear Lander skies.  Overall the meal was quieter than normal as we both thought about the uncertainty surrounding the next day's agenda.  One good thing was that the weather held up and hopefully this would be true tomorrow.

/s/ Goda