Day 20: Cow Whispering on the Way to Colorado
Thursday July 8
Teton Reservoir, WY to Brush Mountain Lodge in Colorado
71.8 miles, 5992 ft climbed, 1303.30 cumulative miles*
*more than halfway done!
Our day started with a stunning sunrise behind our tents. We awoke thankful that the freak 10 minute windstorm never repeated itself during the night.
The route continued to take us on pavement as we climbed up and out of the basin area. A few hours into our ride, Sarah spotted a baby calf curled up just off the side of the road, chin resting on curled front legs looking forlorn and a little unwell. We stopped and Sarah walked over and gave him some scratches behind the ears and he lifted his head and a moment later stood up. He took a few steps and we saw there was a small group of cows nearby and we assumed he had somehow gotten through the fence, separated from the others, and couldn’t find his way back in. We managed to walk him back over to the fence and he slipped through the wire and started walking back to his peeps. We told him to find his momma and then resumed pedaling.
Eventually as we climbed, scrub turned to more and more greenery. We stopped several times to filter water from creeks because temps were over 100 and we were on wide roads with no shade. We arrived at Aspen Alley - a famous aspen stand over 100 years old which has begun dying off due to old age.
We enjoyed the screaming long descent on pavement toward the state line in spite of very strong winds that pushed us around like blades of grass. Irena stopped to take pics at the “Leaving Wyoming” sign but Sarah didn’t because she was convinced there would be an “Entering Colorado” sign up ahead. She was wrong. We were nonetheless very excited to be in Colorado! Big climbs, big views, and fun towns await.
We pulled into the storied Brush Mountain Lodge to cheers and hugs from owner Kirsten who said she’d been watching our dots on Trackleaders all day. Kirsten is like the Mother Teresa of bikepackers. She is legendary and we were both excited that our daily mileage worked out so that we could stay here. Her lodge is on the Tour Divide route and has been the site for countless bikepackers and racers to enjoy a meal, beer, laundry, and good conversation. She hosted 700+ bikepackers in 2019. Tonight as we sat around chatting with the other folks here, Sarah realized that the couple sitting next to her were folks she had heard and admired on an episode of her favorite bikepacking podcast (Bikes or Death). And then we realized another guy we were talking to had been this year’s second place Tour Divide (technically Great Divide Classic) finisher. Sarah turned to Irena saying “he’s THAT Brendan!” It was a fun time sharing intel with the northbound Divide riders and just generally relaxing. One of us had three beers and the other had three ice cream sandwiches. Can you guess who was who?
Tomorrow we head toward Steamboat Springs.
Published July 8, 2021