Day 12: Hellooooo Idaho!
Wednesday, June 30
Upper Red Rock Lake Campground to Squirrel Creek Ranch
79.4 miles, 2,808 ft climbed, 793.4 total cumulative miles
The tooth-rattling, bolt-loosening day yesterday had us both feeling a little worse for wear this morning so when we rolled out of camp at the wildlife refuge, we adopted a more leisurely pace (with help from a headwind). Just 12 miles in though, we got a burst of energy from our first state line crossing. We had reached the Montana/Idaho border! There was a friendly horseback rider there who was kind enough to take photos of us. From there we had a beautiful descent with views of the Centennial Mountains.
We reached Island Park, Idaho and went straight to Subway. We’ve been eating so much gas station and breakfast-type food that it was so nice to actually have a few vegetables. We bumped into fellow bikepacker Jonathan from Phoenix, also heading southbound, who we had met two days ago. It’s been really fun meeting other bikepackers, sharing intel and stories, and commiserating over some of our mutual self-induced-but-worth-it suffering!
We continued on with our day, on a two-track ATV trail that provided beautiful scenery through wetlands with pond lilies and wildflower meadows but was tough going due to the sheer depth of sandy micro-gravel that required twice the energy to pedal through.
But then it happened. We rounded a bend and there they were… far in the distance… the Tetons! It really hammered home the fact that we are actually moving through our country, on bikes. It was kind of surreal. We pushed on toward our planned lodging for the night at Squirrel Creek Guest Ranch while watching heavy rains and lightning pass in the distance. We made it to the ranch before any rain arrived and we were welcomed with beers and the most delicious and perfect meal of fried chicken, beans with pork, salad, a piece of fry bread, watermelon slices, and fries. We ate all of it. We were so happy! We decided to stay in one of their cabins instead of tent camping for the night. So that means the next best thing to good food… showers!
Published July 1, 2021