Day 44, July 28, Dubois, WY to Colter Bay (Grand Teton NP)

The morning was quite chilly, so we moved fast, wrapped ourselves up in all available clothing, including turban esque headwraps. We swore to invest in some gloves and hats as we took down our tent. We set off for a breakfast at the local diner, resisted all the donuts their, and then headed across the street to grocery store.

On our way out we saw Jay again, who, in his vagabond fashion, had camped about 20 miles back after the wind had also eaten him alive. Together we started our trek over Togwotee pass, another continental divide crossing, and according to our maps about a 25 mile climb. The climb was gentler than we expected, but it still exhausted us, and we were more than thrilled to get to the top, away from the tight curves and teeny shoulders, and into a more Sound of Music view with lots of pastures, colorful wildflowers, and downhill.

Jay really kicks those downhills, but we would eventually catch up. There was lots of construction on the way down and wind to slow us down, which we appreciate, because 40 mi an hour on our bikes just isn't our style. On the way down we met a guy who had come up through the deserts of Idaho on his bike and was most excited to have the wind at his back for getting over the pass.

We took an unexpected ride in a car for 3 miles (disgraceful I know) but the DOT insisted, and so the 3 of us were piloted dangerously in the back of their pickup. We passed the place we had wanted to stop and get some grub, but their was no way we were heading back up that mountain.

When we got dumped, Jay again rushed down the hill, and left us to meander our way down. The very very hazy Teton range began to reveal itself to us, and as we approached we kept taking little gasps. Unfortunately the "towns" also became more resortish and expensive. The place we had lunch was overpriced and we were underfed. Their was only lettuce in my caesar chicken wrap, not good news for a hungry biker, but we eventually got over it, especially when another 8 miles down, we were able to send back 5.5 pounds worth of stuff to my lucky parents.

Feeling lighter we made our way to the park entrance, where we were greeted with a $24 entrance charge. The grumbling over this was soon forgotten as we got closer to our destination and the Teton range began to unfold. What an incredible site. Everyone must go. The end.

The camping was cheap comparatively ($5) for cyclists and hikers and away from the car camping, which was nice. After storing everything that could possibly smell like food in our assigned bear box (except perhaps our mouths), we went in search of food ourselves and some more Teton views. The grocery in Colter Bay proved to be the most resonable, so we had a very eclectic picnic dinner down by Jackson Lake next to the Tetons. We were amazed how small the Tetons actually look sitting on the other side. They also were still quite hazy and almost looked like a ghost range.

After eating, we took a dip in the chilly clear water of the lake, and then laid out on the the beaches' pebbles to dry off and absorb this amazing day where we had reached our 3000 mile mark. Which of course called for ice cream. So after we got chilly enough that we were willing to leave our priceless view, we got coffee and cream from the grocery. We remet Jay there, as well as Vance, a 50 something cyclist, who definitely knew what he was doing.

We offered to share out site with him, so he joined us for our ride back. Then Steve, whom we had met a few days earlier, appeared from the campsite next to ours and invited us to join him around his campfire. Vance and I shared a can of Steve's Miller lite. Vance is a German Lutheran pastor from Minnesota (his wife is Norweigan and everything Garrison Keillor says is true). Jay joined us a short bit later and it was a very very chummy evening. We went to bed quite happy.