The hot springs in Thermopolis were purchased from the Shoshone and Northern Arapaho in 1896. The purchase included a promise that the hot springs would be available for people to use free of charge. So, the bath house and hot spring pools in Hot Springs State Park were all free of charge.
Hot springs area.Hot Springs State Park
After relaxing in the hot springs and having a nice lunch at the One Eyed Buffalo we made our way to Riverton to ride the Wyoming Heritage Trail.
There were many bridges on Wyoming Heritage Trail. This iron bridge was dated 1853.
This trail was an excellent choice for our first ride on our Salsa bikes.
Lots of bridge crossings.
The trail was rough, with rocks, sand and even railroad ties. We saw several ATVs, a couple people on horseback and only one other biker.
Got Salsa?Ancient bridges on Wyoming Heritage Trail.
Some of these bridges had large holes in the wood. Couldn’t take our eyes off the road for a second. We really enjoyed the ride, burned lots of calories and got familiar with the new bikes.
Lower Wind River Campground.
We spent the next couple nights in the Wind River State Park campground close enough to Thermopolis that we couldn’t resist another visit to the hot springs.
Wind River Canyon was beautiful.
The second night we were there we had the campground to ourselves. Just us and the wind!
Our next stop is Custer, ND. We will be joined by Sherry and Lea to experience the Buffalo Roundup in Custer State Park.
Lenny really likes this mailbox – near Thermopolis
We left the campground in Teton National Park early in the morning. It was perfect timing because we saw 3 moose on our way out of camp. We’d been hoping to see moose all week. We were headed for Cody, WY.
Buffalo have the right away – Grand Teton National Park
The trip through Grand Tetons and Yellowstone was beautiful.
Areas in Yellowstone that had burned. Good to see new growth amongst the burnt pine.View from Sylvan Pass (8542 ft.) exiting Yellowstone going east.
While in Cody we visited the Buffalo Bill Center of the West which is comprised of 5 museums: Buffalo Bill, Natural History, Plains Indians, Whitney Western Art, and Cody Firearms. My favorite was the Natural History and Western Art. Lenny enjoyed the Firearms Museum and History.
Buffalo Bill Center of the West – we spent several hours here.
Our second day in Cody was supposed to be laundry day. Lenny had other plans. He had contacted Chris at JoyVagen about a new bike for me. I was reluctant to try a new bike because, “I love my bike!”. I’m so glad we visited Chris and his awesome shop. I took a Salsa Journeyman out for a test ride after Chris patiently tweaked the seat and stem for me. I may never ride my other bike again. I love my new bike!
Chris at Joyvagen, which means “path to happiness”.
This bike was such a pleasure to ride that it was easy to convince Lenny he should have one too.
Love those new bikes and that fine looking dog. We took bikes, dog stayed with Chris.New bikes loaded, covered and ready to go.
We are now headed for Thermopolis, WY to soak in the hot springs.
It’s with heavy hearts that we continue our Wyoming 100 without our sweet Flo. She has been with us in 35 states.
Ouray, Colorado September 2017
We got a late start and drove a couple hours south of Jackson, WY to Soda Lake near Pinedale. The drive was beautiful. We saw a small herd of mountain goats and herds of pronghorn antelope.
Mountain goat wearing a monitor. Mountain goats on way to Soda Lake.
Soda Lake was 9 miles out of Pinedale on a dirt road. No crowds here. We saw some beautiful work horses – no fences just free range.
Free range work horses.
Soda Lake was beautiful. We road the dirt roads around the lake. Some sketchy sand areas.
Beautiful views of Soda Lake. Love those blue skies.
As we were on our way back to Pinedale, down the very dirty, bumpy road in our very low clearance Fiat, Lenny remembered he had put his phone on top of the car to sync it with his Strava app. So back we went. Bumpity bump!!
Hooray! We found it. No damage done.
Friday morning we picked up ebikes at Hoback Bikes in Jackson. We packed the bikes and headed out of Jackson and onto the North Pathway which would take us to Jenny Lake. The southern section goes thru the National Elk Refuge. We enter the Grand Tetons National Park and cross the the Gros Ventre River. Our campsite is in the National Park along this same river. We enjoyed awesome views of the Grand Tetons.
Grand Tetons near airport.
There were more bikers as we traveled further north of Moose and some good climbs. We crossed the beautiful Snake River and saw fly fishermen.
Near Moose
This is one of the most beautiful trails we’ve ridden while on this wonderful journey. It’s difficult to describe the beauty here. Fall is coming soon so the Aspen are turning gold.
More awesome views of the Tetons.
We were disappointed with the crowd at Jenny Lake. It was a congested mess. So glad we could just turn our bikes around and flee. Our trip from the bike shop in Jackson to Jenny Lake and back was 47 miles.
We returned to the bike shop to have the bikes recharged. After lunch we took the Community Pathway to Teton Village. We are on the opposite side of the valley for this ride.
Crossing over Snake River on way to Teton Village.
We traveled past beautiful cattle farms. There was a osprey nest near the trail. He protested loudly each time we passed.
Bridge over snake river.
We enjoyed seeing the ski run and gondola in Teton Village. Got a bit lost on our return to Jackson – received some quick directions and were on our way. Think we were biked out after 73 miles today.
Look at those smile. So happy our northwestern 100s are done.
We completed our Wyoming 100!
Platt River Trail – Sept. 2017
Soda Lake
North Pathway
Community Pathway
Our map is filling up. 11 states in the northeast to go. The LORD willing.
We awoke to a heavy frost in Custer and headed for Casper, WY. We plan to do a few miles along the Platte River in Casper before heading for Colorado. Spent the night in the local Wal-Mart and parked at Fort Caspar on the Platte River Trail to do our biking. Really pleasant ride almost entirely along the river.
Along Platte River TrailDowntown Casper
We spent a night in Cheyenne, Wy and then headed for Loveland, CO where we had reservations for a couple nights. We settled into our campsite and headed to Denver to visit my sister, Sherry and her grandson Donavan. We watched the Buckeye disaster with Oklahoma. No words!! Donavan made us a wonderful meal of grilled skirt steak. He is a really fine cook. Flo had a chance to meet their dog Buddy and they became fast friends.
Flo and Buddy
On Sunday Sherry, Donovan and his friend Auna came to the rv park for a visit. We had a great time playing corn hole. So nice to visit, but sad to say good-bye.
Monday the 11th we were on the road at 5 AM. We wanted to get to Ouray early in the afternoon. The traffic was heavy until we got to Route 70, then it was smooth sailing going over the mountains. We arrived in Ouray about 3 PM, our friends Debby and Steve were already there as they had arrived on Sunday. Our campsite was right on the river with beautiful mountains all around. Steve’s sister Carolyn and her husband Dave arrived a few hours later. We had a relaxing evening reminiscing.
Our home in Ouray – we had good neighbors, Debby and Steve.
Our first full day in Ouray we did some shopping in town and checked on our Jeep rental which we would pick up in the evening. We couldn’t pass up the chance to try out the hot springs, so we spent the afternoon soaking in the warm Ouray springs. It was just what our tired biking bodies needed.
Downtown OurayTrail Map
Wednesday we were on the trail about 9 AM, the beginning of an 11 hour day. We were headed for Lake City over Engineer Pass., elevation 12,800 feet. Around every bend was one breath taking view after another. On our way up Engineer Pass we saw a Polaris which had tumbled from who knows how high up the trail. Very disheartening when we were just on our way up!
Someone had a very bad day.Engineer Pass and a great flag waving picture.
We came across a large herd of sheep. There were some dogs moving the sheep and a shepherd working the dogs. It was quite a sight!!
Herd of sheep along the trail.Aspen beginning to show their fall colors.
Wednesday evening the rest of the group arrived. Glenda and Carl from Texas and Mary and Jerry from New Mexico. What great people we have to enjoy 4-Wheeling with and all have so much knowledge to share with us. Blessed!!
Thursday morning we were on the trail before 10 AM, another long day of 4-wheeling. I think about 8 -9 hours. We took Ophir Pass, elevation 11,789 feet, to Telluride. Stopped in Alta on the way and had lunch beside the lake. It started to rain just as we were heading back on the trail. We kept Flo covered in the back seat. I may have forgotten to mention the Jeep we rented did not have any windows in the back. Minor detail!
Flo in her windowless Jeep ride.Mary the pole dancer on Ophir Pass.
We continued into Telluride which was very congested. They were having a Brews and Blues festival. We took Imogene Pass, elevation 13, 114 feet and Canyon Creek back Ouray.
View of Telluride heading up toward Imogene Pass.
The trip down off of Imogene Pass had some pretty steep downhills. Not so tough for us but a bit hard on Flo. By the time we were down it was a pretty steady rain but what a great day of 4-wheeling. There is just too much to tell and so many wonderful sights. Like I said before – around every bend in the road another awesome view.
Beautiful colorsThe whole gang on Imogene Pass.Beautiful views around every corner.
Friday found us or rather Lenny cleaning the Jeep and returning it to Switzerland of America tours. We also found time to head for the hot springs again. We were joined by Mary and Carolyn. Good place to relax and visit.
Hot girls in hot springs
Saturday we packed up, said our sad goodbyes and headed for Kansas to find Dorothy. The rest of the gang was headed for a couple weeks in Moab, Utah.
I may never ride my other bike again. I love my new bike!
