Day 35 – Mormons Historical Site, WY to Lander, WY

98 miles

Up early and away to avoid being caught and I have to admit it was a great night’s sleep! I was 20 miles away from a place called Muddy Gap and I had ear marked this place for breakfast. But what I had forgotten was that it was Sunday so it opened late. Also no one bloody lives in this desert so there was just a gas station and I had to wait for an hour for it to open or risk cycling onto the next place and had no idea how far away it was.

After pop tarts and banana bread, I was told Jeffery City was 22 miles away. Fantastic, I thought, a place where I can rest up and grab something good to eat.

How they get to call this place a city is just beyond me, it has a population of fewer than 50 people!! I strolled into the only bar in the city and to my horror there was a number of people around a biker, who was covered in blood, he had just had an accident across the road. He had broken a couple of ribs and fractured his shoulder. I offered to help but was hurried into the next room, order some food and relaxed. Here I came to the point I couldn’t keep on doing what I was doing. I was just waking up and going west with little care in the world or idea of what was in front of me. I rarely plan my routes, but I was crossing a desert was just plain stupid. But it was here a biker told me to scrap my plan of heading to Salt Lake City and head to Jackson because of the view there, he said, was the best thing you will ever see.

Here I came to the point I couldn’t keep on doing what I was doing. I was just waking up and going west with little care in the world or idea of what was in front of me. I rarely plan my routes, but I was crossing a desert was just plain stupid. But it was here a biker told me to scrap my plan of heading to Salt Lake City and head to Jackson because of the view there, he said, was the best thing you will ever see.

That afternoon I headed for Lander, 60 odd miles away. I had quite a contrasting afternoon, within 4 miles of leaving I went straight through a thunderstorm and the wind was so strong that up to the hills I was barely moving. But after 20 miles I got to this road that descended for 6 miles at a 6 % gradient. What had taken me two days to climb was lost in 30 mins, but it was so worth it. Cruising at 30 mph with the wind in your face, turning at corners and taking in the vistas was something hard to describe, but moments like that make the climbs worthwhile.

I reached the town of Lander, a small mountain town and set up my tent in their free campsite. This is where I met Tom, who too was cycling across the States but he was following the Trans-American Trail, we got chatting and he showed me the elevation we were about to climb. The top almost looked vertical, guess that is something to look forward to tomorrow!