Pinedale, Wyoming Day 7, CDT.

Breaking Camp.

We packed up our camps and left the Buffalo River around 9:00.

We  drove along this good dirt road for a while enjoying the wild flowers growing along the edges of the road.

Check out these yellow ones.

Eventually we came to a small road that turned out to be part of the Bike route that we are following.

4 Wheel Drive Only.

There were a couple of signs at the entrance to the road. This one got us excited as we haven’t needed 4WD yet on our adventure. Here we locked the hubs.

As it turned out we didn’t really need 4WD at all. This road however had some of the most wild flowers that we have seen so far.

Patti was frustrated because the pictures just don’t do justice to the beauty of the flowers.

Back on Pavement.

After a few miles of dirt we were back on the pavement heading southeast.

Of course even from the highway the scenery is great.

We crossed the Divide again.

I am not sure how many times we have crossed the Divide so far. I think it is six or seven.  We have crossed the Divide 9 times.

Searching for the Trail.

Navigation on this part of the trail can be difficult. There are several trails going off the highway but we are looking for the Continental Divide Bike Trail so we can’t just take any trail going in the direction we want to go.

Here is one of the wrong trails that we took.

It turned out to be a dead end but it was a scenic trail anyway.

We returned to the highway and continued driving south.

The Right Trail.

Eventually we found the trail we wanted and headed into the mountains. This is one of the few times Bob was in front of us so Patti had to take a picture of his rig.

It didn’t last long as after she took the picture he pulled over to let us pass.

Lunch at 9000 feet.

We stopped at the summit of this road and had lunch.

Rough Road.

After lunch we headed down the mountain. The road looks good but this was the roughest stretch of road we have been on so far. It had terrible wash board and pot holes every where.

Even though the road was rough it still went through some beautiful country.

We saw this deer along the road and Patti just barley got a picture of it.

Union Pass

We crossed over Union Pass 9210 feet.

Bear Sign.

We saw some bear signs along the road.

The Road Goes On

It seemed like this washboard road would never end.

We experienced a little rain. My windshield wipers aren't working correctly but I can get them to wipe by holding the switch in one direction. For these thunder showers it works ok.

Eventually we made it back to pavement and were on our way to Pinedale. We got a room at a small motel and had a hot shower and a good nights rest.

Jo Ann and Dave’s Place. Day 5 CDT.

Lime, Montana.

Around 8:00 Cheryl came to our camp and said that they were going into Lime and would meet us at the gas station at 9:30.

We showed up on time and after gassing up we drove east on Third Street. Third St becomes Lima Dam Rd.

Moose.

A few miles out of Lima we saw a Cow Moose dash across the road. When she got on the opposite side she turned and was very agitated.

As it turned out she had a calf back in the bushes and was trying to coax the calf to cross the road and join her.  Unfortunately there was a strong fence between them and the calf was to small
to jump the fence.

We stopped and turned off the engine and waited to see how this scene played out.
Mom went back and forth across the road trying to coax baby to follow her. She even went into the field on the right and ran along the fence.

Unfortunately baby couldn’t cross the fence it was behind and just ran along it trying to get to mama.

We watched for a while and then decided to move along and let them sort themselves out.

Lima Dam.

We drove several more miles through this beautiful valley.

Eventually we cam to Lima Dam.

Which impounds Lima Reservoir (how original). It is a very nice lake in beautiful country.

Antelope.

We were driving along through some ranch land when we saw a Pronghorn Antelope running across the landscape. It went several hundred yards, turned around and stopped to look back at what ever it was that spooked it in the first place. It was a perfect opportunity for Patti to get this picture.

We drove on along this good dirt road for several miles…

and came to Red Rock Lake

and eventually the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

This is the refuge headquarters.

We stopped at the headquarters for a break.  Bob and I tried to find some water to fill a couple jugs but were unsuccessful.

Nice Views.

We continued along, through some spectacular scenery.

Entering Idaho.

After a while we crossed over the Divide and the Idaho/Montana State line. It has taken us four and a half to get through Montana.

Road Closed.

We were following this small dirt trail which is part of the CDT bike trail when we came to a locked gate.

We could see where the bikes went around the gate, but it was to narrow for us.
Okay, so we turn around and took another alternate route.

Wildflowers

Along this route we saw a lot of wild flowers.

This is a particularly nice picture of Fireweed.

Eventually we came to Ashton, Idaho.
This is a major landmark in Ashton.

Jo Ann and Dave.

We had all decided that when we got to Ashton we would take a the 50 mile detour to Idaho Falls to visit with with Jo Ann and Dave.
We got to J&D's around 5:30. They were happy to see us and offered us showers and a bed for the night. We were happy to accept.
In return, we took them out to supper at The North Highway Café.
The food is good and reasonably priced.

After supper we went back to J&D’s for some long hot showers and fun visiting.

I crashed around 10:00.

Camp on the Buffalo River. Day 6, CDT.

Leaving Jo Ann and Dave’s.

We got up early and went to the North Highway Cafe for breakfast with Jo Ann and Dave. Jim and Doris were also there.

Tightening Some Bolts on the Van.

I installed the springs on the van just before we left on this adventure but I didn’t have a chance to drive it enough to settle the springs in.
After all the dirt roads we have been on I am noticing some new rattles and squeaks so I thought this would be good opportunity to tighten all the bolts up. Most of the bolts were tight but there were a few that took a little tightening.

I also had to replace the inside door handle on the side door of the van. The windshield wipers don’t work but I haven’t found out why yet.  It is an intermittent problem.

Leaving Jo Ann and Dave’s.

Once I was through with the repairs, we left Jo Ann and Dave’s and headed back to Ashton where we picked up the CDT again. Thanks a lot Jo Ann and Dave

Heading for Ashton.

We passed a lot of potato fields. You can just see the Grand Tetons in the background.

Here is another view of the Tetons across the fields.

Back on the Trail.

As we traveled along we could see some nice clouds in the north east.

We keep getting better and better views of the Tetons as we get closer to Wyoming.

We cross from Idaho into Wyoming.

We pass a large lake that was almost covered in Lily pads.

A little farther down the trail we pass a couple of mountain bikers.

We passed through a lot of beautiful green country.

We stopped on the Divide to have lunch.

Patti took a couple wildflower pictures.

After lunch we got back on the trail.

The scenery is just fantastic. Of course we are driving on a trail with Yellowstone NP on our left and Teton NP on our right so how could it be anything less.

Unfortunately a lot of the forest shows signs of a large forest fire.

Of course where you have a fire, shortly after you have Fireweed to offset the ugliness of the fire with the beauty of their flower.

We crossed several streams but we don’t know their names.

Eventually we hit pavement and continued south through Teton NP.

As we drive along this large lake we get another view of the mountains.

It was getting later in the day but we had to get away from the park so we could find a camp spot for the night.

We drove south a while and after a couple of tries Dennis found the CDT again and we headed east on a small road looking for a camp. We came to a gravel pile and some equipment on the right side of the road. Dennis turned off to check it out for a possible camp. The gravel pit was a bust but there was a skinny little trail going down hill toward the Buffalo River. We waited while Dennis checked it out. After a short time they called us on the radio and said they found a suitable camp.

We drove down the hill and parked on a flat above the river…

with a fantastic view of the Buffalo River and the Tetons.

We sat around outside enjoying the view until around 9:00 but the mosquitoes drove us indoors.