Steamboat Springs is an extremely smart, attractive place, has lots of new developments which are spreading along a relatively narrow valley. The old downtown is about 12 blocks by 5 & full of expensive shops. Its Colorado’s equivalent of Wyoming’s Jackson Hole, a sports tourism economy (without the period style buildings). During summer there is biking, hiking, horse riding & fishing: winter its skiing & snowmobiling – the layout allows people to just walk out their accommodation & into there sport in minutes – all very convenient.

My morning was a lazy breakfast at the Creekside Cafe chatting with a young, Mexican architect, Alberto Minjarez, he was visiting friends in the area.

As it happens, his home is just over the border from Antelope Wells – my end point.

Being a would be architect myself, I was keen to compare Mexico with UK styles & practices. His passion was with Spanish architecture, especially Gaudi. He considered his career probably lay in Canada, Mexico had little to offer & USA was out of the question due to Trump’s policies. Mexico, being a poor country, does not provide the challenging designs or energy efficient building an enthusiastic architect craves. Mexican Buildings are relatively simple & materials of construction usually simple concrete blocks. I could not resist going to the web to show our prize project, Maple Court in Newcastle.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Hopefully I worked a temporary fix for my broken Garmin mount but will need proving off road. The remainder of my day was supplies, wandered the towns shops & resting. Yesterday’s spill left me with a few aches which am hoping will magically disappear tomorrow.

Steamboat Springs- really needed an areal shot

Columbine boasts a population of 7 people. It has a dozen or so cabin rents, a store that opens ad hoc & RV Park. It does however sit in a stunning location, at the highest point of the pass (8,500ft) before the long undulating descent to Steamboat Strings. At this time of year, the place is popular with hikes (autumn colours esp. the aspen, are stunning, fishing & moose hunting with bow & arrow! A licensed hunter is allowed one elk kill a year. Two such guys had transported a large container to create their hunt HQ – providing s home, a butchers & meat storage. Their hunt includes 2 hrs at dawn & 2 at dusk – that’s it.

Today, I have to report a painful spill & little bike damage. Hahn’s Peak Roadhouse were advertising breakfast, so called in. They were not, so I left. Whilst inside, some guys had strung a thin reinforced cable across the exit to guide horses from the fields to a paddock. Needless to say, I rode straight into the cable, which flipped both me & the bike. The manager in charge went into claim defence mode, quite unhelpful- not even a cup of tea!

I managed my way to Clark, 10 miles on & had a pleasant lunch & a nice chat with the Greyhound buddies, Chis & bros Allan. Just what I needed.

On to Steamboat Springs down through wide, green valleys.

Since leaving the desert, the light has changed – colours are brighter, more vivid.

A surprisingly warm night plus no condensation on tent so was an easy pack. Lots of animal noises around my tent last night. Only a few weeks ago I’d have been very unnerved. Now, having leant to carefully selected my camp & with my food & toiletries safely hung very high, 100m away, I was able to sleep (with bear spray at the ready).

The procession of large trucks transporting road materials all the way from Rawlins restarted around 7am. Here in the National Forest, tarmacking is not allowed so is receiving a thick layer of gravel which is then sprayed with some new, water based binding agent which, in theory, will prevent dust. – a blessing to all cyclists.

Mechanics truck keep – drive again kindly provided me 3 bottles of water.

Carlos- my drive who drove my bike & me 1.5 miles through the road works. Nothing was too much trouble-pointing out historic “Aspen Ally” & stopping for photo shoots. Thanks buddy! – I know you will be checking the Blog. If you get your wish to England, get in touch!!

Aspen Alley Ranch

Aspen Alley – Medicine Bow. Of historical importance

( told it’s an old pioneering waggon trail route in its original condition that stretches for 1/2 mile. Hence, roadworks stops by here & picks up on the other side)

Views near Aspen Alley

Battle Highway – WY

Some info on Battle Pass/Highway

South WY / Noth West CO – near Medicine Bow. This idilic valley sits between deserts.

(Plus quite different Ranch sign)

Unusual desert dwelling

Columbine & camp

Wind still southerly & even stronger than yesterday. On downhills, instead of cruising, I needed to peddle hard just to keep the bike going foreward! So for all my efforts only progressed 55 miles!!

For the past several hundred miles, my journey has been predominantly east. Today the Divide turns south which feels pretty good – I now feel I am going somewhere!

During breakfast, Divider, Sandy, from Chicago, blogged me.

They had been 5 miles back from the Storm in the Great Basin & wisely held back. I will watch out for you guys & hope to cross paths again real soon!

My Rawlins home

I’ll have good memories of Rawlins. Pleasant place, nice people but stuck in the middle of a desert, 7300 ft above sea level. Not for me.

Quite a few climbs today. The first: 8 miles to escape Rawlins, the second was to finally leave the desert behind 8000 ft & forests – reached only at the end of day. The wind killed any hopes of an easy ride or respectable distance. All day was a strong gusty, southerly all day making even the downhills very hard work.

Road 401 out of Rawlins

Some Dividers already have the perfect bike shot – I’m still working on it!

Major roadworks on the route all day – huge wagons carrying gravel & tarmac travelling the road. Lee, from Ohio, on traffic control, pulled me over to hand a bottle of water & chat. This is all part of what makes the ride special – enjoys talking to Dividers & help them where they can!

Typical of today’s view – lots of desert

Camp- Birch forest just inside Medicine Bow National Forest.

The nights are drawing in very quickly. Today, by 7pm, I needed to pull off the track to set up camp, only last week I had been riding til 8pm or after. Accelerated by me traveling east & south.

At just over 9,000 people, Rawlins is a large town, by Wyoming measures at least – though the town itself is no more than 3×2 blocks. It dates back to 1867, when Union General Aaron Rawlins camped nearby so again fits the 1869’s model. Since the railway dominates much of the place, my guess is that it’s growth & ongoing existence is due to this – plus that I-80 runs through the place. (This being one of the principal E-W interstates across America.

Main attraction – a geological peculiarly just east of town, the museum & a prison. The old Wyoming, state prison once held lots of notorious bad guys & girls so decided on a visit – plus it was only $6 for us old guys!

Little history of the place

Some of the Bad Guys

Accommodation

The Drop

Gas chamber

For moral, the penitentiary once fielded an unbeatable baseball team – then they hung the pitcher & nothing was the same again.

Despite most everything being wet, I managed some sleep.

I never got to see Bairoil, but continued along the Divide route in the direction of Rawlins, 55 miles away. Good news was that the southeastern section of the Basin was flatter & the wind was less of a problem & sometimes helpful. Today’s challenge was the heat, 35C or more & no shade.

Last stretch of the desert to the highway was along an old metalled road

(If not for me, completely devoid of traffic)

By mid afternoon, I had finally reached Rawlins – a milestone in my journey because I move to GDMBR’s 5th map.

Very tired & dirty, I checked into a nice & affordable hotel, The First Choice Inn, had a very long bath, cleaned everything, & set out around the room to dry. Plans for tomorrow include resting & a little explore explore of Rawlins before reentering the Wyoming wilderness.

It’s hard to find the Mercantile closed. 8am it opens to serve breakfast & remains so until last orders at the bar. It’s the towns meeting place: for locals to call for a chat, for people passing through to rest up (Dividers, motorcyclists) & for organised events. For example, today (Saturday), there will be a bike race, an ATV poker drive (where those nasty 4 wheel all-terrain vehicles create havoc & lots of dust trying to find markers) & Gold Diggers gathering. It is perfectly unpretentious to just chill, it has a great atmosphere, & serves great food & beer!!

My home for the night – 20m from the Mercantile entrance

For 10 years, it has been run by husband & wife team Dale Anderson & Laurel Nelson. Dale was an electrician for prisons – glad to say no electric chair experience – & has lived all over. Before taking on the Mercantile, Laurel had a long career in nursing then 15 yrs running her own care home. I mentioned this job is quite a change. To her, it is a continuation of her career in caring except that everyone here is a little insane. “Sanity” is 40 miles away (at the next town). In fact, the opposite is true, the community is solid & everyone supports everyone else & both of them play pivotal roles in this.

Laurel & Dale

Hi both, I know you will be checking out this blog so my opportunity to say thank you for the wigwam / tipi & for making my stopover so memorable. Also, Dale, those corn beef sandwiches made for the trail were awesome!!

The route through the Great Divide Basin (3,600 sq miles of desert) follows historic trails such as the Oregon, Mormon, California & Pony Express. As I discovered, it is a harsh environment even today with reasonable dirt roads, gps, good maps & knowledge of water sources. Back in the 1800’s it must have been hell!

My goal had been to ride through the Basin to Bairoil, a small village some 95 miles on from Atlantic City – it was not to be. 13 miles short, a major storm came on – torrential rain, thunder & lighting, the whole works. Being the only vertical object around, I lay flat on the ground until things calmed down. During a lull, I set up my tent & jumped in (not that straight forward). The storm continued for hours. “Safely” inside, the noise was deafening & lightening came in as huge flashlights.

The desert is not completely devoid of life & activity. Cattle & wild horses, herds of pronghorn roam freely. There is also oil & gas extraction & even the Sweetwater Uranium mine.

On the horizon are Buttes – unexpected

Nodding donkeys at approx 40 miles

Water for Dividers – left by kind locals.

People had mentioned that the Basin is flat. The section completed today is definitely not – my Garmin recorded 4,000ft assents, 4,500 descents. Add to this, the heat, wind thermals & weight of extra water, it was a challenging day.

I was packed early & found the Atlantic City Mercantile for breakfast still uncertain of the day’s plans.

After leaving this place, The Divide route crosses the Great Divide Basin – 135 miles of hot, empty desert, with only two water sources – it is one of the challenging sections. On chatting with locals, I decided to rest up the day, rehydrate & start early tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, the Mercantile’s wigwam, pitched in front of their place, was offered as shelter so no need to pitch my tent.

Atlantic City is a tiny! An old gold mining town that’s now celebrating its 150th year of existence. It is also the only unghostly place around for 40 miles.

Entertaining toAtlantic City

South Pass City, 5 miles away, another gold mining town, briefly became county seat back in the late 1860’s, did not survive & is now a ghost town. As with other places visited in Montana, locals strongly value their history & the place is now a State Historic Site.

Both places owe their existence to the early 1860s when a few frontier military men were assigned to protect telegraph lines, Pony Express stations & emigrant trails in the South Pass Region. Some fellas discovered gold &, overnight, everything changed.

By 1869, South Pass City was born, with banks, hotels, etc. By the early 1870’s the rush ended but South Pass survived well into the twentieth century.

I failed to mention yesterday, Tucker’s full name is Thomas Worthington Offutt IV. The Worthington name has been passed down through generations. Quite a coincidence!

Breakfasted at the Soul Bar & to my surprise, bumped into the Vancouver boys Geoff & Jess, again, this time with their support driver, Amy. It was great to catch up but feel this will be our last meeting.

Their targets, Atlantic City today & Pinedale (135 miles) tomorrow – way beyond my reach. Their mission -,to raise $100k for mental health & have destination targets to achieve.

I know they are looking in so – Good Luck Guys!!!

Spent first 3hrs to uploading blogs due to I.T. Issues so an extremely late start!

villages on the high ground have random layouts – looks like people build were they want & nobody minds

As with Montana, Wyoming settlement is very recent. since leaving Jackson Hole, I have been following the routes of major expeditions into what was totally uncharted territory. Yesterday’s route was to follow the Holback River in the steps of the 1811, Astarian Party expedition.

Today’s route follows Kit Carson’s expedition to South Pass – this being the ancient route through the Rockies & over the Divide- the only low level passage that links the Pacific with the Atlantic.

A little more history

My original destination was 50 miles to Lander Creek Campground, however, being well above 8000 ft I pushed on &, after 90 miles, late evening, I too, finally made Atlantic City – exhausted. I found a flat piece of land, set up camp and slept.

My Camp – someone’s garden I guess!

To leave was tough to do. I wanted to explore the place more plus had thoroughly enjoyed Amy & Bomber’s company. We’d got on extremely well & in just two days of knowing them, I have taken them to be good friends.

Bomber had completion of a house sale so left early but not before group selfy.

Tucker also called by to see me off.

Thanks all for everything!!

My ride to Pinedale was 80 miles along a Wyoming Scenic byway & very pleasant indeed.

Deserter store on route in the middle of nowhere

Some reading matter.

Interesting Ranch Signs Particularly like the Last Dollar Ranch

Shots of entering Pinedale (bottom one taken from the centre main road

Arrived around dusk but no campsite again though did manage a good deal at the Waggon Wheeler Motel on the south end of town.