Photo: Mountains as we leave Teton National Park.
Back to nearly full strength, Tom and I biked on to the Lava Mountain Lodge. It was Fathers Day, and I enjoyed calls from my kids Denise, Jeff, and Mike. Pam, thirteen time zones away in Korea sent me a text message. We biked, mostly up and over the 9658 ft. Togwotee Pass which consisted of about ten miles up a mostly 4% grade. It wasn’t bad, especially with Carol carrying our bags. The reduced weight made our bags feel like they were motorized!
The weather was beautiful until we reached Togwotee Pass, when a light rain turned to face stinging hail, followed by damaged pavement, followed by a bit of lightening, and a constant temperature drop. We reached the top, and sped down a 12 mile grade. On the way down, Pinnacle Bute, at 11,516 ft revealed itself. It was quite an impressive sight, but Tom missed it, possibly because it might have been cloud covered when he sped by.
At Mountain lodge, there was a singing cowboy who entertained us with cowboy tunes. We rented a comfortable cabin, but with no plumbing.
Kendall, and Rachael, of the Unforgettable Journey bicycled past this location. They said they got muddy and frightened in a lightening storm while biking out of Yellowstone on road that was under construction. We had driven over the same section of road, and we were happy we had Carol with us to transport us over the bad road! What a mess!
There was a vividly colored rainbow coming down from the pass. Carol said it was the most vivid rainbow she had ever seen. It seemed to be resting on the side of the hill, and was extraordinarily wide.
At the Mountain lodge, we met Jim the most authentic looking cowboy we have seen yet. He’s a former jockey, who works at the Mountain Lodge. In 1966, he won a large purse in Chicago, which he used to pay of his parent’s home. Jim said he has a horse from Ohio. You can lift up his tail and see the “O”.
Total miles today, 58.7; 8 miles of it over a damaged gravel section of road, over the pass.
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