Saturday 9 June - Reaching the Tetons

Dubois to Jackson, Wyoming

75 miles
6 hours and 32 minutes in the saddle
31.1 mph max speed
11.4 mph average speed

Today we climbed over Togwotee Pass at 9,658 feet and crossed the continental divide yet another time. In spite of the Weather Channel promising strong tail wind, we continue to face head winds. Our faith in the Weather Channel has been severely dented.

Road works near the summit meant that we got a lift for nearly 4 miles through the worst of the road works. We still had to cycle a few miles on rough, unpaved roads. As we climbed towards the pass we had amazing views of Lava Mountain and Pinnacle Butte. There was a lot of snow on the ground following the 14 inch dump of snow on Wednesday.

A 17 mile downhill followed the climb up Togwotee. After about 5 miles down hill we caught our first glimpse of the majestic Teton mountains. It is difficult to describe the beauty of the Tetons. We spent most of the 17 mile descent ooh-ing and aah-ing as we got closer and closer to the mountains. Tetons seem to suddenly rise out of the ground and there are no foot hills to obstruct the views of the 13,000 feet jagged peaks. Our slow average speed reflects the number of times we stopped to take photos and to admire the view.

On our way to Jackson we stopped at the airport to pick up a hire car. Tomorrow we will drive around Yellowstone.

Today we have seen lots of deer, a moose in the distance and bison roaming the plains.