Hell to Pay today! Day-8

View from the highlands of Wyoming
Bridge at Flaming Gorge
Bike at cell tower overlook
Self portrait at Flaming Gorge dam.
I took a nap here!
Self portrait at scenic overlook.
Sleet, snow and wind!
More sleet, snow, wind and bad roads!
Finally found a room.
Other bikers at Motel.


No adventure is without adversity, and today was both! It started out great, I got an early start out of Fruitis, a very nice little town out side of Grand Junction. The morning was picture perfect as I headed out at 7:00am. I rode through the Ashley national forest, at my usual speed of 50 mph. Winding through the valleys, enjoying the views, it was open range area, and on a few occasions the roadway was impeded by Bovine interlopers. I took that path less traveled and gained an additional 800' of elevation to over 8500' on a service road to a cell tower.
I headed down to Flaming Gorge, went over the dam and back to the high plains, at around 7500'. Cruising on the ridge line, I saw two moose, I was going to fast to get a pic. I stopped at a deserted camp ground a few miles later and had lunch and a quick nap. I went through the town of Rock Springs around 1:00pm, I decided to head on to Pinedale WY. Once I got out of town the winds picked up from the north, over 60 mph, I was riding right into the storm. The rain started, then the sleet and then the snow!
At full throttle in blinding snow, I was only able to go 50 mph. Thank goodness for my new tires, or I would be writing this from a morgue! This weather was nothing compared to what I experienced a few days ago out of Colorado Springs! Hard core to say the least!!!
It actually cleared when I got to Pine dale at 5:30, but guess what? Every hotel room in town was filled! The skies were clear further north, so I gassed up and decided to make a run to Jackson Hole another 70 miles up the road. The last hotel I stopped at told me that due to the season there were probably no rooms left in Jackson hole. I asked if they knew of any motels between here and there. She assured me there were none. I resigned myself to having to camp somewhere on the way. As luck would have it just 10 miles outside of Pinedale, I came across a wide spot in the road, where there is an RV park, convenience store and a 5 room motel. I stopped in, at 6:30 and they were completely empty, I got the cheapest room, grabbed some food at the store, and a bottle of wine. Over the next few hours, the inn has filled up. A gentleman by the name of Bob, who is taking the summer off and driving around with a bicycle strapped on his care and bicycling as he sees fit. We had a nice visit and shared a cup of wine. Shortly there after a group of 5 guys from Guatemala showed up who are doing a 8 week ride up to Alaska and back, they are driving Harley's and BMW's. While their "English" is about as good as my "Spanish", we were able to communicate well enough and had a good visit. Of course a little, Beer, wine and tequila helps to bridge the language gap, we had a nice visit on the front porch of our little sanctuary from the storm.
The weather forecast for the next two days is for record low temps, with rain and snow. At this point in time, I am not sure where I will go from here. By the weekend things are supposed to be picture perfect in Yellowstone. I think that while there is going to rain and snow tomorrow, I will head up to Jackson Hole, get a room for a day or two, then spend the weekend in Yellow stone.
That is pretty much all for today, without a doubt this day was a true test and example of extremes. I will keep you posted.

Thank god for global warming!!!