Day 50, Monday, June 9


Pilot Butte Reservoir, Wyoming to Dubois, Wyoming

Like the night before, packing up went quickly without having to deal with tents. Going forward we will look for opportunities to sleep without them.


The Pilot Butte Reservoir is fed by the Wind River, and our route for the day would go up the river to Dubois. We were told we would see nothing but Wyoming plains until we reached Crowheart,  about 25 miles away, but somewhere along the way we found a rest area, so we stopped and made coffee.

As we climbed the Wind River the canyon narrowed and the winds picked up. It was a real struggle even though the gradient was only 2 or 3 percent. The views were spectacular, though, and especially welcome after weeks of riding on the plains of Nebraska and eastern Wyoming. 

We ultimately reached Dubois, where John had arranged for us to stay at the Episcopal Church. Years ago the church kept getting requests from trans-continental bicyclists and Continental Divide Trail hikers for a place to stay. One of the deacons decided to set up a "bike/hike ministry". They let up to eight people stay in their community room, which is just a large meeting room. It's basic, but there is a toilet, and secure bicycle storage.


There was a laundromat in town, so we did laundry then went to eat. As we were being seated we ran into another bicycle tourist that was staying at the church, Tyler Epstein. Of course we all had dinner together.


Tyler had a scary day. He was pedaling up the Wind River like we were when his wheel came apart. He was very lucky to have been on a flat at the time. A good Samaritan picked him up and brought him to Dubois, and he's working with his bike shop back home to get two new wheels.

So, we had dinner with Ty, who is bicycling from Kansas City to Astoria. He has a YouTube channel called Ty's Rides, and he's posting daily about his ride.

After dinner we went back to the church and went straight to bed. We had a big climb the next day, up to the Continental Divide, and we needed all the rest we could get.











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