"I�ve been to the mountain top�I�ve looked over and I�ve seen the promised land." Martin Luther King West Yellowstone, Montana to Jackson, Wyoming. 135 miles. 5550 feet climbing. And I thought it was cold the past five mornings. But this morning has the record so far, 34 degrees Fahrenheit. It's not bad eating breakfast in the parking lot as there's no wind, but riding is another story. I have four layers on top and I'm still cold. We head south again. We've left the scrub ranchland behind and are once again in the pine forests of Yellowstone. There's a climb to Targhee Pass at 7,100 feet elevation and the Idaho border. As we ride down the other side of the pass the terrain changes to a high mountain plain, with mixed forest and the first deciduous trees we've seen in awhile. The aspens are already changing colour. I'm in love with Idaho. The road is smooth, with a broad clean shoulder. The scenery is fabulous, the traffic is polite, and best of all, there's a tailwind. The five of us motor along at 25 mph for quite a stretch. The first sag stop is beside a river, and for awhile we watch a bald eagle fishing. Just down the road some moose cross in front of us. Some of the urbanites on the trip are thrilled. The second stop overlooks some falls. Then the terrain opens up a bit, though the countryside remains rolling, with wheat fields that stretch 10 miles to the mountain slopes on either side of the valley. As it warms up the clouds also build and we can see scattered dark rainshowers. It's still cool enough that if we get wet it will be pretty miserable. It looks like we're going to get wet. But despite the imposing weather I think that most of us are focused on the advertised feature of the day, a 2500 foot climb to 8670 feet to get over the Tetons. It's 115 miles to the base of the climb and the border of Wyoming. Then 7 miles up, the last 3 miles of which are 10% with absolutely no respite. I'm a little undergeared with a 39-26. We're rewarded at the top with the deep satisfaction of having arrived, a cold hard wind, and a fabulous view of the "promised land", Jackson. Actually, the view alone was worth the climb. We've arranged to have our extra layers at the sag at the top of the pass, so we put everything we have back on, and head down. About 5 miles of 10%. Ann rockets down as if she'd done big descents all her life. The wind is strong and shifting, and going too fast gets a little scary. I top out at about 50 mph, and don't catch Ann until near the bottom. She'll have the grin on her face for another five hours. We have enough time to sightsee in Jackson before the sun sets, and I get a picture of a pretty grotesque city park entrance archway made out several hundred antlers. There's even big game (dear, elk, moose, and buffalo) heads mounted on the walls in the pharmacy, and guns used as handles for store and hotel doorways. The wild wild west. Don Friedlander ------ To unsubscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Club Office: [EMAIL PROTECTED], (613) 230-1064 Web/mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb Newsletter: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb/Newsletter ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiDo.a2i8p1 Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
