I finally sat down and merged up our GPX files for the trip this far. 2650 miles, more or less. That puts us at about the same mileage as Tour Divide, including the Canadian section. We still have 800 trail miles to go. I expect we’ll end up with well over the 3100 miles the hiking CDT route is estimated at.
We’re at over 300,000 feet of climbing so far. It’s a big, big trail. So big that it’s already getting lost in my memory. Which section came before which?
There are so many micro adventures that happen along the way, each with their own intrigue and story. Here are a few more photos to fill in the gaps between the daily entries.
Never-ending two tracks in the Great Basin. And, ah ha, some hikers!
Free-riding in the Basin on roads that have ceased to exist.
Did not make it out of the basin alive. Was a good meal for someone, though.
Optical illusions and perspective play fun tricks out in the basin. I swear, that road is as straight as an arrow.
It’s a special, special place. One worthy of its own exploratory bikepack, methinks. The wild horses make some pretty inviting looking singletrack. Who knows where they lead?
Ouch. Should have brought the fat bikes.
But wait, there’s a thru-hiker trodden singletrack next to the road. Thanks thru-hikers!
Some of the finest tripletrack in the west!
There are trees, and rocks, and mountains! Beautiful.
Leaving Pinedale, a new bike path for the divide route, yay! With views of the Winds.
Investigating Kendall Warm Springs, where we accidentally soaked our feet and I lost my gloves for a good while.
Stinky Springs. Yuck.
A moving gummy worm. I wish we had a real gummy worm to put beside it to compare. It looked like a divide rider’s sugary treat had animated and gotten away.
Back on the CDT…. errr, what most people hike, anyway. An incredible ridgeline with views of the Brooks Pinnacles, the Tetons, and the Winds. All spectacular and well known places. This ridgeline 2-track is not a well known place that anyone visits, but it might have the best view of it all, anywhere.
Dropping to Leeds Creek. Gorgeous meadow where we camped. There’s absolutely no trail down there, but not a bad place to wander around on two feet, dragging a bike.
Sunrise from the Leeds meadow.
There’s the bike dragging I promised.
If the forest wasn’t burned, it was often decimated by bark beetle. Yet flowery game trails abound. Lovely.
Following snowmobile trails, or trying to follow them. I believe 99% of the use in this area is in the winter. The other 1% is CDT hikers.
And now 0.001% is CDT bikers!
Follow the hiker-trampled grass and flowers!
I wonder if this ATV trail gets muddy much…
Togwotee mud. Not recommended.
Brooks Lake Road 1.
2. Also not recommended in the mud.
The Tetons!
For the roads of the Parks, I improvised a seat bag to get more weight and bulk onto the bike. It worked brilliantly — as long as I didn’t use the dropper post. Roadie mode!
Chilling and Jackson Lake.
Grizzly Cabin, heading out at oh-dark-thirty to beat the hordes of Yellowstone traffic. It worked.
We had to do it. Saw everyone else stopping for photos at the park entrance signs.
Embrace being a tourist, we said. That also worked.
The mists of Yellowstone.
Then the fog of Yellowstone. We got drenched, cutting through it.
The divide!
Old Faithful. What perfect timing!
Upper geyser basin, toured around by bike.
Riverside geyser. Also impeccable timing!
Bikes in a National Park. Hooray!
Morning Glory Pool. Wow.
Singletrack in a National Park. And on route, getting us off the busy road!!
Yeah, that busy road. The one with tons of rented RVs on it. That’s as much shoulder as you ever get. Sometimes none. Overall, it was OK. I wouldn’t want to ride it every day, and am grateful we got through without incident.
Sapphire Pool. The world is an amazing place, what can I say.
Grand Prismatic Pool, as seen from the hill above the dirt bike route. Yay for dirt and miles not on the park roads.
If you’re looking for the best backcountry riding and singletrack, routing the Yellowstone is not it. But if you’re looking for the best divide experience, seeing Yellowstone is well worth it. It’s not like we have a shortage of backcountry adventure and killer singletrack on this route, as is.
Really enjoying your posts. Almost incomprehensibly beautiful.