Adventures of the Heart
Mary Zalmanek
Great Divide - Flagg Ranch, Falls CG, WY

From: Mary
Sent: Saturday, 8/09/03
To: Friends and Family
Subject: Warm River to Falls Campground

Friday, August 8 - Warm River Campground to Campsite 2 near Flagg Ranch (45 miles, 3260 feet)

Since we only had to do 72 miles in Idaho, the Idaho-Wyoming border crossing celebration came quickly on the heels of the last border crossing.  The The group at the ID/WY bordernext one will take a while.  From left to right: Robert, Jeff Sweet, Evan, Mary, Kurt, Jeff Olson, Ray. 

If you are wondering why Jim is not in the picture, it's because he had to drive the motorhome. He met us a few hours later.  If you are wondering when I'm going to drive the motorhome so he can ride, it won't be anytime soon.  I drove the motorhome for 14 miles on a lonely stretch of interstate in Idaho last year, and it took me two weeks to be comfortable riding in it again.  It's the width -- 102 inches -- that I can't get used to. The deal Jim and I have is that he does all the driving and I do all the cooking and cleaning.  On this trip, I'll agree that he's getting the short end of the stick, but he doesn't seem to mind. Yesterday's ride ended with 24 miles of pavement.  Before we hit pavement, we saw 1 car.  After we hit pavement, 7 cars passed us, and 4 of those were within the last 3 miles just before the campground. Not a big deal, right? I was starting to think I could deal with pavement and traffic on dirt roads.  Reality set in today.

Here are a few statistics:

  • Number of smelly garbage trucks that wouldn't give up an inch of their lane, even though there was not another vehicle on the road for miles and the shoulder was about 6 inches wide at that point:  1
  • Number of cars that passed up kicking up a cloud of dust so thick that we couldn't tell what color the car was:  30
  • Number of considerate drivers who slowed down or even stopped so as not to choke us with dust:   4
  • Number of ATVs that went zooming by during our lunch break coating our energy bars and PB&J sandwiches with a fine layer of dirt:  15Jim in burned forest at Yellowstone

In spite of this, we still had a great ride.  Near the end of the ride, we went through miles of forest burned in the Yellowstone fires in 1988. Fifteen years later, there isn't much new growth.  Jim met us for this portion of the ride.

Saturday, August 9 - Flagg Ranch to Falls Campground

Jim and I decided to forego this section of the ride.  It's lots of paved roads, narrow shoulders, and heavy traffic into Yellowstone.  We said goodbye to the BOB Boys, as they need to head back home.  We're taking a break and I hope to find Internet access, a Laundromat, and a new rear shock for my bike in Jackson.  We'll meet up with Evan later on today.

Happy trails,
Mary

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