GDMBR Day 41

• Start: Jackson, WY

• Finish: Colter Bay Campground, Grand Teton National Park

• Miles: 54.4 miles

• Odometer: 1,708.2 miles

• Ascent: 2,000 feet

• Descent: 1,400 feet

• Location: https://share.garmin.com/Judice

Highlights

Perfect weather. No wind. Perfect scenery. Riding through the Grand Teton National Park cannot be described in words. I hope the photographs capture a little bit of the beauty of the Tetons. There is something awe inspiring about the rugged, jagged peaks of these mountains. I tried to soak it all in with some focused attention to every glacier, ridge, and peak. Despite the number of tourists, the place feels like hallowed ground.

Leaving Jackson I rode a dedicated bicycle paths most of the way through the park. While riding through the forest and meadows I kept my head on a swivel anticipating sightings of the moose, grizzly bears, or wolves. I cycled to Jenny Lake for a short break and to check out the campground. Had it not been early in the day I would have camped there in the shadows of these beautiful mountains. And while the campground was full, the small area dedicated for hikers and bikers was completely empty. But alas it was time to move up the route towards Canada and ultimately I settled at Colter Bay Campground on the northern end of the park.

I checked into the hiker/biker section of the Colter Bay Campground where they were four other cyclists, all on the Adventure Cycling Association’s TransAmerican route. Two of the cyclists started on the East Coast and are headed west, and a young couple from Portland started there and are headed east. They tell an interesting story of quitting their jobs, selling their house and planning this ride across the country and eventually south to Florida where they will make their new home. Prior to this trip the couple had not ridden more than 30 miles in one stretch. Crazy kids!

When I walked over to visit with the cyclists, they immediately pulled out and offered me a beer. The camaraderie was instant based on kindred adventurous spirits. One of the west bound cyclists, Fedor, is from Russia and living in Boston with his Harvard researcher wife. Given the Russian angle I begin to think of this group as “The Trans Americans”, recruited and trained by the KGB as sleeper cyclists meant to travel across America collecting intel on American motorists and roadside trash. The quality and quantity of roadside trash says a lot about a people.