Dubois, WY

Wednesday was an administrative day. We drove the thirty or so miles into old friend Dubois (population 900+), gassed, propaned, washed, dumped (through the kindness of the laundromat guy, who also owns the car wash, which had a clean-out...a bit of Western kindness and resourcefulness), provisioned, stimulated the local economy, and took pix for the blog. Dubois is just northeast of the Winds, one of its gateways, and a place we have visited or passed through many times. 

Our base near Togwotee Pass was too far away to do the ride to Green River Lakes, one of my favorite places, so we needed to find a place to park/camp further south, high up, and connected to the CDT system. A look at the map and conversations with NFS personnel and Lava Lodge suggested the Warm Springs parking lot, on Union Pass Road, southwest of highway #26. In normal snow years, we probably wouldn't have tried it. But this year, no problem. We got there, up a few miles of switchbacks, great dirt road, some snow and ice, well before dark. It turned out to be a place we have snowmobiled through many times, a quarter mile from the Line Shack and not too far from the Tie Hack and other places we have over-nighted on previous snowtreks in the area. Never knew it had a name. We were the only rig there. 8,300 feet. No service and no wifi, but plenty of snowmobiles riding through to the Line Shack.

At the parking lot near Lava Lodge, a dumpster on skis

I'll always remember Dubois as the place where
they had a saloon in a cave off the main street,
in the early 70s; locals say it was never a saloon,
just beer storage for The Outlaw; I'm sticking
with my story 

Bigger picture

Outside the game meat processing and hide tanning shoppe;
beware of tanning shoppes in Wyoming and Montana; they
may not be what you think...

The Wind River as it wends its way through Dubois; downstream
it becomes the Bighorn River

Elk and bear cult monuments

Typical local architecture

Board walk on main street

Sadly, there was a New Year's Day fire on main street, damaging
or destroying several of the historic buildings

Nice laundromat and sculpture

Free bike use in town

Nice folks, but not to be doubted

Largest known specimen of the Wyoming
Jackalope; the last breeding pair was killed--
one shot--in 1889, just a year before
statehood

--Posted from the very nice Dubois Public Library

Snowmobiling The Continental Divide Trail, 3

Tuesday we woke up to -6 degrees. All seems well: Vicki's remote sensors keeping the assorted tanks and lines from freezing and us warm enough. After checking propane levels and getting the generator going for a while, we suited up for our last day in this northern part of the Continental Divide trail system, hoping to ride west and south, perhaps as far as Slide Lake, closer to Jackson than here, Togwotee Pass. The day was bright and clear, if chilly, the trails we traveled recently groomed, and with little company, and the scenery gorgeous. Perhaps our best riding so far, despite the setback...

Another beautiful, chilly day; and more mountain scenery

Rack for hanging food away from bears (when they're out)

Heading south and east, along trail W, toward the Gros
Ventres range

Thus, even contemplating carrying on to Slide Lake

The trail does not go ever on from here; in high winter, snow
trails often pass over streams and creeks; sometimes you don't
even know you've crossed a stream

But this one has melted out; sportier one-up machines might
jump or slog this, but our heavily-laden two-up, 1,000 cc,
lumbering behemoth would only sink to the bottom; so we
backtracked and did some other trails

What's a kitty-cat doing out here?

Anyhow, ever more scenery and good riding

And every now and then, views of the Tetons

Snowmobiling The Continental Divide Trail, 2

We'd hoped Saturday night's snowfall would have melted off our solar panels Sunday: not so. And we'd assumed our generator would start right up despite the -1 degree temperature last night: also not so. Our batteries were getting close to 50%. We're thinking maybe it's time to go to a campground and charge up. Except there aren't any campgrounds open this time of the year in Wyoming. At length, however, the generator decided to cooperate, and I spent an hour up on our telescoping ladder scraping snow and ice off the solar panels. By noon, all was well, the batteries had already transitioned from bulk to absorb, and the temperature outside had risen to 29. Life is good.

We suited up and headed out for another 50-mile ride, generally south and east of Togwotee Pass, toward Lava Lodge, looking for both savage and regular campsites. Not much success, except in the savage department. The ride back, on the CDT, was especially bumpy and unpleasant. But the scenery again was great.

More of the Absarokas, the great range that links Wyoming
and Montana

Thus

And thus

And thus

And a distant view of the Winds, to the south

Among the charms of these rides are the welcoming ranches/
lodges tucked away along the trails, often accessible primarily
by snowmobile this time of year

Fixer-upper department: abandoned yurt

And more mountain scenery

Snowmobiling The Continental Divide Trail, 1

We had snowmobiled the CDT on several occasions in earlier years, mostly from Ashton, ID--a very long ride--but also from where we are now, Togwotee Pass, in WY. It was a long drive from where we lived, Missoula, MT, but worth it every time, usually the whole spring break. The CDT is a network of trails, 600 miles of them, generally northwest and astride the Wind River Mountains. It is simply the best of all snow trail systems, most scenic, best served, most extensive and varied. And, even in this low-snow year here in the Rockies, there is a ton of snow, especially from where we are parked at 8,500 feet. We did a 50 mile ride today, mostly west and south of the Pass, and mostly gawking at the unsurpassed scenery.

It snowed here last night, a couple inches, first snowfall we have
seen on this campaign...

Mt. Moran, northernmost of the big Teton peaks

South, Middle, and Grand Tetons (and Teewinot)

Another view

And another, with Jackson Lake in there too; they're
captivating, even at this distance

A few hours later, and back toward the east, a bit of the
Absaroka range

Step pyramid in the Absarokas?!

Return To Jackson, WY

Saturday morning, Valentines' Day, we motored up the Snake River highway to Jackson, WY: our old friend, Jackson, which we visited first in 1970, and to which we have returned many times, in all seasons, for hiking, backpacking, climbing, rafting, snowmobiling, and more. We fell in love with the place then, and more than once considered moving there, abandoning careers, etc., for different lifestyles. Fortunately, we didn't. Now the place is somewhat less lovable; actually, a lot less lovable. Not to mention affordable. But that's mostly just the town and the people that bought the place up in the 80s and later. Aspenization, some call it. Now we just pass through in a few hours, look for a few old haunts, entertain a few of the good memories, and move on. The economy doesn't need any stimulation. It does need snow, however.

Major location for Christie's, Sotheby's, etc.

Lunch at the new Bubba's, now owned by one of Jackson's
restaurant combines, across the highway from its original
location; worst pulled port ever, oozing grease...

Local landmark, great tobacco shop

Wort Hotel, famous landmark...

Another famous landmark, a gateway to the city square...the
National Elk Refuge is not far away; not pictured: urban elk

Another famous landmark, the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar;
note Ferrari cruising past

One of the places that always cracks me up, the ski equipment
room in the thrift shoppe of the Episcopal Church of St. Matthew/
Mark/Luke/John; note crutches, a cautionary touch

Teton Mountaineering, where we have cheerfully
dropped a few coins

Does your Albertsons' sell bear spray? it's spring conditions
here, and they are coming out of their dens, hungry

After a few hours of shopping, eating, and reminiscentia, we
are over the hill and round the bend, for a first close view of
the Tetons

August 8, 1972, my first ascent

An hour later, past Moose and Moran, we are camped at a
snowmobile parking lot just short of Togwotee Pass, enjoying
a great Teton sunset

Another Day's Sledding Near Alpine, WY

Friday we rode another 80-some miles, first over on the loop to the McCain guard cabin, where we had lunch and built a couple snow-persons for Penelope. See video, later. Then we did more of the Grey River trail, out to the Box Y ranch, said to be the nation's most remotely-located resort, for hot chocolate and hot apple cider; and $5 of gasoline—one gallon. The gasoline turned out to be a good idea: filling up the next day in Jackson revealed it would have been very close getting back to the parking lot. Must remember: 10 gallons=184 miles. On the way back we took a variant off the river trail. It looked innocent enough on the map, but in reality took us up 3,000 feet on twisty narrow trails and into some relatively deep snow. The views of both the Salt River and Wyoming ranges were stunning. I would have enjoyed them more had the gas tank needle not been stuck mostly on empty. But we got back safe and sound, trailered the Blue Wanderer (now so christened), and enjoyed a BBQ ribs dinner.

Vicinity of the McCain cabin

Very small snow-person for P; in the video, to be added later,
Vicki builds a slightly larger one; the snow was a month old,
granular, almost of snow-cone consistency

Fly-over country

Thirty miles later, we are at the Box Y ranch/resort

Thus

With its superb collection of dead thangs and much other
Wyomingiana; nice folks

Among the views from the C variant; up much higher than it
looks...about 8,000 feet