Dubois, over Togwotee Pass
The objective today was simple: climb ~3000 feet up and over Togwotee Pass and descend the other side to Dubois.
The Tetons were behind me and ~17.5 miles of climbing from Hatchet to the summit with the majority of this in the first half. I got into low gear and slowly went up the hill. At 9 miles was Togwotee Lodge, an upscale place.
I stopped in to buy a candy bar and take a short rest. After this the road was slightly flatter for a few miles and then some shorter steep climbs. While it wasn’t fast, I was happy to get to the summit and see the sign. Hooray!
A slight tailwind had picked up which was also welcome. From here, the first nine miles had more of the descent and then more gradual after that.
Above is a photo of some of the rock formations near the summit. As I descended I came past some burned areas. The Lava Mountain lodge had sign “tx firefighters” so assume the two were related.
These three cyclists started July 17th from east coast and were following the Transamerica Trail to Oregon.
This monument was to “tie hacks”, in particular those whose particular skills were in hacking trees to create well-formed railroad ties. This eventually died off both as demand for railroad ties lessened and as sawmills were used instead.
This cyclist had started in Vermont and was on his way to the west coast.
Tailwinds and a slight descent made for good travels. As I got nearer to Dubois (locals pronounce it as “dew-boys”) the rocks and landscapes also changed. Looks a fair amount dryer than on the west side of the pass.
Nice to reach Dubois and find place to stay. I did investigate this jackalope exhibit, but nothing particularly fancy here.
Hey Mike, looks like a very successful trip so far. We have fond memories of that pass. We stopped overnight in our camper in a meadow near the top of the pass and saw a grizzly sow and two cubs…
Let us know if you are passing through Golden. We can offer a futon bed and some hearty meals.