We got up, packed our tents, and went to get breakfast. As we were leaving, we saw a hot air balloon coming down and we stopped to get pictures quick. We had breakfast at The Provision Kitchen in town which was really good. From there we headed up to Grand Targhee Resort to take a look around. The ride up was nice and there were some fun turns which always makes the ride more enjoyable.
From the resort, we headed to Jackson, WY (Jackson Hole) but just rode through town. It was very busy and touristy so we continued into Grand Teton National Park. We stopped at the visitor center to see if they had any stickers for our panniers. Then, we took the scenic route through the park and along Jenny Lake. We were hoping to see a bull moose, but we never saw one. We also just rode through the park without stopping to hike. I’m sure if we were to hike, we could have, but who knows? The view of the Tetons is amazing anyway, but that would have been the icing on the cake!
Once we got through the park, we took route 26 to route 287 southeast through Bridger-Teton National Forest and then through Shoshone National Forest. The scenery is so awesome! These two national forests have so many mountains, hills, rivers, and streams. It’s just beautiful! We continued until we reached Dubois, WY and there was a nice sort of western-like town with some restaurants, so we stopped there for lunch at Cowboy Cafe.
We continued until Riverton, WY. From there, there was a whole lot more of nothing down route 135 and route 287 until we got to Rawlins, WY. We basically rode through central Wyoming and its very desolate out there; just thousands and thousands of acres of farm fields. I think it was close to 120 miles of almost nothing. After we went through Riverton, we turned on to route 135 and they were doing roadwork so we stopped and got off the bikes while we waited. They told us it would be about a 15 minute wait.
After waiting we cruised on. There was some great scenery along the way, but very little civilization. It really makes you think how vast this country is. We passed Split Rock too. As we rode by I got some photos with the GoPro. I thought it was a famous historical spot and after looking online, I was right. Split Rock was a prominent landmark on the Oregon Trail due to its notch. Emigrants could see if for two days or more as they approached on the trail.
We finally arrived in Rawlins, WY. From there we were trying to find a place to end up for the night. We thought Walden, CO would be a good point since we were planning on making it to Granby, CO before making our way into Rocky Mountain National Park. On the way, the sun started to set. The temperature started to drop so we pulled over and added some layers. At this point, it was dark and when we got back on the road for the last hour, it was a bit tense. There were a lot of hares and antelope on the shoulder of the road and I did not want to hit either of them at 8:30pm in the middle of nowhere. After taking our time, we crossed into Colorado and made it to North Park Inn & Suites. When we checked in, we were given a room. Well, we got to the room, and when we opened the door, there were construction workers laying down. They were quite surprised! haha Their system never updated properly. Luckily there was a master suite we were able to stay in. We finished the day with about 460 miles.
More photos: Day 10 Photos
Adventures of Matty Q 