Tossed about on the road to Idaho


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John's Journal

Day Thirtyseven

Mileage-

Route- Hwy 191 South Jackson, Hwy 22 West, Hwy 31 South, Hwy 26 West, I-15 South, I-86 West, I-84 West, Hwy 25 East, Hwy 93 North, Hwy 20 West

Well, what a day! I awoke to the sound of rain, turned over to wait for a calm period to pack up. I actually had some sun for a while! Then, back to overcast, but no rain...yet. This campground, by the way, it really nice. Most all of the 50 or so tent-only (no RV's) sites are somewhat secluded and surrounded by lots of trees, mostly pines. There were still several sites covered with snow! I split around 10:30am happy to have all the wet, muddy gear stowed and off to who knows where.

Leaving the park was a nice ride, glancing back to the right at the Tetons. The terrain is really wonderful, as I said yesterday, with the lakes that go right up against the mountains that overlook fields with elk and who knows what other critters.

Winding my way out and to Jackson was pretty cool, too. The mountains surrounded the flat valley I drive through with thick, gray clouds overhead creating a blanket covering up the whole area. Almost strangely comforting, given it started to rain after brunch. I am now getting used to getting up around 8:30 or 9 am and leisurely packing up, not really getting much to eat until 11 or 12. This may or may not be a problem when I return.

Out of Jackson, the main road south was closed due to a massive mudslide, so there was more traffic than usual. I was going to take this route anyway to head west over the mountains, then catch up with the freeway or stay on the backroads toward Boise for the night. It rained the whole, beautiful way. I could still tell that this road was very scenic with winding curves past mountains and valleys. I am not sure how high it was, but it rose pretty quickly and then descended about the same. Just too bad there was this over abundance of water trickling or rather pouring out of the sky.

I stopped a few places for gas or to just drip for a few minutes. Some folks would come over and commiserate with me because they ride, others would just nod and some would not even look my way as they passed by me. Funny. I really do enjoy the looks and attentions I get. People must think I am crazy (easy, now, no smart remarks from the peanut gallery), but since I have mostly the right gear, I am not too wet or cold. I only wish I could look around a bit more while in such beautiful surroundings. I guess I'll have to come back.

But wait, it gets better. The rain finally stopped and I was on the highway so I could make some time. Then, the wind started. O.K., I have had some wind this trip (South Dakota comes to mind), so I gave a heavy sigh, but I could deal with it. Then, so then, I started looking at the clouds slightly to my left and noticing it looked like rain. Boy, I was just starting to dry out a tad and didn't want to go through any more rain if I didn't have to. I started planning an alternate course in case the rain came up, but the Highway kept turning toward the right, away from the bad clouds. But, then the wind kicked into high gear and nearly knocked me off the bike! No exaggeration, I have never been in wind like this before. Whew! Hold on!! [ "Respect the Wind" is the motto of this branch of the lunatic fringe ]

I glanced around and noticed that things looked a strange color to me. I remember that when we had tornadoes in the midwest the sky took on a strange color and it seemed that it could be gearing up for on or right in the middle of one right now. I got a bit spooked, I suppose, but I took the next exit and tried to get away from any impending storm. However, the wind still was really, really high as I quickly went back east a bit to find my alternate route. There was dust and dirt just flying across the road literally horizontally. A few times I couldn't see 50 feet in front of me! Help! No, it wasn't that bad, just required all I had to hang on and keep from going either off the road or into the oncoming lane of traffic. At least there was no rain.

The wind eased a bit as I turned onto Hwy 20 west, but it was mostly a head wind, now. This road was going to be my scenic route, if I felt up to it leaving Jackson, but had opted for the highway due to the rain and to make some time. It skirted the Sawtooth Mountains to the south by several miles. This meant that there was a good deal of flat roads through fields and high desert brush combined with a short rise and dip through a pass across the mountains. Again, I wish I didn't have to work so hard at just riding to enjoy some of the beauty. It looked like I just missed all the rain that was off to the south when I was on the interstate and to the north as I rode this highway through the Sawtooth (or would that be Sawteeth?) mountains.

I promised myself that the first decent hotel (hot water, good bed, phone in room, restaurant walkable) I would stop. I did so in Mountain Home, Idaho.

So, how was your day?