Today we rode from the Cottonwood campground in the Rockport State Park, Utah to the Phillips RV Park in Evanston, Wyoming. We had blue skies with friendly clouds all day. The road surfaces we cycled included pavement, rail-trail, and gravel.
Riding statistics: on Wednesday May 29, 2024, the 21st day on the Western Wildlands Route route, it took 07:27h (05:44h moving time), between 06:50 and 14:18, to cover 99 km (62 miles), including 845 m (2772 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 17 km/h (11 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 24 °C (78 °F) with a minimum of 7 °C (44 °F) and a maximum of 34 °C (98 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 6 days, 17 hours, 46 minutes and 21 seconds of cycling time to cover 2284 km (1419 miles), including 26436 m (86737 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.4 km/h (9 mph).
We started the morning as usual, 6am up, 6:40 leaving the campsite. We first had to cycle around the 7km lake to get back on the official Western Wildlands Route. On the route we had to follow a rail-trail to the next town. The rail-trail has been a Union Pacific Railroad in the past. The railroad has been removed and now it is a nice paved / gravel bike path. We saw an elk and some other animals, despite the path close to the Interstate.
In the next town, Coalville, we already bought lunch at the Subway for later that day. At the local gas station we also bought some snacks.
After the stop at Coalville we started our journey towards Evanston in Wyoming. We had to follow a long quiet road all the way to the Wyoming border. For a long time this road went to a very green valley. However, as we came closer to Wyoming the landscape changed, less green, softer mountains, and once we crossed the border the road chant from pavement to gravel.
At the Wyoming side we a small climb to get up a hill, and there we decided to eat lunch. Not for from a very well protected facility. It looked like a prison from the side where we had our lunch. Soon we would see that it was a facility that probably gets natural gas out of the ground. The gravel road we were on was wet. I said to Fons that it probably was to prevent too much dust when cars use it. I was right. A younger guy in a truck stopped and warned us about the wet stuff. It was getting wetter in the next kilometer, and it isn’t just water, they add a substance to the water so that it gets very sticky and takes a very long time to dry. We soon found out. It was on our bikes and clothes, and indeed, it had not dried out when we arrived in Evanston.
Before we arrived in Evanston, the road changed into a paved road, and soon we were back into Utah. 10km further we were back in Wyoming.
Around 14:30 we arrived at the Phillips RV Park, got ourselves a tent spot, and began setting up camp. At the office I asked if they also sail washing powder, no, but I could use hers. I also asked if she had a hose to clean the bike from that nasty muddy stuff. Unfortunately she did not have one, but another guest behind me had one , and I could come to his site and use his. How friendly. The bike appreciate it, and so did I when taking a shower and doing laundry.
Since we stopped early, it feels like a really short day, and relaxed. We got some snacks and drinks from the nearby gas station. In the evening we went to a nearby Mexican restaurant, Don Pedro’s.
One note about the snow, in the last week we have spoken different persons in Utah who all said that it was a cold May. Therefore there is more snow than usual around this time. So, we just have bad luck, otherwise we probably had only one alternate route instead of the three we did so far. For now we are on lower elevations and no problems with snow, although we still saw some patches of snow on 2100m today at the Utah / Wyoming border.
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