Today we rode from the Phillips RV Park in Evanston to the North Eden campground at Bear Lake. Today we had beautiful weather with blue skies and a few clouds. We did have the colder wind again. The road surface was mainly on gravel and double-track, and some pavement.
Riding statistics: on Thursday May 30, 2024, the 22nd day on the Western Wildlands Route route, it took 12:17h (08:45h moving time), between 06:44 and 19:02, to cover 140 km (87 miles), including 1108 m (3635 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 16 km/h (10 mph). During today's ride the average temperature was 19 °C (68 °F) with a minimum of 1 °C (31 °F) and a maximum of 28 °C (86 °F).
Totals: So far, it took 7 days, 2 hours, 31 minutes and 41 seconds of cycling time to cover 2424 km (1506 miles), including 27544 m (90372 ft) elevation gain, with an average speed of 14.5 km/h (9 mph).
The morning was a bit chilly and first we went to the Walmart to get groceries for multiple days. Today we might have some limited options, but it is unclear if these are open when we arrive. After leaving Evanston we soon took a gravel road. It was a good one and there was a horse track for which we saw banners in town.
Somewhat later, 50km, we arrived at Woodruff, a very small settlement, but it should have a gas station with a general store. We almost missed it. The sign has become so vague over time that it was almost impossible to read the words ‘general store’. The store had some construction going on, but we only cared for some snacks, which we partly ate outside on a bench in the sun.
Soon after leaving Woodruff, we were back on gravel, and had some mild uphills to climb. The landscape changed immediately from a valley that looked somewhat green with water into real Wyoming dryness. Meanwhile we change from Wyoming into Utah and back into Wyoming. (In the last 2 days we crossed the border between the two states 6 times.) While cycling through the harsh landscape we had to take a side road that had us climb about 250m in elevation. After completing the climb, we had a downhill and ended back at the valley in Utah. Later we saw that ridge, that we had to get over, from a distance and it looked impressive.
About 20km further we had another climb to do, somewhat similar as the one from earlier today. After this second climb we came onto a paved to, which took us 7km downhill into Laketown, at the south side of Bear Lake. Here we ate a burger for dinner and got an ice cream.
About 20km after Laketown we took a campsite at the North Eden campground at the shore of Bear Lake, and exactly at the border with Idaho. So when we leave the campground tomorrow morning, we immediately enter the state of Idaho.
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Hi Eef, seeing your ride progress for the first time. Impressive! Beautiful photos. Best of luck.