Day 33: First day of the Great Divide Basin

We had a huge and delicious breakfast made by Bill & Carmela at 07:00 and sat around talking for a good hour afterwards. Delightful people! They have 3 little cabins they rent to only Great Divide hikers & cyclists. If you show up in a car, they turn you down because with a car you can drive another hour to Lander but hikers & cyclists would be stuck..,

So we started riding around 09:00 and had an immediate, steep 300′ climb. Then we had beautiful, gentle (for the most part) rolling hills as we entered the Great Divide Basin. The basin is remote, arid and has spectacular vistas. It is so special for Johnny and me to be here! Our route across this vast expanse is about 140 miles, with water available at two locations.

After about 23 miles we stopped at an artesian well (Diagnus well) to top off our water bottles and each fill a 4 liter water bladder. The next reliable water is a reservoir filled by rain and snow melt 57 miles from the well…

In addition to extraordinarily long and beautiful views, we saw lots of pronghorn antelope and some really interesting plant life.

We planned on riding about 40 miles to make tomorrows ride also 40 miles. We ended up riding about 47 miles and then we pulled off the road when we found a sort of flat place and pitched camp. There is nothing around us for miles in any direction..,

We had bourbon and triscuits for 5’sies, then freeze-dried dinner, then freeze-dried cinnamon apple crisp for dessert. Delicious and lots of calories! A beautiful sunset capped off a spectacular day for us.

Daily totals: 47 miles and 2,200′ of climbing

Some beautiful, long roads:

Lunch spots in the Great Divide Basin are not among our best…

This is where we got our water today- next water is 55 miles away:

Great Divide Basin vistas are rather expansive. I haven’t captured it but the lighting and different colors of sediments and vegetation are beautiful: