|
Week 4
|
|
|
|
|
Start :
Grand Teton NP, Wyoming, USA
Finish :
Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA
Dates :
September 6th - 14th, 2022
Riding days :
7
Distance :
519 miles
|
|
|
The route takes us for 28 miles on a paved road through
the breathtaking mountain landscape of the Teton
National Park. The jagged peaks tower more than a mile
above the Jackson Hole Valley and form the youngest
mountain range in the Rocky mountains.
We then climb slowly over a paved highway to the
Togwatee Pass
(9,658 feet) which crosses the Continental Divide. The
Great Divide follows the same route as the TransAmerica
cycling Trail. That coast-to-coast route follows the
highway but we will make a left turn and travel along
gravel roads into the
Shoshone National Forest
with its picturesque Pinnacle Buttes just ahead of us.
|
|
|
A rapid downhill follows before the route climbs the
long and strenuous
Union Pass
at 9,212 feet. A monument at the top of the pass marks
the transition on the Continental Divide from the Wind
River drainage to the Green River drainage. This is also
the start of the Snake River drainage making Union Pass
the headwaters of the three major river systems of the
western United States (Green/Colorado, Snake/Columbia,
and Wind River/Missouri drainages). This central
location and the relatively easy transition to and from
any of the three drainages has made it an important
location for thousands of years. The pass was
historically used by Native Americans and the early
mountain men including the Astor Expedition in 1811 on
its way west. On their return journey, fearing hostile
Indian activity near Union Pass, the Astorian’s chose a
more southern route and discovered South Pass which you
will cross a few days later on our expedition.
|
|
Now at the top of the world,
you have nothing to fear at Union Pass. The countryside
flattens out and you drop down via a bumpy trail into
the Upper Green River
Valley. With the Wind
River Mountains on your left and the Gros Ventre
Mountains on your right, you find your way to
Pinedale.
This town has a population of some 2,000 inhabitants and
is situated on the edge of the
Bridger Wilderness.
The area boasts the highest mountain in Wyoming, namely,
Gannett Peak at 13,804 feet which towers above the high
plains. Pinedale is an important hunting outfitting town
and is still one of the most authentic cowboy towns in
the West. It’s a pity that the old saloons in the centre
stand in sharp contrast to the new shopping centers at
the edge of town.
Read more in the BROCHURE..
|
