WWR Day 29 Cottonwood CG, Bear Lake State Park,UT to Evanston,WY

WWR Day 29 Cottonwood CG, Bear Lake State Park,UT to Evanston,WY
Sun Aug  25, 2019

Distance 61.1
Start elevation 5932
End elevation about 6750
High point about 7200
Low point 5932
Climbing about  1500'??
Ride time 6:08
Total time about 7:30
Days bike camping: 19
Contiguous days riding : 2

The winds subsided overnight and once again bluebird skies greet me. It is chilly at the 6000' lake in the morning.
I warm up doing my morning rituals, and head out  the wake me up  1300' climb of the day. It on paved hwy, there are juniper scattered on the hillsides as I enter the canyon holding my ascent. Higher up a few groves of aspen tenaciously cling to slopes that offer slightly more protection facing north. As I crest the canyon and it flattens out, the aspens withdraw from the landscape.




I leave the pavement behind at a dirt road where a couple of cowboy boots invite me to explore. Several miles riding rolling ridge rangelands of dry sage reveal big mountains in the grey distance. The ridge riding leads to a descent to my exit creek. There is a nice clear spring bubbling up at the bottom, but I have enough water to get to the next town.
The drainage takes me past a few ranch homes and irrigated bottomlands, til I gain the highway to Randolph.



I water up in Randolph and take a short cut to Woodruff, avoiding the another 1000'+ foot cackcountry climb. I have a long day to Evanston, and don't want to make it longer.
At Woodruff I get a snack at the sparse general store and then some back roads through more, flattish, rangelands in the Bear River Valley, pocked with wetlands and a few ponds and water courses that flow in contrast with the dry sage a few feet away and slightly higher.





I regain the highway, which is pretty busy and has slim picking for a shoulder, at least until get to the Wyoming border.

One more quiet back road through the Almy area and then a last few miles to Evanston, and then back roads through historic neighborhoods to the hotel.
I get to the hotel and lo, Glenda is there and welcomes me. What a dear to drive out for Colorado Springs to fetch me. We celebrate by catching refreshments and dinner at the local brewpub, Suds Bros.

I will be taking a short hiatus from the WWR to catch up on a few things in CO. Llama trekking with Glenda and friends, seeing my daughter off to University are on the agenda, amongst a few other things.
I hope to be back on route by the end of Labor Day week. Stay tuned.

Til then,

Ride on

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