I got up at an uncommonly early 8:00 am to find the park deserted. Monte and Willem were the only people left, and we packed out and hit the road together. I had a few problems from the start, and had to stop a few times to adjust my new saddle. I finally got it set properly in Fort Washakie on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Monte and I stopped at a small cafe where the Shoshone owner cooked up some great food and told us about his tribe's history and the local area.
He was an Eastern Shoshone, meaning that his people lived on the eastern side of the Rockies. Fort Washakie is named for a famous Shoshone chief who fought a famous battle at nearby Crowheart Butte.
Monte lagged behind as I pedaled off, and I quickly caught up to Bubba's group. We stopped at a rest area and had a snacked, then hit the road. We rode through intermittent rain showers as the day wore on, and about 40 miles outside of Dubois, a headwind picked up. I f you think you're getting tired of reading about these headwinds, just imagine how tired I am.
While the weather left a lot to be desired, the scenery began to get prettier as I approached Dubois. The last few hours of riding paralleled the Wind River, and it was nice to see trees and grass again after so many days in the open desert.
I finally made it into Dubois after a long day of climbing into the wind. I found Bubba already waiting at the campground; he had hitched a ride into town in order to make sure that they could get a motel room before they filled up. I set up my tent and showered, and when I set off for dinner, the whole gang had arrived. Bubba talked me into waiting to eat dinner with the group, and I waited while Ian and Maggie showered. We linked up with Monte and Jim on the way to the Rustic Pine, the only restaurant we could find that was still open.
We all had a big meal to prepare for the next day's ride -- a summit of Togwotee Pass, the second-highest point on the TransAm. After dinner I asked Ian to wake me at 6:30 the next morning, and I went back to my tent.