Oh *Hell* No

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In planning this quixotic quest, I wanted to avoid interstates, have places to stay at suitable intervals, and keep the route to manageable terrain.  About that last one:  there's a giant lump in the way.


We could have gone via I90, but lots of interstate.  I90 to 212 is less interstate, but unbridgeable stretches of nowhere to stay.  More southerly options were no improvement, unless we went really far south, and then interstate.

In more detail:

In the upper left corner, HC translates as "Beyond Category", using the Tour de France classification.  Second thing to note is the altitude — this climb tops at 8200 feet.  And there are two remaining climbs going up to 9200.

Thanks to my Gumbyesque principles, and the free market, two very nice people ferried us from Lovell to the top.

Amber & Kenny, without whom the rest of this trip would not have been possible

Still lots of snow at the top.

Tackling the easy part. 


At the top, no thanks to us; in the background, the last of the Rockies

Roadside attractions

Fifty-six fewer miles to the Plains states, of which we can claim credit for only 24.  2,270 hopefully less pride-abusing remaining.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 8, 2024 at 10:50 AM

    You’re doing great, we all need alittle help from our friends, even if they are brand new friends!! Ginny

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 8, 2024 at 10:51 AM

    So the couple in the pick up truck “ferried” you across the lake. Are you saying you couldn’t ferry without being in a vehicle?

    Mike

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousJune 8, 2024 at 1:51 PM

      It wasn't the lake, but rather up the mountain.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJune 8, 2024 at 11:36 AM

    Thank goodness for kind people. Wendy

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJune 9, 2024 at 8:28 AM

    The Big Horns have a whole lot of altitude gain in a relatively short distance: very steep grades and very tall mountains. On a clear day, they can be seen from well east of Gillette, WY because of that and they are very impressive mountains. We could have been there to ferry you, but by the time you realized it, we were a few hours away enjoying a Heineken!

    ReplyDelete

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