30th Leg – Out of the Sagebrush and Into Riverton

6/4

I made about 90 miles today, from my roadside range campsite to Riverton.
I slept surprisingly well in my highways edge sagebrush nest. The traffic was just far enough away that the lights and sound did not startle me awake. The dawn bird chorus on the range were different from what i have heard before, but just as reliable a wake up call. I broke camp just before sunrise.

I had a long way to pedal today to get to anything but sagebrush range. Although there are a few towns named on the map, like Powder River, Hiland, and Moneta, google showed no businesses in any of them except for a bar in Hiland (pop 10). Some of these towns had boarded up bars and motels, relics of pre interstate and air travel days when families might drive down Route 20 to get out west. Surprisingly, the bar in Hiland also advertised rooms and a general store – google does not know everything.

  
After pedaling 30 miles of range, with 35 more miles to go to Shoshoni, I wasn’t sure I could handle the monotony of four more hours of sagey treeless green hills with occasional clocks of cattle or a few antelope. At a bend in the highway, though, the vista opened up to snow clad mountains on the horizon, which gave me something to pedal for.
More rugged terrain appeared as the road descended a broad draw towards Shoshoni. Shoshoni, the first town for 94 miles, had only one lunch option – a cheesesteak and ice cream place. I had a chicken cheese steak.

  
After Shoshoni, the landscape changed dramatically, as the moist valley had trees and green irrigated crop fields, and the ever closed mountains gave a backdrop. I checked in to the Rodeway Inn at 420 pm, and arranged to meet a friend from the Nyack Boat Club, Bill Mayo for dinner