Wyoming - Day #2

With an early start for another day of race development in the Wyoming sunshine, we broke camp and met up with Dominic and his family. They were going to be our guides for the day. We then met up with two ranchers, the Landers, who were kind enough to take us out and show us how real cowboys rustle cattle. This is something I definitely never witnessed while growing up in the mountains of Wales. It was worth the wait.

We then headed to Laramie and met with Bob at All Terrain Sports. We checked out his cool outdoor store and made arrangements to mountain bike and climb on Sunday. We then headed north to Medicine Bow, developing a route for racers and looking for a good TA for day 1 of the race as we drove. We found the perfect spot next to a small lake just outside of Medicine Bow.

With that settled, we followed Route 487 to Route 220, heading west to Martin’s Cove historic site, dedicated to the plight of the Mormons and other migrants who had headed West in search of a better life. The migrants used handcarts to pull their wares hundreds of miles across the vast plains.  Wouldn’t it be fun to have a handcart pulling challenge? We tried it out, and after only pulling the cart a short distance it really hits home how hard they had it.  Compared to surviving the Wyoming winters in the 1800s, a three-and-a-half day Adventure Race seems almost tame. We send a big thanks to Elder Smith and Sister Smith for their great hospitality and for showing us around the museum.

For our next stop, we headed back east and down Fremont Canyon.  The canyon is an impressive feature that connects the Pathfinder Reservoir with the Arcola Reservoir. It is a deep canyon with fast-flowing whitewater and steep walls that provide a great spot for some technical climbing. Sweet.

We turned south and worked back toward the Miracle Mile—a stretch of river famous for the abundant amount of fish and a favorite spot for fly fishing.  Dominic had gone ahead to throw some lines into the water with his kids to see if they could hook a few trout, but when we caught up with them they only had had a few nibbles and no real bites. No fish fry for us. We coordinated events for the following day, which took in climbing and more mountain biking, and then went our separate ways once again.

After another full day of exploring the wonders of the state, Greg, Mike, and I headed over the dam at Seminoe Reservoir, down toward Interstate 80, and back to our home sweet Wyoming home—the campsite at Curt Gowdy.  We had spent most of the day traveling on gravel roads and some very rugged terrain, covering more than 300 miles. Plans for the route and features that we could include in the race are beginning to take shape. One thing’s for sure--it is going to be a challenging race. Those cowboys are tough.