Ashton, ID (72 miles)

I had a great stay with the Cummings' the other night in Landers with Sam. We each took turns, some of us better musically equipped than the other, playing the super-duper-electro-ORGAN-erator. Really neat.

The next day I was astounded with the amazing beauty of the mountains as the patchy clouds highlighted a few peaks at a time. We had a 30 mile climb (moderate-low grade), on which I stopped more with the descent than the climb. Due to some construction, we were trucked 4 miles over some gravel, but rode the bulk of it. After crossing the Continental Divide, which divides the watersheds for the Atlantic and Pacific, we saw signs for "10% grade [down] for next 17 miles". Wow. We stopped frequently, some due to the cold wet air, but mostly for the view. I'll let the pictures do the talking though. There was so much more astounding landscape, but only photos will do it justice.

Today we crossed the Teton Pass, at 8468 ft - a 2k+ climb in 5.5 miles. Yeah, it was steep. It took me the first third of it to accept the grade, accept the effort necessary, and just settle into a groove. I was climbing solo through thick clouds for who knows how long. Occasionally the grade would weaken, but never decline. Then as I rounded a bend, the sun snuck into a corner of the mountain and illuminated it in the majesty that it deserved...

A few more stretches of dense clouds later, I crept out above the clouds to see them below me, and a nearby mountain peak reaching out of the sea of white. All those phrases poets said are actually true. I almost chocked on its beauty. I was tearing. I was laughing. It took my breath away. I flew up the last 200m, with exclamations of accomplishment and awe. I then climbed to the peak of the nearby mountain and saw the clouds stretch out endlessly below me, and I thought for a second that I must be flying.

Wow.