Riding through the Wind River Canyon

Yesterday (July 4), we rode north from Riverton, WY to Worland. For about the first 25 miles, there was a fierce headwind, which caused me to resolve to get rid of the small (about 8 by 12 inch) nylon bag that I usually fasten to my handle bars. It felt like I had a sheet of plywood on the front–so much wind resistance!

Eventually, we rode through a series of three tunnels from which we emerged into the Wind River Canyon. Here’s the entrance to the first one.

The Canyon had amazing rock formations. Mostly, they appeared to be sedimentary-the sediment at the bottom of some ancient water body. I know if I had time I’d have been able to find fossils. Here’s what the canyon walls looked like.

We emerged from the canyon at Thermopolis. There is a state park there that features what they claim is world’s largest hot spring. I took this photo of the area showing the mineral benches that have built up over time as the hot water seeps out and evaporates. It was similar to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone.

The last part of the day was about 30 miles of riding through the parched desert. At a water stop about ten miles from the end, we dumped ice water on each other. What a relief!

All together we rode 93.4 miles.