Idaho, Yellowstone, Montana, Wyoming...

It has been a while since I had internet access and I only have access now due to the good graces of the hotel manager of the Western Motel in Lovell, Wyoming. Here is a short recap of the past few days:
-passed the Wasatch mountains via Logan Canyon (Route 89) and was treated to a blazing downhill (50mph) and a wonderful view of Bear Lake in Idaho. I spent the night in Montpelier, ID.
- had a tough ride from Montpelier to Jackson, WY thanks to a stiff wind in Star Valley, Wyoming. The terrain was flat but the riding was miserable due to the wind. The end of the ride, along the Snake River to Jackson was quite nice.
- next up was Jackson to Yellowstone. I had a massive tailwind for the first 20+ miles which was great as I really needed an easy day. The Grand Tetons are just outside of Jackson and are massively impressive. I rode through Teton park and then shortly after entered Yellowstone. Much of the southern section of Yellowstone is still clearly scarred by the 1988 fire, though the area is plenty green with recent growth. I had a bit of climb to Grant Village, where I was staying for the night but it was a relatively easy day.
- Thursday was a DAY OFF! It has been a while and my legs were starting to feel a bit heavy. I took a tour of Yellowstone (the Circle of Fire tour) and then had a quick, easy 20+ mile ride to Lake, where I spent the night.
- Friday was a big day of climbing as I left from Lake and ended up staying the night at 11,000' on top of the pass on the Beartooth Highway (8000' of climbing). This is a legendary highway, named by some as the "most beautiful highway in the US." I finished the climb at dusk and the view was stunning. Staying the night was chilly, though I bought some clothes in Cooke City to prepare and they kept me warm. There was still snowy sections on the mountain, to give an idea of how rugged the area is. The main problem with camping on the top of a mountain is wind. I did not sleep much as it was too noisy to sleep much.
- Saturday morning I was rewarded for my stay on top of the mountain- the rest of the ride was unbelievable. It was akin to being in a helicopter ride and having a bird's eye view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The rest of Saturday was miserable, the worst hours I have ever spent on a bike. I ran into a 20-30mph headwind outside of Red Lodge, MT. I was relegated to a sub-10mph pace and had to use my climbing gears to make go forward. The roar was so much that I had to yell to hear my voice. It was ridiculous and it was the last thing I wanted after little sleep and a tough previous day. A headwind is the most frustrating thing on a bike as there is no big downhill or a stunning view like when climbing a mountain. And I was low on water. I was shooting for a town, Warren, to refill my water bottles. Warren is a shipping depot, nothing else. Luckily someone was in the depot and I was able to refill my bottles and had a good conversation about tomorrow's monster climb on Route 14A. By the time I got back on the road, the wind had substantially died down and soon returned to a normal level for the final 25 miles into Lovell.

The mountain in tomorrow's climb overlooks Lovell and is a bit intimidating to say the least as it rises 6000' above the town to a total of about 9500+'. Additionally, it has a number of sections steeper than 10% which is beyond my comfort zone with the gearing on my bike. This is the last big climb of the trip and I hope to survive in one piece.