Long, Lonely

Today, we ventured into the Great Divide Basin for one of the most remote and desolate parts of our trip. From a geographic standpoint, the basin is quite the conundrum. From all other standpoints, it is almost completely uninteresting. Here, the continental divide actually splits into two roughly parallel segments before reuniting further south. Between the two branches of the divide lies the Great Divide Basin, an endorheic drainage basin from which no water escapes to either ocean. At times, it felt like that might be our fate as well. The landscape is gently rolling with virtually no signs of life besides small desert shrubs and grasses. The soil is very alkaline and water scarce, making agriculture an impossibility.

Having been stopped early the day before by the wind, we had a long 86 mile ride into Rawlins, WY, with only a single potential watersource, the A&M Reservoir. Luckily, the reservoir was full and we were able to fill up. Inspired by Ben and Daniel’s trail meals, we got ambitious and built a fire at the reservoir to cook the 3 pounds of chili and baked beans we’ve been hauling since Pinedale. It was well worth the weight and wait. Besides water, the reservoir also housed another scarce commodity in the Great Basin – people. Going back to the previous day, we traveled a 72 mile stretch with only a single human sighting at the reservoir. In all, we rode for 39 miles at one point with seeing any other people, a new trip record. In fact, County Road 63 out of the basin sees so little traffic that flowers grow from the cracks in the middle of the paved road.

As we approached Rawlins, Brett captivated us with stories of the town from a previous visit. He spun tales of a trucker mecca, a roadside paradise of convenience stores and fast food. Alas, upon reaching Rawlins, we were heartbroken to discover that Brett has mistaken Rawlins for another town, and we were left still yearning for exotic new energy drinks and Taco Bell.

On the plus side, we were able to score a $37 cabin at a local campground. It was very clean, but we found that the claims of 6-person capacity may have been exaggerated as we crammed 5 people into an 80 square foot building with 3 twin beds.