DAY 8 – Warm River to Turpin Meadow Ranch (102.7miles)

Surprisingly the mosquitoes haven’t eaten Josh alive in the morning. I put my Gore-tex mosquito armour on again, and its back onto the sandy washboard. Fun, fun, fun. Eventually the trail gets better and a slight downhill gradient speeds things up. There is a really nice campsite at the end of the railroad track I wish I had made last night.

From the campsite Bruce heads off up a big climb on his morning classic. I feel it’s the right direction too and am not far behind him, but quickly realise something is up and stop. Bruce is out of sight by now. I get out the map and compass to work things out and get going in the right direction. A few miles later I catch up with Josh and Matt who went the right way. We ride together and stop for lunch at a shabby golf club we thought might not let us in. The only thing on the menu is fried chicken and chips which is pretty awful. Bruce arrives about an hour later after some quality extra miles this morning.

As I pass into Wyoming I’m glad to be leaving Idaho, which had the worst mosquitoes I’ve ever seen, the worst washboard, and there was a GATE! I explain to Josh that in the UK we have gates on some routes every few miles which he struggles to comprehend. Fortunately it’s the only gate on the Great Divide Route.

Today is really warming up for the first time, and my trip computer says 114 degrees sitting in the sun as I’m stopped for a break. For most of the day it sits in the high 90s and is crushing me. The road is also a loose surface and constantly undulating which is hard going. Settling into a big climb is far easier than constant small rollers. The four of us arrive at Flagg Ranch near Yellowstone together and Matt, Bruce and I stop for dinner and resupply. Josh heads on. I get some nail clippers and cut my nails at the table between courses and feel a lot cleaner just for that.

The three of us roll out together and put the pace on over the pretty flat pavement road. A small café catches our eye after a while and we decide there is time for another dessert. As the sun is setting we enjoy apple pie and ice cream, and watch some local ranchers having a cow rodeo for laughs. I’m loving every moment of this fascinating and hilarious sight.

We crank `em out as the sun sets and the cool air brings new life to my legs. Away in the distance I see Matt have a close encounter with a moose on the road, and as the final light fades we reach Turpin Meadow Ranch. I share a room with Matt, and Bruce takes an adjoining room to snore on his own. Josh turns up quite a bit later and crashes on Bruce’s floor. Despite earplugs I can feel the walls vibrate from their snoring! In the night a mouse fills his belly from my bag of oats, and quenches his thirst from Matt’s Camelbak chewing through the bite valve.