Day 11 - Bear Lake

Quote of the Day: "The first time on the trip [he] felt horrible."

Calling from Laketown, Utah, Matt had just completed a hard climb over the mountains and down to the lake. He'd been battling afternoon headwinds, and they were wiping him out. He had a daily dilemma -- should he stop in the early afternoon after lunch and make do with wherever he was for the rest of the day? The sites were not inspiring. Or should he press on and risk another killer headwind?

At Bear Lake State Park, Matt observed lots of people sitting in their trucks and idling their engines. There was plenty of diesel.

After spending the night in Evanston, he declared that it was "not that bad" there after all. His lonely neighbor Leroy at the RV park come over to Matt's site and offered him some cantaloupe. They hung out for a quite a while talking. Larry was in the area for his work, installing vinyl siding. He had a wife back home in Denver, but he only saw her when he went home in between jobs.

Another neighbor at the next site sat in a chair all day drinking sodas. He didn't have a vehicle and may have been homeless, but he was quiet and caused no trouble.

On the bright side of the bike touring routine, Matt has got his down pat. He knows where everything is in his panniers at all times, and grocery shopping only takes 10 minutes.

Matt's not sure where he should go next. To the Sawtooths in Idaho, or maybe up toward Missoula? Then again, the Tetons are only 150 miles away...

Update!
Day 11 – Evanston to Garden City, UT
68.1 miles, 4:48, 14.2 avg

OK, another RV park. The State Park was a bust. Only 2 tent sites left (out of 100s!) and they were sad. Thought I’d take my chances in Garden City. Pretty mellow so far, not much shade. Ride was OK today, not too hard. Lots of asphalting going on outside Evanston. Slow grind climb over pass right before Laketown. Good downhill there. Bike path into GC.

Last night wasn’t so bad after Don Pedro’s (food not so special, but got stuffed). Freaky guy next door turned out to be OK. Other neighbor, Leroy, came over with cantaloupe and we chatted for a while. Seems he was lonely too. He’s from near Denver and installs vinyl siding all over the west. Must be tough to be away from his wife so often.

Lonely horse on the way to Bear lake