back in Wyoming

Utah was awesome, as was the drive into Wyoming.

I first drove about an hour east to Fruita, fruitlessly, where I was too sore to ride.  I packed up and drove out of Fruita on Thursday.  The Colorado portion of the drive was gorgeous.  I got a nice up-close view of a brown bear, who posed nicely for a picture.  I'll put it up eventually, but I don't have my camera on me.  Then I went through Utah on 191, through a mining area which was pretty neat, and then into Wyoming.  

I'll try to describe some portion of the first 50 miles of 191 in Wyoming, because it was spectacular.  I was driving on what appeared to be relatively flat plain land, when an enormous canyon opened up to my left.  Soon, a similarly enormous canyon opened on my right.  The canyon walls, while not too steep, were probably about 2500 feet, and the canyons were maybe 40 miles across in the middle portion.  About 100 miles beyond the end of the canyons (to the North, my direction of travel) were snowy peaks.  As I drove, the canyons met, and the highway rode the rim between the two for a mile or so before dropping down into the flats below.  Eventually I would parallel the snowy peaks, but I forget which they were.  Oh yeah, the canyons were empty.  The town of Rock Springs lay on the plains after the canyon, and nothing much lay between the highway and the mountains to the east.  Wyoming is a crazy state.

So I remembered why it was that I was coming back to Wyoming.  I'm also lucky enough to be camping all summer in one of the most beautiful valleys I've ever seen.  It's called Teton Canyon.  Here are a couple of pictures I found on the internet.  

Yeah it's pretty awesome.  I'll be camping on campsites accessible by 4wd roads.  They're about a 10 minute drive from Targhee, which is about as close to the 'ghee as you can get...

Today I bought a map.  I'll probably try to get a hike in tomorrow.  I'd really like to do some backpacking but I'm a little hesitant to do it on my own, especially when I'm camping on my own and who can ensure my safe return?  

I'm a little worried about getting lonely camping by myself in the middle of nowhere.  We'll see how it goes.  Fortunately I'll be working long, long days that will probably leave me exhausted and Jackson is 45 minutes away should I need some sort of social life--plus there are things like open mics and good music on the Idaho side, too.  Realistically I'll probably be fine, although I do talk to myself constantly.  I think I always have, but I stopped for a while during school.  I actually find it extremely helpful to talk to myself.  I'm able to clarify and organize my thoughts, figure out how to tell stories effectively, and sometimes I say funny things that I try to remember.

Don't expect frequent blog updates.  I will probably not have wireless internet in Teton Canyon, but I will probably go somewhere with wireless internet about once a week or so.  I think I have phone service in the canyon, which is good.