Wyoming has never been a state that I gave any appreciation to. After riding through the state several years ago I had no desire whatsoever to return and was not looking forward to the following portion of the trail. When riding the Trans-Am route on the small back-country highways, you experience things I do not wish upon my worst enemies. With the sun blasting through the 40+ MPH headwinds only to set up camp 20 miles from where you had started 12 hours prior is not mine, nor many riders, idea of enjoyable riding. The great Divide route however, only mere miles off the more traveled highways, offers some of the most incredible riding and sights in the whole state thus I've seen. Hugging the Wind River Range was unlike anything I could have imagined Wyoming had to offer.

We spent a day climbing one of the most accessible routes in the range, which would still require an approach of over 6 miles, half of which we were able to ride some amazing single track on. Topping out with sunset just around the corner we
were the most tired and banged up we had been on the whole trip. Getting on a massive route that was WAY over our heads made for an incredibly long day of hauling each other over 1000ft to the summit. A massive descent and 4 mile hike back to camp in the pitch black on a very faint trail with a single headlamp made for a very good night sleep when we finally reached camp later that night. The Wind River Range is on the very top of my list of places to return to in the near future.