Day 32: Bighorn National Forest: We Came, We Saw, We Cried (BUT still Conquered) (J's Version)

Sheridan has really cool statues all over their downtown area.

Good morning!!! Be ready for the unexpected could be a motto for this trip. First the truck drama now the mountain. The transmission issues were peanuts compared to our day at Bighorn (local nickname for big mofo mountains) National Forest.

"It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn."   Every journey needs some type of conflict that pushes you to your breaking point. Before I continue, take a moment to either embrace or call someone you love with all your heart and tell them how much you love and appreciate them. Seriously. Go do it. I'll wait...

The day started off on the wrong foot. After I blogged about day 31 at the Starbucks in Sheridan, I got a call from G saying he took a wrong turn. A 20 mile wrong turn. Yikes! The GPS somehow changed one of the functions for the route, and he ended up on a dirt road that was made of clay and was sinking. I'm sure he'll elaborate more in his version.

I went to pick him up, but now we were 3 hours behind schedule and had to start from scratch at 9:30 instead of 6:30 am. We both arrived at the entrance to Bighorn National Forest around 11:30. Just looking at what was ahead of us was rather intense. He was still in good spirits. Bighorn National Forest is a sister range to the Rockies. I don't totally know what that means because they have some pretty darn high mountains elevating between 8500-10,000 feet, which G went up TWO of them. YES, two mofo mountains.

The National Forestry webpage does a great job at describing the forest: " No region in Wyoming is provided with a more diverse landscape - from lush grasslands to alpine meadows, from crystal-clear lakes to glacially-carved valleys, from rolling hills to sheer mountain walls."  This write up is SO true. The only problem is that the mountain route to drive through is about 55 miles. 55 miles of no services. G needs water. I drove up about 10 miles and waited in a scenic overlook for him for about an hour. The views were unbelievable the higher you go up. Initially, the first 10 miles were a decent up hill, but I knew G would be fine with ease. 

Waiting for G

Sure enough, an hour or so later I see G coming up singing to James Brown, "I feel good!! SO good!" I refresh him a bit, and we regroup. He told me to keep going until the top of the mountain and text him how many miles from that point it would be. I wasn't quite sure how I would know when I reached the top. These mountains are so big and there's so many UP and DOWN points.

As soon as I left, the uphill got extremely intense; however, there were switch backs, so he could kind of worm his way up by going back and forth side to side. I kept driving about another 10 miles, and it "seemed" to go be going downhill. Of course by this time, I was not getting any service what so ever. I didn't know if I should drive back to tell G or just wait. I decided just to wait because by that time he'd need another refresher break. It still amazes me that there are paved roads that go through mountains!

Also, the pictures do NOT do the mountain justice. ALL the views are breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!!

So this time, I waited another hour and a half. Finished my David Sedaris book and studied the map. Waiting and waiting. Did I mention no service still? Now, I can't stop looking at the clock because I mapped out the time in my head, and G should be arriving at this point any second. Tick Tock. I decided to just go back and find him on the road. He was only 2 miles away. This time you could hear James Brown fading away in the background but still audible.

In a breathe of hope, he asked how much further until the downhill. I told him I "thought" it was only a few miles past this. Keep in mind at this point he's gone about 20-25 miles up hill. He looked at the odometer which read 361 miles and said, "Go 39 more miles until it reaches 400. Then, stop and wait for me. I'm done after that regardless of where it is." I was slightly pissy because I was thinking in my head, "That's at least 4 hours from now. Where will I be? What will I do for all that time?"

I keep on driving, and it did go downhill for 5 miles then was even. THEN, I'm like "Wtf! Am I going uphill again????" Imagine G's surprise when HE got to that point. Say hello to mountain number 2. That was about another 15 miles uphill mixed in with another 10 miles of level ground. Now, the moment you've all been waiting for:

I have about 15 more miles to go before I reach the 40 mile mark. There are large warning signs all over the road now saying, "CHECK YOUR BRAKES. 10% Steep grade." The steepness is measured by a percent to make it more clear instead of just saying, "Big mofo downhill/uphill coming." Well, how big is big? Hence, the percent. At this point, i'm starting to get a little freaked out. I would have taken picture of the sign and the views that followed because the views were unbelievable, BUT I was scared to death.

I took this from the internet because I couldn't take one myself.

10% steepness is STEEP. Cars were going so slow downhill, AND it wasn't a straight shot. There were so many twists and turns going down this 15 mile downgrade along the edge of a mountain! Ah. Stupid me didn't know about the "gears," so I should have put the truck in a low gear but didn't know. Driving down this mountain with all the twists and turns was scary in itself. They even had brake cooling stations.

All I was thinking about was, "HOW THE H*$L IS G GOING TO GET DOWN THIS ON A BICYCLE??!! WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS TRIP?!!" I kept reassuring myself that G always overcomes the obstacles when he's cycling. No shoulder. He's okay. Highway? No problem. But this, this was different. I didn't even know if I would make it to the bottom! There's no place for me to wait either.

Finally, I past the steepness and the odometer turns to 400. There happens to be a turn for a campground, so I wait in that area for 3 1/2 hours. Those were the longest 3 1/2 hours of my life. Now, that I had time to completely think, it was driving me crazy because I was so worried about G. All these scenarios were going through my head. This was the first time that I really thought there's a good chance we may never see each other again.

I'm a pretty cautious driver, but going down that steep mountain was hardcore BUT I can't imagine driving down it with a cyclist next to me! Any little wrong move from him or a car or even a rock could be treacherous. Every single morning when G leaves for the day I get worried, but this time was SO real and different. I couldn't even concentrate on anything for those 3 1/2 hours. I tried reading. Couldn't focus. I tried listening to music. Even Usher couldn't help me out. I tried studying the maps again. Still not working. I made several deals with God. Prayed. (I stayed away from promising to go to church every week because I knew no matter what I wouldn't be able to commit to that.)

From where I was parked, I had the perfect view to see who was coming down the hill. Every time I saw "some" movement I perked up but it would be a car. I left him at 3 pm. At an average of 10 mph that would put him here at 7 pm IF he kept at that rate. I couldn't figure out if the steepness would make him go slower or faster. Faster because it is downhill, but slower because you have to use your brakes and stop more. I told myself, if he doesn't show up by 7:15 i'm going UP that steep mountain to find him.

Trying to kill time and get my mind off of worrying.

RIGHT at 7 pm I see something relatively fast coming down the hill. It looks like a little dot. Cars didn't look like that, so my heart started racing. Could it be? I ran out to the road and start bawling uncontrollably for 10 min straight. It was him. James Brown was NO where in sight." We both blubbered at the exact same time, "I thought I was never going to see you again."

We agreed never to fight or argue about anything ever again...

I cannot express how much joy and relief it was to know that he was alive. We celebrated with steak for dinner and took the day off yesterday to recuperate physically and mentally. The owners of the hotel that we stayed at have their dog roaming around the area, and guess what the dog's name is? BOO RADLEY!!!!! #Mockingbirdfan

Also, the Brandin' Iron Restaurant we had our steak at was fabulous! So fabulous that we ate breakfast there in the morning and dinner again the second night. Our waitress Melissa enlightened us with our questions regarding Wyoming. Apparently, Wyoming is one of the only states that you can order a drink TO GO from a bar. You just can't drink it in the car, AND they have DRIVE THRU liquor stores. I took some pictures.

A guy stepped out of his car to get his liquor from the drive thru window.

Rocky Mountain Oysters are code for Bull Calf Testicles!!!! G thought they were good.They were fried. 

No matter where you go, even in a SMALL town in Wyoming, there's always the morning crew of senior citizen guys.

Currently, we are in Montana!!! I crossed the border a few hours ago, and I'm at a gas station rest area waiting for G. (No casino though) There were NO services for 40 miles and nothing on the road. Literally nothing. Just desert. No farm land or anything. G called me and said he'd be fine until this stop, so hopefully he's right.

Have a good day!!!