Day 44: Pine Haven, WY to Hullet, WY

July 12, 2023

48 miles

1,558 miles so far

Today was an amazing day for many reasons. The weather was spectacular, the ride was beautiful, and we met some very nice and interesting people. First, the weather was clear and dry, and while it warmed up, the temperature was not unbearable. The ride out of Pine Haven was very scenic as we passed sheep and cow pastures. We passed by a large group of people and bleating sheep - it seemed that they were tagging the young lambs. I stopped to take a picture, one man waved hello and then quickly waved me on, as I think that my presence may have been contributing to the sheep’s distress.

The ride north took us to Devil’s Tower. It is a prominent butte that rises 867 feet from its base, stands 5112 feet above sea level and is 1000 feet in diameter at its base. Over 5000 climbers from around the world come annually to Devil’s Tower to ascend the massive columns that make up the tower. We decided it was worth the extra three mile climb to ride to the base of the rock tower. We are so glad that we did. We had a nice lunch in the shade and took a short walk to the base to watch a couple of climbers ascending the rock wall. While we were having lunch, a man pulled up in his car and asked us about our bike trip. He introduced himself as Frank Sanders, owner of the Devil’s Tower Lodge B&B. Among other things, Frank is a legendary rock climber. He invited us to join him and his other guests for dinner at his B&B. His lodge has a spectacular view of Devil’s Tower and can only be reached by driving into the park. In addition to running his B&B, Frank assists climbers of all experience levels in ascending Devil’s Tower. We had a wonderful dinner, listened to Frank play the piano, shared stories at the table, and then Frank drove us back to our hotel. I will just say that he is a joyful man who knows how blessed he is and wants nothing more than to share those blessings with others and to encourage them to follow their dreams. Before we parted, we shared our contact information, and Frank shared the following short video made by REI which I would encourage you to watch!

Talk about blessings. What a day!

https://www.rei.com/blog/climb/the-making-of-frank-and-the-tower

Lamb tagging?