Dubois to Jackson

Let me just start out by saying this was my favorite ride of the trip thus far.

We left Dubois and began the long 85 mile day to Jackson. A big group of us was riding pretty fast for the first 10 miles or so before the day turned upwards. Chad and I began the long 20 mile climb at a steady pace only for me to have a flat before we even got to the real climb. I changed it quickly, and we began again. We pushed it pretty hard the whole way up, amazed as we climbed past snow patches and beautiful mountain lakes. We reached the top of the climb early enough to scout out a place for lunch, and after crossing the Continental Divide, we turned around and headed back to a little picnic area by a lake. This was what will probably be the highest point of our entire trip at 9,660 ft! After a quick mosquito filled lunch we headed down the other side of the mountain on a 17 mile downhill! It wasn't super steep, but I still managed to hit 45 mph coming down. About 3 or 4 miles into the descent we reached a spot where it leveled out just a little and to our left you could see the Teton mountains. They are huge, jagged, snow capped mountains that seem to go straight into the sky. At that point I, and most everyone else, had a smile that couldn't leave our faces for the next 50 miles. I another flat right at the bottom of the mountain, but the scenery was so great I didn't mind taking a break. After a few miles of gentle hills we reached the valley where we road on the amazingly flat road paralleling the Snake River.

We got into Jackson, a very touristy but still beautiful town, and spent the evening playing. We went through shops, roamed town, and ate at the Snake River Brewery and Restaurant. Then this morning we worked with the Teton Valley Habitat Chapter. The housing situation in Jackson is unique because of the wealthy people who flock here. The average cost of a house in the area is 1.2 million dollars! There is definitely a need for affordable housing in the area, and it was interesting to learn about the actions the local government is taking. We worked on 3 separate houses today. One was almost complete, while the other two hadn't had their foundations poured. I spent the morning grounding a house with Hana, raising the rebar for the concrete pours, a little bit of carpentry, and then learning how to survey. The afternoon was spent leveling all of the forms on one of the houses with Chad before the cement trucks arrived and we poured the molds we had worked on all day. All in all it was a great time. I learned new skills, worked hard, and just had fun.

Tomorrow we leave Wyoming headed for Idaho. I think everyone will be sad to see Wyoming go. It has been such an exciting, diverse state, and we've all had a blast. We climb Teton Pass early in the morning. Oh boy!