• Overall: We had a great adventure - All systems worked for the duration, we had zero travel issues.
• There are 3 good wakeup climbing hills between South Pass City and Atlantic City.
• We stayed at the Miner's Delight Inn B&B at Atlantic City and enjoyed it, lots of history there.
• The climb out from Atlantic City is one tough Son-of-a-Gun. The very first corner is the only climb portion where we walk pushed the bike for maybe 30 yards/meters (it was steep).
• Good dirt road from South Pass City to Sweetwater River (the first climb from South Pass City is actually paved). There is a preserved old town to visit for a fee in South Pass City, like Bannock, MT (it was too late in the day for us to visit).
• Terrible dirt road from Sweetwater to Picket Lake (Bone Shaker or Soft Sand - Choose).
• OK roads from Picket Lake to Sooner Road (hot, dry, dusty, bumpy, sandy, and windy for us).
• Between Sweetwater and Sooner Rd there are about 3 places where the dirt was soft enough that we needed to push the bikes for 10 to 30 yards/meters.
• Sooner road is OK if a person pays attention (it has pot holes, dried mud ruts, sand, and bumps).
• Paved Road at 63, 287, & 71.
• South of Rawlins, the Map shows 401 to be paved to Beaver Creek, it's a LIE, however it is excellent dirt road (starting at mile 150.1).
• Road Construction from just after Sage Creek to just before end of Map (on side A), however it is an OK ride if one pays attention.
• The Great Divide Basin is notorious for bike stopping winds:
• Our first 4 days had winds from 25-35 mph (40-55 kph) from either SW or NW. Sometimes that was a headwind, sometimes a tail wind.
• On 2 other days, there was no wind and the temperatures rose to 95F/35C (in the shade), there is no shade out there.
• There was no water between the Sweetwater River (mile 14.7 - cattle country) and the Sooner turnoff (where one could find water in a creek shared with cattle), about 70 miles. We did NOT check the off-route Diagnus Well at mile 26.2 nor did we check the off-route reservoir at mile 83.3 (A&M Reservoir).
• There is a Cattle Tank at the side of road at about mile 105 and then there is no water until Rawlins (mile 136).
• The first 2-3 miles of US 287 (north to south) was under shoulder repair thus forcing bike riders to ride on the actual Highway with vehicles doing 65+ MPH (105+ KPH). We knew about this ahead of time and biked that section at 0630 hrs to deliberately miss traffic.
• The dirt road south from Rawlins was quite nice.
• There was water in most creeks on the map in Medicine Bow NF.
• We never saw a dog NOR rain. Most of the dirt roads would be miserable if it rained.
• We saw antelope about every 30 minutes. We saw a few deer, a single coyote (trying to get to a dead cow, other cows protecting her), some rabbits, hawks (close-up), crow/ravens, and some kind of desert ptarmigan like bird (with chicks). No snakes except 2 dead Rattlers on US 287.
• We were able to ride each of the 7 days of vacation/holiday. We had Zero bicycle flats (Schwabe Marathon Tour Plus tires @70 PSI) and this is an unsolicited endorsement (we bottomed and wash-boarded the heck out of these tires - roughest ride yet). We had 2 flat tires in our Support Vehicle (automobile) and we now always carry 2 spare automobile tires on the Great Divide.

Leg 1
South Pass City to Atlantic City (Wyoming)
Just Four Little Hills!

Above Left: South Pass City, Wyoming, once a booming gold mine town.

Above Right: South Pass City Mercantile, the sign states "Wyoming's first Masonic Lodge", that would have been a big deal in its time.

South Pass City's
Historical Highlights

• South Pass City started as a Stagecoach Station and Telegraph Station on the Oregon Trail during the 1850s.
• South Pass City and neighboring Atlantic City are located in the First Woodland Area after one crosses the Great Divide Basin (virtually treeless) and it has creek water. It is located near where the Emigrant Trails, last cross the Sweetwater River.
• Gold discovered 1866.
• The Carissa Gold Mine was the largest successful mine and its skeleton operation remains.
• At its height, the population boomed to about 2000 people.
• Today a Ghost Town remains as part of the Historic Registry [It was closed when we arrived late in the day].
• In 1869 Esther Hobart Morris arrived and in 1970 she was the First Woman in the U.S.A. to Serve as a Justice of the Peace.
• In 1869, William H. Bright, a Saloon Owner and Representative to the Wyoming Territorial Constitutional Convention, Introduced a Bill for Women's Suffrage.
• In December 1869, Wyoming became the First U.S. Territory to Recognize a Woman's Right to Vote.

Above Left: Entrance to South Pass City's Ghost Town.

Above Right: Ghost Town.

Above Left: View looking east over a creek into the old town.

Above Right: Shacks that back into a hillside are common in old mining towns..

Above Left: A new type of flower to us - we're climbing.

Above Right: The view east (on the first hill climb), trees disappear in a hurry, sage country.

Above: The Carissa Gold Mine (big view, looking south).

Above: Carissa Gold Mine History.

Above: Local Region Gold History.

Above Left: Carissa Gold Mine, South Pass City, Wyoming (view looking northeast).

Above Right: History, Terry, and the Bee on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR), 28 June 2013, Carissa Gold Mine, South Pass City, Wyoming. The Bee is a da Vinci Mountain Tandem.

Above Left: Carissa Gold Mine and Ore Transfer site (looking east).

Above Right: Carissa Gold Mine Milling Site (or perhaps just crushing).

Above: There are four (4) really fun hill climbs between South Pass City and Atlantic City.

Above Left: A tributary to Slate Creek; we're within a mile of Atlantic City.

Above Right: Our first view of Atlantic City, Wyoming.

Above Left: The Town Limits, Atlantic City, population about 57. It just happens that our place of stay is the establishment in the bottom-right corner of the image.

Above Right: Miner's Delight Inn B&B, Home for the night. The in Inn is located on the corner where the GDMBR changes from the South-Pass/Atlantic-City Road to County 512 (all are dirt roads).

Miner's Delight Inn B&B, Atlantic City, Wyoming

Above: It's a Scotch (Whiskey) Bar!

This Inn is regionally famous for hosting Scotch Whiskey Tastings, frequently bringing in Guest Owner/Managers form Scotland's Whiskey Distilleries. Sales are often by the case (all performed legally by way Wyoming Spirit Distributors and Wyoming law).

The History behind the Miner's Delight Inn and other local lore can be found at:
http://www.minersdelightinn.com/History.htm.

Above Left: PEATACEOUS, of or relating to the scent or flavor of peat.

Above Right: The dry road to our cabin.

Above: Cabin views.

Above: Terry's in the Kitchen (breakfast-left, dinner-right).

Above Left: Bar and Lounge Area.

Above Right: Lounge Piano.

Above: Looking out the back yard; I just missed a picture of a Doe.

Above Left: Ore Carts and Track.

Above Right: Morning view of cabins.

Above Left: Sunset.

Above Right: Sunrise.

Hamilton City (Ghost Town Mining Village)
Side Tour on Alternate Route South Pass City to Atlantic City

Local Facts

1. The town name was called Hamilton City and the most successful mine was called Miner's Delight.
2. If a town name does not sound big, add the word CITY.
3. There are active IRON ore mines in the area.
4. There are known sparse amounts of GOLD in the mountains still and as the price of Gold rises it becomes cost effective to start consideration for mining gold, again.

Above Left: The Main GDMBR Route proceeds Left to Right in this image and the Alternate GDMBR Route proceeds Left to Top in this image. The Alternate Route climbs straight up to a Ghost Town Mining Village (Hamilton City) at the top of the hill (beyond what is seen here). Either direction leads to about a 400'/120m hill climb from about 7700'/2350m to 8100'/2470m.

Above Right: Mine Elevator Hoist.

Atlantic City to Picket Lake (Wyoming GDMBR)

Above Left: Terry and the Bee at the Miner's Delight Inn getting ready to pedal away: The ride out of town is known to be a tough uphill climbout.

Above Right: Warning, No Winter Maintenance (because this location is the end of the world).

The first turn ahead is so steep that we walk the bike about 30 yards/meters and then pedal the rest of the way. This is the only place on this entire 180 mile segment where we are forced to push the bike uphill (due to its extreme steepness). There will be a few places ahead where we will have to push the bike through soft sand.

Above Left: Old Miner Shack.

Above Right: I thought that this was the topout, WRONG, the climb continues around the corner for another 1/2 mile (1 k).

Above Left: Last look back over Atlantic City.

Above Right: The real topout. This will be out last hard climb for a few days. Now all that we do is address water, heat, and wind issues.

Above Left: Looks like Umbra.

Above Right: One of those accidental pictures that looks OK, a self silhouette as it were.

Above Left: Looking back at some of the last trees that we will see for days.

Above Right: This is the Last Tree when departing from Atlantic City, it is called the LONE TREE and there are special occasions when the Town Council will hold meetings there.

Above Left: This is a good representation of what we will be seeing for the next few days. We will have good road like this all the way to the Sweet Water River (about 12 miles).

Above Right: Buttes to the south (max telephoto).

Above Left: Looking ahead.

Above Right: A person can see a motor vehicle coming miles away by the Tell Sign of dust. It is the same way with battle tanks on the dessert.

Above Left: Looking back from wince we came.

Above Right: Cattle stockade (probably used twice a year, Spring and Fall).

Above Left: That is a Ranch on the alluvial plain of the Sweet Water River.

Above Right: We are looking over the Sweetwater River (a translated name shared by the local Native American tribes).

That hill was fun climbout by bike, but it was nothing as difficult as the climbout from Atlantic City.

Above Left: We have disturbed the Swallows. We will have lunch here.

Above Right: Wild ROSES on the Sweetwater.

Wikipedia (re-edited by me)
• The Sweetwater River is a tributary of the North Platte River, 238 miles (383 km) long, in the U.S. state of Wyoming.
• In fall of 1823, trappers and fur traders Jedediah Smith and Thomas Fitzpatrick led their trapping crew south from the Yellowstone River to the Sweetwater River. They had re-discovered the route that Robert Stuart of the Astor Expedition had taken in 1813, eleven years before. Astor as in Waldorf-Astoria.
• By 1843 the Sweetwater River valley was a regular wagon trail providing the water, grass and fuel needed on the Oregon Trail, California Trail, and Mormon Trail across Wyoming.
• The Sweetwater provided an almost direct path from the Platte and North Platte Rivers to the wide South Pass Continental Divide between the Atlantic Ocean rivers and rivers that dumped in the Pacific Ocean. South Pass was the easiest pass across the Atlantic and Pacific drainages.
• Wagon Trails crossed the meandering Sweetwater River about nine times on their about 10 to 20 day trips along the Sweetwater River before they reached South Pass.

Above Left: Looking East on the Sweetwater River.

Above Right: Looking West on the Sweetwater River. No water for 10 more miles, we have plenty.

Above Left: The road gets much tougher to ride upon; there is a bone-shaker washboard in the main vehicle ruts or soft sand at the sides and middle. It takes a lot of driving skill to ride that fine line between the bumps and the sand traps and sometimes one is just 'Out-of-Luck'.

Above Right: Big Gap Cattle Guards (aka Grids). We turn right here (pun intended).

Above Left: Except for the Sweetwater River, this is the only creek crossing that has water (looking south).

Above Right: A Ptarmigan type bird with two chicks, only one chick is visible, the other behind a grass clump; they are frozen still (a common Ptarmigan trick).

Above: Two sides of the same Monument: Seminoe Cutoff of the California Trail. Note the the California Trail and the Oregon Trail are the same route up to Cutoff - See the following California-Oregon Trail Map Images.

Above Right: We are actually looking at the original tracks of the wagons that were on the California Trail or Oregon Trail leading to the same crossing of the Sweetwater River that we just crossed - IS THIS COOL OR WHAT!

Above Left: California-Oregon Trail Map (Compliments of www.legendsofamerica.com).

Above Right: California-Oregon Trail Map (Compliments of www.geog.ucsb.edu).

Above Left: A solo Antelope (not a deer). We are seeing antelope about every 30 minutes; we just don't always get a chance to take a picture, especially if a calf is around (Mommies teach Calves to run like a Rocket).

Above Right: Color me Sage.

Above: Tank Traps - These holes could ruin the day of a cyclist. Bigger Animals live here, like Badgers or such. In a few days, I will come across the Kill Site of a Badger; it has many bones of Coyote sized animals upon the ground.

Above - Owl Kill Site: These pictures at the foot of the Red Creek Road sign posts and they show the Skeletal remains of Owl Kills. There are many mice skeletons but some of the skeletons are of Coyote sized animals.

Above Left: We are looking south down Red Creek Road #3219. Picket Lake is in the picture on the left side in what looks like a cloud shadow.

Above Right: Looking North toward a big brewing storm, we're safe, we're on Three Forks and Atlantic City Road #2317 near Picket Lake. Our next leg will start on #2317 (abeam Picket Lake) tomorrow and we will continue east.