Day 24, June 20

Jeffrey City to Rawlins, Wy
68 miles

Jeffrey City, where I spent last night, was basically a modern ghost town. Some pictures I took last night and this morning appear below.

Stairs but no house. There were blocks of housing lots with defined boundaries but only remnants of the houses.

Nature taking over the streets

Mostly boarded up apt buildings. A few units here and there were occupied.

The church had been mostly converted into a hostel for cyclists, no doubt to drive business at the cafe. Right next to the guest book was a menu for the cafe.

Yes, the spire is tilted

Downstairs recreation area

Wall where guests were supposed to write their name and where they were going.

Kitchen

Evening view out the backdoor

It was the first night I didn't camp outside.  I was planning to but with seven other cyclists for company, plus showers and free coffee, I couldn't pass up the indoor option.

Today I started riding about an hour earlier than usual since several others got up quite early.

Almost the entire 68 miles was uninterrupted high desert with some very long straight stretches.

One point of interest was Split Rock, which came up about 15 miles into the ride.

I only passed through two towns in the entire 68 miles. The first, Muddy Gap, had a few houses and a gas station.  The second,  Lamont,  had nothing but a closed down cafe.

Muddy Gap in the distance

Lamont

Just before reaching Rawlins I met a family bicycling across the country to raise awareness about stroke.  The father, Bob, had a carotid artery dissection and stroke about 10 years ago.  His wife and 20 year old daughter were riding with him.  We ended up having dinner together in Rawlins before setting up at the KOA.

It may be a few days before my next post since the upcoming stretch into Colorado has only very small towns that are unlikely to have cell service.