July 1- Hatchet to Dubois WY

Right out of the box from the Hatchet lodge, we started to climb. Togwatee Pass at 9585' is the second-highest mountain pass of our route, only topped by Hoosier Pass ahead in Colorado. The incline for the first eight miles was mostly 5%, not too bad but challenging enough with our 80# caboose trialer. In places, it got up to 7-8% and caused us take short rest breaks.

We stopped at the one human habitation on the climb, a fancy hikers' lodge. They were kind enough to prepare box lunches for us to take along, which we knew we'd need on the empty stretch ahead.

After that stop, the road was less steep, and we had miscalculated the distance and reached the summit four miles before we expected to- a pleasant surprise.

Togwatee Pass was our fifth crossing of the continental divide so far.

On the downhill we found a grove of aspen which made a shady spot for lunch.

The road continued downhill for another 20 miles to the town of Dubois (doo-boys), where we decided to take our first rest day. At the post office, I picked up the little bluetooth keyboard, forwarded by the motel where I'd left it last week. Typing the blog is not just easier now, it's possible.

A thunderstorm was breaking as we hustled to the nearby saloon. As we reached it, the rain turned to hail and for a few minutes it was piling up like snow on the street.

After dinner we stopped for ice cream, and heard about the recent big event in town: The championship six-man football game between Wyoming and Nebraska's all-stars. Wyoming won, to everyone's surprise when they saw the "big healthy corn-fed Nebraska boys". There are many more people in Nebraska than Wyoming, but they still have to play six-man football.

We're resting up for a very long day through the Wind River Indian Reservation with nowhere to stop.
The terrain is now desert-dry, especially on the north side of this valley.