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Day 26 - July 3 - Lander, WY to Jeffrey City, WY - 60 miles Click on the thumbnails to view larger pictures.
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| What a great night's sleep last night! One nice
feature of sleeping in a motel is the camping gear is already packed when
you get up in the morning. We took full advantage of this feature
and slept till 6:00.
Not only are the days getting hotter as the trip passes, but the cool mornings we've gotten used to are also disappearing. Today we started with our fleece jackets on, but it didn't take long before they came off. We realized early that we'd be biking in some serious heat before arriving in Jeffrey City. The wind was at our back all day today and that helped to make up for the increase in temperature. Having a tailwind even helped as we made the 6 mile climb up Beaver Mountain. What a difference a wind makes! While climbing Beaver Mountain an 18 member Adventure Cycling group passed going west. They were enjoying the downhill so much that most didn't want to stop. However, two guys did stop and gave us a break from the hard work. We chatted about cycle touring and life in a large group setting. We're glad there are only three of us. We arrived in Jeffrey City at an early hour. In fact today was our fastest average speed yet, 14 mph. The only place to stay in town is the Top Hat Motel (except of course the Lion's Club Park with no water or restrooms) owned by Bill & Dorothy Coats. The motel is rather rustic and in need of lots of exterior work, but the rooms were spacious, clean, comfortable, and with a working air conditioner. "Uncle" Bill even joined us at the dinner table in the Split Rock Cafe (the only place to eat in town), and entertained us with stories of Jeffrey City's history. Jeffrey City's origin was the atomic bomb. Cold War uranium mining in the nearby mountains built the city in the early 1950s to a peak population of 4000. Three Mile Island and Chernobyl killed it 30 years later, and now barely 200 residents call it home. Jeffrey City now rests virtually forgotten on an isolated two-lane highway. The town's once-modern duplex apartments and miners' dormitories sit boarded up on weed-choked streets. Nobody wants Wyoming uranium anymore. Thus, almost no one wants Jeffrey City. Several years ago it's entire K-12 school system closed, leaving more vacant buildings, including a huge multi-million dollar Reagan-era gymnasium that now sits alone on the vast range land. Antelope roam its streets. However, not all is quiet. Like most ghost towns, a few loyal residents remain. There's just enough to keep the Top Hat Motel, the Split Rock Cafe, and the post office open. But we couldn't help but ask ourselves, "What will happen to Jeffrey City when the Coats and all like them are gone?" |
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