Day Eleven – Boise ID to Jackson WY
Miles: 435
We struck out again for breakfast. We targeted The Griddle since they opened early and when we arrived well in advance of the opening we thought we would be set, only to find out they couldn't open as they did not have any workers. Fortunately there was a coffee shop next door they had some burritos and that's what we had. It was ok, and we were on our way quickly. We started up ID21, also known as Ponderosa Pine Scenic Route, which we travelled in the past and really enjoyed it. We rode up to Lowman where the road takes a due east course. We stopped at an overlook and realized that it was a helicopter landing area and said for official use only. Oooops, we didn't stay long. Our next stop was another repeat where we have taken a pic of the Sawtooth Mountains in the background. It was a little smokey but not terrible. We rode another 60 or so miles and stopped along the Salmon River where there was an old iron bridge but it looked to be private so we didn't stick around long. We gassed up in Challis and began the long ride across some desolate areas toward Butte City and beyond that totaled 165 miles before stopping at Beaver Dick Park. We stopped here once before and there isn't much here but there isn't much of anything around. Once through Rexburg we caught up with ID33 and rode the western side of the Tetons. It was still smoke so we didn't stop to take a pic, but we did stop at Grand Teton Brewing in Victor. After finishing our pint we headed towards Jackson. When we were approaching Wilson on WY22 we saw a 5+ mile long traffic jam leaving, and by the time we reached US191 we truly thought they were evacuating the town for some reason, maybe a wildfire. We stopped at the gas station at the corner of WY22 and US191 to get gas, spray off our bikes and get some beer and were assured the traffic was a common phenomenon that happens everyday around 5:00 from people leaving Jackson goin home to their affordable homes in Victor and beyond. Unreal! We parked the bikes and headed to dinner at Snake River Brewing. It was as good as we remembered from the last time and despite the long wait we scored a couple of seats at the bar. We walked further uptown and stopped at Roadhouse Pub which is a brewery but they didn't have much to our liking so we split a pint and called it a night. We went back to the hotel and enjoyed their outside fire pit area. The ride north of Boise through the Sawtooths was very good but not much beyond that given the smoke.
