Kilgore creek to Boulder, WY Pivot day 3! Frost greeted me in the morning for only the second time this trip. I feel like I’m more prepared for it now, as I had my warm clothes at the ready inside my tent. Coffee while I pack up, and oatmeal with my second cup of coffee complete the routine. I’m going to be real tired of oatmeal in another month! I got on the road at a reasonable time, excited to see what the route brought, and also excited to get on the main route at Pinedale later in the day. I started once again up the Hoback river, and my choice to camp on Kilgore creek was validated as it was quite a ways to public land. Like the day before, I crossed the river, turned on to a different road and immediately climbed the ridge to the east on a seldom used but enjoyable road. The views were wide open due to a very large fire at some point a few years ago. It looked like it had burned the entire region. The road topped out on the ridge, and as expected dropped off into the next drainage to the east. This is where things got interesting… I’m riding along following the road when my GPS alerts me that I’m off course!? I open the map, and sure enough I was supposed to turn…but where? By following the “blue line” on my map I discover a faint old track heading off down a small drainage. Eventually, this track turns into a cow trail, but still on the blue line. I zoom in and out several times and determine that at least I’m heading in the right general direction. At one point, I look across the creek from my cow trail and see what looks like a roadbed over there. I cross the creek on a beaver dam and join this roadbed, which roughly matches the important blue line. At this point, the terrain has gotten quite steep, and the road direction erratic. I stuck to the blue line as I could see it eventually hit a straight likely more well traveled road. In all I probably pushed my bike more than a mile because the “road” was too steep to ride. I finally came to the straight road, and to my great relief it was a well-traveled gravel road in decent shape. Recharged, I flew down this road with the wind in my face ready to make up some time! I had about 12 miles on this road to the highway, and I was flying! Then, about 4 miles in I meet a large iron gate in the road!?! Perplexed, I once again open maps and try to make sense of it. Apple, google and ride with gps all say it’s a forest road. But there it is—a big iron gate with a big iron padlock. After much deliberation, worry and angst, I finally decided to go for it and hope I didn’t get shot. I sped down the road attempting to make myself a harder target, and didn’t relax until I saw the highway 8 miles later. At that point, I exhaled and considered my route. Instead of the highway, there was another turn on gravel about a half mile away, so I went that way. Sure enough, another big iron gate awaited me there as well!?! I went back to the highway and rode it for a while. The rest of the route thankfully went without incident, and I arrived in Pinedale a bit tired but more mentally spent. I went into a grocery store and bought a few things then sat out front to recharge, literally and figuratively. I decided to roll down the road about 10 miles to another bar/restaurant/hotel called Boulder, WY and stay there. When I arrived, I asked if they had any rooms—I would have booked one—but they were full. They did let me pitch my tent behind the hotel, though and I am grateful for that! I had dinner at the restaurant and was joined by a guy named Tim from Kansas whose daughter had just moved to Bend! What are the chances!? It was nice to have dinner and chat with another human as I hadn’t seen any bike packers since deviating from the main GDMBR route. What a day! I was relieved to have navigated all the curve balls of the day, grateful for a good meal and a place to put my tent. I fell into my sleeping bag dog tired and slept well.