After enjoying a warm night in the cabin, we slowly got up and took advantage of the breakfast treats the lodge had to offer. After a muffin, coffee, tea, and sausage egg and cheese sandwiches, we stepped outside only to realize the weather did not look promising. With storm clouds already gathering, we set off with a bit of trepidation, hoping that the weather would hold. The guidebook told us we would spend much of the day riding at 9,000 feet of elevation and the threat of heavy storms was not ideal. After a couple miles, we turned onto a gravel road and began a steep climb. It was tough to tackle so early in the day, but was reasonably short, only about 4 miles. We soon crested the top and entered Union Pass high country. The wind picked up and storm clouds gathered all around us, the cracks of thunder became louder and louder. We put our heads down and pressed on, trying to stay ahead of the storm. The high country was a roller coaster terrain, with a few steep climbs thrown in for good measure. Somehow luck was on our side, as our route just skirted the edge of most of the storm. But soon we stopped to eat lunch and the storm finally got to us. The wind was horrible, blowing rain straight into our faces, which made for challenging riding in the rough terrain. Once we descended back down to 7,000 ft elevation, we contemplated calling it a day at a nearby campground, but ultimately pushed on the remaining 35 miles to Pinedale, a majority of which was paved. It was definitely the right call. We caught a nice tail wind and cruised along the smooth pavement, with the uncertain weather of the high country behind, us we basked in the glow of the golden light of the sunset on the empty highway. The sky was beautiful and we were in good spirits as we neared the last turn of the day onto the last few miles of gravel leading the way to Pinedale. Once we arrived in town, we got the obligatory snack from the first gas station we found and set off to find the campground.