I also had to go back to Wyoming after coming to Colorado. I missed the sign, and couldn’t have that. No way.

Additional comments from the present (January 3, 2020): I stopped at the visitor center, which was a total waste of time. There was an older lady working who was completely annoyed at my lack of interest in Sturgis. Sorry… I guess? Anyhow, A LOT of bikes going the opposite way as me. Many of them on trailers. 

Denver has to be the most populated place I’ve ridden through in a while. So many people. So much traffic. Absolutely awful, but I made it through eventually. Weird being around “big city” again.

Made it to Colorado Springs by 2. Been wandering around all day. Really cool place.

Additional comments from the present (January 3, 2020): There is a super weird fountain in the park. It starts as a dome, then grows until it’s a guy playing some instrument with some animals. It’s neat, but also super weird.

I also managed to find a tattoo place, and got a Dead Horse tattoo. This was the earliest it worked out, and it’s aces.

Eventually wanted to eat dinner, but got a crazy headache out of nowhere so found it hard to eat. Might be the altitude?

Tomorrow… the whole reason I’m here.

Odo Start: 25,474
Odo End: 25,665
Daily Miles: 191
Cum. Miles: 11,092

August 1, 2019

Ok, today’s post is short, but it’s your answer. I’ll also include a tale of woe.

PIKES PEAK!

It’s always been on my bucket list, so I made it happen.

Also took the time to help some folks with a flat tire. Because I’m a friendly guy like that.

I really spent the ride to Cheyenne trying to avoid highways as much as I could without taking two days. So, I kept chasing squirrels.

One led to Atlantic City. Just not the Atlantic City with a boardwalk. Or casinos. Super old gold rush town that refuses to quit. I’d probably have checked it out more if it wasn’t insanely hot.

Above 85 (really above 90) all day. Gross. Seriously gross. Combine with the altitude, and I just can’t get enough water. Nuts.

Saw some amazing red colors in a canyon. A place called Muddy Gap. A Lincoln monument. An Ames monument. Plenty of random gravel roads.

Now I’m in Cheyenne for the night. Walking around downtown. It’s really neat here! Maybe I should have stayed more nights, but I’ve got a thing I wanna do.

Edit: I also saw tons of deer today. Cows, and deer. Cows. Deer. Antelope.

Odo Start: 25,093
Odo End: 25,474
Daily Miles: 381
Cum. Miles: 10,901

Then it was on the Yellowstone, which is an absolutely amazing place. It is absolutely incredible. Luckily the weather was fairly warm, too. I spent a lot of time just being slow, looking around, enjoying. Didn’t take as many pictures as you might think, either.

Lots of wildlife today, but no buffalo. I did see a grizzly. From about 20 yards away. All the idiots in their cars were blocking the ENTIRE road so I had zero escape path. I finally had to yell at someone to move. I was not pumped on being that exposed. Otherwise, those vicious geese, amiright?

There were quite a lot of elk, as well. Including one giant dude sitting in a field staring at me. Right in the eyes. Just chewing grass. Giant antlers.

Because of all the bubbly earth Yellowstone has quite the unique set of smells depending on what you’re near. It’s actually really cool, and just watching the waters boiling away, smoke wafting up, smelling of sulphur was quite relaxing to watch.

I did not visit either geyser, because there were two billion people at those spots in the park. Gross.

Crossed the continental divide, which was cool. Saw lava rocks, and waterfalls, and rivers, and Yellowstone Lake, and Lewis Lake, and Jackson Lake, and… you get the idea.

The Tetons are flat out insane. I think I prefer that park, actually. The mountains are jagged, rugged, clearly formed by a lot of drama over a long period of time. Absolutely love just staring at them. Reminded me quite a bit of Cordillera Paine in Chile.

The lighting was insane as well. Cloudy, but the sun was filtering through nearly like a spot light whose rays you can nearly see. Total presentation. There were even a herd of elk grazing in the distance. Nature is such a showoff.

The weather cooled dramatically when I entered the Tetons, but it was a nice change. There is actually a big thunderstorm raging outside as I write this. Such great noises.

After the parks I made a quick stop in Jackson Hole for the visitors center, then hightailed it to Pinedale.

The road leaving Jackson is also pretty incredible. It snakes it’s way along a river, and the views are spectacular. No pics, because I was pretty tired, cold, and had an hour left.

Peace!

Odo Start: 24,839
Odo End: 25,093
Daily Miles: 254
Cum. Miles: 10,520

I didn’t head into Yellowstone, instead opting to head down the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway towards Cody, WY. I wanted to check out the town before I go into the park tomorrow. That road is also amazing, FYI.

So many cows on the road, though. Gotta be careful.

Got into Cody for a very late lunch (like 4pm late), and am going to go check out the main street. Really cool little town. The Buffalo Bill museum is here, but I think it’s already closed.

The pictures shared here are just a handful I took today. It was really hard to pick, so enjoy these. And if you can get here do. Beautiful.

Odo Start: 24,663
Odo End: 24,834
Daily Miles: 176
Cum. Miles: 10,266

Additional comments from the present (Nov. 20, 2019): So Cody turns out to be another rad spot with more rad people. Ended up not making it too far from my room before I found a brewery, and of course I had to head in. 

Met a pretty cool bartender that let me go wander around with an open tab, trusting I’d come back. Which of course I did… because I’m not a degenerate. 

The whole main drag of Cody is pretty awesome. I love the old buildings, and signs. I could wander around places like this for days. Too bad I move on tomorrow, right?

Anyhow, back to the brewery… turns out they were closing up early, so they invited me to hang out with them. Where were they going? Bet you’d never guess it was to the liquor store across the street. A liquor store you can actually drink at… it was quite the experience. You buy stuff, then you sit on their patio and drink said stuff. Sure won’t see that in California. As odd as it was I quite liked it.

More new friends made. Probably picked up at least one long-term friend out of the group. Great time in Cody.

The Fort Peck Dam is on the Missouri River, the largest hydraulically filled dam in the US, and created Fort Peck Lake. It makes power, mainly. Opened in 1940. Damn cool to see the dam. The interpretive center is ok as well.

Back to the landscape action. It’s much cooler near the dam, and elevation starts to occur. Going past the dam you emerge into badlands. They’re epic. You can imagine the giant inland sea that it once was, marine reptiles and fishes competing for survival while t-rex and triceratops roamed the shores. So many amazing formations. Getting an adequate picture was near impossible.

The landscape evolves as you turn back west, adding in wildflowers, trees, and other vegetation. It never loses the prehistoric feel, though. Entrancing to ride through.

The bummer is the lack of places to pull over for photos. Narrow, fast roads aren’t the best spots for that. It’s on my brain film at least. Even if that film is of dubious quality.

Such a good detour to get to Billings. As usual, many grain elevators, and abandoned buildings. Also cows. All of them. Some horses as well.

Parked the bike, and the wasps immediately swarmed it. Free protein I guess. It’s theirs now. I’ll fly home…

Let’s see how the local breweries are!

Odo Start: 23,306
Odo End: 24,663
Daily Miles: 357
Cum. Miles: 10,090

Nothing insanely exciting most of the day. It got really hot, though. It took me forever to realize my jacket vents were all closed. So much nicer after I figured that out.

So many straight roads… as in an hour of straight. Just straight. Flat. Straight. Blech.

Stopped in Swift Current for fuel, food, and facilities. Ended up talking to a few guys heading north, and we all had lunch together. Then they insisted on buying. Unbelievable. Super nice fellas.

Another 100 mile slog though nothing to the border where I met an officer with near negative personality. Welcome to Montana! Oh well, got across without issue.

Immediately upon entering Montana I saw three of the biggest eagles (don’t know what kind) I’ve ever seen in my life. And a deer. And plenty of cows. It was great.

Staying overnight in Malta. Picked this direction because there is something I really want to see in Montana I didn’t last time, as well as another destination I have in mind. Stay tuned, kids…

 

Odo Start: 23,992
Odo End: 24,306
Daily Miles: 314
Cum. Miles: 9,733

The hoodoos are located at a pay parking lot. You can go in for a toonie. There is a ton of area to explore, it the main attractions are fenced off. Formed by hard rocks laying on sandstone providing some protection, they stand like alien pillars against the landscape. They aren’t massive, but they are neat.

The whole area looks more like Tatooine than anything else. I was actually waiting to find Jabba’s palace. But no… it was not meant to be. Fun area to walk around at least.

From there I headed towards Saskatchewan. Absolutely beautiful weather until the last 2-3 hours. Then it was absolutely miserable.

It poured the entire time. It was cold. In fact, still raining. Come on!

Tomorrow might be better, right?

Gonna go explore.

Odo Start: 23,690
Odo End: 23,992
Daily Miles: 302
Cum. Miles: 9,419

Additional comments from the present (Nov. 14, 2019): So I get to town, finally find lodging, and the rain stops. Of course it does… brilliant. I had different plans, but man the weather just does not cooperate consistently. But who the hell wants to discuss the weather? Not me!

So I decided to wander around Saskatoon, and I was incredibly surprised. My expectations would likely make any Saskatchewanian (is that what they are called? I’m calling them that…) very angry. They were not high expectations, and honestly, the fact that they have a real downtown was a shocker itself. Yes, I’m an awful person. Sorry.

My first order of business was to find a brewery. My second was to find a circuitous route there. As soon as my destination was locked in I walked the complete opposite direction. A choice that would actually lead me to see most of the downtown, as well as get to make fun of a bald eagle. Yes, I clowned on a bald eagle. The thing was begging for it – trust me.

Eventually I found myself at Shelter Brewing Company, and it’s a pretty cool place. The kind of place that would fit in nearly any city. Good beers, too!

While I was enjoying a beverage a couple sat behind me, and I overhead them talking about taking a photo “for the gram”. Now, I’m not usually one to be overly social (I’m really not), but for some reason I decided to say something idiotic like, “you better make it a boomerang”, and quite honestly I’m glad I did. 

It would turn out that the couple was there on business from Vancouver Island. Well, Adrian was, and Liz tagged along. It would also turn out that they are cool as all get out. Further, it would turn out that we’d basically become best friends, and hang out all night.

Totally serious, we really did end up having dinner, then more drinks together. They’re wicked rad, and super cool. So cool that a few months down the road they would bring their kids to California, and I’d make a trip to spend the evening with them. So yeah, that’s pretty rad-tastic. I’m gonna even make a trip up there.

It’s crazy how some of the people you meet on these trips become a part of your life that… sticks. Even those insane guys from Jersey. Guys I still talk to a decent amount of time. Good stuff.