Mountains, Rivers, Canyons, Lakes, Statues and Oddities, Both Domestic and Foreign, Then Repeat

[humanrace]

I wanted to leave Texas on the first of May and casually ride to Canada by way of states I have toured many times, while hoping Canada would be pleasantly warm by the time I got there. Ross, my neighbor, commented one day that he was going to fly to Montana to participate in a Spartan race on the 4th of May. I wasn't sure what a Spartan race was, but I saw an opportunity for the both of us to get to Montana, him without spending nearly as much money as he would flying, and me without riding aimlessly across six states for a month. His 10 year old son saw an opportunity to miss two days of school while also participating in a barbaric ritual that included running two miles through mountainous terrain while simultaneously doing a military style obstacle course, all in sloppy, muddy and rainy weather. What fun. Thousands of other participants paid good money to do likewise. I watched.

Loaded and ready to go, using my custom made bare bones bike carrier. Purple paint was left over from a previous project for a little girl that loved purple. Thursday, May 4th. We drove off about 6:00 PM,

Ross and I took turns driving, with a few planned stops along the way. This waterfall was not one of them, but if you travel with a 75 year old man, you will probably make regular unscheduled stops. Ross and C check the water temp. It was cold, a harbinger of things to come.

C discovered my camera while I was driving. This picture was an accident, and I heard the shutter.

First scheduled stop-Bishops Castle, 820 miles. It was very early in the morning and we didn't see anyone until we had explored most of the castle.

C relaxing like he had just done an all night driving stint.

I climbed the spire while Ross and C went up to the dome. Some pieces of the dome were missing since I was last there.

The still unfinished balcony.

Every castle needs a dragon to be slain by the knights, so Mr. Bishop built this one.

If you go to the mountains, you will eventually encounter this. It gave us time to take pictures of our first big snow sighting. C is using my Canon while I am using my phone.

He continued while we were driving down the highway, capturing these deer about to flee from the slowing van.

Along highway 50, approaching the ski area.

This years snowfall in Colorado was not uniform. The drainage for Blue Mesa Reservoir was one of the areas that received a light snow.

I scheduled stops where it would be daylight when we were there. The Black Canyon was one of them. I think both were excited when they saw this beauty. 1,020 miles from home.

C again practicing his camera skills.

I wanted to drive through Yellowstone NP, but too many roads were still closed and we would get to the destination too late for Ross and C to get adequate rest.

1,940 miles after leaving Bryan, we arrive at our third scheduled stop, St. Ignatius Mission Church.

I had wanted to see the inside when I was there in 2020, but it had been closed for repairs. This visit was short, but I would return later in my trip for more pictures and a longer tour.

More practice, this time wearing one of my sweatshirts while using my camera.

A little over 2,000 miles since leaving home, we arrived in Bigfork, Montana, home of the Spartan races for that weekend. We camped in the van and had breakfast in the rain the next morning.

Ross was close to the leaders when he got to where I was spectating. He ran up a very steep hill right after this picture was taken. Most participants were walking up. Unfortunately, he missed a turn and his run was instantly doubled in length. He finished in the top 30% of his group despite running twice as far and probably doing more obstacles.

The last obstacle, slicked up by mud and a constant light mist of rain.

^^^^^Above picture.^^^^^ We left after C's race. We drove from Bigfork to Sheridan, Wyoming with Ross getting about 7 hours of sleep and they dropped me off at a closed convenience store around 2:00 AM. I could tell Ross was a little hesitant about leaving me there, but that was the reason for me being there.


After about 5 hours of sleep, I started my ride. I saw a sign as I drove through Clearmont, Wyoming and I investigated. This was a lock 'em up and throw away the key kind of jail. According to some workers nearby, the two cells were provided with a shared bucket that was emptied once a day.

^^^^^Above picture^^^^^ Devil's Tower from the parking lot




There were several Indian tribes that roamed the area around the tower. Each had a story to tell about how the tower came to be, none of which align with the scientific version, but as Ari said in his book, "what harm believing." My favorite: Seven Indian girls were being chased by a bear. The bear was gaining on them so they climbed on a big rock. The bear also started climbing so the girls started praying. God made the rock grow up into the sky and the grooves along the sides were made by the bear trying to claw his way up. You can still see the girls if you look up at the night sky. They are the seven stars of Orion, with the four older girls forming a perimeter around the three younger girls.

A little closer look after a short hike.

I made it to Lead, South Dakota on my first day of riding and found this room for $35/night. With Sturgis, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, Spearfish Canyon, Badlands NP and great roads in the area, I stayed a week. The room was $10 a day more than the local campground and so much more restful.

More manufactured scenery, some much more splendid than this, will be forthcoming. I'm not going to split this report into days like most of my previous reports. The number of days in my log book do not match the number of days I was on vacation. Dates will be added when appropriate, or when I feel like it.

 

[humanrace]

The reason I chose to go to Sturgis instead of Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons was because of road closures due to snow. I didn't get to ride 14A and the Beartooth Highway because they didn't get cleared until Labor Day weekend and I was in Idaho by then.

I don't know why the people in the area chose Lincoln to decorate their entryways, but his bust was used more than a few times. Roosevelt had a much bigger impact on the area than did Lincoln.

I got up early, enjoyed the motel breakfast and headed to the Crazy Horse monument. I wanted to get an early start because of a high chance of rain in the afternoon. First stop was for a snack at this city park with a creek running through it.

It's hard to find an ugly road around Sturgis, but I wanted to avoid 4 lane roads as much as possible. Twenty miles of dirt road avoided ten miles of highway.

The road ran beside a pretty creek. Lots of roads in the northwest run beside creeks, rivers or lakes.

A fork in the road was unmarked and It soon became known that I had chosen the wrong path.

This statue, titled The Death Song, welcomes visitors to the Crazy Horse visitor center.

The museum at Crazy Horse is well worth spending some time browsing. The artifacts in the two shadow boxes were found at the site of Custer's last stand.

Chief Joseph sounds like a very wise man. I especially like this quotation. Another one that's more known, "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

The start of the carving. At first, dynamite was used, now they are using diamond impregnated plastic rope.

Current progress. The process is going much faster now that the diamond cutters are used instead of blasting.

Another statue outside the museum. The sculptors that worked on the monument also did lots of smaller pieces.

I must go and start preparation for my next adventure. More coming soon.

 

[Tourmeister]

 

[dash1]

Bishop's castle is looking just as sketchy and unfinished as the last time I was there!

 

[JustJohn]

Do you remember the name of the motel in Lead? Never hurts to keep track of cheap motels!

 

[Gravel Guy]

 

[humanrace]

Do you remember the name of the motel in Lead? Never hurts to keep track of cheap motels!

It's not cheap now. They lose most of their staff in the winter and offer a deal in early May to fill up the hotel in order to train new personnel before the summer rush. I believe the name was Blackstone.

 

[humanrace]

Back to the museum. I thought the canoe I built was hard to paddle. Imagine how difficult it would be to move through the water in something like this.

I always thought the Navajo tribe were the code talkers. I found out several more tribes also were key players.

A miniature of the original idea. The final result will not be this elaborate, but close.

This custom bike was raffled off in 2006 and raised over $200,000 for the sculpture. It's on loan from the winner to display at the museum. If I win the one being raffled off now, it will not be on loan to the museum. Crazy Horse is financed with private money. Rushmore was mainly financed with public money.

Apparently, one huge statue at a time is not enough for some artists. There are numerous small sculptures like this in the museum. One of the sculptors has been working on the Crazy Horse for 54 years. He started there when he was 18.

The road beckons me.

A profile view from the highway.

It was too late to go into the Rushmore Memorial and I wanted to ride more roads around Crazy Horse and Rushmore. I would return the next day.

The Needles Highway

Needles and Iron Mountain Road were built to entice tourist to visit. It worked. The tunnels all align with Rushmore. Long tunnels were blasted when a short bridge could have gotten traffic to the same point.

I'm assuming this is not the Eye of the Needle that's mentioned in the Bible, but I don't believe the Bible specifically excludes this needle eye.

Even the idea of Mount Rushmore was dreamed up to attract tourist. It is certainly worth going to S Dakota to see.

Iron Mountain Road spirals on itself.

Nice tunnel on Iron Mountain. Have I mentioned that Iron Mountain and Needles Highways are not to be missed if you are in the neighborhood.

The civil engineers were precise.

I started to leave this one out because I took so many pictures in this area. Can one have too many views of beauty?

Approaching the park. In my opinion, the views from outside the park are better than from inside the park.

From inside. Rushmore employees strike me as just being there to do a job while every Crazy Horse employee was very helpful, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Rushmore is more majestic right now, but I believe Crazy Horse will exceed that majesty. By all means, go to both. Be sure to ride the bus at Crazy Horse just to get the inside story while driving down the road.

Rushmore does not have an entry fee. You pay to park. Yearly or lifetime passes don't work. A motel called me on this trip and said I left my lifetime pass in the envelope containing one of my room "keys." I do have a lifetime motel "key" in my possession.

it's rumored that spies are spread throughout the Black Hills. I didn't see any.

 

[humanrace]

Spearfish Canyon and the Badlands coming up.

 

[humanrace]

The start of my next adventure. It has 34,000 fewer miles on its odometer than the one behind.

 

[humanrace]

May 11, 2023
Scene along a side road from Spearfish canyon.

The water in this creek was diverted to supply electricity for one of the countries deepest gold mines. The flow was restored 20 years ago when the mine closed. Water downstream is still used to provide electricity for the town of Spearfish.

This sign made me want to watch the movie again. Is it true?

Beside the sign.

Small waterfall in Spearfish Canyon. No walking required, no dirt roads.

This morning it was pouring rain when I went down to breakfast. I decided to wash clothes, reorganize my bags, clean my camera and watch Forest Gump on TV.

The next morning it was only misting rain. I rode. Montana has a private organization that puts up white crosses along the highways to mark the spot that someone died in a vehicle accident. South Dakota gets a little more elaborate. the signs are reversible.

My trusty steed after me deciding not to go down a dirt road and instead ride out of the Black Hills and down to the flatlands and Badlands NP. I thought it might not be raining in the desert. I was wrong.

It was raining in the Black Hills of South Dakota so I decided to head east to the flatlands and Badlands, NP
The NP system had put up a sign warning people that the road was closed about 14 miles ahead. I'm not sure why it couldn't have been put up nearer to the highway. Oh well, as I'm going to find out later, I need some riding practice on wet gravel roads.

Hiking paths in the Badlands do not get slick and muddy in the rain. I believe it's possibly because of the porosity of the soil.

I think this is where I made one of my mistakes in my log book. About this time, I missed a turn south of Lead and didn't realize it until I saw the "Welcome to Wyoming" sign. I wasn't going to Wyoming. I wanted to go east, not west. That day was consumed by a day too rainy to take my phone or camera out of their protective pouches.

More badlands when I return from taking my dog to the vet.

 

[humanrace]

Badlands NP

That flat topped mesa in the background is named Hay Mesa. The next picture explains why and tells us how hard working the farmers were back in the good old days.

I'm not sure the cows would have survived without Hay Mesa.

I wonder if these were the Bison in the movie Dances With Wolves. I tried to get a closer picture, but they did run when I approached the fence. I wouldn't call it a stampede, but the ones close to the fence did run.

I had an Indian taco for lunch. When I mentioned to the waitress that it was called a Navajo taco down south, she gruffly replied, "Yeah, we've heard that."

Another view of badlands before heading to the big tourist attraction in a nearby town.

The big attraction is not the big dinosaur, but the big drug store, Wall Drug. As far as I can tell, Wall drug store is famous for the same reason as the Kardashians. Both are famous because they are famous. Lots of people have asked me if I went to Wall Drug store. Nobody has asked if I hiked the trails in the Badlands.

I saw this beautiful work of art in Wall.

I saw this work of _________ made of split firewood.

I did not enter this building. Apparently, I did live my recurring nightmare of visiting Northern Arizona for the first time and not seeing the Grand Canyon because I did not drink a 5 cent cup of coffee that, "You don't actually have to pay for." Everyone mentions that to me.

Riding back to Sturgis, I saw a little red headed girl leading this dinosaur around the pasture. She said her name was Pebbles and her daddy had a one human powered car. Some mountain man named Barney said I couldn't post the girl's picture. I guess I'll abide by his wishes. Yaba Daba Doo.

I did not see one bar in Sturgis or the surrounding area. Everything is a saloon. There is even a Knuckle Pizza and Saloon. They brew their own beer. I assume they named their saloon after the Harley Knuckle Head.
This bike was last ridden by an aspiring Supercross rider.

From my notebook, with only slight modifications:

It started raining on me as soon as I got close to the Black Hills. Today was my seventh day of riding and I just passed the 1,000 mile mark. I can try to blame my low mileage on the rain, but the true culprit is this dry and cheap motel with the hot tub and great breakfast buffet. Tomorrow has a high chance of rain. That would be 8 days straight with some rain. I stayed a week in the HOH Rain Forest and didn't get wet. The HOH averages 12 feet of rainfall a year. I'm going to write a song.

Eight days a week.
Riding every day girl,
Always on my mind.
One thing I can say girl,
Ride you all the time.
Rev you, love you, rev you, love you.
Ain't got nothin' but rain babe,
Eight days a week.

 

[Tourmeister]

Fixed the problem with the first two images for you. There was a random underline BBCode tag in there for some reason that was keeping those images from displaying.

Carry on...

 

[humanrace]

Thanks Scott.

I decided to leave my cheap, dry sanctuary and head north. I had been averaging 140 miles per day of riding and wanted that to change. Teddy Roosevelt NP, both north and south units were calling my name. One last ride through Spearfish Canyon would take me in the right direction.

The water from this waterfall and the one mentioned earlier furnished electricity for one of the deepest mines in the USA.
A waitress told me Spearfish was one mile high, one mile long and one mile deep. The mine is reported to be over 5,000 feet deep. South Dakota surpassed California as the leading gold producer in 1949. A total of 40 million ounces came from the big mine alone.

I saw a dirt road that was running parallel to this stream and decided to investigate. Maybe, just maybe, I need a dose of Ritalin to keep me focused on my direction.

Back at the highway, this stream was just as pretty.

These goats were not happy that I stopped. They did hang around long enough for this picture.

Still spearfish Canyon

Watch out for antelope. Wyoming has more antelope than people and more than any other state. These are SD antelope. There is no shortage of antelope in South Dakota either.

South unit of TRNP

I should have gone straight to the campground at the south unit, but I stopped a couple of places along the entry road. By the time i got to the campground, there were no drive up sites available and I had decided to take a walk-in site when an elderly lady walked over and asked me if I was looking for a site. She had driven there to meet up with her boyfriend and they had rented two sites because he was pulling his Jeep with his motorhome. Only 2 vehicles allowed per site at that particular campground. I noticed that some campgrounds are charging for the second vehicle and some have overflow parking which also carries a fee. The saying, "I can't see the forest for the fees."

My reserved campsite, just not reserved by me.

Prairie dogs are abundant in both Teddy Roosevelt units.

I saw this small band of wild horses. There were about 10 mares and one stallion.

These three young stallions had been cast out of the herd. Here they are practicing for when they will fight their way into being a herd sire.

Reminiscent of the Bisti Wilderness in New Mexico, at least the part visible along the highway.

River Bend overlook in the north unit

This shelter was built by the CCC, part of the New Deal. The New Deal was and still is the greatest socialist program ever, in my opinion. It set the stage for ending the Great Depression, gave the US a decided advantage in WWII by providing us with highly trained welders, mechanics, truck drivers, equipment operators and other trades to provide supplies to the Allies and to operate military equipment. Imagine trying to hire trainees today after telling them they would get training, food, housing and medical care, but would have to send 83% of their pay back home to their mom and dad.

View from inside the shelter. There are two bighorn sheep just to the right of that light point in the lower portion of the picture. My theory, proven many times by me: The further away from the bike you are, the more likely you will need the lens that you left in the luggage.

Looking left from the shelter.

Just about any spot you stop along the roads in either the north or south unit will yield a picture similar to this. I believe this one is two petrified aliens that are hugging each other after finding out the mother ship left them behind.

When I got back to my campsite in the south unit, I had a new neighbor in the adjacent reserved spot. It was an 82 year old lady from Daytona Beach and she hates motorcycles, with the possible exception of mine. She is car camping in an ancient Ford Pinto and says this will be her last trip ever. I'm going to post my notes straight out of my notebook. "She hates motorcycles because of Datona Week. She thinks they intentionally rev their bikes to annoy people and that the participants think the louder the bike, the better it is." She would not allow me to take her picture. The next morning she was gone.

 

[humanrace]

Along the Enchanted Highway. When I looked at the map, I wondered how such a straight road could be labeled scenic.

It's because of hard work by multiple people and land owners. These sculptures are between Gladstone and Regent N Dakota

Bike added for scale.

18 wheeler added for scale.

One of the benefits of living where they salt the roads in the winter.

Just as I think the art work has ended, I come across the home of the Holsteins

A statue of their intimidating mascot looks over the playing fields.

What if we never had to dig another grave for a citizen that died fighting in a foreign country?

Some names for restaurants just shouldn't be used. Note to future TWT business owners: Unless your customer base is nearly completely fixed, always include what the business is about in the name. How big would IBM have gotten if their name was INTERNATIONAL. Lets start a business and we'll call it Dell. More about poor names and signage later when we get to Idaho.

This sign and other decorations are perfect. There is no doubt about what you are going to get when you enter this business. The day I was there, I had the only motorcycle parked in a lot that would hold hundreds and maybe even thousands of motorcycles. There were two cars in the car parking lot, but it sounded like many people working behind the building. Sturgis week must be huge to support this saloon/museum/campground/restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

They have their own bridge to nowhere.

More indications of what this business is about. Indian Larry doing what he was famous for doing. RIP Indian Larry.

More motorcycles and chainsaws when I meet a very interesting couple in Washington.

Evil K on his TW-200 with a Harley Sportster engine.

Wrong color, but my 57 Chevy convertible.

Built during WWII when the Japanese controlled South East Asia and the rubber plantations there.

More evidence of the rubber shortage. They substituted cam chains for rubber V-belts.

My $35 motel raised the prices while I was camping in the Dakotas, so I looked elsewhere. This vehicle just down the street from my motel in Sturgis is proof that bikes other than Harleys are welcome in Sturgis.

Lots of riding today, but not many pictures. I rode from Sturgis to Thermopolis, Wyoming. 320 miles. My longest so far. I stayed in a commercial campground in a site designed for an RV. There was a sidewalk between me and a four lane highway. I had declined to stop the night before in Wind River Canyon because the owner of the campground was staying late to check me in. The next morning I headed back.

May 21st.

A pretty flower desperately clinging to life high above the Wind River.

The canyon framed by a highway on one side and a railroad on the other

Tunnels are involved on both sides.

I wanted to ride Sinks Canyon road to Atlantic City and I did until I got nearly to the pass. Neither Google maps or the highway department gave any indication of the road condition.

Along the way, I happened upon this cemetery.

I like the simplicity. I don't think sites are bought in advance. The death dates that I saw were in chronological order.

This one seemed strangely out of place.

Well, it looks like I'll go a different way.

Found a forest service campground that was empty. These three guys showed up while i was putting up my tent. I told them the road was closed, but they assured me I was wrong because a friend had already ridden it earlier that week. I didn't argue, but I did watch them ride off to the road closed sign the next morning. It's a pretty ride.

Becoming more and more prevalent.

Coming next-the closed road led me to something spectacular. Big and little guns.

 

[humanrace]

If the road had not been closed, I wouldn't have went back to this town and seen a street full of these trees.

I wouldn't have ridden through these mountains that are reminiscent of Southern Utah

I wouldn't have found this jewel out in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. It's not completed yet. They were closed the day I was there, but there was no sign (except my motorcycle being the only vehicle in the parking lot). The door was unlocked, nobody was in the booth selling tickets, so I went in. When some employee spotted my motorcycle, he came in and told me to continue viewing in the Vault Room, but leave the other inside areas until they were open. He told me I could walk around outside if I stayed away from the construction areas. The museum was started in 2012 by one man with one tank. It has grown into a masterpiece of a museum.

I like Grant's attitude

This rifle belonged to Chief Rain-in-the Face. He was photographed several times while holding it. He allegedly Killed Captain Tom Custer with it at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Tom Custer was twice awarded the medal of honor during the Civil War and was General Custer's brother.

The musket that fired the first shot at Bunker Hill before the order to fire was given.

Part of the plaque below the rifle.

General Patton's Pearl handled pistol he carried during WWII. Actually his aide carried it for Patton.

The revolver at the bottom belonged to Wyatt Earp.

Read the passage about Wyatt's pistol, #08. Apparently boxing matches in the late 1800s and early 1900s could become violent.

These are the guns of Teddy Roosevelt. By this time, I had begun to feel like a tresspasser and didn't read all of the signs, but I believe these are examples of his guns, not the actual guns. I could be wrong.

Called a Fur Getter. When an animal pulled on the baited hook, it fired the pistol. Times have changed.

A first generation and a late model. Called a Marble Game Getter, the first ones had a 22 rim fire and a .44 shotgun. It's still in production today.

Even though I wanted to continue, I felt like I was an intruder and exited to the outside. There was much more to see just in the Vault.

A Texas Aggie tank.

Here's the empty parking lot that was missed by Clueless Humanrace.

I continued my search for beauty and found it.

 

[humanrace]

Continuing towards Grand Tetons. That peak is not one of the Tetons,

I camped just a few miles past here. It's amazing what 5 miles and 1,000 feet in elevation change will do for the landscape.

You know my theory on camera lens. The further you are from the bike, the more you will need the lens you left in the luggage, or something like that. Well, their is a corollary: The more you need to go, the more likely you left your snowshoes in Texas. I actually do have snowshoes in Texas.

My theory does not always work. I seldom have my 135MM lens on the camera, but I did when I spotted this Grizzly.

He stopped to look back to see which one of us was on the menu.

After stopping at a local NFS campground, I headed into Grand Teton for some evening pictures.

This guy is very knowledgeable about adventure bikes, has one and is very interested in my trip. The friends he was with were not as interested. Time to get new friends.

The Tetons backlit by the sun behind a cloudy sky. Did I mention that I had a lot of rain the first six weeks of this vacation?

There was a restaurant next to my campground, so I thought I would pay them a visit. A basic hamburger was $20 so I was afraid to ask about the "market price" of the steak I thought I wanted. Instead, I had pasta, a salad and two beers. It was expensive for a man that hadn't had a shower in 3 days, but I went back the next night after washing off in near freezing water. Note: Your bare feet will be the last thing on your body to quit tingling if you stand in melted snow water for more than 5 minutes while trying to become less obnoxious.

Out the window of the restaurant

May 22, 2023 I took my wife's picture in this very spot several years ago.

This fox wasn't very sneaky. Sign says, "Do Not Feed." Do we really need a sign?

Walking bridge over the river near the visitors center.

Onward to Yellowstone. All Paved roads in Yellowstone were open except for one. Outside the park, it would be more than a week before Beartooth would open.

Beside the road going in the south entrance

May 23, 2023 some lakes were still frozen over, kind of. I didn't see anyone violating the 15 minute boat loading rule.

All lakes were not frozen. This one is higher up, but deeper and fed by hot springs. The steamy round pit in the sand is part of what is keeping this lake ice free.

I couldn't believe this trail was open. I didn't see anyone else on it. Maybe I didn't see the sign.

I'm not sure about the name of this falls. I think it's on the Firehole loop.

From the trail. I'm sure about the name of this Falls. It's the lower falls of the Yellowstone River. It's over 300 fee tall. The river flows through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

From Artists Point

Looking the other way from Artists Point

One last look

Excelsior Geyser

I came back to this Geyser the next day, but a ranger told me there was no off road or off trail hiking allowed. I wanted to get the classical picture from the top for a nearby peak. Just by being known as the classical view means someone in the past had access to that off limits peak.

This was my Camp Host. He retired, sold his business and he and his wife have been campground hosts for the last four years.

This is their home for 5 months of the year.

May 24th I woke up to this early morning view of The Tetons

What I eat, from today's notes: "Breakfast was cereal and coffee. lunch= an orange, cream cheese and crackers, and two cookies. Dinner was tuna, cream cheese and crackers, and two cookies. I saved my last orange for tomorrow." Hardly anything in the park is open and towns are too far away. "The conv. stores rely on foreign students that haven't yet arrived. Gas is plentiful at $3.99 per gallon. Milk is not plentiful and is much higher."

Restaurants in the NPs also rely heavily on foreign students. What wasn't in my notes was the desert and beer I had that night in my neighborhood restaurant. A wonderful apple tart with vanilla ice cream on top. Actually, on top was the addition of chocolate syrup that I requested.

 

[humanrace]

I'm not getting many comments. Was the condensed version I posted during my trip enough? Are people getting tired of reading about my exploits? Do I need to take a class in photography? Should I take a class in journalism as soon as my local University finds a new president and someone that's willing to be the head of the Journalism department? I'm very serious about my first question, the rest, not so much.

 

[Gravel Guy]

@humanrace your posts are great, please don’t stop!

 

[JQ1.0]

I put the Military Museum on my to do list.

 

[humanrace]

I put the Military Museum on my to do list.

Post up when you do it. I only got to see a small amount. It's amazing what has happened in 12 years when the man started with one tank.

 

[Tourmeister]

Forget the comments. Keep posting!

 

[Simmons1]

I'm not getting many comments. Was the condensed version I posted during my trip enough? Are people getting tired of reading about my exploits? Do I need to take a class in photography? Should I take a class in journalism as soon as my local University finds a new president and someone that's willing to be the head of the Journalism department? I'm very serious about my first question, the rest, not so much.

I think these days many people look at the reports but do not comment other than clicking the Like button now and then.

I just took a look and more than 300 people have looked at all or a portion of your report. I personally am enjoying it immensely.

 

[LicketySplit]

Was the condensed version I posted during my trip enough?

No. Please continue.

 

[humanrace]

I camped another night about 6 miles outside of the northwest entrance to Teton NP. It's convenient to Teton and to Yellowstone and far from the $300 motels in West Yellowstone. I checked tonight's prices and a Super 8 room in West Yellowstone will cost you $325 for tonight. The least expensive, except for the "temporarily closed" one is Travel Lodge at $224. Camping is good.

Today's ride to Yellowstone was done so I could hike above Excelsior Geyser. That pesky ranger shot my idea down so I just rode around. This bison herd was scattered on both sides of the river, but the direction of travel was to the far side. That posed a problem to the newborn calves.

The calves will eventually have to swim this river because mom is a herd animal and instinct tells her to stay with the herd.

Back to beer drinking at the bar next door to the campground. This setup came rolling and clopping into the parking lot.

They were followed by the pack mules. All were just practicing for the start of tourist season the next week.

I saw five bears today in Yellowstone. Two were juvenile grizzlies away from mom for the first time. I also saw a Momma black bear and her one year old cubs. If they had been new babies this spring, I would have joined the throng of illegally parked cars trying to get a picture.

My next door neighbor told me to ride past this campground on my way to Teton NP and Jackson instead of riding the highway. It's where they usually camped, but the road was too muddy for pulling their camper with their car. There was also supposed to be a lake and great views of the Tetons.

I think he was right, but you be the judge.

I got gas and the view from the table beside the station convinced me to eat an early lunch. Also, breakfast was light because I had refused to pay $2.99 for a half pint of milk the night before.

The Iconic elk antler arch in the town square of Jackson, Wyoming.

Overlooking Jackson from the road west.

Really, OK is the best you could come up with. It's like McDonalds motto being "Home of the Barely Edible Burger (if you use enough condiments)"

I like this one. It says "We're proud of the way we've been doing business."

It rained most of today, just not on me. The roads were wet and sometimes water was running across the road. I stayed dry.

I got a motel after camping for five straight days. It was a little early in the day, but the early stop allowed me to wash clothes and do a little tour of the town. LickitySplit suggested that I go to Atomic City and Crater of the Moon NM. Good suggestion, thanks. The early stop allowed me time to take a walk around town.

This is my destination for tomorrow, but that black strip just this side of the mountains was suggested by Lickitysplit and I think I'll fool around there for a few hours.

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