[So I screwed up my day numbering here. I can't change all the videos. So I will just put the actual day number in parenthesis at the start of each post.]
Day thirty four (thirty five), again because I can’t keep track of the days we’ve been on the road and didn’t realize I’d messed up the numbers until I was on day thirty seven or so…
Saturday, September 16th.
We packed up and left Cody at a decent time, 9:00am or so. It was another pretty day and not too cold. We headed straight out of town on US 14 toward Greybull. The last time thru here I spotted a flight museum as we zipped by and made a mental note to find out what it was. Turns out that it is a museum of aerial fight fighting. So we were making that our first priority of the day. Sarah led, so it didn't take long to get there... It was $5 to get in and totally worth it. It is not a top dollar operation, but they do have some cool stuff and aircraft. We spent an hour or so poking around and taking pics before getting back on the road. We headed into town and found a Mavericks store to top off our gas tanks and bellies.
The plan was to head North on CR 26 to 33, but we quickly found a locked gate on CR 33 at what I think was a bentonite plant of some kind. So we tried to just run 26 North but that dead ended into some other kind of industrial facility. Daniel REALLY wanted to do dirt, so we backtracked to Greybull and went through town to pick up CR 29, 33-1/2, and 27 to get to 33 in a round about way. Sarah did not like the first few miles of these roads as the gravel was large and somewhat deep, but she got through it without any problems, including a fairly steep hill climb with tight corners right before we reached 33. CR 33 is/was a haul road for big dump trucks carrying stuff to the bentonite facility. We saw NO ONE on this road. It was wide with shallow ruts and very hard packed, so Sarah liked this one and we ran a pretty nice pace. We split off 33 onto Dresser Haul road, missed the turn for Crystal Creek Rd, took some pics of cool landscape, made a u-turn and got onto Crystal Creek. Crystal Creek Road started out narrow with a short climb and was in pretty good condition. It soon opened up into a fantastic road! The scenery was really otherworldly and reminded me of Moon Valley near Big Bend NP back home. It had long straight sections, lots of curves, serious elevation changes, and did I mention cool scenery!? There were a few spots that we had to really focus on controlling our speed while descending into tight corners, but we all managed. It eventually came out at Old US 14a near the Bighorn Canyon National Rec Area. Sarah was relieved to reach pavement, but she had to admit it was a fun road.
We headed East on 14a and it was super straight until it hit the bottom of some mountains and then started climbing FAST. The road surface was in really rough condition with HUGE heaves, some 10-12" high, so going fast wasn't an option. There were also many corners that were basically gravel because the pavement was in such bad condition. We just stood up on the foot pegs and treated it like a dirt road. The views were incredible. Sarah declined to stop at the overlooks, so Daniel and I played catch up after she went by to, "do her thing," as she likes to put it. Once at the top, it got pretty cool temp wise and quite windy. The road just meandered across high valleys through the Bighorn NF and then followed the North Tongue River to US 14. We turned South on US 14 and the great scenery continued, eventually dropping down into a fantastic canyon. We stopped at the Shell Canyon Falls and checked them out, very cool! Then we ran the rest of the canyon down to the SMALL town of Shell, population 74. We stopped in at a small camping area to see if we could find Dave
@Cagiva 549. We pulled in and found his trailer with ease, but not him. While I was walking around seeing if he might be about, he came rolling up on a bicycle behind us. He has a super nice spot where he is. I can see why he bugs out of Texas to escape the heat! We had a nice visit, but had to get moving because we still had a good bit of dirt of unknown condition ahead of us to get to Ten Sleep, our destination for the day.
Not far out of town we turned South on Red Gulch Road. Again, super cool scenery. The road was "in the best condition in years" according to Justin Smith. Well, it wasn't too bad, but there were two well defined ruts running almost the entire length of the road from someone that came thru when it was quite wet and soft! There were also erosion ruts that sometimes criss-crossed the tire ruts. We really had to be careful about picking lines! I let Daniel run ahead and told him to report back on anything he thought might be a problem for us. He did a pretty good job of keeping track of us and not running off into the distance. Sarah had one "moment" where she dropped into a rut while going down a pretty steep hill. I was right behind her trying to use my "calming voice" to tell her to just ride it out rather than fight it. She stayed loose on the bars and kept her cool, making it to the bottom without any problem. Shortly after I heard, "How much longer is this road...?" She didn't like the answer, but she kept at it. We rode for what seemed like forever and we could see for what seemed like forever, sea to shining sea, despite some haze. It was amazing and even Sarah made that comment several times. Daniel was just having run ripping and roosting across the countryside on the loaded 390 like it was a two stroke dirt bike.
We were trying to reach Alkali Road, where we would turn South for Hyattville and pavement. I could see we were getting close on the GPS and we were getting higher in elevation. It was also getting kind of warm out in the open sun with no shade anywhere. I pulled up to a short but steep and rough climb and stopped. This didn't look like something Sarah would want to attempt and when she arrived, she agreed wholeheartedly after pulling up next to me. Daniel had already come back and agreed to ride her bike to the top for her. Once past this, he took off and she followed me. We got into a little bit of sand and while I was in the process of telling her that it was just like the sand back home and nothing bad, I turned a corner and it got bad
I hollered into the communicator for her to STOP and not follow me in. I plowed on through for quite a way before finding Daniel coming back to report. It was a long hot walk, but once again he went back to get her bike and ride it through the sand. While they were getting through the sand, I went on ahead to scout out the road. Just after the sand was a pretty long climb that wasn't real steep, but it was quite rough and rutted. After this there was another short, steep, and rough section. I stopped here and waited for Daniel and Sarah to come into communicator range. Sarah decided she would try to ride up to where I was. Daniel rode behind her, coaching her on where to ride. She did very well! Once they got to me, he rode on through the short nasty section and parked his bike quite a bit further up the road. He was looking for a good stopping spot. He then walked back again to get her bike and ride it up to his bike. While we was walking back to get her bike, I rode up to his bike and parked. She had a long walk to get to our bikes. It was hot and we were getting tired. The sun was out and there was very little shade to be found. Fortunately, there was a single tree at about the halfway point and I told her to just sit in the shade and rest. There was also a single tree right where I had stopped, so I sat in the shade a bit as well. Once out of the direct sunlight, we cooled off pretty quick. Daniel grabbed a Gatorade from Sarah's luggage and walked down to her and they walked back up together. Eventually they made it to where all the bikes were parked and we all sat in the shade for a bit.
At this point, we were all starting to get tired. We just wanted to get to Alkali Road and hopefully start dropping down off the mountain. While we were stopped a sweet jacked up truck stopped to check on us. We assured them we were having the time of our lives and would be fine! They looked at us kind of funny and drove on. Daniel took off and made it to the intersection but was reporting that there was more sand. Sarah rode up to that point and stopped. While Daniel was zooming around exploring, I rode Sarah's bike through some pretty deep sand and got it to the intersection and pointed in the right direction, then walked back to get my bike and rode it up to the intersection. All the walking and thin air was really sapping our energy. Getting on Alkali was not hard, but the turn was rough. The road started descending almost immediately and had some rough sections. We had one more spot where the road was VERY rutted and Daniel walked back up the hill a ways to ride Sarah's bike through it. After that, it was all down hill
The road had a lot of gravel on it, but there were usually two relatively clean tracks to ride. By this time the sun was getting low on the horizon and really lighting up the red tones of the mountains! The view of the area below was awesome. We made pretty good time here and it was nice to be moving fast enough to cool off! We all really enjoyed the run down to Hyattville where we picked up pavement on WY 31 and headed West.
The original plan was to run the old Hyattville-Ten Sleep road, which is gravel, down to Ten Sleep, but I decided to just run over to CR 43-1/2 and run pavement down into Ten Sleep. It was a really nice ride, especially the last few miles into town. However, there were a LOT of deer/pronghorns out and about!! As we rolled into town I saw the Ten Sleep Brewery on our right and we headed there to see if we could find Justin and say hello before running into town to find a cabin at the local campground. No sooner than I pulled up and parked in front of the brewery, my phone was ringing. It was Justin telling me to pull around the back and come up to the house. So we did. He has a steep and loose gravel driveway! Coming from the brewery there is a sharp right hand turn right into the hill. Sarah wanted nothing to do with that. After I made it up and parked, Daniel came up and parked. Then he went down and rode Sarah's bike up. He got a LOT of cool brother points this day! Justin greeted us with a big hug and told us to stay at his place. In fact, he was about to make dinner, steaks and burgers!! I was NOT expecting this! Not long ago he bought a really cool toy hauler adventure trailer/camper and he let us stay in it. The bluetooth sound system was killer and we really enjoyed that! Dinner was fantastic. Jody (his wife) made fried rice and a nice salad to go with it. We spent the evening visiting and catching up over a few beers before we called it a night. It was a LONG day, over 200 miles, about half of which was dirt. After showers we headed to the trailer and zonked out! Tomorrow I would see about fixing the pesky oil leak on my right valve cover. My luggage and pants were a mess!
Daniel quickly discovered that if he ran his finger nail across the cooling fins, they sounded like they were tuned to a musical scale! They are amazingly thin! The machining that went into these heads is amazing, most of which were done in the days before CNC was a thing.
BIG valves!
Landing gear and LOTS of brake pads!
Jet assisted take off.
The "restroom" in the back of the plane
I design stuff with 3D Cad software for a living. I learned drafting using paper and pencil. I am always amazed at how early engineers were able to create such complex 3D assemblies with 2D drawings and manual casting/machining.
Serious spotlight!
CR 26, before it dead ended. The contrast in soil colors is amazing.
This reminded me of Moon Valley near Big Bend NP. It is where we got onto CR 33 before Dresser Haul Rd.
Hard packed, wide, and mostly smooth. Sarah approves
And people think desert areas lack color
Waiting for me to stop taking pictures and get turned around so we can get on Crystal Creek Rd., after I missed the turn because I was looking at the scenery on the other side of the road
There were quite a few tire tracks on the hills from bikes, quads, and side by sides.
Daniel coming back after turning around
Typical surface for much of Crystal Creek Rd.
The picture does not do the colors of this mountain justice! It was bright and amazing!
Right before a STEEP descent into a tight left hand corner with loose gravel... gotta control that speed!
This is a bit better, but still falls short of what it looked like.
The view from about half way up the mountain on Old US 14a
The view from further up the mountain
The first over look was just around the left corner in the V of the mountains lower left in the image.
Serious runaway truck ramp. If it doesn't stop them, it launches them!
A WHOLE lot of dynamite was used making this road!
Yeah, it was kind of steep...
Typical view once we got up to the top
Shell Canyon Falls - There were a LOT of steps!!
Dave's Casa
Awesome trees! Those tents rent for $60/night!
Not Dave's Casa
Dave
@Cagiva 549
Early into Red Gulch Road
This is before the start of the ruts
Daniel heading down to get Sarah's bike
Sarah walking up
Daniel went back down to help carry some of her gear
Any shade will do...
Sarah is back there around the bend where the road disappears to the left behind the hill. The tree in the center is where she rested on the way up. Daniel is walking all the way back down there to get her bike for her. The sand ends right at his feet, but starts back around the corner and was pretty deep.
It doesn't look bad here, but just past my bike is a short rough section caused by water eroding the road as it runs across it.
Daniel coming through the sandy section and riding past another rough stretch to a good stopping spot.
Daniel following Sarah up a long rough section. This was supposed to be a video but I did not realize I was in photo mode until they were almost to the top
It would have been great because they were working well as a team.
The last sandy stretch where I rode Sarah's bike up to the intersection with Alkali road.
Sarah hides in the shade of my fat GS
Sarah's bike waiting for her at the beginning of the descent on Alkali Rd.
The "intersection", nice and rutted getting here
Going down!
One last obstacle - It eventually came all the way across the road
Nothing but smooth bliss from here to the bottom!
He's loving every minute of it!
The pond in Justin's front yard. Can't figure out that rock. It has not been cut.
Sweet hangout and grilling spot!
Their "backyard"
The brewery down below
Magnus, the new pup that is all teeth
A long rough day, but they made it working as a team!
Good stuff!
REALLY good stuff!!
Yosh's restoration project. He rides it all over town and to school
A long fantastic day. I am really proud of how Daniel stepped up to help Sarah without complaining or griping about it. He was very helpful and thoughtful the whole time. I'm also proud of her because I know riding dirt stresses her, but she did her best and accepted help when she felt like she needed it instead of trying to do it all and get herself hurt. Time for bed.
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Guess what time they closed. This had been an ongoing issue for the whole trip. It seemed ALL the restaurants were short handed and were closing early. He immediately volunteered to take us somewhere else and the only place we knew of that would be open for surewas the Dairy Queen... on the other side of town. He said he'd be happy to haul us over there. So we cruised through town while he told us all about himself, his family, his other four trucks, his vacation properties in Mexico where he hopped to retire one day, and more. At the DQ, we had to wait in the drive thru for at least 20 minutes or more. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was 9:00pm. We actually had a great time hanging out with him and visiting. His new truck is SWEET! The kids loved it and I have to admit that I was experiencing a slight bit of truck envy 
. Thank y’all for all the support, it really helps! Absolutely having a blast even on the rough days.
We are not worthy!