Yellowstone 11 – Interesting people

Posted onNovember 25January 7Leave a comment

The previous night I started looking for a campsite after the sun had set. Two motorcyclists offered me to share their spot at an already full campsite that I had found along the road but they also informed me of another campsite a little ahead which I decided to check out first. I found the second campsite a few minutes later and there was one spot left. I parked my bike in front of where I wanted to set up my tent so I could illuminate the spot with my lights which attracted all the mosquitoes in the US but once I had the tent up and a fire going they disappeared. I was the only one still up at this hour and I finally went to bed after midnight with a stomach full of grilled sausages.

The next morning the mosquitoes were merciless in the shade.

As I started packing my things while having a little cereal breakfast I wanted to prepare my GoPro camera for the day but after searching every possible crack I still could not find it. I realized I must have lost it. Most likely the magnet mount I built for the metal panniers had come off on bumpy ground and I immediately had a suspicion where. The previous day about 10km back I had just reached level ground coming down the mountains when I suddenly felt a massive bump in the road. I hadn’t seen any obstacle on the road in my headlights so I just kept going after a quick stop to check the bike over.

I always have a red neon ribbon tied to the little camera so I would be able to spot it in cases I ever lost it. As I backtracked my way (which was easy because my GPS logged my previous path) I found the ribbon and the camera on the road. Luckily nobody had taken it home an no car had rolled over it.

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The cheap protective casing I had used had broken off the mount but the camera looked fine despite it smashing to the ground at 70km/h when I hit this pothole:

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I was fully expecting the camera to be broken internally and the previously recorded footage to be gone but when I came back to my campsite to check it the memory card the data was all there and even the camera worked like nothing had happened. This camera has taken a lot of abuse in the seven years I have had it and it’s truly indestructible.

I glued the broken housing pieces together and by noon was finally on my way east into the park.

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Progress didn’t last long and the bikes handling showed me that it too needed attention. A chain adjustment was in order which I could do in the shade of a little tree which even had a chair ready for me.

The job was quickly done and the handling improved noticeably.

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Back in the National Park I spotted a big herd of buffaloes grazing on a prairie.

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Further on I noticed cars stopping on the side of the road. A park ranger was there too along with three bears. A sow with two cubs. They were 200 meters away though so it was was only possible to see a few dark spots in the shadow of a tree. Everybody wanted to be closer like one lady who drove her flashy BMW into the ditch.

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Back at the center of the park I met a family again which I had had a nice chat with two days ago further Norther in the park. They admired the bike and were very interested in my trip. They had driven to the park from Colorado. I found it interesting that that many people including this family had come from quite far. Many of the license plates in the park were from all over the US, not just the adjacent states. Road trips are a big thing in the US and much more common than in Europe.

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Shortly after I met a fellow motorcyclist who traveled on his big BMW K1300GT and I finally had the opportunity to get some first hand feedback on the motorcycle jacked I have been planing to buy for a long time, the Klim Latitude Jacket he was wearing. He was very happy with it and recommended it highly. Unfortunately it has become so expensive recently that I decided to not buy it.

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Always hungry I decided to get instant noodles from the tiny convenience store there and I shared a table with an interesting group of people. There were two friendly and curious couples in their 60s who were travelling the West coast for few weeks. I had a great chat with them until they told me that they were Mormon missionaries. First I thought they were screwing with me because they had seemed so – normal. I don’t know what I expected Mormon missionaries to be like but apparently I at least expected them to be recognizable as crazy people from afar. Yet they seemed genuine, reasonable and friendly. Still I suddenly felt uncomfortable in their presence. They asked me if I knew anything about Mormons which I denied so they proceeded to tell me that all of them had lived abroad for many years doing their missionary work in South America and Africa. They had now left this work to their children who were just enthusiastic about it as them. It surprised me how baffled I was to experience these people as completely normal. They even went as far as offering me a place to stay once I reached Utah when I told them that it was my plan to also see Salt Lake City. They were excited to hear that I would have the chance to see all the big Mormon temples which Salt Lake City is know for because the church has it’s center there. I wanted to ask them to explain their religion to me but I felt it would be rude because I wasn’t sure I would be able to pretend I didn’t find it weird. After offering me some of their desert and me promising I would visit the Temple Square in Salt Lake City we parted ways and I eventually changed my heading from East to South to leave the park behind for the last time.

The afternoon sun made it and endurance challenge to reach the scenic outposts scattered around the main road in full gear.

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Needless to say it was worth it.

The scale alone was breathtaking.

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More wildlife next to the road.

A last hellish reminder of the powerful forces working underneath the thin crust we live on.

One last time I saw a few buffaloes in the park. This time there even was a calf.

The sun was about to set as I headed further south looking for a place to spend the night.

Yellowstone 10 – Buffalo Bill, Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid

Posted onNovember 12January 7Leave a comment

The storm from the previous day was gone and for a few minutes the air was not burning onto my skin.

That soon changed and I followed my brothers advice who had messaged me the previous day to remind me to be careful in the scorching sun the more south I got where it is not uncommon for people to get into serious trouble when their vehicle breaks down on one of the desolate stretches of road without enough hydration. Although I had no space left on the bike I got a crate of water bottles which I distributed in every free crack on the bike and ended up almost drinking the whole crate during this day. Needless to say I was very glad I had bought it. I hadn’t even reached the really hot places so I learned a good lesson.

My next stop was Cody. Specifically the old buildings of the town that Buffalo Bill founded a century ago.

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The houses on display here had been moved to this location from the surrounding areas to make them available for visitors. Now the modern town of Cody has a population of almost 10000 people and benefits from it’s unique history.

Not only Buffalo Bill had his home here but also Curly the “Indian Scout” of the Crow tribe who was one of the few to survive the Battle of the Little Big Horn siding with the USA fighting against the Siux. He was the first to report the defeat of General Custers army witnessing his death on the Battlefield.

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Curleys hut:

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I used to think that the cloths we picture Native Americans with at least to some degree exaggerated and romanticized but apparently they are portrayed accurately as this original shows.

And as if that wasn’t enough history even the two outlaws Butch Cassidy and Sundance kid lived in this area and frequented the saloon of Cody.

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They were part of the “Hole in the Wall” gang which committed a series of robberies and were the famously portrayed but Robert Redford and Paul Newman in the western movie classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

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The real Sundance Kid on the bottom row left and Butch Cassidy on the bottom right:

As interesting as this journey through time was I felt exhausted and was looking for some shade before I moved north again. I had made it a habit to always get some fresh fruit for each day. Today it was grapes which by noon I was almost too tired to eat.

Next stop, Buffalo Bill center of the west.

The museum included extensive exhibitions of all kinds of fields from animals to geology and history, to historic weapons and of course Buffalo Bill. The center houses the biggest collection of old pistols, rifles and guns in the US. How ironic that the entrance greeting reads: “Check visible firearms at security”.

The weapons on display range from old Smith and Wesson revolvers …

… to unsuccessful experiments …

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… and more successful ones like the famous Gatling gun.

Buffalo Bill had his own section at the museum dedicated to him. A successful soldier and pioneer of the west his fame and reputation had become so big that he started to cash in on it by staging reenactments of his adventures for paying audiences. That made his fame grow even bigger and still during his lifetime he became one of the most iconic names and symbols of the wild west far beyond the borders of the US.

With his monumental shows Buffalo Bill toured through all of Europe (even Austria multiple times) covering more distance than I probably ever will.

And this despite the primitive and heavy equipment like his tent which was probably not a 10 min job to setup like mine.

There was a lot to see at the museum but not enough time. I had to move on so I would reach the mountain pass I wanted to see before the sun set. It was summer but on the mountain the weather could be very different and I was not well equipped for cold weather.

Heading north I crossed back from Wyoming into Montana.

At over 1800m elevation I reached a little village where I met a fellow KLR 650 rider who was on a similar journey as me. Originally from Poland but living on the Canadian east coast he started his trip in the south western part of the US and was heading for Vancouver. We talked about the KLRs, our equipment and experiences. I told him that I had been worried about my bikes suspension for quite some time and that I was looking for a mechanic to get it checked. To my surprise he informed me that there was a Kawasaki dealer right in this tiny village in the mountains and he had just come from there himself. He also asked me if I wanted to join him on his way North but my trip was far from over and my general heading was still South so we wished each other luck and parted ways.

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The Kawasaki dealer turned out to not have a bike-medic on site that day so I put my worries aside and got back on the road. Climbing higher and higher I reached a winding road that brought me into an alpine landscape. The familiar mountains were a welcome change but nonetheless I was a little underwhelmed because my expectations had been quite high after what I had heard about this area.

The little chipmunk probably was just as disappointed when it realized my hand was empty.

But my disappointment was premature. The road lead me higher and higher and until I reached the top elevation of 3334 meters and the view was nothing short of spectacular.

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I wished I could have spent the next few hours staring into the landscape enjoying the silence but I had no idea where I was going to sleep that night and I certainly didn’t want to sleep on the mountain. The temperature was just around 5 degrees Celsius.

I’m not one for smooth tarmac roads but this road was breathtaking.

The sky was perfectly clear and the cool air up here much easier to breath than the hot thick air below.

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It was summer but there was still a thick layer of snow in some spots.

In North America distances sometimes look shorter on the map than they really are. On my way down the mountains the next turn on the road was in 93km.

Looking at the landscape I would not have minded 1000.

The sun was about to go down but I couldn’t resist a few detours here and there.

Yellowstone 9 – Bucket list check

Posted onNovember 11November 19Leave a comment

It took me way too long to pack up all my gear in the morning so by the time I was back exploring the park it was already noon.

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This pool of steaming water had turned white and colorless because of tourists throwing items into it. Often the strong winds just blow peoples hats into the water too.

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That day it was particularly windy which didn’t feel great on the bike but because of the beautiful scenery around me I was going quite slow anyway so the winds wasn’t a big problem.

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In one of the many dead forests I spotted an elk enjoying the breeze.

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My plan for the day was to temporarily leave the park for a little detour East to enjoy a scenic route between Wyoming and Montana.

Soup of the day: instant noodles …

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… with a view.

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Yellowstone National Park bucket list – check.

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Having left the park the landscape quickly changed from the lush green grass covered mountains to barren rocks. The wind started to pick up even more. The bear signs next to the road were old news.

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I arrived at a valley with a big lake and a campsite right next to it. The lake was part of Buffalo Bill state park, named in honor of William Frederick Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill who lived in the next town, Cody which he founded. He had a big influence on this area.

The setting sun tinted the landscape in its golden light while I started preparing my home for the day.

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For the first time after having pitched this tent many dozens of times I had to use the tents ropes to secure it to the ground. My camp spot being right at the lake was exposed to the wind and without the ropes my tent tried to take off to it’s own adventures.

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I was contemplating a swim but felt too exhausted.

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Instead I yearned for some cool water from the hand pump but it did not exactly taste like rainbows so I resorted to my last warm water supplies instead.

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