Day 59 saw me leaving Cody in Wyoming without the cowboy boots I was tempted to buy. The trouble with things you buy when you are away from home is they look great there and then, but get them back to your everyday surroundings and that cool purchase doesn’t look so cool anymore. I am glad that I resisted. They were nice though.....
On the west side of Cody on US 14 is the Mountain Trails Galleries. I was struck by the beauty of the sculptures standing outside – the one below was maybe 15 feet high and was of a cowboy lassoing a deer. Wonderful....
When I was planning my route across the US, I considered the pro’s and con’s of doing it east to west, or west to east. I chose east to west for one very simple reason – I wouldn’t have to ride into the sun in the mornings. Here is an example....
This is Main Street in Cody. Here is looking west (in the direction I was riding)....
And here is looking east. I am glad I considered this when sitting in my office in the UK....
As I continued west I came near to the Buffalo Bill Dam. Just before that there was a tunnel – the first I have ridden through since New York (I think)....
The dam is on the Shoshone River and when it was built, was the tallest dam in the world. This is above the dam....
The driftwood behind the dam made for an interesting pattern....
The dam operated a system that you parked your car / bike away from the dam and then were transferred to the dam itself by a golf buggy. The driver of the one I got in had noticed the licence plate on my bike and commented on the fact that I had “GB” on the back of my bike, meaning Great Britain. It is a requirement in Europe that you display what country your vehicle is from. The drivers name was Nyuki and she told me she was raised in the UK at a place called Canterbury and still had ties to England....
What was funny was she pointed out her car to me. Note the GB sticker on a US car!....
A little further on, I saw a couple of things that intrigued me. The first was a motel that was designed in a western cowboy style. It was very simple, effective, stylish and cheap to build. A brilliant use of clever design. I liked it....
The second structure that caught my interest still confounds me, because I have no idea what it is....
I had to stop here just to take in the sheer beauty of the landscape at the side of the road....
This was called Chimney Rock, for obvious reasons....
The various layers of rock could easily be seen in Chimney Rock....
Soon I reached Yellowstone. Even though I had never been here before, I sort of knew what to expect, having watched several tv documentaries about the place. The main thing that struck me the most was the size of the place. It is enormous. One thing I hadn’t realised was just how much of Yellowstone had been affected by the recent fires, the most devastating of which was in 1988, which burned for several months. There are a huge amount of dead trees....
But, from the ashes mighty oaks do grow. OK, in Yellowstone, not oaks, but fire actually helps regenerate the forest and fire splits open the fir cones which is how the new seeds are released. For every dead tree, I reckon there were 10 new ones growing!
Of course, one of the things I really wanted to see in Yellowstone was buffalo. I discovered later the correct name is Bison and that the commonly used name Buffalo is wrong. It didn’t take long to spot my first Bison....
I followed these Bison through some trees, trying to get as close as I dare. I heard later that someone was killed getting too close to a Bison just a month ago. Gulp....
The scenery in Yellowstone is extremely diverse. This was stunning....
Looking back on it now, something quite startling happened as I rode north up the east side of the park. Along with two other bikers I stopped to let some Bison cross the road....there are bulls, cows and calfs here....
Then more appeared and prepared to cross the road....
We soon realised this was a huge herd crossing right in front of us. It was a splendid sight.... note the big bull looking at us....
The big bull gets most of the way across the road....
.... and then turns back right in front of us! He seemed a bit upset and was snorting.... he was about 10 feet away from me, when I looked sideways and saw the other two bikers getting off their bikes preparing to retreat.... I kept taking pictures as I wondered what to do....
I too then retreated. A park ranger in a car came driving up and put his car between the bull and us. He with the aid of his megaphone the three of us to move even further back and get into a car. Any car.... you can see his megaphone and my now abandoned bike in this picture.... please nice bull, please don’t push my bike over....
Thankfully, he left the Leading Ladies alone. I was about to get into a car when I noticed a big dog on the back seat barking at me. OK, I think I will choose someone else’s car.....soon the ranger suggested(!) it was safe to return to our bikes and carry on. We did this quickly!.
We rode off and stooped up the road in a car park. Here are the two other guys, Carlo on the left, from Omaha Nebraska and Bob, from Kansas City. I think they are smiling from the relief of escaping the angry bull!....
The three of us rode together for the rest of the day, saw the sights as a group and even shared dinner that evening.
Here are some of the things we saw that afternoon....
Some geysers....
Some fantastic waterfalls....
The Mammoth Hot Springs, which have built up from minerals in the water over millions of years....
An odd shaped rock column....
The next day, I continued to explore the park....
These are Elk by a river....
Some wonderful colours caused by micro-organisms living in the boiling water coning out from geysers....
And an almost pure white scene....
In the park, some of the roads are engineering masterpieces. OK, I am an engineer after all....
This is Sheepeater Cliff....
One of the marvellous lakes....
More stunning scenery....
A deep hot water pool....
I decided to take rest from riding on day 61 and I went fly-fishing in Yellowstone instead. This was my guide, Rob, patiently tying on another fly....
And here I am, in the Madison River....
Day 62 saw me riding south through Yellowstone, mainly through areas where there are a lot of geysers....
This is Sapphire Pool. I knew it was very hot, but still I had this crazy notion I wanted to jump in. It just looked so inviting....
More geysers....
I then reached the most famous geyser of them all, Old Faithful. The crowds were there in eager anticipation, and like me, camera at the ready....
Then, right on cue, the geyser began to rumble....
So, that was Yellowstone. It lived up to expectations and overall, it was magnificent.
The only trouble was, I didn’t see Yogi ....
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