I had planned a route through Wyoming that kept me off of the highways for most of the trip. Sticking to the range roads and the lesser highways. At least that was the intention. I got the bike packed up and headed on my way. One small flaw in my plan is that the roads I wanted to take weren’t very well marked. I drove through one small town in Wyoming three times before I found the road I wanted to take. Still it was worth it. The number of deer and pronghorn I saw on my route was amazing. I’d have pictures, but by the time I could have stopped the bike and gotten my camera out they all would have run away!

With all the fun I was having scaring herds of pronghorn and cattle, I took a wrong turn. Not a bad wrong turn, but just not where I expected to go. By the time I figured out what I had done it was too late to go back. There’s only so much fuel on the bike, and I was past the point of no return, so I forged on ahead with my little detour. Well it wasn’t really little, about 100 miles out of the way. I wound up in the town of Riverton where a stop for bike food and human food was in order.

After consulting my map, I decided I needed to stick to the pavement if I wanted to make it to the campground I was planning on staying in. The speed limit on most of the country roads in Wyoming is 65, so I at least made up time for the detour. I wound my way up through Thermopolis and Ten Sleep into Big Horn National Forest. I had planned to camp on the west side of the mountains, but when I pulled into the campground it was mostly full. People with RV’s and trailers, kids, pets…I actually did stop and get off the bike, but then I decided there was too much humanity around me. So back on the bike and pressed on eastward. There was another campground on the east side of the mountain and it was well worth the extra 20 minutes of travel. There were only three other people there!

I put the tent up, without the aid of any mosquitos this time, and settled in for the night. At some point in the night I awoke to lightning, thunder, and the sound of rain hitting the tent. Not a big deal, can’t do anything about it so you just roll over and go back to sleep.

The next morning was cool and everything was a bit on the wet side. No worries, the tent kept me dry and the bike was none the worse for wear. The sun was shining and the rain had cleared up the air, anxious to be on my way I packed up and headed back over the mountain.

I went back through Ten Sleeps and found a little country road that followed the mountain range north to Hyattville. Just a little history note about Ten Sleeps, apparently the town was built on the site of an indian trail. The indians would stop there on their journeys between camps. Ten Sleeps, oddly enough, was right in the middle between camps. Ten days travel, or Ten Sleeps, to either camp. On the outskirts of Hyattville I found another gravel road that would take me into the mountains again.

The road turned into a bit of a challenge as it wasn’t maintained for passenger car travel, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I do have to admit that there were parts where if it had been raining I would have turned back. I’ve ridden in mud before and to do it again by myself miles from anywhere would have been stupid. Fortunately, it hadn’t rained here over night so all I had to contend with was dirt, piece of cake.

One suprise I had coming around a mountain side, there was a moose within spitting distance from the trail! I’d never actually seen one that close before, and I don’t think it had seen me or wanted to see me that close as it turned tail and ran away. Still it was an awesome site to see. I had always known they were large animals, but it was still stunning to see in person!

I was hoping to make it into Montana before night fall, so I hooked up with highway 14 and flew north to 14alt. From there I was planning to fly west towards Yellowstone and then into Big Sky country. This route gave me another spectacular view of which I had only suspected. When I had looked at the map I was hoping it would, I always look for the squiggly lines on maps they’re generally the most fun to ride on a motorcycle. This time my expectations were exceeded. The road coming out of the mountains is insanely steep for a paved road! Mile after mile of steep descents and sharp curves, it was a fantastic ride! And the view was breathtaking. It was as if the mountains suddenly ended and the road plunged back down to the plaines. You’ll have to understand that I don’t have any pictures of this, I was just having to much fun riding to stop. =) So if you want to see it for yourself, you’d better start planning a trip!

I touched briefly on Montana when I entered Yellowstone National Park from the east. The park entrance is in Montana, but takes a curve back into Wyoming shortly thereafter. Despite the things to see in Yellowstone I didn’t spend a lot of time in the park. There were so many people that it wasn’t long before the crowds got to me and I had to leave. That’s not to say I’m antisocial, but sucking RV exhaust while traffic comes to a standstill so they can gawk a deer half a mile away from the road…well that’s not what vacation is about for me. Fortunately the speed limit in Montana is high, so once I left the park I could fly.

I wimped out that night, as I got a hotel room, but after two days of camping and road travel a hot shower was really appealing. =)

Part I
Sat February 08 2003

Part II
Sat February 08 2003

Part III
Sat February 08 2003