7.16.2014
From Rock Springs, we winged it northeast across the endless landscape of Wyoming, heading for Lander and Riverton, before turning north for Cody. It was hot and lonely, with a few of the inevitable road repair delays. I’d learned in my first trip to Montana a few years before that in northern states there are only two seasons, winter and road repair season.
Endless road repairs
From Riverton north the road led through beautiful canyons and was a welcome change from the flat landscapes earlier in the day.
We arrived in Cody in a rain storm with high winds and a bit of hail thrown in for fun. It was chilly and my combination of Teknic Freeway jacket and Olympia Ranger pants had both leaked like a sieve, a first. In addition, my right side pannier leaked and had half an inch of water standing in it. The bright spot is that Cody has a Sierra Trading Post Outlet and I found a Mountain Hardwear Lightwedge 3 tent plus a few other goodies all for about 1/3 the typical retail cost. New toys made the cold, wet ride okay. My dearly beloved North Face tent was getting old and needed replacing.
Roadside suit up for the storm. Did I mention storms in Wyoming are off the charts due to the flat landscapes?
The next morning was a bit overcast for the ride Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. Rob had to show his Dutch colors in the parking lot - Orange moto and the lion (borrowed from the hotel room) being symbols of his native country.
Chief Joseph Highway was covered with cloudy skies, but was still a spectacular road. I’d done it a few years before, but the dull skies made the road no less amazing.
Leaving Cody
Rob and Dennis motored on ahead as I stopped here and there for pics.
I stopped at one river overlook and when returning to my bike saw a teenage boy in a cowboy hat looking it over. He stepped back when I walked up, but I introduced myself and his family came over to join the conversation. He asked if I’d really ridden from Texas, to which I responded yes and mentioned I lived in Southwest Texas. At this point, his mother asked if I lived near “Medina”? I burst out laughing as my house was about 10 miles from the tiny town.
They were friends with the owners of “the apple store and coffee house” in Medina and the owners had just been visiting with them in North Dakota. By this time, the father had walked over and joined the conversation. I told them I rode to Medina just for the apple pies and next time would tell the owners I had met their friends. The family were ranchers from North Dakota and vacationing in Wyoming. Small world huh?
Meet the Rath family from North Dakota
I caught up with Dennis and Rob at the base of Beartooth Pass, in my opinion the best motorcycling road in North America. The skies had cleared, the air was crisp and full of the smell of flowers and grass.
Beartooth Pass climbs well above the tree line to a level of 10,947 feet and then crosses into Montana before descending to the little town of Red Lodge. Due to the elevation, the pass is often still closed with snow until mid summer. It is a road not to be missed and it’s worth a trip just to see Chief Joseph Highway and Beartooth Pass, even if you choose to forego nearby Yellowstone National Park…
It was a cold and windy place at the top, my previous experience having been on a sunny day.
I spotted a large garden gnome who’d been blown over in the wind
As mentioned, one crosses into Montana at the top of the mountain then begins a slow descent.
After many stops for photos, we rolled into Red Lodge, Montana for a late lunch. The barbecue we’d had the previous night left Rob and I both a bit queasy so we ate begrudgingly and decided to hit a motel rather than camp for the evening.
7.17.2014
The next day dawned with an orange haze, the smoke from distant forest fires in Washington filling the skies.
The morning routine - download GPS tracks, upload blog updates and fuel for the ride
Dennis and Rob were headed for southern Montana and the Bannack area, but I was splitting off northward for Missoula. They planned to ride to Missoula the next day, then go through Glacier National Park and into Idaho, then up to Banff, from which they would loop back down and cut across North Dakota and on to the rally in Minnesota.
I had realized I didn’t have the time to make it to Minnesota, and had decided to maximize my time in the Glacier area. As it turned out, our schedules didn’t match up for a final meet up as we’d hoped, but it was great getting to ride with both of them for as long as I did. They were heading the same direction for an hour or so.
Along the way to Missoula I stopped for gas and noticed a van pull up next to me with two Buddhist monks inside. I went in to get some water and saw one of them jump out of the van and run over to quickly look at my bike, then take a pic of the Texas license plate. He saw me coming out and ran back to the van, jumping in the passenger seat. I walked over and asked him if I could take a pic of him. At first he tried to ignore me, probably thinking I was upset, however he got back out, trying to coax the other monk away from washing the windshield. The other guy had refused to acknowledge my presence, probably afraid I’d be upset as well. He eventually caved and they came over to the motorcycle.
I indicated to them that they could climb on the bike, and the younger guy got excited, putting his foot on the peg, but then stopped. He had realized that if he tried to climb over, his robe/toga was not the right garment. He looked at me in such a way as to acknowledge his potential shame and I could see the disappointment on his face.
After the pic I asked him where they were going. In broken English he said in a high-pitched voice "we go Yellowstone then Rushmore, and then the motorcycle city." I said "You mean Sturgis?" and he smiled very big.
They both bowed and wished me safe travels - I wasn't sure what the proper etiquette for returning a bow in motorcycle gear was and momentarily considered a curtsy but didn't since I wasn't wearing a kilt. Anyway, we shook hands and they got back in the rental van and drove off with big waves and smiles
As I rode down the highway, I kept thinking about how interesting it would be to see their journey. I don’t know if they were planning to go to the big Harley Rally in Sturgis which was still a couple of weeks away, but I’d love to have seen them there amongst the bikers if they did.
I made Missoula for the night, almost 400 miles from where I began the day and was excited to make Glacier National Park the next day.