I awoke early and arrived at the horse stable for my 2 hour ride into the Wyoming wilderness. Our guide was a real cowboy named Kasey. He used to be a wrangler before he started doing this job during the summers. The way he describes this area is that there are 8 months of winter and 4 months of road construction. Kasey was a real character and fun to ride with on this cloudless day. We were joined by his dog Wiley who Kasey said would walk ahead of us to be used as bear bait. Wiley was a great dog and had the prettiest light blue eyes. Kasey lives in southern Wyoming 7 months out of the year and up here the other 5. He said the temperature here can get to minus 30 in the winter so there is not much to do. I was joined by 2 other people on the ride. A man and his daughter from London named Brian and Sally. Sally married a man from the states and now resides in Idaho. It was fun listening to their British accents all day and they were really nice people. I was on a horse named Banjo and he seemed like a good horse. It has been 35 years since I have been in the saddle but it didn't take long to get the old feel back. It's like riding a bike except you are a lot higher up and the bike can't bite you. We headed out on the trail and soon were ascending the mountain. I have never ascended a mountain on a horse before so this was new but everything was going great. I actually was doing a good job of controlling Banjo. I only wish the seat was as comfortable as my motorcycle seat. We got to the top of the first incline and stopped for a rest and photos. It's hard to take photos while the horse is moving especially in this rough terrain. We rode on up the mountain and Kasey was telling us stories of the mountain lions, moose, bear, and other wild animals he had seen on this trail over the years. I was giddy with anticipation of seeing one or more of these creatures but it was not to be today. We did see mountainsides covered in yellow & purple wild flowers which were quite a sight to see. Kasey told us of a creek up one of the trails from where we were that is called Two Oceans Creek. It is the only creek that travels to both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He told us that a fish could swim from one ocean to the other if he knew which turns to take and had the desire. We headed down the mountain after a while and Sally said she would like to run the horses so we got to a spot on the trail that we could do just that and Kasey said OK let's run. So we started off at a trot, which beat my butt like I was being spanked with...a leather saddle. Then we started going faster and the ride got smoother. This was great and we rode for a ways and then Kasey stopped. Sally & I stopped our horses but Brian was having a hard time stopping and then, as gracefully as he could, fell off the side of the horse. We were all scared for his safety but he was OK. We walked the rest of the way back to the stables and thanked Kasey and said our goodbyes. It had been a lot of fun but I knew I was going to be sore.
I went back to camp and showered and prepared for my trip to Cody to watch the rodeo that night. I decided to go the long way through Thermopolis which is home to the hot mineral spring pools. I had planned to come back that way after the rodeo since the co nstruction roads in Yellowstone park were closed from 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM but I soon found this would not work because there was construction on the other route as well and they closed the roads with only a narrow gap of 1:00 AM to 1:30 AM to get through. The long way was longer than I anticipated so there was no way I could get back by 1:30 after the rodeo so I would have to spend the night in Cody. I stopped in Thermopolis and got into the hot mineral spring to soothe my aching body. I stayed about an hour enjoying the jets shooting the water up like a massage over my body. I passed the time talking to a man from Victoria, Canada who did not know anything about Yellowstone and had never heard of the Tetons. We had a nice visit and then I had to leave if I was going to make the rodeo. I got to Cody just in time to book a room and get to the rodeo just as it started. The rodeo was entertaining and only 2 riders were able to stay on the bull for the required 8 seconds so, like Talladega, I got to see a lot of wrecks as it were. It was a 2 hour show that included all the normal rodeo events. I was astonished at how well the 12 and under boys and girls did in their events. They even had all the 12 and under kids in the audience come down to try to get the flags off the tails of 3 calves. That was a funny sight to see because there must have been around 100 or more kids out there. I guess they don't have much else to do in Cody during the harsh winters but make more children. After the rodeo, I went and had a good night's sleep. I woke up sore from the horse ride but had no choice but to sit my sore butt on the bike and ride. I headed to Yellowstone with a short stop outside of Cody at the Buffalo Bill Dam. It was quite impressive so I shot some pictures and moved on. I decided to head to the thermal geyser area and then to Old Faithful before heading south to Jackson Hole. Most of the people in the park must have been at Old Faithful because it was packed. I walked to the geyser and stood behind a woman and her 2 sons waiting for the event. Every once in a while the geyser would spit a little so I would yell "Here it comes" and everyone would point their cameras at the geyser for their photos and then I would laugh. The lady in front of me laughed and said I was trying to incite the crowd but I couldn't help myself. When it did finally blow, we all got good pictures and were happy. Everyone left because it would be a while before the next event. I headed south to Jackson Hole to see what was happening there. When I arrived, I realized that this was a happening tourist town. There were lots of people and shops to spend your money. I was told about a web cam there that can be accessed from the Internet so I found it pointing at one of the 4 antler arches leading into the park. I called Sandy, Janice's sister, and after a little help from me she was able to pull up the site on the computer so she and my nieces, Annie & Maggie, could see me live. They thought that was pretty cool. I explored the town and picked up a few flies that I was told would catch the trout and then headed back to my camper. I was glad to finally get to my temporary home and rest. It had been a long 2 days and I gone over 500 miles on the bike. Tomorrow I plan to rest in the morning and then take my new flies to a place Kasey told me about and see f I can catch a cutthroat or 2 for dinner tomorrow night.
I went back to camp and showered and prepared for my trip to Cody to watch the rodeo that night. I decided to go the long way through Thermopolis which is home to the hot mineral spring pools. I had planned to come back that way after the rodeo since the co nstruction roads in Yellowstone park were closed from 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM but I soon found this would not work because there was construction on the other route as well and they closed the roads with only a narrow gap of 1:00 AM to 1:30 AM to get through. The long way was longer than I anticipated so there was no way I could get back by 1:30 after the rodeo so I would have to spend the night in Cody. I stopped in Thermopolis and got into the hot mineral spring to soothe my aching body. I stayed about an hour enjoying the jets shooting the water up like a massage over my body. I passed the time talking to a man from Victoria, Canada who did not know anything about Yellowstone and had never heard of the Tetons. We had a nice visit and then I had to leave if I was going to make the rodeo. I got to Cody just in time to book a room and get to the rodeo just as it started. The rodeo was entertaining and only 2 riders were able to stay on the bull for the required 8 seconds so, like Talladega, I got to see a lot of wrecks as it were. It was a 2 hour show that included all the normal rodeo events. I was astonished at how well the 12 and under boys and girls did in their events. They even had all the 12 and under kids in the audience come down to try to get the flags off the tails of 3 calves. That was a funny sight to see because there must have been around 100 or more kids out there. I guess they don't have much else to do in Cody during the harsh winters but make more children. After the rodeo, I went and had a good night's sleep. I woke up sore from the horse ride but had no choice but to sit my sore butt on the bike and ride. I headed to Yellowstone with a short stop outside of Cody at the Buffalo Bill Dam. It was quite impressive so I shot some pictures and moved on. I decided to head to the thermal geyser area and then to Old Faithful before heading south to Jackson Hole. Most of the people in the park must have been at Old Faithful because it was packed. I walked to the geyser and stood behind a woman and her 2 sons waiting for the event. Every once in a while the geyser would spit a little so I would yell "Here it comes" and everyone would point their cameras at the geyser for their photos and then I would laugh. The lady in front of me laughed and said I was trying to incite the crowd but I couldn't help myself. When it did finally blow, we all got good pictures and were happy. Everyone left because it would be a while before the next event. I headed south to Jackson Hole to see what was happening there. When I arrived, I realized that this was a happening tourist town. There were lots of people and shops to spend your money. I was told about a web cam there that can be accessed from the Internet so I found it pointing at one of the 4 antler arches leading into the park. I called Sandy, Janice's sister, and after a little help from me she was able to pull up the site on the computer so she and my nieces, Annie & Maggie, could see me live. They thought that was pretty cool. I explored the town and picked up a few flies that I was told would catch the trout and then headed back to my camper. I was glad to finally get to my temporary home and rest. It had been a long 2 days and I gone over 500 miles on the bike. Tomorrow I plan to rest in the morning and then take my new flies to a place Kasey told me about and see f I can catch a cutthroat or 2 for dinner tomorrow night.
No comments:
Post a Comment