Tonight’s post is going to be a bit abbreviated because I’m bushed. I arrived at my hotel in Cody, WY at around 9:30 tonight. Cody is named for "Buffalo Biil" Cody who founded the town and was a hero of the Wild West. His name was derived from his prowess for getting buffalo meat to feed the hungry railroad crews. He made his fotune doing circus shows with cowboys and Indians. There are lots of spectacular pictures today that speak for themselves.
It’s not the miles in the saddle that counts, it’s the hours, and today I logged a lot of hours in 135 miles of hard riding through the northern and eastern quadrants of Yellowstone Park. The 60 miles to Cody was a piece of cake, but I was on the lookout for wild game on the dark roadway as I don’t want my odyssey to end with me T-boning a moose at 70 MPH. In light of all the roadwork, gravel roads and reckless drivers jamming their brakes to see a buffalo on the roadside, it was a very long but rewarding day of sightseeing. I had brunch at the Old Town Café in W. Yellowstone, MT, which is staffed entirely with Romanian exchange students; I headed back into the Park under perfect sunny skies.
My first stop was at a series of geothermic percolating pools called the Artists' Paint Pots because they are various colors depending on the kinds of bacteria that live in them. It’s about a 1.5 mile hike and not too strenuous, but I saw a numerous geezers wheezing from the short hike; yet another reason to go see Yellowstone before your 80th birthday. Today I saw many cool geothermal sites that are all over the park. The most impressive was calcified limestone structures formed by hot springs bubbling in the lime-rich soil for millions of years [see pictures]. I met a nice older couple from Caron City, NV who had ridden their Harley's 6,500 miles in a month and she could barely walk because she needs knee replacement. They suggested I Ride the "Dragon's Tail" through SC and TN on my way home to route 66. I also stopped at several waterfalls that were beyond description in their grandeur [See pictures, which don’t do them justice].
One thing that really struck me today was that the wildfires of 1988 destroyed millions of trees in every section of the park. The remnants of standing and fallen dead are everywhere and there are a number of displays from the National Park Service explaining how the fires were nature’s way of rejuvenating the forest. I couldn’t help but be skeptical that the displays are self-serving propaganda to rationalize why the fires were allowed to destroy 75% of the forest. The dead trees are everywhere, including choking-off streams, and it seems like a travesty to me, even 22 years later.
The best for last: I saw so much unbelievable wildlife, Including:
• A buffalo walking down the middle of the highway and a herd of buffalo in a meadow;
• An antelope or spring buck [I think];
• Elk and mule deer;
• A grizzly bear; and best of all
• A wolf swimming across a river and then chasing a deer. WOW!
Tomorrow, I will head east towards Mt. Rushmore, SD.
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