Turd on the Run

[Cormanus]

Bflint.

I love mountains too, and they’re spectacular.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Daniel:

Your documentary and articulation is excellent. Feels real. Almost feels like we were there.

(Maybe that is who was watching you in The Void ... from futures past.)

[the Ferret]

Hmmm who was it that had the fender bag then? Lll

ahh it was bflint. See post 7


http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread....hlight=bag

[Cormanus]

I told you.

[the Ferret]

and right you were sir. Thanks you. As I get oldr my mind seems...wait, what were we talking about?

[Cormanus]

Welcome to the forum, The ferret ... Oh, wait ...

[the Ferret]

[dbarkdoll_imp]

My apologies for slacking off here, been a busy few weeks for me getting ready to move. Getting back on track here:

I rode into Yellowstone sometime around noon on Saturday fearful of large crowds and congestion. There were many people to contend with indeed but my spirits were high enough and the scenery was stunning enough to balance things out. The park is so huge and everything so spread out that there's plenty of time and space between landmarks to clear the mind and get into a good flow. Rode alongside Yellowstone Lake for quite a while which was nice and scenic. I took several videos of a few geothermal springs but not gonna mess with posting them here. The smell was something to be experienced in person for sure!! Had my first close encounter with a bison leaving the hot spring parking lot which was quite memorable. An adult bull was sauntering down the road like a big hairy bus, not a care in the world. I felt quite nervous riding alongside it within arms reach, one flick of its head and I'd be tossed into the ditch.

Stopped at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone for a walk around and some pics at Artist Point. So gorgeous.





One could easily spend a whole day just exploring the canyon on both sides but I knew this would be an abridged trip to the park and kept moving towards the northeast entrance. Things got quite interesting and breathtaking here as the road made its way up and over a mountain pass and the elevation started climbing. Heavy traffic prevented any spirited riding but the scenery made up for it. Just one shot from the other side of the pass:



The road then made its way towards and down into Lamar Valley which was stunningly beautiful. Hoards of wild bison could be seen spread out in the valley for miles and miles, must have been several thousand of them in parts. Makes one think about what the countryside used to look like before colonization and the disgraceful genocide of these incredible creatures.





Had several very close encounters with these huge beasts on the road, they really do not care one bit about cars or people being nearby. Rode so close to a bellowing bull (which sounds a lot like an amplified belch) that I could actually smell its breath which I will not soon forget. Totally wild experience.

It was getting around 5:00 so time to start thinking about camp again. I had been keeping my eye on the weather up ahead which finally broke open on my way out of the park and started coming down pretty good. Gave my rain gear its most proper test of the trip which I am happy to say it did great. My gloves would have probably been compromised after another 30-45 minutes of steady rain but they were cheap and they held up for about a solid hour of rain.

Rode out of the park via the North East entrance towards Black Bear Pass in search of camp. Was able to find a free National Forest site along the road east of Cooke City. I quickly nabbed it because it was the only available spot I had seen all day. Passed several campgrounds on the way to it that did not allow tent camping which I found quite peculiar but found out why later that evening on my trip back into town to grab some dinner. I talked to a few people in town about my trip and where I was camping for the night and everyone gave me the same nervous reaction. Apparently someone was killed by a bear in one of the campgrounds nearby a few years ago which is why they no longer allow tents there.

Needless to say I was quite uneasy about my campsite now but the cheapest lodging in the area was prohibitively expensive and I really had no other options. I did stop in a nearby small motel to ask their opinion on the matter and the woman there put my mind at ease. Told me there had been no bear sightings in the area for a long time and the mauling years ago was the result of poor camp housekeeping. I was still quite on edge that night and tied any and everything with any sort of odor to it farrrr away from my camp. No problems that night whatsoever.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Terrific Daniel.

[Cormanus]

^^^ +1

Hope the move is going well, dbarkdoll.