Tag Archives: Santiago to UK 2015
Wonderful Wyoming
We leave the Grand Tetons, which we find as magnificent and awe inspiring as we did 30 years ago. The air is crisp, the sky deep blue, the sun rays warming gently. Perfect bike riding weather.
I have amused myself while riding in Wyoming with the colourful and evocative creek and river names: snake, rattle snake, badwater, muddy, tensleep, little bighorn, little goose and belle fourche, nez perce, gros ventre. Yes, I notice the French names, this area once claimed by France, Spain and England.
In Jackson, we cross the Snake River to follow WY22, a steep, 10% gradient, road taking us over the Teton Pass at 2,570 metre altitude. Glad we have kept our extra layers on and grateful for our heated grips. The views of the mountain range are stunning but it is the gentle rolling fields along the Swan Valley Highway on US26 which I particularly loved. The winds along that stretch of road were absolutely brutal, buffeting us from the left, and stopping there is not an option.
A local family in Jackson, Wyoming
Along Swan Valley Hwy
This is the furthest west in the US we will be going on this trip. We only picked Idaho Falls as it is the closest town to Rigby where Klim, the manufacturer of our jackets, are located. We decided to visit them after meeting some of their representatives at the Gunnison Motorcycle rally to give them feedback after 14 months’ constant use.
We had no expectations or any knowledge of Idaho Falls and it turned out to be a lovely surprise, once again. It is Idaho state’s 2nd largest city, with a population of just over 58,300. Our hotel happens to be located close to the “falls” of Idaho Falls, on the Snake river, the town being so named in 1891 in reference to the rapids located there. In 1909, a dam wall was built for a hydroelectric power plant and turned the rapids into falls. In 1969, the largest irrigation canal in the world was built, transforming the surrounding desert into one of the most productive farmland area in the US. The current dam wall was built in 1982 after the citizens of Idaho Falls voted to invest into more hydro electric plants which today generate 50% of their electric power needs!
You feel a sense of pride in their town. Lovely river walk, Japanese garden section, outdoor sculptures.
Idaho Falls
Mormon Temple at Idaho Falls
Park bench on the banks of Snake river at Idaho Falls
Sculpture on the banks of Snake river at Idaho Falls
After a walk along the river and through the city centre, with its grand art deco buildings, we make our way to Klim. The 2 reps we had met are away today on a bike ride so Porsche kindly offers to give us a tour of their building. We had never expected such a welcome: we are introduced to everyone individually!!! It was great to meet Rhylea the designer and give her some feedback. But how painful to turn down the offer of a free pair of pants because they were way too large for me… Klim is a wonderful success story of a company started by one determined and inspirational man – such a shame Justin Summers was out that day.
Porsche and Rhylea at Klim
Klim warehouse – impressive for such a small company
Two hours later, we are off again. We know we are approaching Yellowstone national park when we see road signs: be bear aware, food storage required. We get to the west gate, pay our entrance fee and find out that every campground bar one on the far side of the park is full. We turn back and try the KOA 12 miles down the road. That too is full except for 2 cabins – lucky for us albeit outrageously expensive for what you get: $109 with no toilet, water or bedding. But we do get a chance to recharge all our electronic equipment. And there is internet. I do a bit of research on campgrounds in Yellowstone. That is when I find out that most campgrounds are fully booked by 7.30am!! Eek. That is going to require an awfully early start in the morning. We choose Norris: one of the most primitive, not too large, not too far from our entrance and doesn’t appear to book out until 9am and only filled at 11am today.
Returning to KOA at West Yellowstome
We are up at 5am – it is freezing, literally. As we get to the park entrance by 7am after breakfast and refuelling in the town of West Yellowstone, there are already queues to enter the park!! The lighting is magical. Steam rising from the creeks. It gets to literally 0 degrees celcius. Winter gloves, max heated handlebars, extra fleece are not enough to keep us warm. We can’t resist stopping at some stunning spots but we know we need to get to Norris campground as soon as possible as we are sure most people on the road right now have the same intention. We decide not to stop for another stunning spot. We get to Norris campground at 7.30, drive the A loop, all full. B loop, all full, C loop, get to the top and here is one spot. Check the tag, the previous occupants left this morning. We are in luck – and it is the most private spot!!! Absolutely perfect!!
Leaving our campground at 6am
Morning mist on Madison river in Yellowstone
Steam at Yellowstone
I notice a path near the tent – this is not just person path, bison dropping (not bear I tell myself) and a running rabbit is proof. We will have to be careful and diligent with bear packing. Lucky they provide a massive bear proof food storage metal box for each tent spot.
Bear box for each camping spot in Yellowstone
We meet our neighbours Ed and Marte who invite us to join them for dinner tonight. While we chat, many cars pull up and ask if we are leaving. We got here just in time. Ed tells us that the reason this campground didn’t fill up until 11am yesterday is because a motorhome trailer jackknifed in the middle of the one way path and access was closed until 11am.
Visiting national parks in the US during the summer holiday period really isn’t the best time, and once again we find the roads and scenic spots way too crowded for us but we are here now so make the most of it to revisit some places we first saw 30 years ago and discover new ones. How things have changed in this time: signs stating drones are not allowed, signs warning of the dangers of geysers and that people have burned to death when straying off the path, and the size of the crowds, at Old Faithful particularly – when we first saw it, there were a few benches for people to sit on and wait and a simple low cord with a warning sign swinging from it.
Norris Geyser basin, Yellowstone
Thermophilic algae live in temperatures of 38-56 degrees celcius (100-133 F)
Crowds waiting for Old Faithful
Old Faithful geyser erupts on cue
I particularly enjoy stopping at the open meadows, dotted with wildflowers, and no one in sight. They feel so peaceful. And the Lake lodge, with its wide veranda and rocking chairs – so inviting: we enjoyed a drink and slice of cake overlooking Yellowstone Lake.
Hayden Valley, Yellowstone
Canyon Village grand view of Yellowstone river, at 2413m
Yellowstone meadow
During our time in Yellowstone, we saw one black bear, many deer, lots of herds of bison, elk, swans and wolves, yes wolves (thanks to the visitors with powerful lenses and binoculars)!! A few years ago, I read an article on the history of wolves and the impact of the extermination of grey wolves on the whole eco system of Yellowstone and how 14 were re-introduced in 1995 and a further 17 in 1996. So seeing wolves was particularly special.
Bison, Lamar Valley
Bison herds in the Lamar Valley
This is where we saw wolves, Lamar valley
Although the park today was too crowded for us, we are glad we returned. Riding through the park was a true feast for the senses – the colours and lighting, the smells of pine and flowers, the sound of rushing creeks and rivers. And seeing nature being renewed – we saw huge areas of burned out forests with hundreds and thousands of tiny new pines growing amongst the burned out ones.
Regenerated forest in Yellowstone
We return to our campsite after a busy day – Anthony points out the name of our tent – Yellowstone!! And relax for an hour before joining Marte & Ed ( and Annie the dog( from Phoenix, now Texans to be close to grandkids, for a Mexican dinner. Lucky our contribution and choice of bags of peanut M&M’s for desert are apparently Ed’s favourite. A lovely evening was spent chatting before turning in for the night.
Our camping spot in Yellowstone
As we are busy packing the bikes the next morning, Ellen whom Anthony chatted to while I was busy storing all our food away, comes over to me with a “you are invited” note to a home cooked meal or 2 or 3 and a comfy bed to her home in Vermont. How kind!!!
Ed, Marte, Annie the dog, Ellen and Bob
Yesterday morning was so freezing, we don’t want to leave so early today. The temperature doesn’t go down to zero but it is nippy enough at 5 degrees. We stay rugged up as we will be climbing for the first few hours. First along the Beartooth highway, they Chief Joseph Highway. Chief Joseph pass has some interesting historic displays: Nez Percé Indians, led by Lean Elk and Joseph outmaneuvered the US Cavalry in 1877 by milling their horses around in every direction and leaving a confusion of tracks and managed to escape the US Cavalry. The US Army’s continued pursuit of 750 Nez Percé Indians lasted over 3 months. Chief Joseph eventually surrendered but became renowned as a great peacemaker and humanitarian.
Heading up to Dunraveen Pass, 2700m, Yellowstone
Over the Lamar river
US212 Beartooth highway
Clarks Fork Yellowstone river, Chief Joseph Hwy
The scenery is incredible, the roads perfect bike riding roads and today is the best riding day I have had in a very very long time, with Streak performing brilliantly. I had been waiting to encounter high temperatures before I could confidently declare Streak completely fixed after our Denver fixes, and today we got all the conditions which have caused me problems over the last 7 months: acceleration, uphill especially, heat and less than half full fuel tank. We had numerous passes, twists, heat and long stretches between refueling. Streak is fixed!!
Twists tighter than an S
Chief Joseph’s Pass
Today, we stop at Cody where we have lunch at Buffalo Bill Cody’s hotel named Irma after his daughter and stop for the night in Sheridan where we walk to Buffalo Bill’s other hotel, the Sheridan Inn, for dinner as there is no Walmart nearby for us to buy our usual humus, crackers, carrots or mushrooms for dinner.
Road signs we have seen over the last few days – Motorcycles are everywhere – look twice, save a life
Buffalo Bill’s Irma Hotel in Cody
Buffalo Bill’s Sheridan Inn
We are hoping for a good night’s sleep tonight at our little motel as we are camping tomorrow at Devil’s Tower then we are off to Sturgis – not sure how much sleep we’ll get there…!!
– Anne
Sturgis – a first visit
Sturgis, a name that many motorcyclists will recognise, the home of the largest motorcycle event in the world, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, held annually for the last 74 years, with 2015 seeing the 75th year of the event. The event, which is expected to draw up to a million visitors this year, is not our usual UNESCO site to visit, but being so close and probably not riding back for the 100th anniversary, we will take the chance to get bragging rights by attending, and securing event paraphernalia While the event does not start until next week, we wanted to get the lie of the land beforehand, hence a quick trip to our chosen camping/event site. Can someone confirm Sturgis is a UNESCO site?
We travel from our Black Hills campsite, in which we sat through a one hour hail storm last night, towards Deadwood.
A little hailstone from around our tent.
Deadwood is a famous town from the cowboy era, which today features a main street with one side dedicated to motorcycle parking only. Probably 150 years ago horses would have lined the street in the same place as motorcycles stand today. Historic buildings have been retained and now welcome tourists and gamblers. Yes, casinos have been established to take your money, replacing the card sharps and gunslingers of old.
Main Street, Deadwood with motorcycle parking
Mustang Sally, a great western name
On from historic Deadwood to Sturgis. The town appears to be a hive of activity with setup work being undertaken. Merchandise tents and stands being erected, semi trailers full of with every conceivable motorcycle accessory plus all those mandatory Sturgis teeshirts being unloaded are the activities we see as we move from one tedious stop sign to the next. It is difficult to traverse the town’s main street under normal circumstances, what will it be like in a week’s time? Impossible I think! A small crowd of motorcyclists wandering the streets, looking to make purchases from the vendors. A good time to buy without the crowds, but there is nothing we really want.
Main street in Sturgis without the crowds
We finally get through town and head for our campsite which is where the major bands are also playing. It is called Buffalo Chip and has become famous for great parties over the years. The place is almost empty, final preparations are underway. Looks like the calm before the storm. I am sure it will be so different next week. We get our wristbands for Monday and Tuesday night and learn that camping is first come first served and some people started camping a week ago to get good spots! Hundreds of thousands of people are not our thing and we are already starting to chicken out by thinking only one night at Buffalo Chip, due to the time it will take us to get to Yellowstone and back.
Buffalo Chip bar, customers to come next week
Field of Flags at the Buffalo Chip campground to honour those who serve in the military
Veterans are important here at the Buffalo Chip campground
This region is known for strong winds and we head west we battle strong gusty winds in the late afternoon. A reminder that we need to start riding early to avoid the physical strain that this type of riding brings. We are heading for Thermopolis, a small town in central Wyoming that is based around hot springs, hence the name from the Greek for ‘Hot City’. First we pass through the Wind River Canyon, this is a spectacular route, with the river sparkling in the sun as we ride.
Wind river canyon, a great ride.
The hot springs at Thermopolis were part of an Indian reservation which was sold to the US Government with the proviso that the hot springs should be available to all people for free. This has resulted in a spa that is open to all for free, well, for 20 minutes at a time. We tried it and 20 minutes is more than enough! We enjoy a stroll through the park, seeing the hot springs running into the river – must be nice to have that warmth in winter.
80 years of hot springs activity created this
Thermopolis hot springs lake
Wyoming is a big state and we enter our third day crossing it at our pace. We are heading for the Grand Tetons, somewhere we have not been since 1985, wow how time flies! First we have yet another pass to cross, the Togwotee Pass on US287 with an elevation of 9,658 ft (2,944 m) over. Over the top and we see the Grand Tetons for the first time in 30 years. We have a picture at home taken from our tent when last camped here and this view had recalls wonderful memories from the past. We pass Jackson, a well known ski town, as we head for Idaho Falls which is a far west as we will travel in the USA.
Grand Tetons, our first view in 30 years.
Where we camped 30 years ago
– Anthony
Twists and turns in the Black Hills
Balloons and Ice-cream
What a wonderful combination, balloons and ice-cream. Must be a party you say, no, but both form an important part of this couple of days of our journey.
Darkness greets us as the alarm goes off at 05:00. A mistake, no, we are going to see the 11th Annual Casper Balloon Roundup which will see up to 27 balloons launched from 06:00 onwards. Light is slowly creeping in from the East as we leave our hotel for the 10 minute drive to the launch site at the Central Wyoming Showgrounds in Casper.
With only two turns to make, I believe, I have bravely decided not to put the location in the GPS, but try that old fashioned navigation method of remembering the turns and hoping for some big direction signs should I get lost. Luckily after the first couple of turns, a pickup with a balloon basket in goes past and using my intuition, I decide to follow it. Success, we arrive at the launch site.
Getting started
We are greeted by little activity as all the pilots, yes all balloon operators are required to have a pilot’s licence with a “lighter than air” endorsement, are waiting for the latest wind report. Up goes a small red weather balloon, which rises quickly and then starts being buffeted this way and that. Talking to one of the pilots, I learn that what we would consider still, with a few leaves rustling, can quickly turn into 10 to 15 mph landing speeds, which I understand may not be a pleasant prospect, plus the potentially expensive damage to the balloon’s envelope.
Only one balloon is getting setup, as we wait for more weather information, firstly using a fan to get the envelope partially inflated with cool air, then a burst of hot air from the burners gets the envelope off the ground and the attached basket swings upright.
Up they go after a burst of hot air
Glorious colours against the morning sky
While it sways in the early morning light, the pilot makes small burn adjustments to keep it stable without taking off, then a larger sustained burn and the first balloon soars majestically skywards. I think other pilots are watching carefully as the first balloon moves slowly westwards. Other pilots appear to be encouraged by the first flight and soon other balloons are being prepared for flight. It is interesting to see those preparing balloons and their attendant ropes interacting with the increasing number of spectators without barriers and no entry signs. People just watch where the ropes are and step over or avoid them – so simple when people take responsibility for their actions!
Up, Up and away in my beautiful, my beautiful balloon…….
Balloon after balloon heads skywards, it is a spectacular sight and worth our early start to the day. We had talked earlier to one of the organisers, Charlie from Remax the main sponsor, who had talked about the hard work in development of this event in Casper, a town that is known to be windy. Not an easy task, but judging from the number of balloons and spectators they have made the event a success again. Enjoy the video below.
As Anne mentioned in her previous post, this area was part of the route pioneers from the east travelled through to reach the Pacific in the mid 1800’s. Seeing the rolling and relatively flat country well supplied with grazing for the horsepower of the wagon trains, one can see why these routes would be more popular than the mountain passes of Colorado further south.
Easy county for a wagon train.
We pass train after train loaded with Wyoming coal headed east and south to supply power stations. The trains of both Union Pacific (UP) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroads are moving much of the over 350 million tonnes of coal per annum produced out of the state. What is interesting to me was a supplement in this weekend’s paper on the future of coal mining in the state. With the planned closure or conversion to gas of up to 23% of US coal fired generating capacity in the next 10 years, Wyoming could loose up to 100 million tones per annum of production. It will be challenging here for coal, but they are now looking at Asian export markets to make up for the shortfall in domestic demand. A new competitor for our export of Queensland coal.
Union Pacific coal train waits for a green signal.
As we travel east we see the familiar sight of wind towers in the distance. Wyoming is blessed with bountiful supplies of wind, so again we are seeing a change in makeup of power generation sources as we have seen throughout our journey through South and Central America. Wyoming is looking to become a renewable energy supplier to California which is trying to reduce its dependancy of fossil fuels. Interesting times in the energy supply industry in Wyoming.
We cross into South Dakota, a new state for us – we have now visited over 40 of the 50 States in the USA over the years since our first visit in 1980. It is possible on this trip that we may get close to having visited nearly all 50 States in the USA. We are heading to the Black Hills, known for Mt Rushmore’s 4 Presidents’ heads, the sculpture of Crazy Horse and the wonderful roads and scenery.
As we move closer to the Black Hills, we start to see more and more motorcycles. They are predominately Harley Davidson, more three wheelers than we expected, but I guess we are all getting older and three wheels make more sense. South Dakota like the majority of States in the USA allow riding without helmets and for many riders teeshirts, sunglasses and bandanas are the dress code of the day. Much as I envy the freedom they enjoy, until I can guarantee that I will not come off a motorcycle again, it’s helmet, kevlar and padding for me.
We head for the Crazy Horse Memorial, a monument being built which depicts Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, astride his horse and pointing into the distance. This monument has been under construction since 1948. Over 8 million tonnes of rock have been removed to date. Quite an amazing effort by Korczak Ziolkowski, the sculptor who, with his wife and family, worked on this project until his death in 1982. When and if finished, the monument will be 641 ft (195 m) wide and 563 feet (172 m) high, and largest in the world. Well worth a visit.
Crazy Horse Memorial, Black Hills
Crazy Horse, what it will look like when finished.
As we travel towards Custer State Park, the uniformity of the colour of the pine trees is a surprise to me after Colorado’s Aspens and various blue to green hued pine trees: here they are all the same type, interesting to see changes in what flora exists in what seems to be similar climates. I find that the scenery seems almost perfect, a little Disney like – we both prefer the more rugged open scenery we found in Colorado.
Winding Black Hills roads
Tunnel on US Route 16A
The roads are twisty and heavily treed which sets the speed limits at between 25 – 35 mph / 40 – 55 kph. Traffic is heavy with crocodiles of Harley Davidson motorcycles rumbling along with their distinctive engine sounds reverberating off the hills and trees. With the 2015 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally only a week away, so many riders are converging on the area. What will it be like in a week’s time? We are glad to have decided to ride here before the really big crowds come.
Connecting spiral bridges to connect tunnels
Thread the eye of the needle
Black hills riding, one way tunnels
More of the needles, SD Route 87
I have always had an interest in seeing Mt Rushmore since watching the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock movie ‘North by Northwest’ with Mt Rushmore and the four Presidents’ heads featuring in the finale of the film. We decide to ride the Route 16A that will allow us to see the presidents’ heads as you pass through the tunnels on Route 16A. An interesting historical note is that Governor Peter Norbeck wanted to have a very scenic road for tourists, he chose the locations for the tunnels with their views, but then left it up to the engineers to connect the tunnels. Route A16 is amazing and hopefully the seperate video post to follow can give a small taste of what we enjoyed.
Us with 4 US Presidents, well their heads anyway.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
So now you may still be wondering: where is the ice-cream. Yes? Well while we were at Mt Rushmore, we learnt that Thomas Jefferson, in addition to being a major contributor to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, also recorded the first vanilla ice-cream recipe in the USA. Of course they make ice-cream to that recipe at Mt Rushmore and I had to try one, which only came in large. I wonder how many kids on a hot summer’s day would prefer the ice-cream recipe over the declaration of independence?
– Anthony
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