Wyoming: Mountains, Desert & National Parks

I'm in the high country now for sure, all of Wyoming is over 3,000 ft and if you pick the wrong road you can find yourself climbing for over 40km to a pass that's over 10,500 ft high! There are ways of avoiding the the highest passes, but to do so involves 100+ mile detours across dry, sparsely populated plains. The prospect of these had been on my mind since leaving Iowa, so now it was decision time!

Devil's tower, from the pine forest at its base

Trying to hit as many national parks & forests as possible, I first headed for devil's tower, solidified magma that stands proud of the surrounding plains. The park around it allows you walk all the way round and see the 5 climbers that were ascending that morning, of course i asked if i could join them, but apparently my cycling sandals were not suitable.





The other, less glamorous side of Wyoming is its mineral wealth, the ride into Gillette, the self proclaimed "Energy capital of America", was ugly, with 2km long trains of coal, big open cast mines and wrecked landscapes. the town itself was nothing to write home about either, and when you find that Super 8 rooms cost $109 a night, it's clearly doing well. Sadly not even the 2 pretty girls behind the desk could persuade me to part with that much money, so I was at the $25 campsite, with train horns waking me up all night.

On from Gillette to Sheridan and the base of the Big Horns, I stopped in Spotted Horse, on the map and even the Atlas, a village of population 2 - that'd be the barmaid and cook at the bar then. It obviously supports a wider community of farmers, but largely survives on the money the Sturgis Bike rally brings in over 2 weeks at the start of August. The roads this side of Wyoming traverse High Prairie, with plenty of deer, crazy fast antelope and hawks around, at one point almost every field (which are quite big) had a small herd in it.

4,500ft climbing in 14 miles - just a little "hill"

Heaven for a heavy cyclist

So there was nothing else for it but to attack the big horns - 5000 ft above the prairie, you climb most of it in one go, then descend back to the height you started, literally like having a brick wall between you and Yellowstone. Setting off early, I hit the climb at about 9am, to get onto the plateau I had to climb Cutler "Hill", 4,500ft of vertical climbing in 14 miles with a grade of 4-6%. the views were awesome, and obviously encouraged regular stops, where friendly bikers would again tell me that I'm crazy. On top it was pretty cold, I even got hit by a hailstorm, Art who'd come up the other way looked way tougher than me, he'd climbed 18 miles with his trailer hooked on behind and, in his 60s, was cycling from the west coast to visit his brother in Wisconsin, no idea if he also planned to cycle back afterwards. The reward for all the climbing was the 18 mile descent down Shell gorge, following the Shell river past tumbling falls, steep granite and other rock walls via twisting chicanes which I was much more suited to than the big, lumbering American cars.

Taking a break to admire the view on the long downhill

Rock Outcrops on the Big Horns

Rock formations in Shoshone National Forest

After the big horns it was a easy ride into Yellowstone, or so it should have been - 50 miles gradual climb to Cody was supposed to be a short half day to get some rest, instead it delivered my 2nd & 3rd punctures of the trip, too many beers (75 cent happy hour pints), bad food (you could only buy deep fried wings after 9pm) and a late night. So instead of attacking the climb to Yellowstone fresh and early, I started tired and late with a hangover and a dodgy belly... The first part of the climb, through Shoshone National Forest is supposed to have the most dense bear population in the world, but as I'd shelled out $21 on bear spray of course I saw nothing but trees and tarmac.






Finally I got to Yellowstone and with the help of a steak for lunch, the hangover had finally lifted, just in time for the scenery to become amazing. Climbing into the park took me over 8,500ft but, the views of the forest with snow capped peaks behind were amazing. The pass brought you in above Yellowstone lake and past the burnt out forests from a massive wildfire a couple of decades ago. Deer could be seen by the side of the road and I even caught a muskrat or beaver swimming across a creek.

Scenic views in Yellowstone park

Dealing with a Bison Jam on a bicycle - they're enormous!

With little over 2 hours before dusk, I decided to take on the 16 miles to Canyon, relatively flat, along the scenic Yellowstone river, it should have been a doddle, until I encountered my 1st and only Bison Jam - this really was something to get the adrenaline pumping, you quickly realise how vulnerable you are on a bike when a 200 strong herd of bison are all over the road, males charging each other 20 yards away and calves (with protective mothers) strewn everywhere. I dodged in and out of cars, using them like metal shields, but it still took me about 15 minutes to get through and sprint up the hill to get a view of the general carnage (adrenaline is useful for something). Fortunately I also had time to take in Yellowstone Falls and its colourful gorge, formed by millenia of volcanic activity

The rest of the park was awesome, but by Saturday (my 2nd day) the day tourists had arrived in vast numbers. I wasn't sure whether they'd come to see the geysers, buy souvenirs or check out the wildlife, which apparently included me! My favourites, were the lycra clad cyclists on a organised tour with their super light, unloaded, carbon bikes, high-fiving each other after their 1,000ft climb to Old Faithful - well done guys.

Blending in with the wildlife

Yellowstone's famous Geysers

 Anyway, it was all too much for me - time to head on into Montana. 3,000 miles done, around 100,000ft of climbing, next up the continental divide and ideally a long downhill to the Pacific ocean where I can finally shave off my beard which is beginning to scare me, especially the bugs it can pick up in a day's cycling!