I was awakened early in the morning to an awful racket! Apparently all the fifty something rich guys trying to relive their glory days all wake up at the same time, start their Harley’s, rev them up and down, and then polish the chrome to remove last nights rain spots – us young adventure rider types use something called a bike cover. We had a short day ahead, miles wise so we walked back to town for a light breakfast and some good coffee. After checking out and repacking the bike, a few rechecks of the map, and a quick refuel stop, we were back on the road. Cody, WY would be the first stop on our agenda. The stark contrast of the Rocky Mountains on our right and the Great Plains on out left was amazing. I can only imagine what the first explorers and pioneers must have thought when they got here. The mountains on the Chief Joseph Byway looked amazing and will definitely require a return trip in the very near future.
Cody, WY was a bit disappointing, I didn’t expect it to be the Walmart/chain store town that it is. Other than the small piece of historic downtown we didn’t see much reason to stop. Until we got the the Buffalo Bill Museum, that place was amazing. We spent a few hours in the Plains Indians, Natural History and Buffalo Bill wings. We only did a quick lap through the fine art and firearm wings, but you could easily spend a whole day there. 
After a quick lunch it was back towards Yellowstone via the East entrance. The ride through Buffalo Bill state park towards Yellowstone was beautiful. It would also turn out to be the most stressful stretch of road we would cover. The strong, swirling winds made for challenging travel. It would be 20 mph from one side, then suddenly 50 mph from the other. We wound up past Sleeping Giant Ski area (poorly named, it’s quite small) and back into Yellowstone. Once over Sylvan Pass we wound back down towards Yellowstone Lake and our evening’s destination. The ride down was through recently burned forests, such a stark contrast between the burnt trees and the fresh, new, green vegetation underneath. I remember going through Yellowstone in the early nineties a few years after the big fire in 1988, and being amazed at the regrowth and new life.
Out of the mountains and back on the lake shore, we rolled along towards the Bridge Bay campground. We set up camp with the other 20,000 tourists in the Park and after a light dinner decided to go wildlife watching back in the Hayden Valley. More afternoon rain showers and a slowly setting sun would allow me to take one of my favorite photos of all time. 
We also had our first intense moments involving Bison. Stuck in traffic as the Bison crossed the road, we had one big guy decide to cross just in front of us. I don’t know if he liked my bike or what, but he got a little close for comfort and stared and snorted at us. Not much choice for us, just hold still and hope he didn’t decide to scratch an itch or something with our headlights. With all mishaps avoided we found a pull off to enjoy the intermittent rain showers, bison in the river, and the awesome beauty of the evening. After getting soaked to the bone trying to wait out a cloudburst near the Mud Volcano, we finally got back on the ride. The agony of being drenched was quickly erased by the mind blowing sunset over the Absoroka Mountains. We rolled back into camp in the dark and after enjoying a few drinks and a campfire we called it a day.
Tomorrow would take us back south through Jackson towards the Wind River range. It would also bring Kari’s birthday which was ultimately the reason we embarked on this little adventure in the first place.
JMH
