Day 22

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

OK, a new month!    The huge front that is effecting the weather in most of the USA was still with us all day.   Rain and low clouds.

We left Cody, WY, and pressed on across the high prairie on US 14 toward the Big Horn Mountains.  They are one of my favorite ranges in the world.  

The clouds were very low as we approached the mountains.   We knew we'd be climbing in the clouds.   But...the road was open and we were meeting a few cars coming down.

So, we started slowly climbing.   The truck was in a lower gear and we climbed at between 20 and 30 mph.    A superbike type motorcycle passed us about halfway up.

The steep gorges and sheer rock faces were unusually stark and beautiful, even in the reduced visibility.  We were in the clouds.    It began to snow lightly but the air temperature was still in the 40s and the snow was not sticking to the road.   We stopped a couple of times to check for ice on the road.   None so far.

Climbed some more and then met the superbike headed downhill!   He'd had enough.   We pressed on up, foolishly perhaps.  

Then, we met a most unusual sight on a rare flat area.   A man with a large unicycle with 2 huge saddlebags was peddling along toward us.   We were too stunned to take a photo.   It seems almost impossible that he could get down the mountain on a unicycle....I don't think they have brakes.

As we approached the top, everything except the road was covered in snow.   We were well above 8000 feet.

Finally made Granite Pass after about 2 hours of climbing at slow speed.   Slightly over 9000 feet.   The trailer had about 1/16 inch of ice on it.

The fools pressed on.    Oddly, the terrain is somewhat level for a while after the pass and we began to see a few hunters with typical Wyoming rifle setups.   Am not sure what game is in season...
We also saw some nice mule deer.

Descended the steep winding road after the plateau in 2d gear and kept speed low.    Flashing sign said 14 trucks have crashed on this road so far this year.   Stopped and took photo of Wyoming stretching to the east once we were below the clouds.  You can vaguely see the hogback ridges.   Lots of ranches below.

Decided to take a few photos of the crew...Navigator and Chief of Security.

Finally, the mechanical part of the team...

As we reached the ranches at the bottom, we observed 4 real cowboys working a herd of Angus.   Only one had a cowboy hat, the rest had wool caps pulled low over ballcaps!

Drove US 14 over to Interstate 90, traveled east and then decided to visit Devils Tower, north from I90.      A really nice area of NE Wyoming.   Nice ranches in ridged, partially wooded terrain.    The tower is impressive.

We looked for, but saw no flying saucers or aliens.

If you look closely at the photos above, you can see a group of climbers.   Double-click photo below for best view.

How did we get this photo?   Well,  I had an old rope in the back of the truck and quickly free-climbed to the top and rappelled down.   I then swung out and got a decent shot....     OK, OK, I used a 30x lens from the ground.

Is interesting to note the camera rig they have on the platform out from the face.   There was a large camera crew in a field about a half mile from the tower so I assume they are working together to make some sort of documentary.

On the way out of the park, we collected a photo of another denizen of the prairie.  Their holes were everywhere in a flat area.   Hundreds.

And, yet another...

Spending the night in a Rapid City, South Dakota.    To say Dakota like a local, you must emphasize the 2d syllable and say it slowly.....    duh Kohhh ta    

Linda adds:  I must admit, if I were to consider leaving North Carolina that Wyoming would be a contender.  The Big Horn Mountains are gorgeous.  ....Stan is standing behind me as I write reminding me of our conversation as we climbed through these mountains and later at Devil's Tower that this would be a good format for Dan Brown's next novel with secretive messages left by ancient cultures in the caves and crevices with a dramatic conclusion on the top of the tower.

For those of you wondering, we are no longer following Lewis and Clark but are spending the return trip enjoying the scenery and whatever comes our way...in particular all the wonderful animals.  We have seen huge numbers of mule deer with their long ears, some on the road in front of us, ..elk, pronghorns, a grey wolf, also on the road  (see yesterday), buffalo, and today hundreds of prairie dogs, some of these causing cars to move at a snail's pace.  If you add to this the many cattle and horses, sheep and goats, birds and ducks...and a bald eagle...it has been pretty amazing.

JUST FER FUN....DAN BROWN NOVEL SYNOPSIS.

Harvard professor of Symbology is on vacation and is amazed to recognize Native American symbols on the rock faces of Devil's Tower.    Appropriate symbols for the cardinal directions are faintly visible on all four sides when viewed at dawn.   He meets a beautiful brunette geologist from Cheyenne, Wyoming.  

They are beginning to unravel some more of the mystery when she is abducted by oil company agents.   It turns out that she is also a Shoshoni princess and her father was a very respected shaman who disappered when she was a child.    Our professor, who looks somewhat like Tom Hanks in tweed, then learns that a silenced black helicopter flies once a month from Omaha and lands on top the tower.   He figures that only a billionaire could afford this.  

He meets a burned out Native American artist who has a theory that the Devil's Tower is not natural but was built secretly in the 1890s by crooked railroad executives using labor they obtained from a Chinese tong and strange powers they stole from the victors of Little Big Horn.       The truth comes out as our professor bravely faces his fears of heights and elevators, decyphers the symbols, and confronts the billionaire on top the tower.

No drinking involved in above synopsis.   But it is late and fatigue creates goofy ideas....