Day 6 - Cody, Wyoming to Great Falls, Montana. 371 Miles Ridden Today. 1,932 Total Miles From Indianapolis, Indiana.

This morning the Iron Horse adventurers were heading to Great Falls, Montana.  They departed Cody, Wyoming by way of the Chief Joseph Highway.  Then they went west onto the Bear Tooth Pass.

David, Ron and Mike taking a moment for pictures at the start of the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.

They are still in the state of Wyoming.

Here they are grouping up again after taking a short break for the photo opportunity.
This looks like another photo opportunity.  Check out Joe's helmet cam!  Looks like a Go Pro model.

Hey, they even have time for charades.
David is trying to describe the type of animal that he saw on the side of the road.   Must have been an ape.

What's this?  Is David giving Stu a playful hug?  Or is this the beginning of a choke hold?

Terribly early in the adventure for this.

Nah, they're just mugging for the camera!

After reaching the top, it's pretty amazing to see what you have just ridden.  Check out all of those curves.

  Can you imagine how loud that rushing water was?  Bet that water is ice cold too.

Bear Tooth Pass was opened to automobile traffic in 1937.  The road is 68 miles long.  Running in northwest Wyoming and southwest Montana it leads right into the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

The Pass runs right through an area referred to as the Bear Tooth Corridor.  This Corridor is surrounded by Custer, Gallatin, and Shoshone National Forests, Absaroka - Bear Tooth Wilderness and it butts into Yellowstone National Park.  

There are 20 peaks along the Pass that are over 12,000 feet in elevation.  Glaciers are found in many of the north flanks of those mountains over 12,000 feet.  The Bear Tooth Pass itself is the highest elevation roadway in Wyoming and Montana.

Heading towards Yellowstone National Park

It looks like they have arrived in Yellowstone National Park.  Well, at least Mike has.

Yellowstone National Park is ranked by National Geographic as the 4th most visited national park in the United States.  Ron, Fred and David pose for a picture with a park ranger.

Off in the distance a herd of Buffalo were spotted.
The guys reported seeing not only Buffalo, but Elk, a solitary Gray Fox, White Tail Deer, scads of Prairie Dogs and Antelope.  I am happy to report they did not see any Uncleope.

There he is.  Up close and personal.  As a matter of fact, that's close enough!



Sit back, enjoy the beauty and splendor.

























As the six exited Yellowstone, they entered Montana.







And, they were welcomed by this rustic sign.







Stopping for lunch at the Iron Horse Bar & Grille in Gardiner seemed like an appropriate choice.

Always wanting to be helpful, Fred cleans Mike's windshield during a fuel stop.
That enormous squeegee might be a little over kill.  The man in the car must be thinking the same thing.

That open country certainly has a way of making a person feel very small and insignificant.
There is no wondering why they call Montana, Big Sky Country.
The guys eventually completed the day's journey by reaching Great Falls, Montana.

Every evening, Ron makes notes of the day's trip and happenings.

Day 5 - Casper, Wyoming to Cody, Wyoming. Today's miles - 220. Total Mileage From Indy - 1561.

As the guys left Casper this morning they all began to notice how much the terrain changed.  

There was also a significant change in the attitude of that terrain.  Everyone noted that the green had gone away.  Everything around them looked so desolate, sun scorched and wind burned.  A harsh image of that may spring forth in your mind.  But, there is beauty in all of that as well.

All y'all see any grass?

Fred stops by the side of the road to admire those mobile homes in the distance.

There has been a drastic change in elevation since the group left Indianapolis.  The mean elevation around Indianapolis is 717 feet.  Cody, Wyoming boasts that they sit at 5,016 feet above sea level.

Much of the ride today was along the scenic byway located in Wind River Canyon. The canyon was carved out by the Wind River.  It lies between the cities of Thermopolis and Shoshoni.  The southern mouth of the canyon is at the Boysen Dam in Boysen State Park.  The canyon also borders the Wind River Indian Reservation.  A fair amount of homes, as well as, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad are also included in the canyon.  The northern end of the canyon is at the Wedding of the Waters.  This is where the Wind River becomes the Big Horn River.

As you travel south through the Wind River Canyon towards the dam, you get the impression that you are traveling down hill.  The Wind River flows against you making the water appear to be running up hill!  A strange sight to behold.

  

Mileage wise the boys traveled only 220 miles.  This is the least amount of distance that they have gone in one day to date.  That left them plenty of time to check out the town of Cody and time for some necessities, like laundry.

They  have arrived in Cody, Wyoming.

It was either free sample day at the Bank of the West, 

or these dudes had been planning a shopping spree in Cody all along and stopped to get more cash.

 Having lunch and a couple of thirst quenching, adult beverages also seemed like a necessity.

Um...David and Fred, there will be no more complaining about the ladies shopping trips.

One day, Mike went shopping in Cody, Wyoming.  He found the hat section of the Western Store.

He rang the bell for assistance but found that no one was there.  So he decided to try on some of the hats.

He tried on a fancy black bowler and said, "This hat is too big."  

Even though there is no photographic evidence he tried on a couple more hats.   (You just have to trust me on this, it's how the story goes.  Okay?)   When he tried on the second hat he said, "This hat is too small!"

"Awww, this hat is just right", he said as he tried on the final hat.  So he went to the cashier, paid for the hat, and wore it while he shopped around Cody, Wyoming some more.  The end.

See, just as the story said, he really did wear the new hat for more shopping.  Definitely a non-fiction story.

Now when you look at Stu, like those kids in the right hand side of the photo are doing, he just looks like he belongs out west.  Can you hear the theme song from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly playing right now?
As you can also see in the photo, Stu's done a bit of shopping too.  Can't wait to see what he purchased.

                    Before                                                                            After

  What is different about the back of Stu's motorcycle?  Compare the "Before" and "After" images.  Hmmm....a lariat, more turquoise beads, a larger American flag, shopping bags with additional arrows and who knows what else.  Poor little Harry, he's being crushed under all those purchases.

Joe and Fred, these two finally gave up on the shopping gig and people watched.

Thankfully David's necessity was doing laundry.  Joe, his room mate, will be so happy to smell, uh hear, this.

See him pressing that nice white shirt?  A big shout out to Lori on that.  Well done!

The guys headed to the rodeo arena

Officially starting in 1919, the Buffalo Bill Cody Stampede  has been held every summer around the 4th of July.  2013 marks the 94th year anniversary of the rodeo's nightly performances!  Cody is one of the longest running successful professional rodeos.  It is also the only place in the United States that has a rodeo performance every single night.  Here you can see bare back riding, tie down roping, team roping, bull riding, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding and barrel racing.

 

This little guy is dreaming about the day that he becomes a rodeo star.

 Buffalo Bill Cody recognizes that Stu has the look.  

He's inviting him to become a part of his Wild West Show.  

Day 4 - Ogallala, Nebraska to Casper, Wyoming. Miles ridden today - 332. Total Miles From Indianapolis - 1341.

As soon as the guys departed Ogallala they followed the Oregon Trail.

What a beautiful day!

While meandering along the Oregon Trail they happened upon Chimney Rock National Historic Site.

Chimney Rock, the most famous landmark on the Oregon Trail.

Of course the guys, along with their iron horses,  had to "have their likeness made" with 

Chimney Rock in the background.

Nothing creepier than a sign warning of the creepy crawlers.  Poisonous ones at that!

That sign didn't make the fellas feel too welcome so they loaded up on their bikes.

Mikey says, " Snakes, I'm outta here!"

Moseying on down the road.

Mike

 Still following The Oregon Trail, they came upon Scotts Bluff.

Chock full of so much history.

 

Stu and Mike at the entrance to Scotts Bluff National Monument, 

which is operated by the National Park Service.

Try to imagine how difficult traveling in a covered wagon through this rough country would have been. 

Those brave pioneers heading west for free farm land, better health or to escape problems back east got more of an adventure than most of them expected.

All of your possessions packed into that wagon, your spouse, children, meager furnishings, cooking utensils and provisions that were expected to last along the trail. 

 That team of oxen was mighty valuable to those pioneers.

Stu's trying his hand at being Trail Boss.

David is checking out this covered wagon.

RP better stick to that motorcycle for transportation.  This wagon lost its cover and oxen.

Joe, Stu, Mike and David walking along a portion of  The Oregon Trail.

Think those covered wagons were slow?  Most of the pioneers chose to walk along the trail because the wagons were so miserable to ride in.  Bumpy, bumpy, bumpy...

 Granite monument marking where The Oregon Trail enters into Wyoming.

Joe, Stu, Fred, David and Ron have now crossed over into Wyoming.

At this point, Mike broke off from the group.  

He was going to meet his daughter Chris and grandson Oliver for a visit.

Chris and Oliver met Mike at Ayres Natural Bridge Park.
Ollie got to "drive" the tractor at the playground.




Chris, Oliver and Mike.


Meanwhile, the rest of the group had stopped for lunch and was back on the road heading towards Casper.
They passed the most interesting thing.  They turned around and headed back, hoping to get a better look.




He looks pretty comfortable.

This is what they turned around to see,  Dinklage Custom Feeding in Torrington, Wyoming.

Having dabbled in cattle on a small scale this operation was of great interest to Ron.  

He was really hoping that he would be able to have a tour of this facility.

They happened to meet this gentleman, Dale, who was on his way out of the feed lot as the boys were on their way in.  It turns out that Dale was a partner in this operation.  When the guys explained where they were from, where they were going and that they'd love to arrange a tour, they could've been turned away or tossed out on their ears.  But no, Dale was happy to tell them a little bit about Dinklage Custom Feeding and give them a brief tour.  He did ask them to go slowly, on those bikes,  as to keep the cattle mellow and not get 'em all riled up.





Uh oh, we've got a couple of lookers, that Angus type seems a little skittish. 

 Probably never saw horns on a motorcycle before.

They really shouldn't be all that eager to belly up to the bar.

This isn't going to end all that well for them, if you know what I mean.

There were approximately 10 miles of roads in and around this feed lot.  

At present there are 24,000 head of cattle in the lot.  They turn cattle three times a year.

That means that this facility handles 75,000 head of cattle per year.

They bring the calves in around 500 pounds and finish them to 1,250 pounds or so.  If they are shipping overseas they bump that finish weight up to about 1,700 - 1,800 pounds per animal.

There are eight cow/calf operation ranches in and around  Wyoming that supply calves for Dinklage.

One of those ranches has 18,000 brood cows on it.  That's a lot of mamas.

Dinklage Custom Feeding raises their own crops for grain and silage. 

 They do have to purchase some of their hay.

Dale, thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy day to show these nosey guys around.

They really appreciate the education, as well as, your time.  And, so will our readers.  

This has been extremely interesting.

And so, the guys have ended their day in Casper, Wyoming.  Mike has returned to the group.

They are ready for dinner, a good night's sleep and tomorrow's adventure.