Buffalo to Ten Sleep to Thermopolis

So Kiki and I have traded in our bicycles. That was just too hard and too slow. Plus when we saw this Trike for sale that has the back end of a Ford Fiero, well we just traded in our bicycles and off we rode. We have now ditched the BBT and are on our way to Sturgis. OK, not really, but we did run into this lovely lady from Buffalo who was in her senior years who was a great ambassador to the small hamlet. She rides with her full-size black poodle in the back seat. Quite a site. I'm sure she gets stopped by everyone to as questions about her ride.

The festival at Buffalo, the Big Horn Mountain Festival, was out of this world. I was trying to think about how to sum it up, and here's what I came up with. "I had a flush toilet all weekend and did not once have to wait in line." Anyone who's ever been to a festival can relate to this I'm sure. It was so awesomely small scale, I just loved it. Above is Kiki demonstrating our patented "Chair Jacking" maneuver. Our motto is, "If you're gonna chair jack, go big".

Probably my favorite "discovery act", (an act I'm seeing for the first time), was Jalan Crossland Band (pictured above). They were very unexpected and hail just 60 miles from Buffalo in Ten Sleep. Let's see, how to describe them? How 'bout with some lyrics:

1) "Don't Taz me bro, Don't Taz me Bro, I'm an American don't you know, Read me my rights or let me go........."

2) "Oh my smells like tires, someone save the baby it's a trailer park fire....."

They were just high energy, great, irreverent lyrics, appealing to the trailer trash crowd and the non-trailer trash crowd alike.

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The next band that really stood out was the Wiyos. They are a very unique band doing real old time music, circa 1920, 1930, but also some Bob Wills inspired stuff as well as Django Reinhardt

gypsy jazz stuff. Lots of chord changes on the guitar, a great pedal steel player and a lead singer who plays the harmonica really well. I was not expected this type of act at a Bluegrass Festival but was very happily surprised.

While I'm summing things up in very simple terms, the above picture sums up Wyoming for me. This gentleman, Lynn Young, was the quintessential Wyomingan. Probably raises cattle, has some sheep, loves his horses, and in some way is or was connected to the production of oil or gas. Very nice folk these Wyomingans. We've had nothing but great encounters with them.

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The festival wrapped up Sunday afternoon. We were very happy to have an new addition to the BBT, Aaron, who drove all the way from Austin to begin riding with us. By my calculations, that increases the size of the BBT by 50%! We immediately hit it off with Aaron and learn that he is gonna carry a guitar too! That could turn out to be very entertaining.

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Our trail leads again over the Big Horn Mountains and 5000ft of elevation gain as we head to Thermopolis. We head out of Buffalo on Sunday evening at 6pm with the intent of getting 10-20 miles up the road and up the hill before dark. The weather was really throwing us a curve ball with clouds and lightening and one big F350 truck stop to tell us "You all know there is a severe thunderstorm warning for this area?" He seemed somewhat incredulous about us being on bicycle out there and pretty much figured we'd be stuck dead if we continued. We decided to go further but the weather kept giving us warnings that it'd be better to bed down. Which we did after only 10 miles. Still we were 10 miles closer to our destination and a good bit higher. Our new companion is a trooper, but the hill is pretty tough for him and his knee begins to bother him a bit. We camp literally 30 feet from Hwy 16 on some tall grass that made for a super comfy mattress under out tents. Thunderstorms never materialize.

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The next morning, we head up and to the summit of Powder River Pass at 9667 ft. We had a great break at the summit with lots of folks asking us questions and giving us sodas and apples. Then this kid starts riding a unicycle and doing lots of tricks like juggling and riding the unicycle down a small hill, 4-wheel drive style. It was all very bizarre and entertaining.

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The other side of the pass leads to, I think it's called, Leigh Canyon. This is the best 50 miles of the BBT so far and it's the only road we get to do twice so that is great. It's mostly downhill to Ten Sleep from the pass with lots of good cliff scenery to take in. At times that can be very dangerous if you stop paying attention to the road.

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After the beautiful descent, you make it (back) to Ten Sleep. I think the bottom two pics best describe the town. Small and quirky, that are the words that come to mind. These two establishments are right across the street from one another!

We hang out at the gas station and get fountain drinks and watch it rain. It so nice to watch it rain when you are near a roof! And for 15 minutes, it really must have rained an inch. As we sat there, we met Dave Egger a local school teacher and all-round nice guy. He was sharing our table with his wonderful kids, Bryley and Canyon, and we started discussing our bike tour and the pros of living in Ten Sleep. Before long, Dave has offered us his backyard to camp in, which is great because Aaron's knee continues to bother him and going further is not an option. Below is a pic of the Trail Magicians themselves during a break in the rain. Later, it turns out that Dave has some free rooms in his house and he "twists our arms" to just stay in them instead of our tents. We get a great shower and have some great conversations with Dave before calling it an early evening (since we were all bushed from the big climb).

From Ten Sleep, we head out early to beat the heat. Our goal is to make it to Thermopolis, the home of the world's largest mineral hot spring. You know you are getting close to hot water when you pass signs like this along the way.

Mostly uneventful, we arrive at Thermopolis, or Thermop as the locals call it. Our first stop is the State Mineral Bath. A free place for the public to soak. I guess it was party of the treaty with the Indians when we purchased this place in the 1890's that they would not charge to use it. Well that was pretty cool and the hot baths themselves were see-ack. So refreshing after the 62 mile ride from Ten Sleep.

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Our next stop is the "Dairyland" malt shoppe for good ol'fashioned ice cream. We meet a local named Harold who was cruising around Thermop on his bicycle and he personally guided us to the Dairyland. We as Harold what his favorite pickup lines were, as he professed his "love for the ladies". He ponders the question for a bit then blurts out "Take it or leave it". We blew milkshake out of our noses.

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After the malt shoppe we hit up the library and then try to figure out camping. I find a baseball diamond that looks great for camping and I report this to the troops. As we head there at 8:30pm though, we see the parking lot is jammed packed and there are games raging under the lights. Opps! Off to plan B. We had no plan B actually, but Kiki takes charge and leads us around and eventually we end up in a small plot of desert on the outskirts of an apartment complex. We all agree it looks like it'll do especially since it's getting dark.

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Camping turned out fine in our small plot of desert and we set out after drinking some coffee. Aaron informs us that we're gonna have to split up for a bit because his knee is not feeling well. He decides to make Casper in 4-5 days versus the 2 days it will take us. Saddened, we bid Aaron farewell until the next festival.