The past week and a half has been a full force whirlwind of emotion, adventure, and scenery unlike any I’ve ever witnessed elsewhere in the world.  While I originally intended to only stay in Sheridan for one night I was easily convinced to stay for another, and then for the entire week until the 3rd of July celebration at a ranch out in the countryside.  After a much needed week off (my knees have been problematic but I just pretend they don’t exist so it’s alright) I ended up hitching a ride with fellow Couchsurfer David up into Yellowstone for a few days.  Some people might view this as cheating, and while I’ve avoided accepting rides at any point up until now it was something I honestly felt was both right for the moment and would overall make the trip a more enjoyable experience.  I will admit that I’m slightly down about missing two of the larger climbs of the trip (I’m not being sarcastic, I actually really enjoy insane climbs), but having someone to hang out and travel with for a few days was a welcome change after a mix of constant Hello, Goodbye’s in every town and Riding Solo for the past two months.

Lake Yellowstone in Yellowstone National Park

Needless to be said Yellowstone is breathtaking in its natural beauty, but unfortunately I found it to be somewhat floundered by the presence of constant traffic and an endless supply of tourists (the bad kind).  As a visitor myself, I entirely understand why everyone wants to visit Yellowstone given the amount of unique and unparalleled scenery to be found, but it’s reaching the breaking point where the park service needs to implement stronger visitor population restrictions.  As a national park its purpose is to remain as preserved as possible in its natural state for the benefit of future generations, a goal that will unfortunately remain only half fulfilled given its current visitor numbers (975,000 in July 2010 alone) and absurd extent of lodging developments situated throughout the park.

Approaching the Grand Tetons from the north.

After spending two days travelling around Yellowstone with David I hit the road on my bike again, veering south past the park boundaries and directly into its neighbor, Grand Teton National Park.  I find it odd how hyped Yellowstone is considering how incredibly more scenic I found its smaller cousin.  While smaller and less “tourist friendly” with its lack of roads leading directly to parking lots next to every major attraction as is the case in Yellowstone, the breathtaking majesty that is the Grand Tetons across Lake Jackson is more than enough for me.  Travelling along Park Road I found myself drifting through flat fields that intersect directly into the near perpendicular Tetons, a juxtaposition of horizontal and vertical landscape rarely found to such an extreme degree.  With their steep snow-covered granite faces, the only comparison I can currently make is to the Swiss Alps, but even then they each have their own differences.

The Grand Tetons over Lake Jackson

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Please consider donating to Architecture for Humanity’s fund to help rebuild Sendai, Japan following the Great Tehoku Earthquake & Tsunami this past March. All donations are tax deductible and are received directly by the charity.

No, not interstate as in “between states” (though that did happen), I mean biking on the actually interstate, as in I-90.  While it’s illegal to bike on the interstate (for good reason) in most states, it’s interestingly enough completely legal in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Idaho.  This was a bit of a shock at first, though once you realize that these states often have a total population less than that of San Francisco it starts to make more sense.  Even when I-90 passes through the largest cities in South Dakota and Wyoming it remains a 2 lane divided highway with shoulders wide enough to drive a small car comfortably.  Despite the fact that cars and semi-trucks are racing past at 60-90mph, I’d honestly have to say that driving on the wide shoulder is by in large no more dangerous than biking around my hometown’s residential streets under the constant threat of soccer moms in minivans attempting to blindly run you down.  Now I can’t say I’d recommend biking on the interstate if there’s a reasonable alternative, but in my case there currently truly hasn’t been one for the past two days of biking without going hundreds of miles out of the way.  The rural highways that often became frontage roads during the Eisenhower era of interstate building were unfortunately absorbed by the interstates out here.

My last stop in South Dakota in the city of Spearfish turned out to be possibly be my favourite place in the entire state.  Nestled amongst the Black Hills, its a small town of 19,000 that has the qualities of both my hometown and feels like something you’d expect to find near Lake Tahoe.  The downtown may be small but is filled with a variety of restaurants, bars, and coffeeshops that kept me busy (mostly coffeeshops, I promise) for the 2 days I was in town.  My favourite by far had to be the Alpine Coffee Company on Main St that not only offers bottomless cups of relatively delicious coffee for $1.87, but also shares its central space with the bike shop next door.  As usual I took no pictures of the town or the surrounding area as every time I pulled out my camera I found myself unable to capture a picture that would truly embody what the town is really like, a problem I’ve run into on more than one occasion so far.

Today I get ready to push to the 200 mile mark into Wyoming as I bike to the town of Sheridan, where I’ll have my last stop before heading straight at the Bighorn Mountains and my first 10,000′ mountain pass.

The Martian landscape you find everywhere in Badlands National Park.

Looking out from the Pinnacles Overlook in Badlands NP

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Please consider donating to Architecture for Humanity’s fund to help rebuild Sendai, Japan following the Great Tehoku Earthquake & Tsunami this past March. All donations are tax deductible and are received directly by the charity.

As I sit just outside Badlands National Park, I plan for several days of biking through everything from fast-eroding wasteland, the granite filled Black Hills, the plains of eastern Wyoming, and the extremely steep Bighorn Mountains.  While I my French speaking abilities are on par with that of a cactus plant in the Mexican desert, I put the title in French as it’s one of the origins of the term “badland”, literally translating to “land that is bad to cross.”  Nonetheless it is an amazing landscape of fast eroding peaks that only exist for a short period in the timeline of geological history.

Crossing the 1.5 mile wide Missouri River while a thunderstorm looms up ahead.

The journey across South Dakota has been one that as usual is taking longer than anticipated.  The threat of rain is almost always present, even on days when the skies appear blue and clear.  Despite this I’ve only had one major delay where I found myself stuck in the town of Winner, SD for an extra day as 4-7″ of rain came pouring down from above.  Thankfully I was able to stay out of it and enjoy free wifi at the ever persistent presence of McDonalds.  As much as I normally avoid fast food being able to have free wifi and unlimited [mediocre] coffee has been a bit of a routine amidst this nomadic lifestyle where nothing is constant besides the constantly changing landscape.

Just prior to entering Winner (I’m working backwards, I know) I ran into my first tourist other than myself in over 1000 miles, Daryl from Denver, Colorado.  Despite being a friendly guy, it seems he hasn’t been enjoying the touring life as much as some and is cutting his trip short  of Washington DC in Sioux Falls, where he’ll be renting a truck to go visit his kids up in Fargo, North Dakota.  His blog throughout his trip can be found at SpinforAmerica.com.

To add to the randomness of the people you meet on the road, I had the chance to meet David Richard, founder and president of Wheels for Humanity, who was motorobiking through the northern Midwest with his brother.  Wheels for Humanity is based out of North Hollywood and aims to provide wheelchairs in countries where they might otherwise not be easily available.  With operations in dozens of countries worldwide I’d say they’re meeting their goal rather well.  It’s random happenings like this that just go to show how much smaller the world really is these days.

The amazing Midwest clouds of which I'll never grow tired. Oddly enough 20 minutes after this photo was taken there wasn't a cloud to be seen in the sky.

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Please consider donating to Architecture for Humanity’s fund to help rebuild Sendai, Japan following the Great Tehoku Earthquake & Tsunami this past March. All donations are tax deductible and are received directly by the charity.