Day 10- Grand Teton NP to Hebgen Lake.

125 miles.

We made breakfast and headed towards Yellowstone. We crossed the Divide a couple more times and stopped to see Old Faithful. A lot of waiting, build up, anticipation, but not much of a show. We got wet though.
We continued through the west side of the park and stopped at Norris Geyser Basin, which is very, very cool.
Because of Rudi's tire, we did not explore the northern or eastern parts of the park.
We left the park and ate lunch in West Yellowstone and headed towards Hebgen Lake to meet up at the base camp for the Buffalo Field Campaign.
We were welcomed and unloaded our gear and headed down to the lake for a swim. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sitting around and talking to a few of the volunteers. We made dinner on a real stove and continued hanging out into the night. We were going to wake up and watch the meteor shower in the middle of the night, but the full moon lit the sky up too much. We camped on the front lawn.









Fattys waiting.



A squirt and some steam.



Midway Geyser Basin.



Some buffalo.



Montana. USA.



Slanty shanty.






Home for the night.

Bug Report.
7/10
Today was pretty good. Caught a lot of little guys near the lake.

Day 9- Dubois to Grand Teton NP

144 miles.

I slept well and late. We went next door to the Cowboy Cafe for breakfast and I made sure to get some of their pie togo. As we were leaving town we had a little scare with Rudi's bike when the oil light came on briefly. We topped up and headed towards Jackson.
They're still doing a ton of construction over the pass and it ate up a lot of time.
We eventually made it to Jackson and stopped at the market to stock up on food. I noticed that Rudi's tire was wearing super fast, less than 3,000 miles and it was almost bald. The closest place that could get us a tire was in Missoula, Montana almost 500 miles away. We told them we'd be there by Saturday.
We cruised through the park, which took way longer than we expected and we were looking for some of Rudi's friends who do the Buffalo Field Campaign. By the time we figured out where they were we were on opposite ends of the park and it was getting late.
We got a spot at Lizard Creek CG, it was alright, but this was the second National Park we've been to on this trip that has contracted out their campgrounds to private companies and they charge insane rates. $20.50 at Teton and $25.00 at Mesa Verde. It's criminal.
Anyway, we went for a swim in Jackson Lake, made dinner and crashed out early.



Snake River and the Tetons.



Jackson Lake.


Babe mobile.

Bug Report.
5/10
Nothing like yesterday, but a few guys.

Day 8- Grand Lake to Dubois.

383 miles.

We left Rocky Mountain National Park early in the morning because we knew we had a long day ahead of us. At the entrance to the park is the Grand Lake Cemetery, where our grandmother is buried. We stopped there and planted some Columbine seeds. She died 14 years ago, but I still miss her dearly.
We headed north to Wyoming and followed a river for awhile, river roads are always super fun for me. Rudi's bike was finally handling well and he was blasting.
Once we got into southern Wyoming it started to get pretty windy and flat and Rudi was questioning why the hell we were there. Eventually the mountains appeared in the distance. We were planning on camping up in the mountains above Dubois, I was there last summer for a job and knew of a few awesome places. By the time we got into Dubois we were both pretty pooped and decided to get a hotel instead. It was my first shower and bed in 8 days, it felt great.



Our grandmother's grave.


Willow Creek Pass.


Mummified police.



Rand, CO.


Wyoming, USA.

Bug Report.
10/10
It was a fucking bug holocaust. I guess this explains why we've been getting eaten by Mosquitos so much, payback.

Day 7- Angel of Shavano Falls to Grand Lake

222 miles.

We packed up first thing and headed out on the road. Stopped for coffee and a bite to eat in Buena Vista and then continued through the mountains. We went through Leadville and Climax, which has the world's largest molybdenum mine, it also sits at 11,360'.
We stopped in Winter Park to ride the alpine slide. We used to go there as kids and it was still super fun. We continued into Grand Lake and stopped at the Post Office. Rudi had a pair of shocks sent to him from his shop in Santa Barbara because his were toast.
We went into the Park and got a spot at Timber Creek. It's a pretty shitty campground to be honest. It's just a big flat open space with no trees and the sites are super close to each other. We set up and rode into town and do laundry. We used to come here every summer until we were 14, our grandmother lived here and our great grandparents were pioneers in the town. Our great grandfather had a store that supplied the miners and was the postmaster. It is also the headwaters to the Colorado River, I bet all my pee as a kid has finally reached LA. Drink up. Not much had changed since the last time I was there.
We rode back to our campsite. I installed Rudi's shocks and he made dinner. We crashed out by 10.



Some alpine lake.



Moon dude.


Mountains.


Berthoud Pass.


Alpine slide.



Rudi, scared.



More alpine slide.



Zoooooooommm!!



Think of this when you drink tap water in LA.



Chomp.

Bug Report.
7/10
We hit a lot early in the morning, especially in the meadow outside of Leadville. Nothing to crazy though.

Day 6- Mesa Verde to Angel of Shavano Falls

287 miles.

We packed up our gear and Lazer's and brought her into Cortez. She has to wait a few more days before her clutch cable comes. Brian also headed on his own way.
Reaching Durango was a big deal for us. It's the start of going north finally. We took Highway 550 from Durango to Silverton. It is bike heaven there, twisties that make you think you're going in a circle. I loved every minute of it. Rudi is getting way better at riding these roads, I guess now is a good time to let everyone know his experience level. He bought his first bike in April, he's ridden mopeds with me years ago, but that's it. It's so awesome that he decided to do this trip with me after only riding for a couple months.
We hit a few more little passes and then finally hit the monster pass, Monarch Pass. It's the first part on our trip where we cross the Continental Divide and it's at 11,312'. The old Beemers did well and charged it.
We found a Forest Service road near Salinda, CO and decided to look for a place to camp. We scored huge, after passing the $15 campground and following the dirt road we found a perfect clearing next to a waterfall. A local driving by told us it's called Angel of Shavano Falls. Rudi made a ripping dinner and we crashed hard.

Bug Report.
9/10
Finally!!! Today was awesome, I'm covered in bugs. Big ones, little ones, juicy ones, butterflies, you name it.



Splat!!!!




Brian and his beast.



Me as a mule with Lazer and Rudi.



Butterfly.



The Rockies.



Road porn.



Monarch Pass.



A strip mine.



Angel of Shavano Falls.



Rudi at the falls.



Chef Rudi.



Blurry, but delicious.



Home for the night.

Day 5- Mesa Verde NP

51 miles.

Today was a chill day. Erik, Julie and Julie's family took off in the morning. So Rudi, Jessica and I cruised around the park and went into some of the cave dwellings. It's pretty amazing what the people who lived there 1000 years ago did.
In a parking lot I saw a huge, fully loaded BMW R1200GS with Alaska plates. Started talking to the guy and he's been on the road since last year and is traveling all around the Americas. His name is Brian Stanfill and he has a blog called www.hasadv.com. He was on his way to check out the cave dwellings, but we invited him to stay at our site.
The rest of the day was spent napping, taking a shower, updating my blog, and getting to know Brian. It was an excellent day.

Bug Report.
2/10
Weak day for the bugs. Sorry.







Spruce Tree House.



Spruce Tree House. 95% original.



Rudi in Balcony House.



The crew.



Inside a Kiva.



Balcony House.



Cliff Palace.



Roadtrip!!