07/18/2024 Cody, WY Beartooth Highway Ride

Currently in Cody, WY and it is beautiful. Yesterday we took a ride on the famous Beartooth Highway. It did not disappoint. There were so many great photos it was hard to narrow it down to a few to put in the post.

We went Rt. 120 to Rt. 296. to get to the Rt. 212 the Beartooth Highway. Rt. 296 was a good warmup for Beartooth with many switch backs and curves while climbing up a mountain ridge and back down (edit: Known as Clarks Fork River Canyon).

Once we got to 212 we turned left to do the short section to the West. We went until we hit the North East entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Turned around and back to a little town named Silver Gate which is considered to be the western start point of the Beartooth Highway. Stopped at a place called Log Cabin Cafe and grabbed some breakfast. If you are ever in the area we highly recommend this place. I had the Steelhead Trout special with hash browns and it was so very good.

Heading back to the East after breakfast Nancy spotted a waterfall and we stopped to see Crazy Creek Falls. A very nice stop except for the bugs. 

A short video of the falls. 

The rest of the ride was fantastic. Enough twisties and switchbacks to satisfy any biker and the scenery back drop that was some of the best I have seen riding. Incredible. Easy to see why this is one of the highest rated motorcycle roads in the country.

We saw signs for "Open Range" ranching that means no fencing to keep the cattle contained ... and away from the road. And sure enough we saw many small groups of cattle beside the road and crossing the road right in front of us.

As we rose in elevation we saw less cattle and more highland lakes and ponds. From the lower elevations we saw patches of snow up the higher peaks. Now we were riding right next to and looking down at the snow.

We were so lucky that the weather was sunny and clear and stayed in the lower 60's for most the ride. We had some layers and leather just in case. It did briefly dip below 60 but not for long. It felt good after all the heat in the Black Hills of South Dakota. 

At one pull off location there was a plaque that showed some history of the Beartooth Highway.

Just a few more pictures to show and it was very hard to decide which ones to post.

Highpoint of the ride. Worth stopping for as it had a short hike to a wide angle view. A short video at the end try's to show that view.

Video of the highpoint vista.

TTFN

Doug and Nancy

    Today, on the advice of a friend, we traveled to the town of Spearfish and road the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway towards Cheyenne Crossing along Rt. 14a. The Weather was great with lots of sun and cool early in the morning. It was a welcome change after yesterday's afternoon ride home in the heat.

    The road had many gentle curves compared to Needles Highway (I will post on that soon, promise) and was a very relaxing ride. The scenery was the best we have had so far. We stopped at Bridal Falls and The Devil's Bath Tub, which is a popular hiking trail but not as pretty a Bridal Falls. Bridal Falls was worth stopping for. 

Devils Bathtub.

Amazing road and pleasant to the eye.

    In our rush to ride in the cool morning air, we had skipped breakfast. At the intersection of Rt. 85 we saw a store and Nancy suggested we stop. Turned out it was an excellent decision.

Turns out it has a Cafe and the food was outstanding. The historical marker talked about the significance of the road intersection or "crossing" and a couple pictures of the food.

Nancy had Sarah's Special Strawberry Pancakes with sausage and we shared a side of a buffalo sausage patty. 

I had the Indian Taco which is built on top of Indian bread from a local recipe.

Unbelievable how good it was. We vowed to come back before we leave. There was a woman, we forget her name, at the checkout who had in-depth knowledge of the roads in the area and helped us make some decisions for the rest of the day's ride. So if you are ever in the area look this place up. 

    We went right on Rt. 85 towards Wyoming and crossed the state line. We hit a plateau and had some wonderful views with many snow fences. There were signs about road closures if they were blinking. I bet that happens a lot in the winter.

    We turned back and did the canyon road again. This time stopping at Rough Lock Falls. A short 1-mile ride on a dirt road but very passable for motorcycles.

A short hike gave you another view and you could see the lower part of the falls.

This is a panoramic shot from the parking area of the falls. If you click the picture it gets larger and shows more detail.

    We found another way home via Lead and Nemo. Rt. 385 had a road closing we hit yesterday and were looking for a better way to get from Rapid City/Custer State Park back to Sturgis without using Interstate 90 West. This turned out to be a great road and ends back in Sturgis near Exit 32 Off 90 West.

In the Lead/Deadwood area go South on Rt. 385 which heads towards Nemo. Take the Nemo Road to Nemo and take Rt. 26 North. This was hard to find with some more road construction right at the intersection and the road is not well marked. 

Once back in Sturgis we stopped at the Sturgis Harley Davidson shop and got more stuff. Because why not?

TTFN.

End.

 

The blog I found this link from states that this video appeared right after his 60 Minutes story that aired recently. I admittedly did not see the 60 minutes piece and I’m not sure if was positive or negative towards Deion and what he is doing as a coach at Jackson State University and I do not care to find out. I have not always liked Deion because he was always too flashy and cocky for my taste. He is a gifted athlete and always backed up his off-field talk on the field. But I do love what I see here and WE NEED MORE OF THIS TYPE OF LEADERSHIP FOR OUR YOUTH.

What is prophetic is his references in the speech concerning what would happen if this type of speech was recorded and leaked, and why today’s coaches can’t talk LIKE HE IS. I’m guessing that thanks to the 60 minutes story this video was shared and we are better for it.

Today we need more leaders, coaches, and influencers like this to teach our youth. Not just about sports but life as well. Well done Deion.

 

YouTube Link: Deion Sanders Speech

 

 Talented Lari Basilio - All to You

Lari Basilio - All To You

The Hammock Papers: Olivia Belli, "Sol Novo"

The Hammock Papers: Olivia Belli, "Sol Novo": With Luca Mengoni, violin, and Federico Perpich, cello ...

The most beautiful piece of music I have heard in a long time.

This one will give you the feels. Ernie Johnson's speech to the Alabama Football team gave me the feels big time. Things like this make you reassess what you are doing with your life and I love doing that.

I always liked to listen to Milton Friedman and his debate with Phil Donahue on the Phil Donahue Show back in 1979. The show is in two parts and you can watch it on Youtube. I will put a link to part 1 of 2 at the end of the post. First is this article titled: "The Economist as Scapegoat".

Quote: "I am a big fan of Friedman’s work though I certainly don’t agree with him about everything. But I cannot understand the claim that his ideas have decisively shaped our economic policy or the resulting complex set of consequences that we live with today. Those who blame Friedman (and Hayek) for what has gone wrong in the US — the ones I have quoted above and others such as Joseph Stiglitz — are attacking a straw man of remarkable clumsiness.

I invite these critics of Friedman to respond to the numbers and claims I’ve posted here. I will happily post rebuttals and charts with different numbers."

As of this posting time and date there are 30 replies. Most are positive about the article

The Economist as the Scapegoat.

 Milton Friedman on the Phil Donahue Show Part 1 of 2 - 1979.