Nomad Spring - Weeks 6-7 (Wyoming-Bellingham)

Part 7 of blog posts from my 7 week road trip!

Leaving Trader Joes in Boulder, CO Friday evening, Brownloaf was heading north towards Wyoming.  Next stop-Curt Gowdy State Park, between Cheyenne and Laramie.  Driving through Fort Collins, I was wishing it was earlier in the day so I could visit Van Cafe, a vanagon supplier who’s supplied many parts for the Brownloaf.

Fridge stocked-up for the next leg of the journey.

I’d never heard of Curt Gowdy before finding it on Trailforks.  Located in southern Wyoming, it turns out it’s an IMBA Epic mountain bike destination with some seriously fun trails.

Entering Curt Gowdy (photo from daylight the next day).

Looking out across massive state park, Curt Gowdy (photo from next day).

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Arriving in the dark on Friday night, it was difficult to find an open campsite, despite the state park’s massive size and fact that it was still May.  After finally finding an empty site, I hiked uphill until getting cell service, checked the reservation status of my site (because the sites were not “tagged” in-person, and found that it was reserved by someone already.  Worried the reservation holders would arrive, but knowing that it was after 10pm already, I decided to stay for the night and risk an unpleasant awakening.  Talking with the friendly locals in the neighboring site, they informed me that there is in fact a first-come-first-served area on the other side of the lake…  Due to the nervous night, I completely forgot about the historic aurora borealis show and missed the entire event.

Saturday morning, I fired up the van and did some exploring in the daylight.  Turns out the first-come-first-served area was the place to be, with beautiful lakefront sites.  Things are starting to look up!

Lakefront site.  First-come-first-served FTW!

Settled in and able to fully relax now, I could make a plan for the day and enjoy not needing to travel for the next 24 hours.

Relaxed morning.

Curt Gowdy has a massive network of trails and an interesting mix of geography.  Several lakes, creeks, waterfalls, sagebrush, pine forest, and endless granite boulders made for a beautiful playground.

Super fun and impressive trail construction.

Aspen groves

Reservoirs

Great trail feature signage.

Love this one.

Trail through the rocks.

Nutty rock face climb.  See the trail?

The trail builders have done an incredible job creating mountain bike specific trails that use the natural terrain very well.  Such a surprising and fun place to ride!

Looking out across Curt Gowdy State Park.

Having all day, I ended up riding 37 miles and doing repeated laps on some of my favorite trails.

Sunday morning Brownloaf was back on the road, bound for northern Wyoming.  But first, a stop at nearby recreation area, Vedauwoo.  My friend and former boss, Mike, had told me a lot about Vedauwoo.  Rare to be driving across Wyoming, it was a must-stop destination.

Breakfast outside the gated Vedauwoo road.

Being early in the season, the roads and camping across Vedauwoo were still closed.  However, the trails were still open and offered a great morning hike opportunity.

Beautiful diverse landscape.

Old dam among the aspens.

Wandering through granite boulders, it was reminiscent of Joshua Tree, CA, but with aspens, pines, wetlands, and creeks.

New vs old adventure vehicles - which do you prefer?

After the hike, I was back on the road and headed for my friend Mike’s house in Ranchester, WY, far to the north near Sheridan and the Montana border.  

Windy Wyoming.

Accidental VW photo that turned out kinda cool.

Wyoming is vast and sparsely populated, with endless windy plains and sagebrush.  As I approached Sheridan, the hillsides became green and the Bighorn Mountains filled the horizon to my left.

Bighorns "on your left!"

Arriving in Ranchester, I was greeted by the beautiful family of my friend and former boss, Mike Blumenshine.  Mike, Michele; their children, Juneau, Ezra, and Amelia; and Michele’s father, Arden.  Pizza from Tongue River Brewing Company hit the spot after a long day of driving.

Blumenshines checking out Brown Loaf.

Ranch Blumenshine.

After dinner, we went for a family bike ride down the driveway.  This would become a pleasant and memorable daily routine.

Evening rides, Bighorns and Cloud Peak Wilderness on the horizon.

The kids had fun climbing these gravel mounds but had to take baths afterwards!  Sorry mom and dad.

The Blumenshines were gracious hosts and quickly incorporated me into their daily activities.  The kids are homeschooled and were very outgoing, showing an interest in everything and spending much of their time outside.

Juneau enjoying the new swing set.

More evening bike rides!

I was truly spoiled by the hospitality, food, and lifestyle of the Blumenshines.  They live the Wyoming way indeed!  Mike and Michele both graduated from the University of Wyoming, where the official theme is “the world needs more cowboys.”  I think I can start to understand that meaning now.

So many fresh eggs!

Deer steak for breakfast?  Yes please!

Most of my week with the Blumenshines was spent simply enjoying the Wyoming way of life.  Later in the week, I got into the Bighorn Mountains, the nearby range that beckons from the horizon.

Definitely need to come back and visit Cloud Peak Wilderness, in the distance.

The nearby trailhead is Tongue River Canyon, just outside the picture perfect town of Dayton, Michele’s hometown just a few miles down the road from Ranchester.

Early start before work.

Tonge River Canyon.

Eye of the Needle rock.

The Tongue River trail started out as an intermediate river trail but after a couple miles, turned into a steep and primitive ribbon climbing the meadowed valley away from the river.

Well maintained lower trail.

Up into the high country.

After a few more miles and lots of hike-a-bike, it was time to turn around and enjoy the 5 mile descent back to the van.

The ribbon of singletrack was a fun descent.

Hard to believe it was already Friday, it was time for a hard goodbye and a few hours of driving before sunset.  

Hanging Old Glory on the shop was quite the project for Mike and me!

The plan for Saturday was to visit Yellowstone for my first time, so I basically drove as close to the park as I could get before running out of daylight.  Driving east to west across Wyoming was even better than the south to north journey the weekend before.  The Bighorn Mountains offered up some of the most rugged highway on the journey yet.

Almost over the Bighorn Range.  Wild descending road in second video below.

After passing through Cody, WY, “the rodeo capital of the world,” I was back into the mountains approaching Yellowstone.  Outside of the park, there are handfuls of Forest Service campgrounds to choose from.  These “primitive” campgrounds are often the sweet spot between cost and convenience, and what many of Whitney and my favorite places are.

Cody Rodeo

Nice (and cheap!) little FS campground outside Yellowstone.

Chips from Tucson and salsa.

A trail right from the campground.

Saturday morning, I was on the road and into Yellowstone National Park before the entry rangers.  I’ll let the photos tell most of the story.

Climbing into Yellowstone NP.

Yellowstone Lake and the Grand Tetons.

Yellowstone Lake was still mostly frozen.

Back to the west side (of the divide)!

Old Faithful

Bikes are allowed on some trails - a fun quick way to see things.

Lots of mesmerizing pools.

My take away from Yellowstone - touristy, yes; but worth visiting anyways.  There are so many things to see and do.  It’s really a special place with so many sights it kinda blows your mind.  Geology, wildlife, history, people watching 🙂, you name it!

Exiting Yellowstone into Montana.

Leaving Yellowstone and entering Montana, I finally reached I-90 and settled in for hours of 65+ mph and semi-truck drafting to Missoula.  My friend Andy Luhn coined the term “water boarding” for drives like this.  Further evidence that interstates are the worst way to travel.

Beautiful Montana

Arriving in Missoula, I had an hour before dinner with my cousin Konner and his family, so a quick Marshall Mountain lap was in store.  Last time I rode Marshall was 2012 and the trails were brand new then.  Some new ones have since been added and it was a fun quick lap checking them out.

Marshall Mountain biking

Making it to dinner at Konnor’s house in Missoula, I was greeted by his lovely wife Hayley and their two girls, Lennon and Logan.  This was a very special gathering, being the first time I’d had the pleasure of meeting their kids!  Konnor and I grew up in a close family, and spent much of our youth together.

Lennon and I had fun building towers.

Konnor and Hayley cooked a delicious dinner and we enjoyed their patio and vibrant backyard.  It was a wonderful overnight stop and chance to be with family.

Sunday morning, I was back on I-90, sigh…  But at least now motivated by the thought of being home.  Well, sort of home.  My next destination was my mom’s house in Renton where Whitney lives during the school year.

A shame to not have more time to go slow across Montana.

A short-ish drive, I was in Renton by 3 something.  It really was a shame to race the interstate across Montana without time to explore.  Thankfully, the trip provided so many other experiences and opportunities to go slow.

Hello, old friend.

Staying in Renton for a couple days was a nice way to catch up with Whitney, my mom, and our two cats.  

Reunited with Whitney and enjoying some prime biking near Renton.

Also reunited with "the cutens."

Finally, after what now felt like a quick drive (only two hours), I was home to Bellingham on Wednesday, May 22.

Home to Bellingham after 7 weeks on the road.

What a journey this road trip was.  To be away from home for 7 weeks is not something I have done since college, 11+ years earlier.  And to cover nearly 5000 miles in a 41 year old VW van that I’ve owned for 20 years… leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy.  It was an adventure and it has me hooked!

Route overview - 4781 miles!

Some data for the nerds, like me.  Proud of Brown Loaf.