Day 16 - Norris to Cody

Distance - 108.3 miles




We awoke to a couple of bison wandering through the campsite (and leaving presents) and a sky that looked friendly, which was promising.

Our ride was about 50 miles to Sylvan Pass, then another 50 or so to Cody. The ride through Yellowstone was great; even from the road we got to see a lot of great sights, including but not limited to
• crowds of lazy buffalo
• several elk
• hot springs and sulfur ponds (pH = 1)
• Lakes, trees, rocks, and a lot of other cool nature related stuff

The climb to Sylvan Pass wasn't too bad, as we only had to go up a paltry 800 ft, but what was surprising was that there was absolutely no sign indicating that we had reached the pass. This in a park where they mark everything with a sign. Nevertheless, we got to the highest elevation we will acheive on the trip (8532 ft).

The ride down the other side of the pass was possibly the best downhill of the trip. It wasn't the fastest, but there was a huge dropoff to one side, and enough turns to keep it fun. Exhilirating is a good word to describe it. A couple miles past the east gate we stopped and had some lunch, and a little rain came down, but didn't last long. Cue foreshadowing music.

The road to Cody was pretty fun. We were following a river through a red walled canyon, so it was slightly downhill, and the wind was behind us. Unfortunately, that same wind also blew in some clouds. The last 22 miles of the trip consisted of almost non stop rain. Luckily it wasn't too cold and the terrain was friendly, so it didn't last too long.

Once we got to Cody, the rain stopped, and we began to look for a place to stay. Let me pause here and say that if you have never been to Cody, all you need to know is that Buffalo Bill is the only worthwhile thing to happen to Cody. The town is literally built around him. After trying and failing to find something free and indoors, we found a really nice motel that was inexpensive and run by the nicest people ever. They let us put our bikes in the garage, and got us a cot so everyone would have a bed.

We should be in Colorado on Monday, and in Otis on Wednesday; we are already excited about getting mail. We are officially out of the mountains, but we still have a few hills to cross before Kansas. It's nice to finally be crossing a lot of state lines.