Blue Highways...and other ramblings

"My rambling metaphysics was getting caught in the trap of reducing experience to coherence and meaning, letting the perplexity of things disrupt the joy in their mystery. To insist that diligent thought would bring an understanding of change was to limit life to the comprehensible."


Some cool words from William Least Heat Moon, who I am reading right now. Blue Highways 'A Journey Into America' rings true in many ways for me. Least Heat Moon was a professor at Mizzou when he took a break to get away from life and everything else and toured the states. My sabbatical is nothing nearly as large, but it's fun to see what I can relate to.


Here's another passage about the West: "Space west of the line is perceptible and often palpable, especially when it appears empty, and it's that apparent emptiness which makes matter look alone, exiled, and unconnected. Those spaces diminish man and reduce his blindness to the immensity of the universe; they push him toward a greater reliance on himself, and, at the same time, to a greater awareness of others and what they do. But, as the space diminishes man and his constructions in a material fashion, it also - paradoxically - makes them more noticeable. Things show up out here."



So...I'm trying to appreciate the space and not understand anything. Roughly.


Basalt columns, above. Mammoth Hot Springs, below.


I'd like to think that my looks are in tune with that of the beautiful shots above. However, that's a lie. I need a shower. Here's a look at life on the road.

Breakfast, above. I try not to cook any meals except for dinner. Last night I had pasta and then some soup. The previous night I had tuna fillets!


Typical lunch. Sandwiches for royalty! Perhaps mini-royalty.


A Park Ranger unsuccessfully pulling over some elk! And me needing a shower.


Oh, and I took a video while driving on gravel with one hand past a herd of buffalo. One of those super-smart moves! Not as bad as the following day when I drove within five feet of a huge buff (bigger than the bike and I combined) because he (I'm assuming it was male or else it was one huge bitch) wouldn't move off the road!

From Such Great Heights

Las cascadas...los saltos...que increible!


The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is really quite cool.


I spent most of Thursday touring the areas around the canyon. The great rock colors, which I don't think turned out too well in my photos, are another result of volcanic activity. Water trickling down the rocks over time have brought out different minerals, depending on the temperature of the water, which result in an awe-inspiring canyon.

It's Getting Hot In Here...

...except for in the mornings, which are freaking freezing.


Um...so Yellowstone is a gigantic volcano. Not so surprisingly, there are many thermal areas!


It is an awesome park.



Most of these are from the southwest corner of the park where the majority of the major thermal action is. Of course, I spent a lot of time around Old Faithful. However, I also got to see Grand Geyser and several smaller ones erupt. Amazing.




Ain't she Faithful?! I guess she's Old as well!

I'm Going to Jackson, Way Down in Jackson Town

If Wyoming were to described in a word, I would choose GUSTY. I was blown all over the road in this state thanks to outrageous winds. Areas such as the Wind Indian Reservation and Wind Creek Range are aptly named!

The pass from central Wyoming through Teton National Forest is amazing. The Tetons open up before on the way down. With the fall colors it was breathtaking!



I headed down to Jackson, or Jackson Hole, to visit my friend Kelsey Dayton, who works here at the News and Guide newspaper. She's a fellow Mizzou J-School alum.

The National Elk Refuge is right outside of Jackson, thus the four arches made of elk antlers that adorn the town square.

Kelsey nearly killed me on Monday with a ridiculous climb into Avalanche Canyon in Grand Teton National Park. It was more that I nearly killed myself by failing to bring enough water. Luckily the few sips I took from some streams and lakes hasn't come back to hurt me...yet!



It was primarily a game trail that some hikers dare to take...we spotted a bear, and perhaps her cub, as well as a momma and baby moose! It was an excellent day.


A baby moose and his mother. And the small dot in the lower right of the below photo is a black bear. Higher up was another dot, which we believe might have been a younger bear.

Kelsey also taught me that faking animal calls is illegal in national parks. Yet she couldn't resist when pressured to make her elk bugle. Thus my friend, the illegal Elk Bugler!

WY?!? because I wanna

Northern Colorado into southern Wyoming is simply beautiful. I encountered my first rain. Thanks to Tim's righteous gear I didn't even know that it was raining, save the water on my face shield. Otherwise I spent about 6 hours crossing the high plains/plateaus of Wyoming.

Mea and Tim in Rocky Mountain National Park where we hiked early Friday.


I went up through central Wyoming to meet my high school friend Nick Britt for a relaxing day along the North Platte River. Nick and his friends were up to fly fish.

I came; I saw;I tried; I failed.



Fly fishing can be awesome to watch in person. There were easily over a dozen anglers near the Gray Reef Reservoir dam just above us on the river. It's an art to master the rhythm of fly fishing and I was happy to relax and enjoy the views from our campsite on the bank.



I tried for several hours but didn't want to spend the whole day frustrated! And Nicky can spice up just about anything...like trying to spin in my helmet!

36,570

That's the starting mileage.



I left Denver on Thursday to encounter quite a few firsts with Meaghan and Tim in the car ahead of me. I had less than 5 miles experience on the bike, both loaded and unloaded, before setting out.

Within a mile of the house I encountered my first first: an interstate. Namely I-25, running 5 lanes wide through Denver during rush hour! Luckily all went well!



About 20 miles later we were coming into Boulder when Tim and Mea pull over with distraught looks on their faces. I understood as soon as I began to slow down and realized that my front tire was flat! Again, no accidents or mishaps. We changed the front tube...and it hasn't been a problem since.

Then some night riding and gravel riding were added on top of everything else as we made our way into Estes Park to camp for the evening.


I'm hoping that I got most of the frightening things out of my system early.