VFR Discussion Group -> Wyoming

Chief Joesph Scenic Highway

2 new Videos!!

2 months ago I took a week long trip to Montana via Wyoming, the time has come to show you the great riding I found in northern Wyoming. I mostly rode along 1-25 because of concerns over time. You can't make up time like you can riding on the interstates. It has its moments, like the silhouettes of Buffalo, Jackalopes, and the state mascot a Cowboy on a Bucking Bronco. They have them located on the top of hillsides to spruce up the sparse nature of the interstate. Honestly riding I-25 is a bit of a boring ride, and you can become overwhelmed by the site of so much roadkill, I have never seen so many carcases in my life as what I witnessed on the road there. What actually made it onto the road was beaten to a furry pulp while the worse of it died on the side of the road. Its carnage all over the place.

It seems if you want to control the animal population on the plains you just build an interstate.

I gassed up in the State Capital Cheyenne, not too long after Katrina with the first wave of high gas prices, where I got a talking to by some dude who thought that riding a motorcycle at the time was an extravagance?? He mentioned something to the gas station attendant that President Bush stated that Americans should not be driving unnecessarily. Yea whatever I am sure my employer is going to let me reschedule my vacation time till President Bush says its OK?? Just another friendly Wyoming-an I met? I seem to have met all the assholes in Wyoming on that trip, I mean there are only what 30 people living there, how come so many of them turned out to be mean to me? :goofy:

I did meet a nice little punk rock girl in Cheyenne and asked her for directions, she was kind and sort of cute save the nose ring and the piercings around her eye?? She showed me a short cut back to I-25. She was out 4 wheeling with her metro-sexual boyfriend, well more like Hom.....nevermind. He was saying stuff to her while she was giving me directions, "I don't know how rich you are, but gas is Expensive, lets GOew" in a valley girl sort of voice. She told him to shut up cause she was giving me directions. He had on some sort of velvet ears like a court fool?? weirdo!

Off I went back on the highway where I fell into a trance counting the smashed fur spots and the occasional deer carcase on the road till I made it to Casper. I had visions of meeting a friendly ghost but instead I saw a long haired woman with hairy man arms!! I mean muscular hairy man forearms. I watched the manager man-ling of a woman of the local Conoco station manhandle 20 lb bags of ice. One by one she tossed them effortlessly as I listened to her pour out every little detail of her dire financial straits and her sordid love life in a matter of five minutes. The time it took to fill my tank. I know all about her debt situation and her dead beat boyfriend, the doof she was waiting on the releive her for her shift who was 2 hours late....and well......Girl I feel for ya but please, please, use some Nair or something on those hairy arms!! I am sure Conaco sells disposable shavers?? It was so so unattractive, she was saying all this to her crack head assistant manager girl with hair 4 times taller than herself and chain smoking at the same time? Now that is a catch fellas, I think I actually peeled out at full throttle leaving a rubber patch when I finally left the parking lot...........trying to escape the depression of Casper........one good thing though gas is 40 cents cheaper there than the rest of the country.

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I25 Amber Waves Of Grain

Riding for a couple more hours I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful country around Sheridan, its a pretty place, I stayed the night there and on the rack was this postcard below.

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Shell Canyon Switchbacks

I asked the attractive clerk there where this place was and planned an alternate route to ride that fantastic road the next day...hey when you see a road like that you don't go around it!!

Most the women in Wyoming are attractive, especially compared to those Conoco Amazons but the women I saw in Sheridan were special, I will stop there from now on!! Must be something in the water?

Next day I rode Shell Canyon and rode the Big Horn Mountain Range.

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Approaching Shell Canyon

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Now it gets twisty

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Shell Canyon Big Horn Mountains What a Blast to ride

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Moose

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Big Horn Basin 10 % steep grades going down the west side and damaged road surfaces made the decent tricky

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Shell Canyon Switchbacks Begin Um double that speed limit and your in the neighborhood, much more to go!

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Scraping a little peggage!!

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10% grade on the Western Decent


Shell Canyon VIDEO ONE
:media:
(IMG:http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/uploads/links/[747-link]Resize_of_IMG_0446.JPG) Riding down Shell Canyon

10 minutes runtime, 768 k/sec sample rate wmv

Once I rode down the steep western slope of the Big Horns you end up in the Big Horn valley and cross the Big Horn river where there are several faming communities. I got a ticket in Byron for riding 42 in a 30mph zone, according to the town cop in a brand spanking new Dodge Durango with all the high tech gizmo's and radar of even the most modern metro police department would have. I know exactly how they paid for it!! $80 freaking bucks fine thats how!!

Your the one that passed me right??

I decided to make a side trip over Beartooth Pass but come to find out the pass was closed, I actually rode over to the top of it but the the best part was closed. It was rather bumpy and well not nearly as fun as the road I had just come over. Chief Joesph Scenic Highway wow all I can say is Wow. That place just blew me away, and I sort of had a talking too by a guy on a Harley who I had passed on the way up. He stopped me and we had a conversation...its in the video sort of funny actually. Nice guy really I had to get him in the video.

Chief Joesph Scenic Highway VIDEO TWO
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(IMG:http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/uploads/links/[746-link]Resize_of_IMG_0481.JPG) Wyoming Scenic Hwy 296

13 minutes runtime 768 k/sec wmv



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Chief Joesph Highway

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Bald Peak

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Chief Joesph Scenic Highway Scenic Overview

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Chief Joesph Scenic Highway


All in all besides the fine I had to pay Wyoming was a nice place to ride, my dad borrowed my bike and rode up there 2 weeks ago and took these smashing photos of the Grand Tetons


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Jackson Lake

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Jackson Lake Grand Tetons

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Grand Tetons


I rode through Yellowstone and was not so impressed I took video and a then my camera gave out and stopped working so no stills I will save that video till later.

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map


[image: Click for full size]
Big Horn Range Hwy 14 click for full size version

Attached is the streets and trips file of the days ride in Wyoming

Man I love your posts about trips you take.
They're like a mini-vacation for me after work.
Awesome video abn stills.

Thanks for sharing.

sPOTO

Thanks for helping with the PMS, H/S. Your buddy on the Harley was an absolute riot. Don't you just love it when something like that happens and you know you have a recorder going! :blink:

Two of the guys in our group use communicators, and they're constantly messing with the damn things. We stopped at a gas station and this kid came up and asked what they had the walkie-talkies for. They were trying to explain the whole thing and the kid wasn't buying it. It was absolutely priceless and, yes, I had a camera going. :goofy:

God, you ride in beautiful country. Thanks for sharing the ride and the tunes. :thumbsup:

Some kids cant be reasoned with, my nephew comes to mind.

Oooh, look how close Billings is to all this. I'm moving there soon (hopefully) and plan on riding 212, Chief J and 14 quite a bit.

I wonder how cold it gets on top of those passes in the summer. Maybe time for some heated gear?

Thanks - Fanstatic! :thumbsup:

Fantastic :thumbsup: Slammer although a bit strange watching you ride on the wrong side of the rode, the brain just can't get around that one :blink: and those double lines must have a different meaning in America :D
Oh i wish we had some mountains like that here in West Aussie she is pretty much flat as a tack, you are blessed!
How do you put the footage together like that that would be great to learn.

GREAT STUFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Slammer, Great ride report!!! I see you got a ticket on US14. Let me relate my experience this past August on that section of road. I trailered my bike and my son's bike from Illinois to Seattle in August. While in Washington State did a little riding with my son, the Olympic Range and Mt St Helens.

On the way back we stopped in Yellowstone for a few days, and I agree with you unimpressed, although it rained most of our time there. We exited Yellowstone from the east entrance, which is under major construction. We stayed in Cody, Wy and left there to head back to Illinois. We got into the Big Horn National Forest on US 14 and the sky cleared up and my wife knowing that I had not gotten as much riding in during the trip suggested that I unload my bike and we could meet in Sheridan, WY. I thought that sounded like a fantastic idea.

I took off on US 14 headed east, having the time of my life. Riding most of the time in the flat midwest this was like heaven. I took it easy at first, then slowly started to quicken the pace. I got to where the road started to straighten out so I turned around and went back the way I came, got halfway back up and I passed my wife as she was coming down. I went all the way back to Shell, WY and turned back to the east. This was a Thursday so the traffic was really light, I didn't encounter more that 10 vehicles in the 60 miles to Dayton, WY.

As I was entering Dayton I was doing about 45 mph or so I thought. Coming in the other direction was a local police car, I didn't think anything about it until I see him make a U turn after we passed. He speeds up and gets close to me and then turns on his lights. I pull over and remove my helmet, he walks up to me and said he clocked me at 46 in a 40. All he does is ask me to slow it down and I say absolutely, he thanks me and I thank him and off I go at 40 mph.

My wife and I meet back up in Sheridan and she asked me how my ride was and I respond with how would she like to move to Wyoming. For about 2 hours I experienced roads and views that we in Illinois dream about. I envy those of you that have this on a regular basis.

Well Wy 14 is one of the main roads to Yellowstone so the cops have a steady stream of tourist of which to pluck fines from, The darn court date was 3 days from the time I got the ticket, by which time I was in Montana already. Its a con for sure, a revenue stream, they know who lives there and who doesn't only 33 people live in Wyoming LOL.

See the previous post on Montana if you havent already

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15007

Thanks for the ride report & videos.

:D