HERES WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HIT WYOMINGS HIGH COUNTRY IN MID jUNE

[pcombe]

PALLISADES RESIVOUR(just over the Idaho border) from Alpine Junction, where you leave Wyoming below Jackson Hole
GRAND TETONS (Jackson Hole Wy.) FROST EVERY MORNING,REALLY COLD MOST OF THE DAY.
GRAND TETONS (GLAICER VIEW)
A HERD OF BUFFALLO CROSSED THE ROAD IN FRONT ME
LOTS OF CALVES IN THE HERD

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This time of year is a smorgasbord of weather and not for the fair weather rider.

On my way through a few days before this picture was taken I was running my trike through a snow storm with an inch of wet snow on the roads. (Togowotee pass- pronounced toe-got-tee ) (Shoshone word)This type of weather is very common in Wyoming and most folks would be well advised to wait till about the last week of June or into July to run the high country anywhere in Wyoming unless your into polar bear runs as I obviously am just for the unique beauty, bring clothing for all weather conditions.
In the lower elevations it is not impossible to encounter wind speeds greater than the ambient temperature, I got caught in that situation more than once on this trip making travel over 35 miles per hr. a dangerous proposition. Talk about exhausting. I hear news reports of high, dangerous winds in the eastern part of the nation and we really do shrug our shoulders and wonder what the fuss is about? I didn't say I liked it!



CROSSING THE CONTINENTAL DEVIDE AT 9500ft. Outside Dubois, Wyoming

YOGOWOTEE PASS

TOGOWOTTE PASS ON THE CONTINTAL DEVIDE,IN WYOMING.

Outside Ten Sleep, WY.

I put around 1400 miles on my trike last week, I dipped down into S.E. Idaho and headed north to the lost river valley. Took some pictures in the Arco dessert. (wind gusts to 65 MPH that day) Perhaps I will post a few of extinct Volcanoes and the big lost river when I get time.

[Lucky]

Thanks for the pics. Great looking trip. RIDE SAFE

[Rod69]

Great pics pcombe. Looks like a fantastic ride and view.

[Livin2Ride]

We made that trip in June of 2012 and 2013 and sure know what you mean about the fickle weather and the wind. We usually go from Buffalo over the mountains thru Ten Sleep, down to Dubois and then on from there into Idaho and up to Glacier NP. This year we plan to do something different and make this trip in Sept. I hope you stopped in Pickles Place while you were in Arco and had a burger or at least the Cowboy Cafe in Dubois.

[pcombe]

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<img src="images/misc/quote_icon.png" alt="Quote" /> Originally Posted by <strong>Livin2Ride</strong>
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<div class="message">We made that trip in June of 2012 and 2013 and sure know what you mean about the fickle weather and the wind. We usually go from Buffalo over the mountains thru Ten Sleep, down to Dubois and then on from there into Idaho and up to Glacier NP. This year we plan to do something different and make this trip in Sept. I hope you stopped in Pickles Place while you were in Arco and had a burger or at least the Cowboy Cafe in Dubois.</div>

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<img src="images/smilies/grin.gif" border="0" alt="" title="big grin" class="inlineimg" /> I had to bypass pickles place as my cousin Gayla owns the lost river drive-in next door to pickles, They make some good burgers and such too. The drive in has been there as long as I can remember and has been in the family for many, many years.<br />
Gotta remain loyal to the brand you know?<br />
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I shot a few pictures in Arco of numbers hill where graduating classes at Butte county high paint their numbers on the rock.<br />
I guess you know that Arco is the first town in the world to be lit by atomic energy in 1949. The atomic energy commission on the Arco dessert also was run by the navy and they designed, built and tested the first atomic submarines? It was a big hush, hush deal when I was growing up, there were always rumors that weapons were developed out there also. My dad was a tight lipped metallurgist among his other talents and spent some consulting time out there.<br />
I cant remember the power ever going out in the town.<br />
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The site is now controlled by private industry.<br />
On the site itself is the location where the Big Lost river just drops into a hole and disappears underground and comes out again about 130 miles away in a place called 1000 springs, Idaho.<br />
<img src="images/smilies/gah.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Gah" class="inlineimg" /> The drought has been so sever over the last ten or so years I have seldom seen water in the lost river in the Arco vicinity itself as it has been held in Mackay reservoir and diverted elsewhere. When I was a kid I cant remember the river ever being dry. Back then everything was open irrigation.<br />
Even now, Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting!

Spring creek is dry also.<br />
<img src="images/smilies/shrug.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Shrug" class="inlineimg" /> Farming is a real challenge in the valley these days and the family is always struggling for crops.<br />
The big grain elevator in the center of the town was once owned by my grandfather.

[Deadeye]

Thanks for the posting. Great photos. When we ride in your neighborhood it seems almost magical the way the Tetons just poke out of the ground.

[skuuter]

GREAT Pics.....obviously a lot of varied climate changes in the Region.....

[Phill Griggs]

love that ride around ten sleep. figure on snow anytime of the year!

[Livin2Ride]

Hey Pcombe, whats my weather likely to be in Sept? Should I go early or mid month? We are actually cool to cold weather people so a little cold doesn't bother us. We'll try the Drive-in next time we pass thru Arco and tell them you sent us. Anyplace with heat was a good place to stop the last time we went thru Arco. I think the high of the day was 36 and the wind speed was about the same.

[pcombe]

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<img src="images/misc/quote_icon.png" alt="Quote" /> Originally Posted by <strong>Livin2Ride</strong>
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<div class="message">Hey Pcombe, whats my weather likely to be in Sept? Should I go early or mid month? We are actually cool to cold weather people so a little cold doesn't bother us. We'll try the Drive-in next time we pass thru Arco and tell them you sent us. Anyplace with heat was a good place to stop the last time we went thru Arco. I think the high of the day was 36 and the wind speed was about the same.</div>

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</div> That would be a good thing, At least one of the relatives should be at the drive in.<br />
I would suggest that the first week of Sept. would be the best, I have ridden the high country in Wyoming and Montana's Glacier park as late as the second week, Anytime after that may be alright but we normally get first snow at 4500 ft. along the third or fourth week and that's considered the prairie, Frost is likely in the morning and folks are harvesting vegetable gardens around the second week of Sept. so that should tell you something.nothing lasting but the high country can even see non-sticking snow in late Aug.<br />
Normally Sturgis goes on the first week of Aug and the black hills are cold at night.<br />
I usually head in a different direction about that time as Sturgis bores me.<br />
I used to able to have a good time there when I wore a younger mans hair length, and john law had a lighter presence, but I have been there and done that to many times. The last time I was there if it wasn't the same half naked women I seen 35 yrs.

ago they must have sent their mothers in their places?<br />
I guess folks should go to the zoo once a year but I no longer care to sleep with the animals, and think South Dakota fuels their govt. for the next year issuing D.U.I.'s

[oneup]

awesome pics . and if you have more , you have a captive audience. it sure is a beautiful and wild part of the world

[pcombe]

awesome pics . and if you have more , you have a captive audience. it sure is a beautiful and wild part of the world

The picture in your avatar looks allot like Glacier park, Montana.

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Hey Pcombe, whats my weather likely to be in Sept? Should I go early or mid month? We are actually cool to cold weather people so a little cold doesn't bother us. We'll try the Drive-in next time we pass thru Arco and tell them you sent us. Anyplace with heat was a good place to stop the last time we went thru Arco. I think the high of the day was 36 and the wind speed was about the same.

"the high of the day was 36 and the wind speed was about the same?"

Yep you been there done that!

[pcombe]

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<img src="images/misc/quote_icon.png" alt="Quote" /> Originally Posted by <strong>Livin2Ride</strong>
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<div class="message">We made that trip in June of 2012 and 2013 and sure know what you mean about the fickle weather and the wind. We usually go from Buffalo over the mountains thru Ten Sleep, down to Dubois and then on from there into Idaho and up to Glacier NP. This year we plan to do something different and make this trip in Sept. I hope you stopped in Pickles Place while you were in Arco and had a burger or at least the Cowboy Cafe in Dubois.</div>

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</div> That's a beautiful ride Through Ten Sleep and the wind river range. I might suggest Next time consider going past Buffalo just a way further to Ranchester, Wy. (just a handful of miles past Buffalo) And go up over- Shell Canyon -toward Cody, Wy. and make your way around the Yellowstone, Jackson, and/or west entrance down around Island park area on your way to Glacier nat. park?<br />
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Note: Arrange to have all you own shipped to the general area and save yourself a trip back home?<img src="images/smilies/smileygarden_de_banana7.gif" border="0" alt="" title="pepper" class="inlineimg" />

[slick rick]

,,,Nice trip my friend ,sometimes just gotta get away and clear the cobwells . Who said we get to old to take on another adventure ? TAKE CARE

[Leathel]

Awesome collection of pictures, from what looks like a great ride

[pcombe]

,,,Nice trip my friend ,sometimes just gotta get away and clear the cobwells . Who said we get to old to take on another adventure ? TAKE CARE

Bout time you bit the bullet and headed out here Slick.

[slick rick]

,,,My problem may not want to come back and then you'll have to feed me !!!!! We hope to be able to hook up one day and stay gone a few months , working on it just may show up one day . I think it would be a place for this old country boy to enjoy , the pics are fantastic and doesn't do it justice I'm sure .

[pcombe]

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<img src="images/misc/quote_icon.png" alt="Quote" /> Originally Posted by <strong>slick rick</strong>
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<div class="message"><img src="images/smilies/grin.gif" border="0" alt="" title="big grin" class="inlineimg" />,,,My problem may not want to come back and then you'll have to feed me !!!!! We hope to be able to hook up one day and stay gone a few months , working on it just may show up one day . I think it would be a place for this old country boy to enjoy , the pics are fantastic and doesn't do it justice I'm sure . <img src="images/smilies/thumbup.gif" border="0" alt="" title="" class="inlineimg" /></div>

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</div> Slick, it does do justice, there's just a whole more than a fella can film.<br />
As far as not coming back, ship all your stuff ahead time and you wont have to.

[DakotaTG]

We've been thru Arco several times on our way from ND to Nampa, ID. Usually ride down thru West Yellowstone to Rexburg and then west to Arco and stay the night at the D&amp;K Motel. Eat at Pickles. I guess we will have to try the Lost River Drive-In the next time. We usually ride out just before Memorial Day weekend and again just before Labor Day weekend. I agree the weather can be chilly in the mornings and we been lucky to not run into snow other than seeing it on the sides of the road. We have gone thru Jackson several times and Yellowstone 9 times in the last 12 years. We have ridden the area from Cody to Worland thru Ten Sleep to Gilette once and enjoyed the ride. I'm thinking it might be about time to ride thru there again.<br />
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On a slightly different note, I see on weather underground (<a href="http://www.wundergrond.com" target="_blank">www.wundergrond.com</a>) that Glacier Park is having to clear roads of snow and Logan Pass is still closed. Last time we went thru there was the second week of August and Logan Pass was closed for a while due to 4 inches of snow.

It opened the next morning and we had a nice drive thru there (was in our SUV).<br />
<br />
2011 Merlot and Black TG. Dennis's lift kit, Stage 1 with PCV and CVO mufflers, LED headlight, running lights and taillights, passenger arm rests and bling.

[pcombe]

We've been thru Arco several times on our way from ND to Nampa, ID. Usually ride down thru West Yellowstone to Rexburg and then west to Arco and stay the night at the D&K Motel. Eat at Pickles. I guess we will have to try the Lost River Drive-In the next time. We usually ride out just before Memorial Day weekend and again just before Labor Day weekend. I agree the weather can be chilly in the mornings and we been lucky to not run into snow other than seeing it on the sides of the road. We have gone thru Jackson several times and Yellowstone 9 times in the last 12 years. We have ridden the area from Cody to Worland thru Ten Sleep to Gilette once and enjoyed the ride. I'm thinking it might be about time to ride thru there again.

On a slightly different note, I see on weather underground (www.wundergrond.com) that Glacier Park is having to clear roads of snow and Logan Pass is still closed. Last time we went thru there was the second week of August and Logan Pass was closed for a while due to 4 inches of snow. It opened the next morning and we had a nice drive thru there (was in our SUV).

2011 Merlot and Black TG. Dennis's lift kit, Stage 1 with PCV and CVO mufflers, LED headlight, running lights and taillights, passenger arm rests and bling.

sometimes I forget that Arco is a step off place to allot of scenic areas.
Living in Wyoming the past thirty some years challenges my boyhood senses.

Here is a story I wrote many years ago, to paint my young life in the Lost River Valley, I hope you enjoy it.



The day a young country lad discovers the meaning behind the words
“CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE”




This is a story about one of the many roads traveled by a young farm boy to discover a rite of passage.
It is a TRUE story for your amusement.

First let’s set the stage for the drama about to unfold:

For the uninitiated, there is a subtle difference between range cows and milk cows.
The range cow has a wide streak of just “pure cussedness” while the milk cow has been domesticated to the point where they are merely endowed with “contrary behaviors.”

If you were to stop your bike on the highway, and while gazing with idyllic contemplation at the country side you are riding through. You may not notice that the milk cow is probably not the brightest star on Old Mc. Donald’s horizon?

While it is no doubt arguable the twice Dailey milking of cows is one of the most repetitive and down right boring chores a young man faces growing up on a working farm it is also fertile ground ( pun intended) for his active imagination.

Morning or evening you might find the young man kicking a rock down the road a quarter mile or so to drop the wire gate and let the cows out of the day pasture, follow them back to the corral and open the gate to the barn, while grandfather heads off the other direction to do the same with a second set of “milker’s.”
Grandpa is in a hurry this morning because he has to go into town and load up the old Rambler wagon for his thrice weekly run delivering rural route mail.

THE LESSON

When my cows are in the corral I open the barn door and this mornings milking operation gets under way (cows are clever about hiding their boredom).but not so a young man. It happens twice a day, every danged day! Day in and day out, year after year!

The “girls” file into the barn and always head into the same stall each time.
I lock their heads into the stays at the front of the manger and they munch contentedly on hay.
I hobble the first cow (lest her contrary nature forces her to kick over the milk bucket) and with experienced hands I make short wet work of the first cow.
Having moved to the second cow I take a break half way through and spend a few minutes doing what a boy (bout 13 at the time) does, which is day dream!
I am young enough so as not to be jaded by life, yet wise enough in the ways of nature as country lads are apt to be?

I am squirting streams of milk into the faces of the anxiously mewling barn cats,
And noticing that the cow I am milking reminds me of some of the older girls that live in the Big Lost River valley of Idaho where the farm sits on land wedged between the lost river to the North and encompassing spring creek to the south.

I notice my cow has huge Betty Davis eyes and lashes that lay long and gentle along her cheek just as Marilyn Monroe’s do; and my older sister and friends strive to mimic with a feminine beauty weapon called an eye lash curler (“they do double duty equally well for a pocket vise for tying fishing flies boys”) and thick layers of mascara.
I chuckle and concede to myself that I really can’t see the venerable Miss Davis nor the buxom Norma Jean as ever having been a milk maid and am about to get back to the chore at hand when the barn door opens and grandpas cows come stumbling into the barn in the clumsy manner that cows are want to do when stepping from light to semi-darkness., When grandpa pauses by the door to relieve himself. (He’s in a hurry)

While he is in the middle of it, a newer cow in the herd backs out of her stall and heads back out the barn door at a trot.
Out of instinct grandpa reaches out and catches her by the tail to stop her.
Just as expected the cow yanks him out the door as well.

Just then: Grandma comes walking up!

NOW, WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE SHE SEE”S?

I rolled on the barn floor laughing and kicked over the milk bucket myself!

Let this be a lesson to you ladies. Just because you catch him with it one hand and grasping at tail with the other it is still only:” CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE”.

Paul C.