No Country for Cold Men

kcowyo

ExPo Original
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"....it was like we was both back in older times and I was on horseback goin' through the mountains at night. Goin' through this pass in the mountains. It was cold and there was snow on the ground and he rode past me and kept on goin'. Never said nothin' goin' by. He just rode on past... "
- Cormac McCarthy


It doesn't always work out the way you plan it.

Planning. The act of preparing for the best reaction, to a particular situation.

Sometimes, prepared or not, you just have to move forward. Believe, be present and find the silver lining. Quitting? Well where did that ever get anyone besides back where they started? I barely believe in moderation, so quitting something entirely, never really seems possible. Moving forward is how we do it.

Adversity? Bring it. Adversity is for punks.


**************************************
 

kcowyo

ExPo Original
May 23 - May 26

When Wyoming finds a winter it likes, it tends to hold onto it. With little concern for it's inhabitants or the calendar, sometimes winter just takes a little longer here. In spite of the budding trees and green yards down in the valleys, the rising fuel prices at the pumps and the sunsets that happen later & later each day, the mountains are not moved by the signs of summer. The mountains are of their own and they will only acknowledge the arrival of the warmer season on their terms. On their time.

They were not ready yet.

But we went anyway. That is the nature of us. We, would be Chuck and I. Chuck had made the long drive up the spine of the Rocky Mountains from New Mexico to Wyoming. While most people are kicking off summer with a BBQ and a dip in the pool, we opted for scenic mountain roads and a wildlife viewing tour in Yellowstone country.

Our 'Things To Do' list read as follows -

1. drive over mountains
2. see wildlife
3. BS

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Willman

Active member
Nice KC!


Can't wait to hear all the BS around the camp fire in a few weeks!!!

Glad Chuck made it out to see ya! Great guy!

What's Chucks plan after your place?


:rally_guys:
 

kcowyo

ExPo Original
You can't drive over the Owl Creek Mountains. You have to drive through them. Fortunately, the Creator and certain Wyoming engineers found a way through the Wind River Canyon. An incredibly scenic gorge, that I often refer to as, "The only place I never mind getting stopped for road construction."

But it's raining. It's been raining ever since Chuck showed up. We're in a 7 year drought here but like some modern day disciple with two days stubble on his chin, Chuck has brought the rain to Wyoming. How enchanting...

Tunnels carved by men with more balls than dynamite, lead us through the gorge to the north, heading for the town of Cody. The last true western town, Cody is where you can still get your cowboy hat repaired at a shop on Main Street, although there is a T-shirt shop next door now. They still operate the world famous nightly Cody Nite Rodeo with a huge arena on the main drag in town. Alas, now next door to the arena resides the local Super Wal Mart.

Hi Sam! :wavey:


I drag Chuck out to a ranch on the Northfork of the Shoshone river, where I used to take tourists up in the hills on horseback rides and serve them buffalo burgers cooked on an old pack grill over a campfire. A couple of summers working on a ranch and you begin to walk with a certain swagger. Until I held my newborn son, I was never more of a man than the day I could saddle my own horse in the rain....

The rain. Yeah, it rained in Cody too. It was cold out and the clouds were laid low, like a blanket the mountains had pulled over themselves. With just enough time before the last gray light of the day dissappears, we move on.

We take the Chief Joseph trail up into the mountains. Well, it's not a "trail". It's a paved highway and a designated scenic route by the State of Wyomings' Department of Transportation. But it is really scenic. As scenic as it was when a Nez Perce chief led a band of rogue warriors over it to safety, or something like that the historic kiosk marker said.

And then we found camp. High in the mountains, deep in the snow. Summer my butt. We're hidden in the remote Sunlight Basin, on a spur trail, off of a side route from the secondary highway, two mountain passes past the nearest 4 lane road. Perfect. Time to set up shop and cross "BS" off our things to do list.

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02TahoeMD

Explorer
Great write up, being a cold weather person I am jealous of your extended visit with Winter and her frozen charms. Love the pics, and looking forward very much to the rest of your report......
 

kcowyo

ExPo Original
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So we're perched on this little ledge over looking a river with snow up to our... well, it depended where you stood, but it was deep. Deep for Memorial Day weekend. Chuck bundles up like he thinks this is Arctic Ocean Expedition II, then goes for a walk.

Birdwatchers... always going for a walk....

A few minutes later he returns to camp, looking especially cold without any gloves. ("I forgot to bring gloves." "I have an extra pair." "You do?" "Uh yeah, we're in the Rockies...") He then tells me about finding a campsite nearby. There are three abandoned and mostly buried tents, poking out from under the snow. So we go take a look.

Number one is empty. Number two, a large wall tent, is empty. Number three is... well, there is something in it. Or rather it's wrapped around something that's weighing it down. Hmmmm... there are some fairly fresh ATV tracks nearby in the snow. What could be in the tent?

"It's a cooler and there's something in it," he tells me.

"Screw that. Leave it. Let's go."

"Yeah, ok...."

And so begins an hours long conversation about what could it be? A case of Bud Light? Another tent? Illegal bear bait? Money? Drugs? A severed head? Steve Fosset's plane?

This guessing game goes on to the wee hours until the cold wears us out. Time to call it a day. It will be there tomorrow or it won't be. We can look inside then. Whatever. Time to turn in.

Burrowed deep into my bag, tossing and turning and all I can think is, "Sheez, I hope it's not bear bait..."
 

kcowyo

ExPo Original
(Well it wasn't $2 million dollars Kyle. If it was, I wouldn't be here at the office pretending to work while I'm writing this out. Or maybe it was and I'm not at work....)

The night goes by rather quickly in spite of the cold and keeping an ear out for possible ATV's riding up on us in the middle of nowhere. The too many beers we had the night before come back to haunt both of us and we're up early looking for the nearest tree, standing in the least amount of snow. Breakfast...putter...pack up a little....putter... take some pics...putter...

"Hey, I'm gonna go see what's in that cooler."

He had been up almost a whole hour before wanting to go peak. I didn't blame him. No new tire tracks, might as well go look.

"You comin'?" he asks.

"Nah, you go. Scream like a little girl if it's something gross. I'll come runnin'."

"What if it's $2 million dollars?"

[deleted - to protect our plan if it was $2 million dollars]

"...but yeah, lemme know."

Seconds tick by slowly while he's gone. I'm stuffing my bag in it's sack, hands shaking. He's only a few hundred yards away but I can't see him through the trees. Chuck's a big boy who has seen (and done) some wild stuff in his life, he'll be fine I tell myself.

He comes back with the same expression on his face I had when I was 8 years old at Christmas. See, I had really wanted this new Huffy BMX bike. It was gold and black and had a neat '78' logo on the side which was really cool because it was 1978 and all. I was totally pumped for my new bike. ...But I didn't get it. I got a sweater. A big poofy turtleneck that my Mother said would go perfectly with the burgandy Toughskins she also got me. Crap.

"It was nothing. Just some trash."

"Trash that might be worth something like on the Antique Roadshow?"

"Not unless empty beer cans are considered antiques."

Or so that's the story we're sticking to. ;)
 

SWDesertTaco

Adventurer
Excellent tribute to McCarthy!

Wow,
This is good! You've got my attention. Beautiful country at that... lucky Chuck for heading North...
 

Ursidae69

Expedition Leader
Willman said:
Glad Chuck made it out to see ya! Great guy!

What's Chucks plan after your place?

Thanks Nic! :beer:

I left Jackson Hole on Monday at 11:30 am after KC and I inhaled our chicken fried steaks and eggs, arriving home at 3am the next morning, some 900 miles later. I took 191 all the way down, awesome drive. I'm jumping ahead though. I'll get some photos processed later this evening and post up some thoughts and pics. :ylsmoke:

Nice job so far KC, I wish I had that gift of writing. Take it easy on the grizzly story too buddy... :eek:
 

p1michaud

Expedition Leader
Snowy camping...

Ursidae69 said:
Nice job so far KC, I wish I had that gift of writing. Take it easy on the grizzly story too buddy... :eek:

A true gift indeed. Once I start reading your stories KC, I can't leave the thread untill it's done. Well done. You guys are braver than I. It's cold here but the snow is finally all gone. Stay warm and continue your story...:lurk:
 

Ursidae69

Expedition Leader
On the way…
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KC started this trip detail on the 23rd, but for me this trip started on the 22nd.

It had been over a year since I shared a brew and a fire with my bro KC. We had this trip in the works for some time and when I saw the weather forecast, I never even considered changing plans. This winter doesn’t seem to want to let go around here, but it wasn’t going to change my plans. :smiley_drive:

I took off early on May 22nd to head to Lander after calling in sick to work (insert government worker jokes here Brian D…). I was sick of working! I decided to drive straight north through the center of Colorado into Wyoming. As I drove through snow storm after snow storm, I started hearing on the radio about a killer tornado in northern Colorado. Hmmm, I was now in northern Colorado too... Later when I got into Wyoming, I heard about another tornado hitting near me there too. I missed it all thankfully, just rolling on through the rain and snow.

I got to Lander about 3pm and KC promptly started showing off his cool 60 series and took me for a ride to see the sights in and around Lander. The real treat for me and arguably the best part of the trip was spending that afternoon and evening with KC, his super sweet girlfriend Mia, and his two cute kids, Riley and Paige. Having dinner at the local pizza joint with the gf and the kids was a lot of fun. KC is living the dream. What is that dream? It’s different for everyone ya know, but you know it when it’s there. Seeing the gang all having fun at dinner night was great, thanks for letting me join in KC. :bowdown:

I’ll attach a few pictures of the drive north, nothing too spectacular. I have a few hundred more of the Yellowstone portion to sift through, but they’ll be up soon. :D
 

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