RIDE C2C Day 4 - Pahaska Teepee to Cody, WY 8/1/19

RIDE C2C Day 4 - Pahaska Teepee to Cody, WY 8/1/19

Miles: 55

MEPS: 487

Today could not have been a better day of riding! 

We had a -unintentionally slow- breakfast at the Pahaska Teepee restaurant.  Side note:  the Pahaska Teepee resort was founded by WF Cody (aka “Buffalo Bill”) as one of his hunting lodges.  “Pahaska” is a Shoshone word for “long hair man”.  Our waiter, Adam, was gracious and we swore he must have a cot in the back because he served us soup yesterday afternoon, dinner last night, and was serving breakfast this morning.

With bellies full, we hit the road by 8:15pm.  Still crisp (high 50’s degrees), beautiful morning. Clear, cool, tailwind, big smooth shoulder, little traffic, and generally downhill for 35 miles of the most beautiful canyon along the Shoshone River. Amazing and spectacular!  We averaged 17.5 mph (normally we average about 11 mph).  Steep rocky cliffs with spires and rock formations all around us with the river cascading down...it was absolutely beautiful.

We stopped at the Wapiti campground for a banana snack while we enjoyed the river while sitting on a footbridge.  An older couple came by and said they’ve been coming there for years to hike, they said  “Stay safe and have fun...that’s what life is all about!”  TRUE THAT!

Still a slight downhill with a tailwind - until we hit the Buffalo Bill Reservoir.  It’s now 90 degrees and we’ve got some ups and downs along the lake.  It’s a good thing we stopped for a visit to the dam - spectacular views (one of the tallest dams in the world) AND instead of a scary long dark 50mph tunnel, they let us down the old road that followed the river. What a gem!  

4 miles on our own road along the river.  Pure beauty and peace.

Cody was a welcome stop for lunch and a visit to the Buffalo Bill museum and natural history museum.  There were actually 3 MORE museums - but we did not have time.  A quick stop at Albertsons for dinner supplies and off to the Cody KOA for tenting.  Still 90+ degrees - we took a dip in the pool to cool off, did a load of laundry, made dinner of pork chops, mashed potatoes, and salad and are ready for a quiet night.