Day thirty six (thirty seven), another day in Ten Sleep?
Monday, September 18th.
We got up late, even Daniel. It was after 10am when we finally got moving. I still had to get the repaired valve cover back on my bike. So I got on that pretty quick. Even though it wasn’t leaking at the cracks I JB welded, it still leaked at the bottom of the cover gasket!?
I eventually figured out how to get a bit more compression on the gasket. Justin helped and we made a custom washer to fit under the rear cover bolt. I fired up the bike again and didn’t see any leaks! By now it was late, pushing noon, so I decided to stay in Ten Sleep another day. The kids REALLY liked that plan! They had stuff they wanted to send home to free up space on their bikes, so we ran US 16 over the mountains to Buffalo to find the nearest UPS shipping center.
Heading East into Ten Sleep Canyon, Daniel and I decided to run the Old US 16 while Sarah would continue on the new US 16. The old road was a single lane gravel road along the edge of the canyon. There were a few tight switch backs right at the start, but once through those it was a fun flowing road. We could see the highway on the other side of the canyon. I had shown Sarah on the GPS where to stop to wait for us. As we descended the mountain back to the paved highway we spotted her sitting in a small parking area on the side of the highway. She had only been there a minute or two. The rest of the run up and over the mountains on US 16 was really nice. It got quite windy and much colder the closer we got to the summit. I think the summit was just under 10K feet.
Buffalo was a nice town. It had a lot of cool old homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s that had been restored. We wandered around a few residential streets before getting on a main road and finding a nice big gas station. We went ahead and topped off then went inside to see about something to eat. They had some ham and cheese sandwiches that were actually quite good, especially if they were heated in the microwave. I checked my valve cover gasket and it looked like the leak had been fixed. There was no new oil or any wet spots that I could find. Still, I wanted to get some high temp gasket sealant for my bike, just in case the fix didn't hold. The UPS shipping center was actually in a local ACE Hardware, just up the street a block or so. I figured I could find some there while the kids took care of their business. Daniel and Sarah got their stuff shipped. I found some sealant. Then we headed back to Ten Sleep.
Daniel and I decided we wanted to ride the paved highway all the way back just so we could see what it was like. Sarah said it was a lot of fun. It was. The views of the canyon were very cool. The road had a series of slow switchbacks that dropped us down the side of the mountain. I stopped to take pictures as always and the kids got out ahead of me. I did eventually catch up to them but almost immediately spotted a guy with a GS on a trailer in a pull out and I had to stop and talk to him. So they just kept going and ran on into town, which was only a few more miles up the road. His name was Bill Roberts and he was from San Antonio! He was trying to get pics of bighorn sheep up on the mountain ridge, but didn't seem to be having much luck. We visited for 10-15 minutes and I finally got back on the road.
When I rolled back up to the house Justin was talking about wanting to take me out for a spin on the dirt bikes, but he had to watch their new pup, Magnus, to make sure he didn’t chew the house apart. He was all teeth! He suggested that Daniel take me out and show me the same stuff they rode yesterday. He made sure Daniel remembered where to go and then we headed out across the pasture, Daniel on the 350 and me on the 501. Daniel led the way and I followed him as best as I could. He’s already WAY faster than me on dirt bikes! The trails were fun and challenging, at least for me. We saw a fantastic sunset. Then we dodged deer and ran the trail backwards. Near the house we did some fun hill climbs and then headed to the garage so we could clean up and go get dinner with
Justin Smith’s family. It was another awesome day. With my bike fixed, the plan was to finally leave and continue South in the morning.
Daniel pulling parts off after we realize the leak is coming out of the gasket and not the cracked spot
The washer trick solved the problem apparently. It was already late in the day so we decided to stay another day and do a short ride to Buffalo and back to make sure my bike is good to go.
Cool sign at the local gas station
Old Hwy 16 through the mountains, really cool!
Just have to make sure it is closed after we go through
Looking back to the West
Cold and windy at the summit on US 16
The dog is not sure what is so funny...
No oil!
Heading West back toward Ten Sleep
The old highway is running left right across the middle of the image
The view looking West from the top of the switchbacks on the paved Hwy 16
The Old Hwy 16 across the valley from the new Hwy 16
I just could not get an exposure for the last 5-6 pictures that I really liked with the phone.
Bill Roberts from San Antonia
Me rolling up the driveway after I finally get back to the house
I hopped on Justin's Husky 501 and followed Daniel to the trails he and Justin had ridden yesterday. I wasn't sure what to expect. It was challenging to be sure and Daniel was going WAY faster than I was willing to go! I just followed the dust cloud.
A nice section
A not so nice section. It is WAY steeper than it looks going down and up the other side. So Daniel led the way!
Daniel's video of me getting to the top
Near the top, I was trying to get pics of the deer. You can barely see their rear ends on the far right (the two white spots). They moved over onto the trail right after this.
We ran to the top where the radio towers and cell towers are located. No doubt a few brain cells and sperm were deformed being that close to the towers...
I've had my kids and killed way more brain cells via other methods, so it was worth it for the view
We zipped back along the way we had come, with me in the lead and running a little faster now that I was familiar with the trail and the bike. Daniel got back out front when we made it to the highway and led me to the next play zone...
Daniel points his bike at a hill and takes off! At the top he tells me it is my turn, so I take off. As I get rolling he casually mentions that there isn't much room to stop at the top so I shouldn't overshoot!! WHAT!!??
We both do it several times and switch bikes because he wants to try the 501
It was getting late so we headed back to the house and met up with Justin's family so we could take them out to dinner. We went to the Sleepy Coyote again and it was great, again. We sat outside in the porch area to eat. This was on the wall of the next door building.
It was a great day of riding. My bike appeared to be fixed. Tomorrow it would be time for us to finally leave and head South. Daniel is ready to be adopted by Justin and to move up here. Jody says he should visit in February before making that kind of decision!
Tomorrow we actually have to get up at a decent time and get rolling, so we head to bed not long after dinner.
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I used Justin Smith’s Dremel to grind a V shape in both the inside and outside of all the cracked spots and then filled them in with two part epoxy JB weld. This would have to cure over night, so we were not leaving Ten Sleep today. We decided to just call it another rest day. Justin took Daniel out for a ride on some local two track “roads” and some single track trails. Justin was on his Husky 501 and Daniel was on a Husky 350. Sarah and I did laundry, visited with Jody and Siri, hung out down by the brewery to people watch, and enjoy some cold soft drinks. Daniel and Justin eventually returned and were both high fiving and giggling like little girls, so the ride must have been good. To cool off they did some rope swing jumping into the pond in front of Justin’s house. Afterwards they left to go do some trail clearing and maintenance with a friend of Justin’s. They were gone for over five hours and were beat when they got back. We all had dinner at The Sleepy Coyote in town and then headed back to the house. The plan now is to get the head cover back on my bike in the morning so we can get back on the road. We hung out in the camper and jammed a while before knocking off for the night. We were all still quite tired.
I occasionally paid that, but not often. They also expect a tip for literally EVERYTHING. It seems to have lost all connection to actually providing quality service. Sarah and I started splitting meals because neither of us are big eaters. That helped. Still, I would say the average dinner meal cost around $25. We usually ate the free continental breakfast at the hotels, most of which were actually pretty good. We often skipped lunch and just got snacks at a gas stop. Our favorite place to get food was the Mavericks gas stations. Most had grills in them and they made really good food and very reasonable prices! It was a favorite breakfast/lunch and even sometimes dinner stop.
