Seeing Deer, Bear, Moose, Elk, Wild Fowl And Even One Rattlesnake

Tower Falls In Yellowstone National Park 1935

Half a minute after the fall of the strato-balloon

Heading South from there, Grand Teton National Park loomed up to the left. I spent two days climbing around there. It is much smaller than Yellowstone but its agged, snow-capped peaks are said to be superior to any on the Western Hemisphere.

Further south on U.S. 187 the next 15 miles of desert road were being rebuilt with asphalt. I arrived a week too soon for they were just laying the soft material. When the going got too tough in the ditch I climbed back to the road and rode in low gear through the soft asphalt which hadn’t been rolled out yet.

Striking hard road on U.S. 30, I turned East for the first time and opened the throttle wide for sheer joy. It was the first good highway I had been on in two weeks. Again going South I left Laramie, Wyoming and crossed over into Colorado making a side trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. This park features a breathtaking ride up the Trail Ridge Road to Fall River Pass at 12,000 feet. The road, here too, were in terrible condition owing to road construction. Leaving the Park I later crossed Berthoud Pass on my way to Denver. A quick trip back into Wyoming for the Cheyenne Rodeo and again in Colorado a few days in the Cripple Creek gold district around Pike’s Peak, concluded my mountain adventures. I had seen deer, bear, moose, elk, and countless wild fowl and incidentally not one rattlesnake.

Going East through Kansas the temperature was 110 and yet it was my best day, covering 580 miles. Arriving home two days later I had covered 5,100 miles in 28 days for $38. My motor used 85 gallon s of gas and 26 quarts of oil. A similar trip by car cost a friend $125