Our goal today was Cody, Wyoming and midway down from the pass we entered the state. As we were heading down in elevation we crossed this little bridge which had a viewing area nearby and we needed a break. Turns out this is the highest bridge (approximately 1200 feet) in Wyoming at Sunlight Creek. It is very narrow and you can't hardly see it when you pass over it. So named by prospectors back in the early 1800s because sunlight is the only thing that can get in there. It's worth the stop.
Near 2pm we turned on to state route 296 which takes us up Dead Indian Pass which is another fun road with nice sweeping switchbacks which tops out at about 8,050 feet (2,453 meters). I find it interesting that in this day and age of re-naming places that have less-than-complementary names, that this pass has kept its identity. It doesn't matter to me what they call it, I call it "fun"! From the pass it's another 30 miles to Cody and the KOA just on the outskirts of town. We got there at about 3:30pm and got our gear squared away in another cabin.
In the process of setting things up in the cabin I made a horrible discovery. I had a small pen-sized spray bottle of bug spray that had come apart and leaked out of the zip-lock bag I had it in, getting on my stuff and the water-proof bag that was part of my luggage. That stuff started dissolving the rubber coating on the bag and that was a big problem. I emptied the bag and tried to clean it, but it just smeared. I ended up getting an unused cardboard box from the campground and used it to keep the gooey mess from getting on anything else.
I rode the entire rest of the trip that way knowing that the bag would have to be replaced when I got home. I cleaned the rest of the stuff of the bug spray, putting some things in a laundry load and that took care of not making the problem worse.
After dinner we rode back into Cody and had an awesome steak dinner at the Proud Cut Saloon, then back to camp.
It was pretty windy that evening and we felt for the people that were in tents, but it died down before it got really dark.
Showers, laundry, and chatting took up the rest of the evening. It was a 300 mile day.
Tom Clark
I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Intellitect, living in Spokane, Washington. I also do a little development work on the side. And I love riding motorcycles all over the country with my friends.
