The Rise Up Ride: Day 36, Into the Rockies, Avoiding Ursus arctos horribilis
Date: 28 May 2021
Start Location: Cody, WY
End Location: Clearwater NFS Campground, WY
Distance: 57.5 km
Time: 4:12
Total elapsed: 7:55
Elevation: 512 m
Riding out of Cody and into the Rocky Mountains means that I'm no longer the apex predator. Grizzly Bears are scientifically known as Ursus arctos horribilis. Other bears are just Ursus arctos, but the Grizzly is horribilis and for good reason. Just yesterday a tourist was mauled here in Yellowstone.
According to the US National Park and Forest Service I'm a "softsided" rather than "hardsided" camper, meaning that I'm sleeping in a tent that grizzlies will easily tear through looking for food. Those campgrounds without the "horribilis" bears sighted lately are designated okay for "softsiders" but there are only a few and they're spaced far apart. Today my destination was one of the last two campgrounds on Sylvan Pass unless I was driving an RV. The flashing roadside announcement, "CAUTION BEAR ON ROAD REMAIN IN VEHICLE" does not give me the same touristy thrill that hardsiders feel. I'd prefer my Yellowstone experience to not be horribilis. My route and timing will be dictated by the location of campsites and my avoidance of the other apex predator, the distracted RV driver looking for the apex predator. It's fucking Memorial Day weekend and scary drivers are out looking for the scary bears. Yikes!
Thanks to the Adventure Cycling Association route guide I knew the secret turn-off at Hayden Arch Rd for the closed old highway bypass around the Cody Tunnel, a narrow, scary dangerous place for cyclists. The empty road snaked steeply along the roaring North Fork of the Shoshone River up to the top of the Buffalo Bill Dam. Yes, I walked my bike on the 10-16% stretches.
At the NFS Clearwater Campground the incredible Camp Host, Walt, offered me a space for my tent behind his trailer. The "first come first serve" campsites had all been reserved by locals who had someone drive up early from Cody and grab them all for families arriving in the evening. NFS needs to change their policy to allocate "hiker-biker" campsites. Tomorrow is Yellowstone!
