Cody to Buffalo

As I was leaving Yellowstone, it became evident of whom Wyoming is proud of:

And soon after what they are all about

Bill Cody, aka Buffalo Bill, is everywhere. A population of 500,000 in one of the larger of the U.S. states needs a hero, I guess.

So I began the descent from the Rockies towards Cody, a city just east of the mountains. On the way down there is a huge dam and next to it a tunnel that goes under the mountains towards Cody. The driver of cart that takes visitors from the parking lot to the visitor center (perhaps 100 meters / yards drive) called me over, opened a gate to the old and free of traffic road. He agreed with my concerns about cycling through the tunnel. I had the road and view to myself.

Leaving Cody seemed as if I am in a new, unpopulated land, just discovered by us humans. It is flat and desolate.

After a few hours of being alone this road, another cross country cyclist, Bob, comes from the opposite direction. I learn from him that the mountains I am facing, Big Horn, are in fact higher than the Rockies. Ten Sleep is situated in the valley just below the Big Horn mountains. Cycling into the valley was breath taking:

This was the gate to the heavens....on the other side of the mountains in order to get to Buffalo, the city I am aiming for, I had to go via this canyon, up hill...

The climb was difficult. Even after reaching the pass summit, at 9666 ft. or 2943 m. there where numerous ups and downs to cycle. I felt the thin air. It made climbing up hill even harder. Finally, I reached the point where it was all downhill into the city Buffalo.