Reset search
Out West 2021Out West 2021
SatelliteEdit route

Out West 2021

August - October 2021
A 41-day adventure by Matt Read more
  • 27footprints
  • 1countries
  • 41days
  • 136photos
  • 23videos
  • 4.1kmiles
  • 1.8kmiles
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerOut West 2021
    Day 11

    Norfolk, NE

    September 3, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Thanks to a ride from Lee, I stayed at the Maskenthine Lake Campground. RV crowd was representing for the Labor Day weekend. Too many Husker flags and t-shirts to count…kind of like a football tailgate. Nice secluded rent sites. Lined up for the Cowboy Trail Saturday.Read more

  • TravelerOut West 2021
    311
    Day 12

    Ewing, NE

    September 4, 2021 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 64 °F

    Slow start to the day made it a long day…Punctuated by one of the bridges on the Cowboy Trail- crossing Elkhorn river- being washed out in a flood causing me to have to backtrack a couple miles to a road.

    Stopped for lunch at Sly’s. Not a soul in town. I asked the Guy behind the bar where everyone was and he said, “Husker game was on earlier so they’d be home watching that and then there’s a wedding.” Hmm, must have been one hell of a wedding.

    Got to Ewing around 6pm expecting to camp in a town park. No such park existed. Luckily I met a man walking on the edge of town and we got to talking and he offered me his backyard to camp in. Totally saved my skin. Heading on up the trail to Bassett tomorrow. Should be less eventful I think    Read more

  • TravelerOut West 2021
    Day 13

    Bassett, NE

    September 5, 2021 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    Ended up more than just camping in Kevin’s backyard…treated to a shower, laundry, dinner and a big breakfast. Pretty sure on paper we don’t have a lot in common, but when it comes to kindness and generosity for a stranger people like Kevin and his wife can’t be beat. Immensely grateful.

    Back to back long days…and the notorious Nebraska westerly wind was kind enough to show up. Glad to have my drops. Finally met other bike travelers- a group of two and a solo- all headed East. I’m staying in Bassett tonight and heading north to Valentine tomorrow. Have made the transition from crop country to grasslands and cattle country…enjoy what passes as a rest stop playground    Read more

  • TravelerOut West 2021
    Day 14

    Valentine, NE

    September 6, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 95 °F

    Highlight of today, a 64-person town with the only public space I could see being a beautiful pocket park with everything you need: free camping, clean bathrooms, covered tables and COLD well pump water. Happy end of Summer!Read more

  • TravelerOut West 2021
    2
    Day 16

    Cody and Gordon, NE

    September 8, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Cody was a pretty cool tiny village right on the edge of the Rosebud reservation on the border of South Dakota and Nebraska. Most of the folks I met were from the reservation. Great little town park to camp in with a cozy bar to grab a drink and tacos. Rode by the regional high school and saw the opposing team filing off a bus for a girls volleyball match. You typically think of football (8 v. 8 for most of these tiny K-12 schools) when you think of Nebraska, but evidently women’s volleyball from high school all the way up through the University of Nebraska is super competitive here.

    In Gordon now. Neat old-school Main Street. Seems like a commerce hub for the area. Going to go hit up the local watering hole and see who I can meet. Onto a Warm Showers host in Chadron tomorrow followed by a day off. I should be out of Nebraska at some point this year… I think    Read more

  • TravelerOut West 2021
    2
    12
    Day 18

    Chadron, NE

    September 10, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    Wow what a couple of days. First you have to meet Cody Anderson. My day on Thursday started with Cody riding his bike up to me on the highway and asking, “you got bear spray?!” When I told him I didn’t (was there some random bear up the road? in NE?) he said I should take his since he’s heading east and won’t need it anymore on his trip. I gladly accepted and Cody went on to explain the long list of records he holds and his accomplishments that have been recognized by several US presidents. This all came out so fast I was stunned silent.
    He told me to Google him- which I later did…and some of what he said was actually true. He left me with this tidbit of advice, “you got to get way more lights on the back of your bike, look at mine! Someone rolls up on me at night I look like a two car accident with an ambulance on scene!” I couldn’t stop laughing for the rest of the day. Thanks Cody.

    Took a day off in Chadron and stayed with Warm Shower hosts Steve and Cheryl. Truly incredible people who have more stories about traveling the world on bike free camping everywhere they went- with their toddler in tow for long stretches of it. They have had such a colorful life and now live in a great little place with the vast majority of what they eat coming from their gardens and chickens. Met one of their friends as well who has even more incredible stories of her adventuring and protesting Uranium mining since the ‘60s. Really kind, smart, impactful people. Was actually hard to leave them this morning. Added them to the list of new friends I’ve got to get back to see.

    Should be crossing into Wyoming tomorrow. Huzzah!    Read more

  • TravelerOut West 2021
    1
    Day 21

    Lusk and Douglas, WY

    September 13, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Crazy weather conditions here in Wyoming. Heavy rain overnight, strong headwinds averaging 14 mph and gusting up to 27 a daily norm…definitely making me earn the very soon eventuality of mountains! Off to Casper tomorrow and then the Wind Rivers!

    But first a rocky night of sleep since the city park I’m camping in along the N. Platte River doesn’t allow tents on the grass on Mondays Wednesdays or Fridays due to the watering schedule. Sleeping in the parking lot, not ideal. Have a great week    Read more

  • TravelerOut West 2021
    Day 23

    Central to western WY

    September 15, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    Well here is where things started getting more interesting. Turns out the Jackelope is a revered legend…sort of like Nessie in Scotland.

    Had a wonderful stay with Warm Shower hosts Loraine and Charlie. They were loading up their homemade trailer and heading to Colorado but were still kind enough to let me regroup at their house in Casper. Their retirement life looks like a fabulous dream that most folks could make happen. It all comes down to getting out there.

    Due to days on end of massive headwinds and bleak overnighting options on the horizon, I opted for a taxi ride from Casper to Shoshoni. Happened to get the owner of the company as my driver. English guy with a fabulous story spanning from electrical engineer in England to chasing love and a second career in America. Insisted on giving me an off the beaten track tour of Wyoming… For which I’m super appreciative. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have ended up cycling through and camping in the Wind River Canyon… astoundingly beautiful. Went to compensate him for his extra time and he refused any money, just happy to turn me onto some hidden treasures. So cool. Stay tuned for war of the winds II…    Read more

  • TravelerOut West 2021
    1
    Day 25

    Western WY

    September 17, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    Did I mention the wind? Getting used to it now and has certainly increased my strength and confidence on the bike. Got to ride some more gravel which led me to a campsite on a reservoir where I was seemingly the only person in the county. After 30 mph winds calmed down for a pleasant dinner, at 9:30 PM winds kicked up to about 50 mph out of nowhere, filling my tent and sleeping bag with sand. And blowing my stuff halfway across Wyoming. I made the decision to take shelter in a pit toilet. Less than ideal sleep that night…Jammed an empty toilet paper roll in the door for some ventilation. Freezing cold sleeping in my camp chair with a sleeping bag draped over me.

    Hopped back on the bike and headed out for Dubois deep up a valley at the foot of the mountains- everything looks like Arizona desert mountains on the Eastern slope in this rain shadow of the Rockies. Another day of winds gusting up to 47 mph by the end of the ride, alongside the Windriver Reservation where Native Americans have been shoved onto resourceless, infertile wasteland…Enjoyed sharing lunch with some local folks and hearing about their lives.

    Pushed on through a 55 mile day and pulled into Dubois for a great night of food, beer, and new friends. Gained some good elevation and am ready to cross through the Togwatee pass over the Rockies down into Jackson Hole tomorrow. Game on    Read more

  • TravelerOut West 2021
    11
    Day 26

    Western slope

    September 18, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 48 °F

    Great ride today. 39 miles up and over the Rockies through Togwatee pass. No shade being thrown at Eastern slope but I don’t connect with the dry, rocky landscape there like I do a verdant, alpine landscape…lodge pole pine, birch, stunning meadows that look like their aflame, gorgeous peaks, wildlife…that’s my cup of tea. Last 10 miles of the climb made me earn it and the payoff was so worth it.

    Weather turning cold and rainy tomorrow. Hope to catch a peak of Grand Teton as I descend into Jackson Hole. Will be there for a few days. Have a great weekend!!    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English