Jackson-Dubois-West Yellowstone

Interesting conversation with the staff member in the National Parks Visitors Center of Jackson in Jackson Hole. She spends winters in Texas, and summers in Jackson. There were a number of staff in attendance.

All of us are volunteers. None of us gets paid. The nature preserve has tens of motor vehicles for running the preserve. But they cannot hire a single mechanic to service those vehicles.

No you didn't. You could have volunteered, given more money. There is lots you could have done beyond voting.

Jackson Animal Art Museum

Animal paintings often fall prey to being Kitsch. That's true, I'm sure in the Animal Arts Museum. But some paintwork is impressive, or at least startling.

I generally preferred the sculptures, though. Judge for yourself. Remember that can double click an image, then click on the resulting plus-sign on the somewhat enlarged image for a full view.

What Did I Forget to Bring?

Whenever I leave for a trip, I wonder what I forgot. How about this time? Actually, refreshingly little. My 360 deg camera that mounts on the bike is one. It's handy to take photos or videos while riding. That's great. But processing at night is an extra step, and the resolution isn't great. It's OK to be without.

Much more interesting: nail clippers! I in fact did think of taking them, but in the interest of weight reduction (really?...) I left them home.

They did, to the point of impeding my typing. And I have figured out why. You see, when particularly virile human males enter Grizzly country, they subconsciously pick up the scent of Grizzly urine. No matter how remote. That stuff carries.

That male's response is accelerated nail growth. Protection, see? And: claw length is a dominance signal among Grizzlies.

Since I don't get off my bike enough to meet a bear, and because I need to type, I strutted into a Walmart, and got a pair of nail clippers.

The National Bighorn Sheep Center

In Dubois, WY, that odd appendix on the intestines of my route, there stands a museum dedicated to Bighorn Sheep. "Now, Andreas is really struggling," you are thinking. Sheep?

But think about it. A man alone out on the range, highly virile, to judge by his finger nails, begins quite naturally to think of sheep. I mean, why not? Who is anyone to judge? While I have not indulged myself, even you, who are being so judgmental right around now, must confess that the cuddling after would be divine!

So why not a museum. And, for you female readers, think about it. Have any pairs of your suitors banged their heads against each other at 30 mph straight on? Only to graze side by side for a while, and then do it again? See? No! Bighorn sheep do.

And did you know that in contrast to antlers, which are bone, and fall off every year. Sheep horn are bone at the core, but keratin on the outside. The horns stay for life, and keep growing. In fact, you can count the rims to determine age, because they stop growing during the Winter. Like tree rings.

If you paid attention to the Animal Art Museum section: obvious predators of Bighorn sheep are wolves, coyotes, and ... Golden Eagles. The birds push young sheep off ledges, and follow them down to where they land. Just like the painting.

From the Road

Buffalo on the road — After he lost interest in me

I actually do ride that motorcycle in between. After gravel, the most disconcerting moment, I learned, is to stop by the right side of the road because a buffalo is lying around in the grass on the left side, off the asphalt. As I grapple for my camera, the animal rose, and entered the highway. He proceeded to the center, about 20 yards ahead of me, and begins to stare at me.

Being in neutral already, I quietly, as non-threateningly as possible, duck-walk to bike backward. He doesn't care that from the other direction, a line of cars is accumulating on his left. That thing on his right, me, seems more important.