How did you spend your day?

 How did you spend your day

The past three days I have been at Glendo State Park in Wyoming. I had a good long road/gravel ride on day one. Starting with a dirt road loop past my campsite and I was having issues clicking into my right pedal so I came back to the van to change shoes. The rest of the ride was on the park road to the town of Glendo. So it was out and back. I was still having issues with my pedal on my way out to Glendo. When I stopped for a snack at the general store I noticed that the spring on my pedal was very loose. The whole way back I was basically pedaling with my left leg only, the right never stayed on the pedal. Now I need new pedals 

When I woke up on day two the wind was howling. It was a steady 25mph and increasing.  With the wind and the dust, this was going to be my rest day. I spend the whole day watching movies.

Today, day three, I got up early to watch the World Championships. It was a great race. Afterward I decided to drive some before going out for a ride because it was very chilly. I was heading towards Laramie. I stopped at The Thorne/Williams Wildlife Habitat Area for a break and to play with my Mavic Mini drone. That is where the story begins....... I’m in a beautiful canyon flying up and down the dirt road just at tree level. Because I don’t have cell service signal the DJI app won’t let me fly any higher than 50 feet. I’m keeping an eye on drone to make sure I was staying away from trees and rock walls. I flew back over the van and up over the trees in the other direction. I thought I was clearing the trees. But .... nope. 

I ran to where the drone hit the trees and began searching for it. Looking, looking,looking, nothing. The grass is tall and thick in places. I hope I don’t step on it. Maybe I can track it down with the controller using the map feature. Using the controller I was able to get very close to it. It says I’m within a few feet but where? I can hear the drone beeping. Is it left is it right, no left, no right. Wait  are my ears playing tricks on me? Oh crap....... it is up in the tree. But which tree? How high? I’m just not seeing it. It keeps beeping. Now I’m walking in circles looking up trying to see my drone. Beeping. Beeping. I know the battery will not last long. I need to find it before the battery dies. I go back to the van for my camera. Maybe I can find it with the zoom lens in the trees. Nothing. Beeping, beeping.  Why can’t I see it? Oh right, my eye sight is very crappy. I noticed on the iPad that the drone camera is still on. What is it looking at? No idea. I use the controller to move the gimbal up and down.  I can see the road. Let me stand where it can see me and I will be able to see it. There I am..... I just can’t see it. Beeping. This is not going to last too much longer.  I take multiple pictures in the hopes of being able to triangulate its location. Searching searching. The controller says battery level is critical. Another ten minutes goes by feeling like forever. There , up way high , is that it, I’m not sure, wait yes that is it , I can see the blinking light.       Now what?

It appears to be sitting kind of flat in the tree stuck in the small branches and leaves, about 50 feet up. How do I get it down, I try to relaunch it, hopefully it will shake it out. Nothing, battery is too low. Can I climb the tree? I am not a climber, heck I don’t like heights. As I am problem solving the beeping stops, the battery is dead. 

Now the rush is over, I can slow my thoughts, think clearly, what are my options. Okay, climbing is out, for me, but can I find a local rock climber or maybe a tree guy. I haven’t seen anyone for hours. Truly the middle of nowhere Wyoming, 40 miles to the nearest town.  I could give up and just call it a lose and be out $500 but the miniSD card has all of my drone videos from the last 10 months on it. Yes I have them backed up on a hard drive but still I don’t want to leave it up in a tree. 

I climb up the hillside next to the trees, still can’t see it but I know it’s there. Maybe I can throw something at it? Maybe, wait better yet a fishing pole. I can cast into the tree and knock it down. That’s it but I don’t fish and don’t have a fishing pole. But I do have kite string, I can tie a carabiner to the string and from up high on the hillside I can throw it into the trees. This is going to take some time and patience. I have both.

It is a little after 2pm, I have until dark about 4 maybe 5 hours. I load up a backpack with some rope, a knife, food, water and some extra clothing. It is getting colder and there is a few rain clouds in the area. So I climb back up to my perch about equal in height with the top of the trees on the hillside and make camp. I tie the carabiner to the kite string and throw it. Not bad, it goes into the trees but down to the ground. I climb down with my string in my hand, get the carabiner and shake the tree with all my might. Nothing. Am I in the right tree? I look up for the drone, can’t find it, did it already fall, I don’t think so. 

Finally I see it again in the tree. I don’t think I’m in the correct tree. It is so hard for me to distinguish between one tree and another because I am using one good eye. My depth of vision is just not working. Every time I see it in the tree I lose it a second later. It is crazy how it seems to be in one tree than another, higher or lower, not sure. I wind up my kite string and carabiner and try again. And again and again and again. I really don’t know how many times I threw it up into the trees but I know my arm is starting to hurt. It began to rain some and even sleet some. It was definitely getting colder and the sun was getting lower. Keep trying over and over again.

It is now almost 6pm, it looks like I’m staying here for the night. I take a break and walk the dirt road looking for a good place to camp for the night. About a mile away there is a perfect spot for me to stay. A small clearing next to the dry creek bed and a fire ring that I know I will not be using. Fire hazard is very high in the area and I know there are fires down near Laramie. I hike back towards my van but stop one last time to try again.

It again takes my a few minutes to find the drone in the tree. I begin to start my hike back up the hillside and the wind kicks up. I hear some rustling above me and my drone falls from the tree to the dry creek bed in front of me. THANK YOU FATHER! 

I know with all of my heart my beautiful father has been watching me all day ( everyday, I’m sure) and enjoying my process. He said it was time for a little help and blew it out of the tree for me, I am absolutely sure of it. 

I happily picked up my drone, broken prop, broken camera and all, and thanked my mother and father very much. Told them I loved them and missed them more than words every day. And I cried.

I got to my van, drove to my campsite for the night and made soup. My parents would have liked that.

The heroes of the story 

Devils Tower

 After a stop for gas and Walmart I was going to Wyoming. I had been talking about going to Devils Tower all week. It turns out I convinced Chris into going also. 

I don’t have a lot to say about Devils Tower. The pictures say everything.

A Couple More Days in South Dakota

 After Badlands I tried to visit the Minuteman Missile Visitors Center but because of COVID it was not open to the public until Wednesday morning. This area of South Dakota was a hotbed of missile silos during the Cold War years. There were 1000’s of missiles in the Great Plains for over 30 years, now there are still hundreds. I believe the Visitors Center allows you to tour a silo and command center. Now I guess I will probably have to wait until my next visit to South Dakota.

I headed back to Rapid City to Planet Fitness for a quick workout and a shower. Afterward I got my laundry done, there’s a lot of it, and found a place for the night. I parked at the Founders Park at the base of Hanson- Larsen Park. I was meeting Chris there in the morning to go mountain bike riding. There were a few cars in the parking lot and surprisingly I wasn’t asked to leave. Overnight parking in parks in town is usually a no no. 

Chris and I had a great ride all around the Hanson- Larsen Park. It is a wonderful trail system right here in downtown Rapid City. If I lived or worked around here I would be on this trail everyday. On the final pitch to the top I rode the very steep gravel road and Chris took the trail. The trail was a little too rocky for me. We met at the top and grabbed a snack. As we were sitting talking my rear wheel broke a spoke. I wasn’t even near the bike. It must have been spun up from the climb and just let loose. It made me cut the ride short and head over to the bike shop across the street from the trail. 

It was still early in the day so we headed to Sturgis for another bike ride. Why ride once when you can get out twice! We went to where Caroline and I had ridden a week ago. We climbed Centennial #89 trail. Being that we started so late we decided on an hour out and an hour back would be best. Only problem for me is that in the woods as the sun was going down I can’t see well at all. I had to turn around after 40 minutes. I found a gravel road to take me back to the van. Chris continued on. Since I still wanted to ride I just retraced the ride Caroline and I did. It was more in the open and I could see fine. 

After our rides, I set up my van hot shower. It just works great. Makes you feel so refreshed after a ride. We had hoped to camp there for the night but we got booted out by a local. Oh well. After a bit we drove to the other trailhead I rode with Caroline in Spearfish at Crow Peak. 

In the morning we did separate rides because Chris wanted to do the Fight Club ride I told him about and wanted something easier. I decided to climb the gravel road for a solid hour to the top of Single Track Attack and ride that back. Perfect for me. Chris and I said our goodbyes. As it turns out we would meet up again later on. 

Badlands Road Ride

 Today I headed back east for a couple hours so I could visit Wall Drug and ride Badlands.

Wall Drug is in the town of Wall South Dakota. It is one of those places where you see the signs on highway for hundreds of miles saying you are almost there, must stop, don’t miss it. Kind of like South Of The Boarder in South Carolina on I 95. The big difference is this place is thriving. Old west town with food and shopping what else can you want. I sat in my van eating breakfast and walked around the shops. I bought nothing. Sorry Wall Drug, I guess I’m not good for the economy.

Next was to go back to the Badlands, I rode my motorcycle through there about 15 years ago on a very hot day. Even then I wanted to ride my bike there. Today I got to do it. Beautiful day, warm but not very hot. I got to see a bunch of big horn sheep and a coyote. And of course plenty of prairie dogs. I didn’t take any pictures of the dogs. 

Again GoPro video to follow someday