Miele Man

In another earlier thread you claimed you had written permissin from Yellowstone Staff to camp outside of campgrounds. The El Toro Poo Poo posted by you in this current thread is immensely deep!

Quite frankly I don't believe you're doing this trip you claim to be doing.

Cheers

Ty0604

The owner at Rosie's Cantina (the only restaurant in town) said it had been remodeled in the past few years. If you type in "Jackson Montana hotel" and click on images you'll get a few current images of it.

Ty0604

Correct. When I was scheduled to leave in early April I was. At the time no campgrounds were open. Madison was the first to open on April 29 and I left on May 1 making the form a moot point. I left a month later than anticipated so I could compete in a few marathons.

Think what you want or take a moment and venture over to my Facebook and/or Instagram to see for yourself.

Ty0604

108 Jardine, not 810... At least according to my receipt. The post office/hotel is 1 Jardine.

Ty0604

I see the edits now. I'm not the best at talking to people. Never have been and probably never will be. I edited my webpage a bit though. Felt like it was getting too cluttered with photos from my daily MapMyRide post so I deleted them.

I want to post some stories on there about the people I'm riding for. Or something. I'm not sure. My website is kind of boring I feel like.

One of the people I'm doing my ride for is a 6-year-old cancer survivor so I've been able to talk to young cancer patients about his struggle etc. If I can change how even one kid feels then I've done my job and the donations are just extra.

Miele Man

Where the images are private and when someone searches them they find they've been lifted from elsewhere on the internet? Those images?

Cheers

BobG

Ty's stop in Missoula on May 12 is documented on the ACA website. 6th photo on second row...

https://www.adventurecycling.org/res...ting-cyclists/

Click on pic for a larger view with his name and date of visit.

indyfabz

Jackson, MT is where I am talking about. I don't believe you took the photo of the hotel/post office. The post office in Jackson has it's own building. Looking forward to my visit there. I will make sure to take some photos.

And how do you explain away Jama's post re: the photo of the Nez Perce reservation sign you did claim to have taken?

jamawani 

On a previous thread, the supposed Yellowstone permits were discussed in detail and shown to be false. I have oral and written communications from Yellowstone NP staff stating that they issued no such permits. As recent events have shown, YNP has to deal with all sorts of visitor idiocy. This poster also claimed that officials said he could camp anywhere along his proposed route. Dangerously false. In spring, bears - especially grizzlies - are coming out of hibernation and in search of food. Over the past two decades, park naturalists have delayed opening critical grizzly habitat areas so that bears can browse undisturbed. Closed to cars, closed to bikes, closed even to hikers. This poster's previous claims contribute to the mindset of recent visitors who believed that essential park rules were optional and did not apply to them.

saddlesores

to the left of the "hotel", there appears to be a post
office box stand thingie. budget cuts in small towns
mean limited delivery. instead of mail to each house,
the post office sets up a p.o.box stand in a central
area. not enough population in that town to
make daily mail delivery worthwhile.

jamawani 

Most good scams contain a mix of truth and invention.
In fact, most of our own lives contain such a mix - it's just the proportions that matter.

Is it O.K. to claim that you camped at the bottom of the Grand Canyon when you did not?
It's clearly false, but there will probably be no earth-shaking repercussions.
Is it O.K. to post that you don't really need a backcountry permit to camp in the inner canyon?
No. To do the latter is more than a white lie - it promotes actions that damage our national parks.

<<<>>>

I cannot tell you which parts of the poster's itinerary are truthful and which are invented.
Clearly, this poster has a history of significant unsubstantiated claims -
Back story, sponsorship, hospitals, permits, equipment, photographs.

He first came to my attention a few months ago concerning Yellowstone permits.
I have lived in Wyoming for 25 years and am a staunch defender of our national parks.
I do not know why he made claims about permits and supposed statements by park officials.
(He even claimed to have spoken directly with the superintendent which park staff categorically denied.)
These actions most likely cross the border of illegality.

I do know that this poster has a fundraising website - whether that it legit or not.
Given that he is asking for money - there is an obligation for transparency.
And transparency is something this poster has in extremely short supply.

indyfabz

The pots office in Jackson is still there. From the USPS site:

0.0 mi

JACKSON ›

1 JARDINE ST
JACKSON, MT 59736-9998

800-ASK-USPSŽ (800-275-8777)

Mon-Fri 9:00am - 11:30am
12:00pm - 3:30pm
Sat 8:30am - 2:15pm
Sun Closed

Street Parking Available

saddlesores

i lived in small town texas long time ago....one
block from the post office. there was no home
delivery. mail was picked up from the p.o. boxes
at the post office.

as this was the main (well...only) city in the
county, it was also the only post office. there
was no home delivery to nearby towns or
ranches. mail was delivered to a central
p.o.box facility, sometimes in a building,
other times just a box of boxes on a pole,
in the outlying towns and villages.

alan s 

I suppose if I wanted to fake a ride, I could throw my bike in the back of my car, drive somewhere well known, take a picture, and drive home. Not saying the OP did that, but that's how I would do it.

Ty0604

Thanks for posting that! I didn't know they posted them on the website!

They weren't proven to be false at all. In fact I met an East/West cyclist who was issued a similar permit when he passed through in mid April. He camped once near Lewis Lake and once at a then closed Madison Campground. Do you think bears care if it's an established campground or not? They don't.

Yeah there's just a little set of boxes outside. I'm not sure if there's a way to have stuff weighed and mailed. There's a phone number on the door but only to reserve a hotel room. The owner lives out of town and has a local guy take care of it!

To clarify: I'm not personally touching any of the money at all. When someone donates it goes directly to Fred Hutch. If I were to take donations I would have to report them as income and it involves a huge mess with the IRS.

Ty0604

That's the same building in the photo. Open up Google Maps and type in "Post office Jackson, Montana" and it'll show up on the corner of the building. Although the wrong corner since the boxes are on the opposite side. The Jackson Hot Springs Lodge is across the street and the defunct Jackson Mercintile is next door. I'm told people live in the old store.

I could do that! Except I've never had my drivers license and don't drive. You can refer to the "Living Car Free" for more information on that if you care.

Ty0604

@indyfabz If you're planning on staying at the lodge there, it's only open from Friday afternoon until Monday morning now. The website says 7 days a week but it's not. If you're on Yelp I posted a review of the place with photos (including the blood stained sheet).

They only have a few people working there and it'll be a miracle if they're open through the summer.

indyfabz

The web site says the lodge is not open Tues.-Thursday--right now. Just got off the phone with them. They are in the process of hiring summer staff. When I was there in '14 in mid-June the place was quite busy. Including myself, there were maybe 10 cyclists camped there along with lodge guests, and the bar and restaurant were also quite busy. Even if the lodge is closed, I can still camp, and I can eat across the street since I won't be there on a Monday.

BigAura

Which ones? That might help keep a few naysayers at bay

indyfabz

Google maps shows the post office as a one-story building with a flag pole outside. That is not the building depicted in his photo.

jamawani 

This is why national park staff have restrictions.
And this will be why national parks like Yellowstone may institute further restrictions on cyclists.
It is clear that the poster has no knowledge of bear habitat or behavior - nor does he appear to care.

Here is what Yellowstone N.P. says about bear management -

"The purpose of bear management areas is to reduce human impacts on bears in high-density grizzly bear habitat. Eliminating human entry disturbance in specific areas prevents human/bear conflicts and provides areas where bears can pursue natural behavioral patterns and other social activities free from human disturbance. Types of restrictions include: area closures, trail closures, a minimum party size of four or more people, and travel limited to daylight hours or to established trails."

And specifically about areas adjacent to the TransAm route in early season -

N. Grant Village (498 KB PDF): The Grant Campground will not open prior to June 20, actual opening dates may vary annually. If bears are still frequenting the spawning streams after opening, the campground loops adjacent to the streams will remain closed until bear activity ceases. Campground opening and closure dates are determined annually and can also be located in the park newspaper.

O. Heart Lake (1.2 MB PDF): Area is closed April 1 through June 30.

<<<>>>

And you are telling me that YNP managers will toss aside decades of work by wildlife biologists
just so that a couple of cyclists can ride through?
Yeah. Right.

Hugh Morris

3lbs is a light hammock set up! Mine is pushing 6 (including tarp, quilts, and hardware) but I don't like to consider touring without it. It's just such a phenomenal sleep, never do I wake up feeling better.

Did you set out with a tarp and hammock and just ditch the hammock, keeping the tarp as shelter? Or is there a tent in the mix too? or none of the above and it's just a bivvy or no shelter at all?

Also, jamawani has very valid point, as well as a seemingly solid relationship with YNP. If you want to take your false permit to the grave, fine, but first acknowledge that there are real consequences to recklessly holding onto that "they made an exception for me cause I'm on a Cancer Ride!" narrative.

Regardless, I hope you find what you set out to find. That's maybe not an unrealistic, unwavering, and wholly unattainable 'happiness', but it could be peace. Peace with whatever it is you aren't at peace with; that's why I ride. (Not the ONLY reason--i love moving fast and being outdoors--but the meditative and healing elements of cycling got me into it, then touring)... I'm not happy, but I'm alive. There are even moments when I'm happy to be alive. The bike, the hammock, the outdoors allow me to access positive mindspace more often. You aren't alone, and actually, that element of your story could be compelling to readers, too.

Safe travels.

axolotl

Rangers at Yellowstone have apparently had enough:
https://www.tetongravity.com/story/cu...rist-stupidity
(yes, it's satire, but just barely given this week's events at Yellowstone)

indyfabz

"While tending to their third-degree burns, McFilson was interrupted and forced to respond to a situation involving a foreign family who had tied a number of balloons to a bald eagle. They reportedly witnessed the bird sitting calmly on a fence post and were greatly concerned that it had lost the ability to fly, and sought to assist it."

That, sir, made my afternoon. Now I am off for a little ride.

BobG

Ty,

Is the old hotel/historical post office (not the Hot Springs Lodge) now a cyclist's hostel in Jackson MT? Obviously today's post office is at another location. Blog says...

"My hotel in Jackson, Montana, a tiny town between Missoula and Bozeman. I was the only guest. There was no night manager so I had the whole place to myself". -Eric

Here's a link to the blog with a picture. Says "Now Open, Welcome, Cyclist Campsite here."

https://whereiseric.files.wordpress....jackson-mt.jpg