(ethereal music) - Moving out to Lander, I was just in love with the mountains.

And I didn't know that I could ever love the desert until I ventured out into the Red Desert for the first time.

- You see it from the side of the road and you're like oh, there's not much going on, the mountains are a lot more enticing.

But then once you get out into the desert you realize how beautiful that place really is.

- Being able to be in the backcountry, on a bike, carrying everything that you need, is so empowering.

I think especially 'cause so many people think it feels really intimidating.

- I don't have much experience with bikes, let alone bikepacking.

There's a little bit of questioning, like, this could be challenging.

(laughs) (music continues) - The Red Desert, as a place, is my favorite place on the planet.

- When you really slow down, and you start to look, and you see the beauty of it, you see all the things that are living and thriving there, it's really amazing and it's kind of inspiring.

- There is a lot there.

And each of those things tends to be extremely unique.

And surprising for Wyoming.

- It's a jewel, it's kind of a hidden jewel in the state of Wyoming, but it still has some sacredness and history connected to tribal people.

- After dealing with all the stresses of the modern world and technology, to go out there and hear the meadowlarks, and the wind, and commune with nature, is good for the soul.

(gentle acoustic music) - This is where the dirt road kind of starts out.

And so I was thinking day one, ride along here, and camping... - We've gone on bikepacking trips previously in the Red Desert.

And we were like man, this year we should make it a thing.

I mean we should do a bikepacking trip in the Red Desert, but we should do it with intention.

And we should do it to teach people about bikes and the landscape.

We'll start our trip on the west side of the Red Desert, north of Rock Springs, and we'll end in Atlantic City where we'll spend some time learning about the Red Desert with John Mionczynski.

- [Mike] John is a career wildlife biologist, and he has spent more time out here in the Red Desert than any person I've ever met.

(group chatter) - I'm still kind of just like oh my gosh, I can't believe they like thought about me.

Like wanted me to come along.

'Cause the reality is like I don't have much experience with bikes, let alone bikepacking.

And so I think part of the appeal is also like how do I learn from these people that have so much knowledge and have so much experience with bikes?

- I think at its core bikepacking is moving across a landscape on two wheels, carrying everything that you need to survive for at least two days.

I'm gonna go with that as my definition.

- It's not too dissimilar from backpacking.

If you've been on some backpacking trips, all you have to do is kind of learn a little bit about bike maintenance, where to put those items on a bike, and different bag set, but it's incredibly similar.

(gentle acoustic music) - [Val] We got Scandinavian Swimmers.

The sour editions.

Sunscreen!

Easy place to get it.

It's definitely new to try to figure out how to put everything on a bike and being like well, that's all the space I have, so we're gonna have to get rid of all those extra creature comfort items and just like go down to almost the basics.

- I definitely like having a visual of everything I'm gonna bring.

Just easier, my brain is like thinking about a bunch of stuff.

I do like to take things slow.

I mean I like to knock out miles, and get to a destination, and have a camp, and keep things pretty, you know, consistent with my plan and what I wanted to do.

Sometimes when I'm out there I get anxiety with logistics and like maps.

Totally - actually, that might be my fear.

One of my fears.

(laughs) Is like oh no, like we're changing the route?

What?

What'd you just tell me?

And I'm learning.

I think in the past year and a half I'm learning it's okay if we go a different way.

(uplifting acoustic music) - Going bikepacking!

- How's it going?

- Good, I'm psyched.

- Heck yeah.

- Going downhill from my house I was like this is gonna be great.

And then the first uphill we hit I'm gonna be like oh God.

(Mike laughs) Packed too much water!

- You got it, come on, Val.

All right.

I don't know Val as well.

She is a prolific rock climber here in town.

But I think has got into bikepacking just because she's strong and wants to learn a new sport.

- Both things, you're kind of just looking for adventure.

Something to like push yourself.

I think there's a lot of the physical, like, where are my limitations, or like what is the next cool thing, big thing that I can do?

(gentle acoustic music) - This is my first bikepacking trip in five years, I think.

I think the legs will definitely remind me of what we're doing.

(laughs) You know?

A lot of us, you know, started riding bikes when we were little kids.

As we get older, sometimes life gets in the way and we don't ride bikes as much as we used to.

But I'm looking forward to being immersed in the outdoors, and your only job that you have to do that day is get up and ride your bike.

- All right, this is challenge number one.

Fully loaded bikes.

(music continues) - This tailwind isn't hurting, I'll tell you that.

- Dude, I am psyched on the tailwind too.

(Mike laughs) Don't mind if we do!

- Yeah.

There might be a reason why we're riding east.

(laughs) - Was that actually part of the plan?

- Oh yeah.

- Hell yes.

I like the way your brain works.

- [Bekka VO] I am the most happiest version of myself when I'm riding a bike.

Having a bad day, go for a bike ride.

Having a great day, have an even better day after I've gone for a bike ride.

It's just like this wonderful conduit to a better version of myself.

- Sand dunes are getting closer.

- Look at those little dunes.

(rhythmic drumming) (wind howling) - The Killpecker Sand Dunes are significant.

They're North America's largest living dune field of moving, ever-changing sand dunes.

Anytime you have a high point in the landscape, wind, and water, and ice are gonna break that rock down into smaller and smaller particles.

The Killpecker Sand Dunes formed from the sediment, really in the Green River Basin.

Sediment being brought down by rivers and by glacial activity.

And the good old Wyoming wind picking that sediment up.

And whenever wind is forced through a landscape where it slows down or has to rise, it'll drop its sediment load.

- There's pockets within the sand dunes of low points where it goes down into the soil which is usually clay.

And the clay will hold the water.

So as the snow turns into ice and then melts in the summer, it'll fill up these low points with water that stays there.

It's surface water then.

And all the animals know where that is.

In spring of the year, they come there.

- From a landscape perspective it's just fascinating to wander through these large dunes.

And interact with ponds and waterfowl, you know, in such a surprising way.

I love dunes.

I think they naturally bring out a playfulness in people.

They're just fascinating, they're always changing.

It's amazing, and surprising, and fun that there's such a active large sand dune basically hiding right there in the Red Desert.

(music continues) (wind howling) - That wind totally blew me off my bike once.

- I was like, I think Allison can't weigh more than a hundred pounds.

She's gonna get blown off of her bike.

- It was a total, like, backwards, like kinda off of this side.

Check this out.

Doesn't that look awful?

Look at this.

It's like climb, climb, climb, red.

- That's slightly concerning, but it's fine.

- It's only 647 feet.

That's what it says though.

- Yeah.

- Maybe that's not bad.

- We got this.

- Yeah?

(dramatic acoustic music) - Here goes.

(laughs) - There's a lot of emotions I can nostalgically feel about the Red Desert.

Just the feeling of being small in a big place is humbling.

And that humbling experience is something people need.

They need to feel that I think.

It's a necessary nutrient we don't get much of these days.

We're taught we have to be strong in our career, or in our family you have to do certain things that prove your worth.

But out in the desert, when you're all alone walking and you don't see anybody else, you're vulnerable.

You're humbled by the landscape.

And the weather will humble you.

The wind sometimes, or blowing snow.

In a place like the Red Desert you can be the underdog.

(music continues) - Oh man.

Look at that.

- That's why we're here.

Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful.

- Good job, you guys.

(gentle acoustic music) (camping stove hisses) - Okay, and then the next crux of these things, they always put way too much water in, and then I'm like I guess I'll enjoy this noodle soup.

Yeah.

(music continues) - "Why is there music coming from the printer?"

- [Bekka] Wait, you gotta give us a second to think on these.

- Okay.

- Why is there music coming from the printer?

- "Maybe the paper is jamming."

- [Bekka] Argh!

(Val laughs) That was a good one!

I liked that.

- It was.

- The reason that I enjoy bikepacking so much is the people that I get to spend time with, and this group just makes me really happy.

- "Why are elevator jokes so classic and good?"

- Because they lift you up?

- 'Cause they rise to the occasion?

- Oh!

- Is that right?

- No, but that's good!

(group laughs) "They work on many levels."

- Ooh.

- Ooh.

- I like yours.

- We should write in some new answers.

The outdoors has been less of like I go there to be outside, and it's been more of I go there to be with the people that I meet there and the experiences that I get to have.

- [Mike] It's about headlamp time.

- [Bekka] It's about headlamp time.

Also it's about bedtime time.

- [Val] Seriously.

(birds chirping) - Fatherhood, especially these first couple years, have been definitely their own adventure.

You know, something different, but it's been really great to be able to get back and do something I used to do a lot in the past.

I mean I'm grappling with aging, I turn 40 this year, and I don't miss old Mike.

I'm thankful for what I have right now, and the new adventure of parenthood and.

I think that's the whole, like, cool part about life is it's constantly changing.

And as you go through it you realize that the new thing is super fun.

So have a lot of fun in the moment because it might not be there in the future, but the new thing's super cool too.

Judging by these clouds, I think we oughta start rolling.

They're building faster than I anticipated.

(gentle acoustic music) It's really pretty out here right now.

- Yeah.

A lot of depth, yeah.

- [Mike] What a view.

(dramatic piano music) - The Tri-Territory site is a monument to the past.

When the European powers were focused on trying to dominate North America.

The Spanish territories, and France, and England, and the United States, all of those interests collided at that one little point on the map.

The Continental Divide was the western border of the United States legally in our relationships with other nations.

And then on the 4th of July, 1836, two young missionary women on their way to Oregon crossed the divide and people said well if they could do it, my wife can do it, my daughters can do it, and so suddenly half a million people poured through South Pass with their covered wagons to the West Coast.

Basically we just took it over with our population, and went to war with Mexico.

And threatened to go to war with Great Britain over the Pacific Northwest.

That Tri-Territory site is a reminder of how the United States became a continental nation and a global power.

(music continues) - I love these pedals, but I do kinda think the next ones I get will be like the flat on one side.

With the clip on one and the flat - - Yeah, like Bekka has who's got clip-ins on one side and flats on the other.

- Totally does, yeah, yeah.

I started working at the shop, and Mike was actually not around for the first couple months that I was working there.

And he came back to work at the shop full time.

And he was immediately like okay, let's do these little classes in the morning.

And so we went through this series of he would break the bike, show me how to do it, and then break it again, and then I would fix it.

He has this passion to teach people about bikes and how to fix them.

He's a very inspirational person, and he's taught me a lot.

- Woo!

Oh, hey-o!

I got bogged down in a little mud there.

Shoot.

That's one thing about the roads out here.

They can turn muddy quick.

Aw dang it.

It's crazy that just like.

A little bit of water.

Will make it cake like that.

- You'll push it for like two seconds and it's like stuck.

- It's a totally futile effort.

Isn't that wild?

Seriously rolled it about three feet.

Gravel bikes are fast right up until this moment.

(ethereal music) - I think we have like 8.9 miles left of this road.

(laughs) So if it continues to be this way I will slowly get more frustrated.

(music continues) - When we were like in it, I was like we won't see dry road for miles.

20 minutes later, here I am and wanting my sunglasses.

I think like having to problem solve, having to face some challenges, having to like dig a little deep, is part of the fun of it.

That's why people like adventures in general.

That's why I like it.

(gentle acoustic music) I'm like super psyched on astrophotography in the Red Desert just because the light pollution out here is nil.

Ideally a tripod would've been better, and now I'm sort of kicking myself for not spending the extra five minutes (clears throat) to try and find it.

I'm basically just gonna set up the composition that I want.

And then once it's dark out I'll actually pull focus on the stars.

(ethereal music) And this time I'll actually take the lens cap off.

I hate when I do the thing where I'm like wow, I really can't see any stars.

And then it's because I have a lens cap on.

(camera shutter clicks) - The idea of protecting the night sky, protecting darkness, is something that is actually inherently important to us as human beings.

Whether it's our phones, our alarm clocks, our nightlights, headlights, streetlights, there is light on all the time.

- The Red Desert is kind of a portal into the star country because you can see in every direction.

And the horizon is the beginning of the stars.

The Red Desert is unique there too because there's no lights.

You can't see the stars from most cities.

And then outside of cities you get the glare of cities.

- Light pollution is any light that occurs at night that is not natural.

Anywhere that there is a population of people, they're going to have some level of streetlights that are projecting up into the sky.

And at a distance you will see that light shining up into the sky, that's city glow.

The great thing about light pollution is it is a totally solvable problem.

When we think about air pollution or water pollution, those are really big challenges to tackle.

Light pollution just involves turning off the light.

And just really be thinking about do I need this light?

How much light do I need?

And how can I protect that light from being wasted and shining in spaces I don't need it to be?

This is something where if we all do our little part, we can make a huge difference.

It's our job to make sure that we can keep these dark skies for future generations to enjoy.

- Being able to take these photos of this like incredible night sky is, it's just such a good reminder of like in the grand scheme of things we don't really know what the meaning of any of this is, so we get to sort of choose what the meaning we ascribe to life is, and I choose like getting to hang out with my friends and go bikepacking.

And it's pretty great that we can get that reminder just from a photo.

(upbeat acoustic music) (ethereal music) Ooh, really feels good to be hiking.

Instead of biking.

- Darn tootin'.

- Different leg muscles.

- I really like the Honeycomb Buttes.

It's a beautiful place to go when you want solitude and you want to maybe escape the world.

You have this sense there that you're enclosed in this maze of badlands.

- The colors in the Honeycomb Buttes come from different amounts of oxidation of the iron in those sediments.

So the oxidized layers will be more of the pinks and the purples.

Just like rust.

If those sediments are in a place where they aren't exposed to oxygen, you'll have green colors, gray colors that are the reduction of the iron.

The Honeycomb Buttes are capped by tan or white colored bands.

And those are more rich in the ash from the Absaroka Volcanic Field.

For geologists, every rock unit or even landform is telling a story.

And so that's what's great about geology.

It's telling a story of Earth's past.

And helping people understand how to read that story.

(music continues) (country rock music) - [Mike] We're gonna end our bikepacking trip here at John Mionczynski's house.

And he's gonna go teach a botany class in the morning.

But before he goes, he's gonna show us some of the artifacts he's found out in the Red Desert.

So you can pass these around and look at them.

This is from the Oregon Trail.

Oxen shoes were in two parts, the clove and hooves.

When they left Missouri, those were about three-eighths of an inch thick.

- Wow.

- [John] And by the time they got here they were paper thin.

- [Bekka] Dang.

- [John] Now this is a soldered can from the Oregon Trail.

This kind of soldering was probably from the 1860s.

- The Manifest Destiny of covered wagons and saying we're gonna go discover, we're gonna homestead.

There's a history way before that.

The Red Desert still holds a significance to many tribes.

And to many people.

You know, I'm sure there's remains out there.

There's objects that was left out there.

There's petroglyphs, there's rock art.

That showed our presence there.

Spirituality is very close to us as tribal people.

And the land always plays a part in that.

The concept and use of those areas has changed over time.

But remains the same in terms of our spirituality, in our stories.

We got a lot of history written about us, but it's not written by us.

That's the issue, it's not written by us.

Archeologists have their stories.

And sometimes those don't coincide with the oral stories of the tribes.

But it's time for us to really tell our own story.

And continue to tell that story from our perspective.

With the distractions we have from day to day, everything's so fast paced.

And there's very little room for patience.

And time to sit down and listen.

Listen to the older folks in your family.

Listen to stories.

Take time to do that.

'Cause it's important.

It's important.

- We have lost something maybe, I believe we lost things that we're hungry for and we don't know how to get 'em.

It was part of this world that we need to relearn.

Somehow.

And the way I think we relearn it is to be curious and ask questions.

So now I have to go.

But thank you for being an inspiring group of folks.

(dramatic piano music) - [Bekka VO] When you have a backstory that goes along with the landscape, it just makes it that much more meaningful.

So I think that's made the Red Desert an even more special place for me.

- [Allison VO] I really appreciate the small details that these wild places like the Red Desert present to us and give to us.

And it will teach you things when you slow down and just kind of appreciate it.

- [Mike VO] This trip has been really cool to be able to get back to just riding bikes with friends and just kind of see time slow down a little bit.

I'm incredibly thankful for places like the Red Desert.

- [Val VO] There is definitely ups and downs, but every adventure ends up being empowering no matter how many hardships you go through.

It really makes me look forward to the next trip.

(music continues)