Day 21: West Yellowstone to Grant Village - 56 miles
One of the things I have been reflecting on of late is the way in which I have been helped over the years by a number of people. Everything that I have achieved has in some way or the other been due to the support of others. I felt impressed to send some of these people e-mails thanking them and although at least one wondered if I was becoming "soft" or had too much time for reflection, I was pleased that I had finally expressed my appreciation.
Sean got up around 7 and went off to the local market to shop while I uploaded the journal to the web. We packed up and were out the door by 9 a.m. into a *VERY* cold morning. Even Sean commented it was cold which is something; normally he is almost completely uninfluenced by the cold. He cycles in shorts when I've got multiple layers on. Hard to believe he grew up in the tropics of Queensland and myself in the cold climes of Canada!
We had been advised to go to the three bears restaurant for breakfast. When we arrived there was a queue so we thought that the advice must have been well founded. I stood outside in the sun reading the paper and we chatted with some Germans who were also cyclists, although nothing like cycling the Rockies. I told them of my last trip to Germany when Lis and I tried to follow the Rhine but her knees gave out in Cologne. Our fondest memory was of all the cherries that were available from the roadside stalls. Lis ate an obsene volume every day. She called them 'coloured water' but I wasn't convinced.
Eventually we got into the restaurant and had breakfast - the most forgettable pancakes of the trip. They were wafer thin, more like crepes, and they had even watered down the maple syrup! Some things are absolutely contemptable. As we left we decided that we needed more food to fuel us for the day.
Our first stop was the bicycle shop where I tried to buy a new carrier. They only had one in stock and it was not suitable and I was also unable to buy some chain lube. The owner said that "it was the end of the season" and he wouldn't be getting more stock in until late spring. Ho hum. Still, with the town in the snow belt it is likely that there are very few cyclists come late October. But lots of snowmobilers.
After visiting another supermarket we visited the second bike shop in town. Same excuse as the first - end of season. We then wandered around trying to find a sandwich before going to Arby's where I waited for Sean the previous day. Sean was pleased to get a roast beef sandwich and they made me a special vegetarian sandwich. Fuelled up, we headed for Yellowstone Park. There was a German driving a beautiful Harley Davidson at the entrance also getting a photo of the sign. It was the most lovely motorcyle I had ever seen. He had brought it over from Germany with him and was touring the USA. We were to see him again the next day.
After paying our park fee we entered the park. The road was good with
wide shoulders which was required given the number of RVs travelling along the road. They
are difficult at the best of times; dangerous when their owner insists on sight-seeing
while driving this oversize vehicle.
In 1988 Yellowstone had some terrible forest fires and 14 years later the evidence of
these fires are everywhere. Many of the hills are bare save for burned out trees and there
are whole swaths of land which look empty. But that is deceiving. The park is
regenerating, albeit slowly, and the fires have provided a mechanism for this. So while
they may detract from the beauty, they bring new life in a natural way.
The road followed the Madison River through fairly flat terrain. Around us was a circle of
beautiful mountains, also daunting since we knew we had to cycle over them. As we cycled
along we passed a closed area where eagles were nesting. We could see one of the nests at
the top of a burned out tree and it was huge. Later, I heard a loud bird cry and stopping
we spied an eagle sitting in a tree. Although we waited it didn't fly away so we cycled
on.
We were surrounded by huge cliffs and mountains throughout the cycle and they provided a dramatic backdrop for the scenery. With the river meandering next to us it was bliss to by cycling in such a place. I could see why it was protected as a national park. Protected in one sense. Fisherman are still permitted in the rivers, there are horseback tours, and visitors are allowed to bring in animals, I saw lots of dogs and even a few cats. In NZ it would be much more protected.
To date we have not seen a lot of wildlife. This is to be expected I
guess since the west is now heavily farmed and even the forests which we pass through
allow hunting. However, today we were not to be disappointed. At a turn in the road there
was a heard of elk, almost all female, being led my a magnificent stag with huge antlers.
The photo below doesn't do him justice. Later, we passed a heard of buffalo grazing in the
field with a mountain backdrop.
Whenever there are animals there are traffic jams and in one sense they provide more
entertainment than the animals. At one place I saw the DRIVER taking a photo, while his
female passenger had the video camera out. So what? They were still driving at about 20
km/h. Good thing we have wide shoulders ...
At Madison we turned south. We had wanted to visit Canyon Village
where there is a spectacular canyon, but due to construction the road was closed for most
of the day so this was not possible. We stopped at the campground for a rest and chatted
with an elderly couple from Spokane. Sean commented that he could see why Americans didn't
see a need to travel since there is so much to see in the USA. The fellow agreed and said
that except during WW II when he was an "involuntary guest of the Germans" as a
downed aviator, he was happy just to stay in the USA. Like the other Americans we met they
were very friendly and gave us some delicious Washington apples to go on our way.
Shortly after leaving Madison we saw a large traffic jam. We thought it was due to rubber
necking to look at animals, but it was instead caused by two buffalo strolling down the
road. At several hundred pounds (plus with horns) they are not to be messed with!
For a change we cut down Firehole Canyon Drive which took us past a dramatic canyon with a
river rushing through it. Although it was a steep cycle up out of the canyon, it was worth
the view.
From there it was up and up. The road took us through a combination of hills and meadows
which were pleasing on the eye. Yellowstone has a lot of geysers (as well as geisers
driving RV's) and we stopped at the Midway Geyser Basin to admire them. It was very
similar to Rotorua NZ, but without the smell. There were multi-coloured rock formations,
created by the different type of bacteria which thrive in the thermal waters.
There was a circular walkway which we took and Sean observed that for the first time we
were presented with a plethora of overweight people. It was true. To date we not seen many
overweight people, but mainly healthy looking outdoors types. However, here we were
presented with a more typical cross section of Americans. Given the number who didn't even
leave their vehicles, it was not surprising to see why.
We continued on our way and shortly afterwards came across a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere. We wondered why until we passed a LARGE buffalo grazing on our side of the road, a few metres away from us! The people in the cars had their cameras ready just in case there was some excitement. Althought they are large, they can accelerate to 30 mph which is a bit faster than us.
For lunch we stopped at Old Faithful, which is a famous geyser which spouts at a regular interval. It was very amusing since around the geyser there was a boardwalk with two rows of benches where people could wait in comfort for the geyser to show its stuff. There were hundreds of people sitting there, cameras ready, to catch the few minutes of excitement. I contrasted this with Whakarewarewa in NZ where things are much more casual.
Near us were four Amish from Pennsylvania speaking Pennsylvania German. They were dressed in their traditional outfits, but obviously more 'worldly' than many of their counterparts since you couldn't travel to Yellowstone by carriage. They were most interested in NZ, particularly the price of land and if it was suitable for dairy. We extolled the virtues of the NZ dairy industry, while also complaining about the US trade practices which have caused such damage to NZ.
After finishing lunch we wheeled our bicycles along the boardwalk, amazed at the number of people and the polyglot of languages we could hear. We saw it blow and it was impressive, but I wouldn't have come this far or waited a long time to see it. After all, it is just a plume of water and some steam. But then I've seen many geysers in NZ so I've probably been spoiled.
It was upwards from Old Faithful and the road was a lot busier, due no doubt to people heading out after the show. We stopped at the Kepler Cascades which was a series of waterfalls through a valley. Very impressive. Then it was more up and up until we crossed the divide at Craig Pass (8262') where I posed for the photo below.
The road continued upwards to about 8900' before descending to the second divide crossing of the day at 8391'. It is one of the paradoxes that there are often climbs higher than the divide before you cross the divide; this is because the hills are on one side of the divide and do not constitute a crossing. This was number 9, and the fourth in two days!
It was getting late in the day and very cold, particularly on the downhill runs. Even though I was wearing my warm clothes, it was numbing; even Sean complained about the cold. Of course being over 8000' feet doesn't help things.
We had a good downhill run to West Thumb and from there it was two miles to our destination for the night, Grant Village. As we approached the village we stopped at the Grill for dinner, but it was closed. The market was open but there was nothing for me to eat, although Sean got some rolls (which proved to be stale) and a drink. We then checked out the restaurant but it was a bit posh for two travel weary cyclists so we gave up and headed over to the campground where we checked in.
Americans are so friendly, and the ranger Gene was better than most. I don't know how he could maintain such a positive demeanour all day long with travellers checking in. We got a good campsite, although we were surrounded by RV's, and there was a bear locker for our food which was great. It held all our panniers which was important since the Yellowstone bears have lost any fear they may have had for people.
After pitching our tents in the near dark we ate. I wasn't tired so went for a wander and talked with one of our neighbours Bob. He had an RV and so I invited myself inside to have a look. It was amazing. There was a satellite dish for communications (including internet), a hardwood floor, double bed in the rear and much more room than I would have expected. The RV had sides which expand when stopped so it effectively increases the width to about 4-5 m. Makes the place very livable. He told me that it cost them $USD 70,000, although some models got over $200,000. I'd believe it.
Eventually, it was getting so cold that I decided to call it a night so I crawled into my sleeping bag. I had put my hydration pack and water filter at the bottom of the bag which, while not being comfortable, means that they won't freeze which to me seemed inevitable. That was good planning since during the night it dropped to -3. I slept fully clothed, including my down jacket, and felt the temperature. Not a good portent of things to come ...