Day 22: Grant Village to Teton RV Park - 54 miles
There was a buffet breakfast and even though we were there before 6:45, it was already quite busy. I was very cold so while Sean went to the toilet I displayed bad manners and got some hot food. Within minutes I could feel myself functioning again and the hot chockolate the waiter brought me rounded things off perfectly. I worked on my journal and we had a very leisurely breakfast, with many return trips to the food bar, eventually leaving about 8:15. The restaurant overlooked the lake and so during that time we were able to see the sun rise and present us with what looked to be a perfect day.
After breaking camp and packing we cycled out and met up with a female cyclist. Lauren was from Maryland and was cycling from Vancouver to Denver where her boyfriend worked for Trek bicycles. She had a sign on the back of her bike 'Vancouver to Denver or Bust' and we had seen her the previous day in West Yellowstone, although we had been too far away to read the sign. She had this flourescent yellow jacket which made her stand out something fierce.
She was one fit woman as she was doing the trip on a road bike with very low gearing. Her legs were very muscular, but then mine would be too if I had travelled so far on a bike with very limited gears. The three of us cycled together for a while and chatted. She was feeling the altitude and it was manifesting itself through an accelerated pulse. We cycled at teh same speed and I was at 130 bpm while she was at 160. She said that she had regularly been in the 190's which is very high, even for someone her age. Before long we came to our third continental divide crossing in Yellowstone Park, and the photo below shows Sean with Lauren.
The traffic was very heavy, surprising given it was a Tuesday, and the road we were travelling on had little, if any, shoulder. Made for some interesting close calls. We were passed by quite a few Mazda MX-5 Miata sports cars, just like the one that I have in NZ. They were from a car club and the day before I had chatted with them at Old Faithful. Real enthusiasts with immaculate cars and I often recognised the unique sound of the MX-5 as they approached. I must admit that it made me miss my car, especially on the steep hills!
The scenary was lovely, although like elsewhere it was denuded of trees from the fires. At one spot they had an information board which showed a photo of the fires with two fireman in the field before the flames. They were dwarfed by this wall of fire and one wonders what difference they could have made with such an inferno raging. Must be very brave (or crazy) men and women.
We passed Lewis Lake and I took the photo below of the Lewis River meandering through the meadows. It was surprising that we didn't see any wildlife at all during our trip. Lots of tourists though!
The terrain became more rolling as we entered hills. The river was still our companion on the left, but it vanished from site into a gorge. At one point we stopped and climbed over the guardrail to have a look down. It was pretty scary being close to the edge (I'm afraid of heights) but as you can see from the photo below, the view was priceless. I was surprised that they didn't have a viewing platform here since it is by far better than the Keplar Cascades we saw yesterday.
Not long after this we began a long downhill run which took us out of the park and into the adjacent 'Grand Teton National Park'. Two miles into the park we came to Flagg Ranch which we stopped at for refreshments. Since the Deli was closed we opted for the restaurant where I enjoyed a green salad and a vegetarian hamburger while Sean indulged his carnivorous desires. Our waitress was a young woman from the Czech Republic who was very impressed with my palmtop computer (I worked on the journal over lunch). Another waitress was from Spain so it seems that there is a veritable united nations here.
The route was described by the guidebook as the most beautiful road in America and while I might not have gone that far, it was spectacular. To the west across Jackson Lake were the Teton mountains, which rise up and give a jagged skyline. It was stunning.
We came across a convenience store and petrol station and so stopped for a break. It may sound like all we do is eat but when you are cycling through mountains it is amazing how quickly one gets hungry. It is also important for Sean to regularly monitor his glucose level and for some reason it was very high this day.
I used the opportunity to make a few calls to NZ and when we went to leave I found that I had a flat rear tyre. Very strange. I changed it and then threw out the tube as it already had two patches and one needs to be sensible about the life of a tube.
As we cycled towards Moran Junction we stopped at a wetland area where there were quite a few cars. There were two moose nearby so we went to have a look. Sean was very keen on seeing them and so he made more of an effort than I did (all I saw was two brown lumps in the distance which could have been rocks).
While waiting for his return a fellow came up and chatted with me. Bob was a cyclist and asked if we were doing one of the Adventure Cycling routes. He had done a trans-American trip two years before and this was part of the trans-Am route. He started in Virginia but stopped in Colorado. He was very interested to hear about our trip and gave some suggestions on what lay ahead of us.
There was lots of construction on and when we headed east from Moran junction we were in a work zone for about 10 miles. We stopped frequently to look back and the panorama of the Tetons. The photo below is an example of the million dollar view we had. There were several people painting at this spot, as well as many other photographers.
The flagman at the construction site let us cycle through as long as we promised to be careful (duh ... we'd rather tackle your trucks than be careful) and every so often we would be passed by a stream of vehicles following a pilot car. They were doing an asphaltic concrete overlay and I found it interesting that the roller drivers were all women. I expected at least one token male.
The terrain was rolling and we were given the panorama of mountains shown below to accompany us. By now it was late in the day and the afternoon sun cast its golden glow over everything. It was just lovely.
We were not out of bear country and the sign below proved to be too good an opportunity to miss. I got my bear bait to pose. The special rule (as dictated by my wife Lis) is that the bears must first go for Sean before they go for me.
Since we had deviated from the route by going through Yellowstone Park, we decided not to take the full route but instead to stay on the main road and go to a campground marked on the map. We had done an extra 22 miles already and the prospects of a fruther 20+ miles on top of what we had done, and on unsealed roads, was a bit daunting.
The campsite eventually came up as we were beginning to fade and although it was grossly overpriced, we checked in gratefully. While we pitched our tents George came by and had a chat. He was accompanied by a very inquisitive dog who he continually tried to bring into line. George was a retired teacher who obviously was a bit lonely. He sat down and talked for the better part of an hour. It transpired that he had grown up in Gary Indiana a city that I had the misfortune to travel through on my previous cycle trip. When I told him that it was the armpit of America he heartily agreed and gave an explantion of what it used to be like. It seemed amazing that a place could change so much in a short period of time ...
After pitching our tents I had a quick meal and then went to the main building where I worked on my journal and answered some of the 72 e-mails that were waiting for me. Fortunately, only about 30 were urgent. CNN was showing on the television and it was interesting to hear about the preparations for September 11, which was the following day. I'd never expected to be in the USA for this solemn anniversary. After they kicked me out at 21:00 I read in bed for a while before calling it quits for the day. Another full on day of cycling but the weather was great and the scenary even better. Sean is in a much more positive mood than a few days ago and things are going really well. This is what cycle touring is all about.