Old Faithful

We got our kickstands up after packing up our wet tents, and our destination for today was to take us to Sheridan, Wyoming to get us back on schedule. It was really an unachievable goal, since the route had to take us through busy Yellowstone and over the curvy Beartooth Highway, but we were off anyway...

Grizzly

The road out of Grand Teton Park led us to the John D. Rockerfeller Highway and into Yellowstone Park. We were to have stopped by Old Faithful on the previous day, but with the weather we were unable to make it which meant a stop the was required on the route today. The views on this leg were pretty much the same as the day before when we got into Grand Teton Park: rolling hills and stands of pine, with a small segment riding along the shores of Lewis Lake on our left. Somehow, Jeff and I got split up from the rest of the group and pulled into th eparking area of Old Faithful just as it was putting on it's show. I really wasn't sure that we had missed it until we saw the crowds piling out as we were walking into the viewing area. This meant we had an hour and a half delay if we wanted to see it up close and personal... We met up with the rest of the group later and waited for the show, of which I was able to record as a video (very cool) on the camera I found earlier in the year at the Bockfest in downtown Cincinnati (also very cool).

Elk

After the show, we had about a 4-1/2 hour ride out of the park to the northeast entrance, which included a construction delay (boo!) and an encounter with a grizzly bear (yay!). The construction delay was not much to write home about, but the grizzly was exciting. The van in front of us stopped in the middle of the road to start taking pictures of the bear, which was about 75 yards away from us. This gave me the opportunity to get out the camera and start snapping photos before a ranger came up to the van to hussle him along because of the unprotected bikers in back of him. I quickly confirmed with the ranger that it was, indeed, a grizzly and we were on our way again.

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Many geysers along our route in Yellowstone

The road to the Beartooth Highway summit

After exiting the park, we were almost immediately on the Beartooth Highway. Earlier, we had confirmed the summit of the road to be 10,947 feet, so we had stopped to put on warmer gear before the ascent. I had researched this route in the past, hoping to ride it, but never getting the chance. Up until this point of the entire trip, Jeff and I have been riding in a postcard, and today was no different. Again, the pictures I took will do this route no justice. There were times when I took a photo loooking nearly straight down, but you cannot tell. The entire way to the top of the mountain, rain clouds were off to our left, and we were traveling on wet roads. About half way up, we stopped along the side of the road after I heard rushing waters. Although anywhere along this road would have made an excellent photo opportunity, this stop was especially nice, as it offered a waterfall that went beneath a bridge and into the river below. After we passed 10,000 feet, I counted four lakes, and the terrain was barren of trees. Tom, Barry, Scott, and Jeff had stopped to take some pictures along the way and Ken, Steve and I were stopped to wait for another pilot car through construction. I was a little leary of the "Fresh Oil" signs that were on the side of the wet road, but they turned out to be not-so-bad. We stopped at the summit to take some pictures and to relieve ourselves (just to say we did), and I could see the rest of our group waiting for the pilot car that had brought us to the top. They were probably a few miles behind us, but I think I could have thrown a rock and hit them. I think they owe me since I refrained...

The desent offered me the opportunity to try out the new bike on some serious switchbacks, and I left Ken and steve behind a bit as I took them as fast has I felt I safely could (which was not very fast). I love this bike!

It was getting dark as we reached the bottom of the mountain, so we pulled in the Beartooth Hideway Inn to stop for the night and frshen our clothes at the local laundrymat... 175 miles short of schedule.