2008 Western Adventure

Day 22 - July 11, 2008

Today I woke up to the sound of a variety birds singing their morning song.  I had a relatively good night, but I did hear something walking around the tent a couple of times.  When I got my things out of the bear box in the morning, I did notice some fresh claw marks.  The ranger made it very clear that I should use the bear box for any food and toiletry items.  I only had to say two words for me to do what he said....GRIZZLY BEAR!  Actually they have three types of bear in the park, but the Grizzly is the one that scares me the most.  By the time I broke camp it was about 9am.

It was another perfect riding day, not too cool and not too hot.  The sky was very blue, and I didn't detect anything in the air that would touch off my allergies.  To my left were the majestic Grand Teton's penetrating the blue sky, and at the foot of the Teton's was the huge Jackson Lake that reflected the jagged mountains like a mirror. The mighty Snake River is also in the same area.  So much clean cold water, and we're still on water restriction in Central Florida. 

With the Grand Teton National Park in my rearview mirrors, I set my sights on Yellowstone National Park.  I chose to take the loop containing Old Faithful, and am now wondering what marvelous things I missed by not doing the entire loop.  I guess I'll have to come back to this part of the U.S. to see what I missed.  The mountains are beautiful in Yellowstone and I was in awe as I rounded each new curve.  I love curvy roads, because around each curve is a new scene.  I hit the Continental Divide a couple of times.  The mountains weren't as high as the mountains in Colorado, but they were every bit as beautiful.  Actually, you never get out of the trees when your only 8000 feet high.  The tree line ends about 10000 to 11000 feet. 

I arrived at Old Faithful just in time to see it do its thing,  You've got to be there to appreciate how magnificent it really is.  Like most of mother natures wonders, photos do not do it justice.  They have a cafeteria at the Old Faithful site, and I was very hungry, so I had a big old pulled pork sandwich, and was able to see Old Faithful do her thing again while I was eating.

After lunch I got underway and continued to be amazed at the beauty in this part of the world.  The river, the mountains, the unique rock structures, and Gods living creatures.  I did see some antelope in this part of the country.  In fact, this must be the place that the song "Home on the Range" was trying to describe.

I don't know whether or not the road was built to follow the Yellowstone River, but I sure crossed it plenty of time.  There were also many more rivers and creeks that I would see on this days ride.  It was indeed a wonderful day

I made it into Livingston, MT this evening and found a place to lay my head for the night.