Yellowstone

Where do I even begin to describe the adventure it was? I saw incredible scenery and wildlife, met awesome people, had tourists take pictures of me and act as though I were some spectacle, went over tough terrain, felt the sheer terror of drivers passing me real close with no safety of shoulder, hitchhiked for the first time in my life, had park rangers called on me, went through construction, raced the sun, burnt all kinds of time on Old Faithful and had to race the sun all over again, used my bicycle powers to get around a traffic jam... Suffice it to say, it's been an eventful couple days.

So, should everyone see Yellowstone? Yes, undoubtedly. Do I recommend doing it by bike? ...No, no I definitely not. It's not the extremely far distances over difficult terrain to get between locations. If you take the time, more time than I did, there are plenty of decently spaced campgrounds that guarantee cheap spots for hikers/bikers so you don't have to worry about that preventing you from seeing things. It's definitely not the bison or the bears. Sure, it can be a bit uncomfortable being so exposed at times (mostly with bison), but follow the rules, leave them alone, and there seems little to worry about. No, it's the cars that are the real beasts you have to worry about. It's the lack of good shoulder, with tons of ups and downs, twists and turns, and crazy drivers trying to pass you way too close. Through no fault of your own, you have the continual threat of death by incompetent, impatient motorists, and it's just too much for me. Plenty of people do it and seem to think little of it. But as someone who has biked 1000 miles solo on not the best bike, and gone up and down mountains, I think they're crazy. Yellowstone seems to me to be one place better done by car.

Still, I couldn't be happier that I chose to bike through the world's first national park as I did, and I wouldn't do it any different if I had the chance. It was a real adventure.

I weathered the storm Saturday night, hardly getting any sleep, and awoke early with the tedious task of drying everything out. I got some help from the heated restroom and its air dryer. Then I went up to Fishing Bridge and ate a fairly decent breakfast. From there, I headed on north to Canyon Village, getting to see some of my first sights of the park's impressive thermal activity on the way. The feel of the rising heat in contrast to the chill mountain air, the smell of sulpher, the sight of steam rising from boiling, muddy earth...it really is something to see.

And then, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone? While it is certainly not so vast or magnificent as the Grand Canyon itself, it is definitely deserving of the likeness. Had I the time, I would have loved to hike all the way through it, but I was sadly in a hurry to carry on, so I was only able to explore a little of the trails.

I had some terrifying experiences with crazy tourists as I got back to biking that made me nervous enough I actually contemplated heading straight for the park exit. Thankfully, I settled on a much crazier option. Following the example of the Polish ladies, and a partially mocking suggestion from my hosts in Cody, I decided to hitchhike to see the park. I was willing to leave my bike there if anyone would be willing to take me around and return me to it, or if they had means and willingness to take my bike and trailer, all the better. I asked a lot of people before I had success. Basically everyone I asked was really understanding, explained they were either headed out of the park, had a full car, or some other sound reason they couldn't take me, and encouraged me to keep trying.

...That's why I was really surprised when a park ranger showed up to question me, right after I had found an awesome guy willing to take me and my bike in his van. As he took me aside and I nervously followed him, I answered him sincerely that I had no real idea why he was talking to me. When he explained, I almost wanted to laugh. I wasn't in trouble for hitchhiking, but because someone, somehow, probably not someone I asked but who misheard me asking someone else, thought I was offering a ride...on my bicycle...rather than asking for one. ...That's right, someone thought I was going around the parking lot asking people to take a ride on my bike trailer.

It all got sorted. My ID was run and came back clean. One of the officers asked the man who had agreed to give me a ride what had been discussed in order to check my story. And then I was sent on my way, with a really great family from Alabama on their annual vacation to Yellowstone. They took me up past Tower Fall and showed me their favorite spot up by the Northeast entrance of the park, with lots of bison, and elk, and even a golden eagle nest they had found on a cliff. They were fun and funny people, who loved coming to Yellowstone and animal spotting. They ultimately took me to Mammoth Hot Springs where they dropped me off and went on their way.

Tajin was right. Mammoth is the best part of the Park. It looks like a gash in the Earth where some other world has overtaken our own. It's incredible. But I only had so much time, before I had to head on south, now on bike again. It was a bit of a difficult road to Norris, made worse by construction. And then upon reaching Norris, instead of camping there as I should, I decided to do something mad.

With the sun low in the sky, I rushed on to Madison, so that I could have a shot at going down to Old Faithful the next day. Thankfully it was mostly downhill, but it was still a hard push, a real race against the sun. ...Made even worse because I just HAD to take a detour to see the unimpressive artist paint pots before realizing just how little time I could spare. I was freezing cold and exhausted, the sun about to set, when I finally got in. I was grateful the hiker/biker site was at the entrance of the campground. That's how late and tired I was. There was a group of other young cross country bikers there who it probably would have been interesting to talk to, but I was sadly much too frazzled getting my tent untangled and set up and everything ready for bed. Their undoubtedly interesting stories passed me by.

I woke up late in the morning and they were already gone. I followed the plan and took the 32 mile detour to go see Old Faithful and back. There were a lot of interesting other thermal phenomena on the way, which I really enjoyed. Old Faithful itself...well, it was a long wait for a brief, but impressive display. I spent a lot of time waiting for it to erupt that I really didn't have. And after it did, I had to rush out of there.

...In a hurry as I was, a traffic jam was the last thing I needed. I biked along the shoulder past all the parked cars, asking perplexed people on the way what had happened. No one knew. It was only when I got to the front that I found out there was an emergency copter on the road where EMTs were working on a critically injured man who had a tree fall on him. If not a bison, bear, cliff, or thermal, it's always something... In the crazy winds today, I guess I'm not surprised. Needing to hurry, sometimes it's good to be on bike, and mountain bike at that. I was able to go around the copter and the traffic mess by taking a gravel road. Barring one incident where I got a little too close to some bison (who I left alone, and they left me alone), it went well and I got back on track.

From there, it was pretty much just a hard push to here. In my brief run through Montana to the continental divide and Idaho, the road was not only uphill but the shoulder was awful. But thankfully, it was all easy going once I got into Idaho. Late in the evening I arrived here, at a really sweet pad that a guy from Warmshowers provides to passersby, his man cave as he calls it. I've got to enjoy the place to myself, showering off my stench, eating, even watching a movie while writing this, and staying up way, way too late. Tomorrow is a whole new day, so to sleep with me.

Finally able to post this Tuesday morning. Pictures will be posted when I can.