Day 40: Thursday, June 27, 2013
West Yellowstone to Grant Village: 53 miles
Phil was up and packing for the road at 6:30. I crawled out of bed long enough to photograph him carrying his loaded bike downstairs, then flopped back into the bunk. I was awakened at 9:20 by the cleaning lady. So much for an early start.
Phil carries his bike downstairs. |
The former Union Pacific depot was across the street from the hotel. It's now a museum dealing mainly with the parts the railroads played in Yellowstone Park tourism. I'll do a separate writeup on that.
After touring the museum, I had some breakfast that I'd bought the night before - plums and yogurt - and, since it was now lunchtime - went across the street to a McDonald's. But one look at their prices - $4 for a cheeseburger - drove me back to the Taco Bus for another macho burrito. And then it was off to Yellowstone.
I was here in 1954, 1967, and 1981, so have already seen a lot of the usual tourist stuff. And I didn't have time for the real backwoods adventures, so my goal this time was to make it through the park without seeing any wildlife. I came close: two scruffy-looking bison ambling slowly across the road held up traffic for a mile. And I saw an elk waiting patiently at the side of the road for cars to stop so she could cross safely. I did take the time to observe a few bubbling geysers, but no Old Faithful.
Here in the park, as well as on the ride from Ennis, we saw many fly fishermen along the Madison River. |
You can tour Yellowstone park in a bus from the 1950s or the 1930s. |
Yellowstone flowers |
Okay, here's your token shot of geysers. |
Grant Village is a camping area on the way out the south side of the park. While I was in the store there, some fellow cyclists hailed me. It was Jordan, Israel, and Natalee, three cyclists who had spent a night at the warmshowers jazz house back in Missoula. They had met another couple, Matt and Sarah, and we all shared a campsite at Grant Village campground in Yellowstone.
Camping in Yellowstone |
Thanks for sacrificing your sleep for blog updates. Hope July is treating you well so far!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading your Blog. Everyday is an adventure that makes me wish I was there too!
ReplyDeleteHey Bret, Hope you start eating some Wheaties to power the rest of your trip. Donuts are not going to cut it!!!! Michael Wood(Mowman)
ReplyDelete