29 degrees at 6:30am. Could have used one more layer in the tent. Got up early to see the wildlife checking out of their hotels. No milk for breakfast…had to take some trans fats for the team…hit the golden arches. Headed back into the park at the west entrance and stopped at nearly all of the 4 billion geysers and hot springs. Pretty cool stuff, nice colors from bacteria. Potent sulfur smell. Learned that most of Yellowstone is a caldera from volcanic activity…didn’t know that. Tons of people in the park…a little annoying, kind of has a Disneyworld feel but the scenery is pretty intense. Lots of wild life today. Another Grizzly Bear, Black Bear, Pronghorn, Bison, Moose, Deer, Elk…full spectrum.
I’m sorry to say this but some people are stupid. Get this. HUGE grizzly bear 25 yards off the side of the road minding its own business chomping on some grass near a creek. Big group gathering. I’m standing there and this jackass with a camera gets within 10 yards of the thing…it looks up and the guy runs away! Come on man. A grizzly bear can run 35 mph especially if it feels threatened! Only Chad and I could possibly out run it on our super duper fast bikes. And then someone throws an apple core towards it! Can you believe that??!! I was dumbfounded. Funny side note: When I saw the guy walking towards the bear, I turned to a woman standing next to me and happened to mention I didn’t think the man was being ‘very intelligent’ by putting everyone else at risk. Turned out that guy was her husband…oops.
I think seeing the moose was somewhat rare. Apparently after the fires of 1988 most of the moose migrated south to Teton National Park.
Yellowstone Canyon, nicknamed the ‘Grand Canyon of Yellowstone’ was impressive. Lots of energy from the water and the colors of the canyon rocks described its long history well.
Yellowstone is like Hollywood on crack…beautiful no doubt but enough paparazzi to shock even Britney Spears. It guess its no surprise for a beautiful Saturday in July. One of the nice things about doing all of these remote mountain bike climbs is that no one else is around. The only thing you hear is the wind through trees or blowing over the alpine meadows.
On the road again. Heading north to Helena, Montana. We’ll stay a day, do some riding and then ship out to Glacier National Park another 4 hours north. En route to Helena, Montana. Mountain backdrop is composed of the northern Rocky Mountains to the west and the Big Belt Mountains to the east. At the base of the mountains and everywhere else there isn’t a mountain there are farms, farms, trains, cattle, farms, horses, farms and hay…lots of hay. It really is a spectacular site.
Driving through Helena is like driving through the Vegas strip…so many little casinos. Bust out the map, find the Moose Creek Campground…only $5…cheapest site by far. Set up tents, clean up, head back to Helena for some eats and a beer. Food is expensive and not very good. Back to camp. Sleep.
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