He said: Getting an early start trying to beat the headwinds if they were coming as we had a 30 mile climb 2500' elevation change. Walked out the door, first thing we see is a big ol' moose. Wasn't there last night, but it was very still. Then it moved, man they're big. Turns out it was the start to a great day. Started riding and about 3 miles out the winds started and I thought, best laid plans, but it calmed down within a few more miles and it was clear sailing until I was within 2 miles of the peak when Mariah passed me. But the winds only lasted again for as long as I could see the car. Patrick, thanks for the good tip, we got a kick out of it-weren't sure if you were serious. Made it to the top, my reward was to be a mostly 6% descent for 6-7 miles-NOT! Due to road construction about a half mile down I had to get into a truck with Ruby the Pilot Truck Driver to the other end of construction, or basically the bottom of the hill. Either way it was an easy descent and I had a nice retired lady to talk to on the way. She lives in California and they spend the warm part of the year in a fifth wheeler away from the heat. Every time we see beautiful scenery we think you can't top it, and then another day you do. Today was one of those days. All in all a great weather day for riding and a breathtaking day for scenery. Went through the Grand Teton National Park and made it to Yellowstone. An aside for our government at work, when we came to the Entrance Gate for Grand Teton (where you paid for entrance into both parks) I had to put my bike on the car and get in go past the toll gate and then get back out or pay $12 extra. When we got to the Yellowstone checkpoint I asked if I had to do this again as my wife was right behind me and we had a pass already. 3 rangers conferred and told us that if you were riding a bike through Yellowstone you were supposed to pay for a pass (it helps cover the cost of cleaning up the bicycle road kill from all the nutty drivers I guess. It's like being in a Walt Disney Donal Duck and Goofy cartoon where all the drivers are in such a hurry and so busy looking around that they are running each other and everything else off the road). So, I guess they were doing us a favor. So I asked "Do I have to get back in the car?" They said, technically yes, but go ahead anyway. I guess their cameras weren't working. So we are camping at Yellowstone. On the walk back from dinner we saw a whole family of Elk. Pretty impressive. Sharon really wants to see a bear, just not tonite. Tomorrow is our day off and we will be touring Yellowstone, or at least what we can see close by because it is a humongous park. Plus Friday I still have to pedal from the entrance to the west exit which will put us into Montana. 75 miles.
She said: After the exciting Bullwinkle siting I took a nice walk along the Wind River on a great walking trail. Went back to the hotel for breakfast and met a nice fellow from England 17 days into his cross country ride east-only using the TransAm map for part of his ride. Met up with Paul at the Continental Divide and then had a long ride through alot of construction. The drive was beautiful up the hill and then the Tetons came in to view. WOW! It seemed like every turn got more beautiful than the one before. I stopped at one of the turnouts that had a small trail into the woods where there was demonstration of Forestry Management vs natural management. As I started to walk I realized I was by myself and had seen several signs to Be Bear Aware. I turned back and will have to do research on Forestry Management some day. Paul and I stopped in Grand Teton Park's Colter Bay and took a nice walk and went to the museum there. Arrived in Yellowstone-set up our campsite and went to dinner. Seeing the Elk family-Dad with a huge rack, mom and the little elklet-made a wonderful end to a great day. Can't wait to see the beautiful sites tomorrow.
Hey Bullwinkle-where's Rocky?
Lewis Lake
No wind. How come we keep going back and forth across the Continental Divide?
That dot on the shoulder of the road is some biker I saw riding up ahead. Click on the picture to enlarge and see if you know who it is.
Pretty cool, got the Tetons, us, and the National Park Service symbol all in one shot. Brownie points.
Colter Bay. 7000'.
More photo ops and there's that National Park emblem again. Does this count as work time?
The Mama Elk. Cute butt huh?
buddy asked me to write a comment and ask you to bring him a moose friend home to hang out with. talk to you soon! love you!
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Jennifer and I have driven to every swamp in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine trying to find moose for over 30 years and have never seen one. We do get alot of " You should've been here yesterday..." As for being bear aware; they say that if you have bells on your clothes as you walk through the woods the bears can hear you coming and will go away. They also say the easiest way to tell black bear poo from grizzly poo is that grizzly poo has bells in it. Great wildlife shots, I'm so jealous. Soak it all in.
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