July 18 - Leaving Montana in less than 24 hours! Of course only 16 miles of Highway 20 are in Montana. We have entered Yellowstone National Park after having a leisurely breakfast with everyone and getting extra provisions.
This is the Madison River.
Remember the fires of 1988? This is what it looks like now. Lodgepole pine did its job with a vengenance. Doug figured there are about 2-3000 stems per acre.
After setting up camp in Madison Campground we headed up Firehole Canyon Road. This is Firehole Falls.
Didn't want to get too close to the edge in this section!
About a mile above the falls is this "secret" swimming hole.
Taking a little break in the shade. We did take off our shoes to wade in the river a little. The water is a moderate temperature due to all the thermal springs upriver.
The thing that pictures can't capture about bicycling through this park is the sounds and smells. Today's sound track was water and an osprey talking while hunting.
The Farque' family at the end of an long but exciting day. They saw 2 grey wolves earlier in the evening.
July 19 - Following Gibbon Creek north from Madison Junction. We saw our first buffalo in this stretch. He was on our side of the road up against a small rock wall so we got behind a pickup to put some space between us and him. Unfortunately, the truck gunned his engine after getting a picture and startled the buffalo. We got out of there FAST!
There was a bull elk on both sides of the road so you can imagine the traffic jam. This guy was much better at posing.
Today's sound track is gurgling, hissing and bubbling. This is at Artist's Paint Pots.
A few miles later we arrived at the Norris Geyser Basin. This is Steamboat Geyser. It goes off every 4 days to every 50 years. Today was not one of those days.
You just have to imagine the smell of sulfur.
This is Minute Geyser. It had 2 pools and they were 2 different colors.
We didn't walk down into this part of the basin but we could still hear it.
We are in grizzly country. This is at Canyon Campground hiker/biker site.
After dinner we took in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Returning the favor
July 20 - This is Mike and Todd. We met them the night before when Todd showed up in the adjacent campsite. Doug went over to talk to him and was greeted like a long-lost friend. They had been looking for us since seeing our names and route in the West Yellowstone Bike Shop's register. They are kindred spirits doing Highway 20 just like us. They started a few days after us, biking from Portland to Newport to officially start their trip. Mike is from Rhode Island and Todd is from Colorado, friends since growing up in Ohio. They will pass us again sometime soon. Meanwhile they plan to spend at least another day in the park.
This is Hayden Valley and the Yellowstone River with a huge herd of bison. This time we could get a picture. It was also our sound for the day, the snorting, snuffling and calling of the buffalo to each other. We also passed the 1,000 mile mark this morning.
This guy was having a grand time playing in the dust.
Our first view of Yellowstone Lake. It is soooooo big.
Fishing Bridge over the Yellowstone River. There were some huge fish hanging out in the shade of the bridge.
Just before starting the climb to Sylvan Pass. The pass is at 8,541' so we felt the altitude just a little.
Sylvan Lake. The pass is actually just in front of us but we are done with the climbing at this point. It is all downhill from here.
Unfortunately, they are currently reconstructing the 7 mile section of road just east of the pass so we had to go really slow. After a few miles we ran into the flagger and had to get a ride through a 2 mile section. We figure that makes up for the ride through the uphill in Idaho! A fellow from Pennsylvania who also cycles got out of his car to talk to us and helped us load our stuff in the truck.
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