Leaving Yellowstone

Thursday, August 31. Old Faithful to West Yellowstone, MT.

At just past 6 this morning, we awakened to the sound of gushing water - it turned out that we COULD hear Old Faithful from our room, but that the wind the previous night had been too loud for us to hear it then.

Let me just say that staying at Old Faithful Inn is very cool. The Inn is currently undergoing some preservation,and so the exterioor doesn't look it's best, but inside, it's everything a Junior Forest Ranger could hope for. Everything (except the commodes) is made from rough-hewn tree limbs--ceiling, railings, stairs, 4th-floor tree loft. This is what a lodge at Yellowstone should look like. The main Inn dates from 1904, and rooms here don't have in-room plumbing. Showers and toilets are shared. The east wing built in 1913, the west wing, built in 1927, both have bathroom and shower in each room. These wings were remodeled in the early 1990's, but retain the original character and furnishings. Our room was on the top floor, facing Old Faithful. (We had a perfect view of the geyser, but views from rooms on the lower floors was obstructed by trees that have grown up over the years.)

At breakfast in the Inn's dining room the next morning, we met a trio that we'd first encountered at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. She is here trying to attract the young, seasonal workers from Yellowstone to a ski resort in Park City, Utah. Except for Mammoth and the Snow Lodge at Old Faithful, Yellowstone's hotels close down in October. Apparently, there were about 20 other resort recruiters in Yellowstone this week, all vying for the same seasonal staff. She had brought her husband and daughter, Olivia, to the park as a mini-vacation. On both occasions that we spoke, her husband mentioned his concern about the possibility of us meeting wildlife on the road. We had actually shared a highway with bison on two days, and found each episode far from dramatic. As we talked further, though, he recounted a camping story of his own. Young and foolish, he didn't believe that bears were in the area where he and his buddies were camping, and decided to prove the point by smearing syrup on a stick and tossing it into their campsite. The bear that found the stick later that night, also got close enough to his face that he still remembers the sound and the force of the bear's breath. No wonder he worried about us.

The ride today was fairlly short; a 30-mile, generally downhill ride to West Yellowstone. Luckily, the wind didn't pick up until later in the day. The air had cooled off considerably, and today's high was only predicted to reach 60 degrees. Even though the sun was out, we put on several layers, including ear warmers, long pants, jackets, and gloves. Still, the ride today was beautiful, and we really enjoyed our last day in Yellowstone.

Our first stop after leaving Old Faithful was the Black Sand Basin. Like the black sand beaches in Hawaii, the lava flow from the volcano breaks down into black sand. Here, it's obsidian rock, in Hawaii it's aa or pahoehoe (more fun to say, but still black sand). The features here include Rainbow Pool, Sunrise Pool and a very active Cliff Geyser, which erupts every few minutes. The Iron Spring Creek flows through the basin, completing the gamut of water features.

Along the route today, we saw quite a few cyclists heading toward the park. Some were clearly day-trippers, carrying nothing but a water bottle. Others carried panniers, presumably loaded for touring, and one poor fellow was actually hauling TWO trailers behind his bike. Understandably, he was moving very slowly up the incline. I was really curious about him, though I didn't want to interrupt his uphill climb. How far was he going? How much stuff does one person really need?

We pulled off for a bathroom stop and noticed a Backroads van and trailer parked nearby. We'd seen these before in the park, and have seen their brochures for active vacations, both in the US and around the world. I could see someone setting up a picnic lunch outside the trailer, and wandered over for a chat. Nancy, a Backroads trip leader, had drawn lunch duty while her partner was leading the 20-person group on the morning hike. We talked with her about working with Backroads; she seems to really enjoy the work. This is her second year with Backroads, and she's excited to be leading a trip in Italy next year. We left her to finish setting up for lunch, and continued on our merry way.

Along the way today, we passed Grand Prismatic Spring. We'd stopped at the Midway Geyser Basin on the way toward Old Faithful, and saw the spring up close. This time we saw it from a slow descent. The spring itself is flat on the ground, difficult to see even when you're on the boardwalk next to it. Most people know it from the aerial photos that are taken of the spring, showing the rainbow of colors that ring the water. But I immediately knew that I was seeing Grand Prismatic, because the steam that rose from its' flat surface was rainbow-colored! It was a beautiful sight, and once again I wished for Holly's camera.

Today was another big day for wildlife sightings. Bison, elk, geese, and a Great Blue Heron were visible from the road. Just before we left Yellowstone Park, we crossed the Montana state line. With 16 states, Washington DC and 2 Candian provinces under our tires, we've got only 4 states left--Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. We're closing in on the 6,000-mile mark.

We arrived in West Yellowstone around 2pm, and went straight to Freeheel and Wheel to see if they could help Matthew's shifting problems. The wrench there agreed to see what she could do, but ultimately, she recommended that he get a new chain, cassette and front middle ring. He spends so much time in the middle ring, and puts so much power into every pedal stroke (some would call it gear-mashing), that he's worn the teeth on the middle ring out. And this tech recommends changing out all the parts on the drivetrain at once. She didn't have the parts he'd need, but gave us a name and number for a shop in Missoula. We called them later and made arrangements for the work to be done when we get there in a few days.

That done, I picked up some souvenir "Bike Yellowstone National Park" socks, and a new bite valve for my Camelback. It's been leaking pretty much from the start of the trip, and this one little part fixed the problem for good.

After the wrench had adjusted Matthew's bike as best she could, she asked him to test it out. He took the opportunity to ride around West Yellowstone, and picked out a hotel for us. ;-)

After we checked in, we had time to shower and then headed over to the local IMAX theater to see the 5pm showing of the National Geographic presentation of Lewis and Clark's journey west. Great show, narrated by Jeff Bridges. At one point on the trek, after climbing to the top of a huge mountain range, they reached the summit and were expecting, hoping, to find the headwaters of the Columbia River. What they found was another mountain range. I know how they feel. The whole time we were in the Rockies, they surrounded us. We passed through other ranges before meeting the Tetons, and now that we're through Yellowstone, we're in the Gallatin range. The Discovery Corps had a rough time of it in the Bitterroot Mountains, and we'll be on the Lewis & Clark route through there in another week.

We had dinner at the Timberline Cafe, and met table of four siblings and one spouse who were visiting the area. One of the men was from Tifton, GA, a retired college professor. Two of the sisters were from Kentucky, and the married couple from lives in Jimez Springs, New Mexico. They were interested in our trip, and we gave them the URL for this blog. Hopefully we'll hear from them once they get back to internet access.

Tomorrow we have a big day ahead of us. 73 miles from West Yellowstone to Ennis, MT. The forecast we saw at the cafe is calling for SE winds, 10-15mph. We'll be heading NW--can a tailwind be in our future?