Yellowstone's Sights & a Buffalo Butt!

Today we made the earliest start of the trip, rolling out of the Super 8 parking lot at 8:07 a.m.  We were at about 4500 feet so even in early August it is beginning to be cool overnight and into the morning.  I made the mistake of wearing my warm weather gloves because my gauntlets were buried in one of my packs.  After the 26 mile ride to Livingston, MT I was forced to pull them out after we had stopped for gas before riding into the park. 

The 53 mile ride to Gardiner, the northeast entrance to the park gave is a variety of geography from meadows to mountains and rivers.  Even outside the park there were fumaroles along the river.  At some time in the past there was also a rail line from Livingston to Gardiner, but all that is left now is the grade which is visible along the highway and later along the river bank and cut into the cliffs on the opposite side of the river.  Il earned later that the line was opened by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1903 and closed and the tracks pulled up in 1982 by the BNSF Railroad.  It must have been incredible to see the old steam locomotives pulling up the grade from the main line at Livingston.

On the way to Yellowstone.

The Devil's Slide outside of Yellowstone

The Yellowstone River at Gardiner, MT

After entering the park Garry & I stopped quite a few times so I could take pictures of various features including terraced mineral deposits, fumaroles, boiling pools of water & mud, and even three wolves which were crossing a meadow at quite a distance from us.  At one of the first stops we noticed that Garry's left fork was leaking oil.  We didn't know if the problem was serious or not so Garry rode on ahead so he could call Beartooth H-D to see if the leak was an emergency.  I stopped to take photos of the Paint Pots and was to meet Garry at the main entrance to the Yellowstone Lodge. 

Mineral terraces in Yellowstone Park with the Liberty Cap in the middle.

The deposits here are almost impossibly white.

Volcanic deposits

Fumaroles cover a good part of this hillside.

Wolves in the distance

The Paint Pots. The orange colour is caused by bacteria growing in the hot water.

Boiling pools

Trees killed by the hot mineralized water.

Old Faithful at rest

Kepler's Cascades near Old Faithful

Upon arriving I went to the lodge but, no Garry.  I searched the place for almost 45 minutes before calling his cell. There was no answer so I left a message telling him I would call again from West Thumb because I thought he must have headed for Cody for an emergency repair.

On the way I stopped to take photos at the Continental Divide and at a lookout over Yellowstone Lake.  As I was walking to a good vantage point, Garry rolled by then pulled into the viewpoint.  Turns out his phone was in his jacket and he missed my call. He was at Old Faithful, not at the main lodge but at the Old Faithful Inn as well.  However, it worked out well. 

The sign speaks for itself.

At the viewpoint We saw some elk in a meadow so I was able to take a few pics but it was at quite a distance.  While we were there a Chinese man approached us asking to take pictures of our bikes.  He then took pictures of his wife with us then his wife took one of him with us.  We decided to let them sit on the bikes while I took one of them on the bikes.  The man kept saying, "Very cool!, very cool!"  He told us he was from Beijing but that was about all the English he had.  I think we gave them a memory that they will carry for a while.

Two elk in a mountain meadow

Overlooking Yellowstone Lake, the huge lake in the central caldera of the Yellowstone volcano.

Yellowstone Lake with a fumarole in the foreground.

On the way out of the park I took several videos of the more outstanding parts of the ride.  On one particularly long stretch around Yellowstone Lake the video had been recording for over four minutes when we pulled up behind a truck with a fifth wheel and several cars stopped on the road.  They were following a HUGE bull bison which was strolling down the highway in the right lane.  Some cars eventually passed it but I pulled up behind him because he had moved over to the yellow line and I didn't know if he was going to keep moving left.  When I did pass him I was less than three meters from me and I could actually see strands of grass in his mane(?).  This has got to be one of the highlights of the trip for both Garry & me.  (Jim, how appropriate would it have been had I been riding my old 750 Suzuki? ;-))

A HUGE bison bull ambling down the middle of the main highway in Yellowstone.

The road out of the park is an incredible bike road.  It drops from about 7900 feet to about 5500 feet at the East Portal all the while clinging to the cliffs above the Shoshone River.  There were stretches where the bikes weren't vertical for half a kilometre with long series of sweepers with a several hundred foot drop if one went over the guard rail.  Some bike riders were really pushing it but being geezers, Garry and I just let them go by.  They are immortal while we aren't any more and I think that maybe some of them had an extra dose of the main course at the TestyFest yesterday.

 ;-)

Garry & John leaving Yellowstone Park.

We left the park and continued in to Cody along the Shoshone River.  On both sides of the river valley there are incredible volcanic deposits of reddish rock hundreds of feet high.  Further on the valley opened up and about 15 miles before Cody I stopped to take a photo of a hug pile of antlers and other bones. Someone has had an incredible hunting career!  Just before reaching Cody we rode around Buffalo Bill Cody Reservoir.  The rock formations there are also so striking that it is hard to keep your eyes on the road. 

Volcanic red rock formation near Cody, WY

Bill & Ted's Excellent Hunting Season

Buffalo Bill Cody Reservoir near Cody, WY

Cody is filled with Harleys today.  Downtown had them parked along both sides of the street and there is the constant roar of bikes on the highway outside our motel.  We did about 400 kilometres today but there was a lot of down time for photos.  Tomorrow we'll ride the Beartooth Pass to Sheridan, WY although we may carry on to Buffalo if we feel the need to roll further.

Finally, Garry was talking to Gretel tonight and she told him that he wasn't to look at 'puppies' any more.  We both think that puppies are awesome and it is impossible not to look at them, especially when they are really cute.  We promise not to pet them though.