MOTO TRIPPIN--SD, WY, CO DAY 6

Day 6 - Yellowstone

 

With a long day ahead of me, I opted to get on the highway at 6am this morning.

 

I was headed west towards Cody, the mountains, and Yellowstone!

It was a brisk 57 degrees and I watched the sunrise in my mirrors.

I saw a total of 3 other cars while I rode the 55 miles to Cody.

Gained 1000 feet in elevation in that time, and cooled a little.

Breakfast and  coffee in Cody then continued west.

First you ride through 3 tunnels, the last one almost 1/2 mile long, then you emerge to ride next to a beautiful mountain lake for about 5 miles, then continuing upward to a pass with elevation of 8600 feet, which caused to me to put on a bunch more warm clothing.  I'll tell you about the bandanna effect: when you put one around your next, it keeps the wind out from under your jacket, and you stay much warmer, even to the point of enabling me to just wear jeans and not chaps.  I'd rather wear a bandanna than chaps any day. I made a bunch of coffee stops today due to the chill.

 

That is one big, blue lake where the crater of the volcano used to be that created Yellowstone.

I proceeded to ride counter clockwise on what is known at the grand loop highway.  Yellowstone is a big place and it takes a long time to get all through it.  It is so big that I counted about 4 gas stations!

This is one of many bison I saw as I traveled along.  I also saw many deer, and one grizzly bear.  I'm amazed at how people stop their cars and go running with their cameras just to get a picture. I just kept going.

 

I saw so many beautiful sights that I lost track.  I saw lakes, rivers, mountains, valleys, canyons, geysers, mud pits, mineral formations, pine trees, and sulfur vents.

I didn't listen to the stereo today, just took in as much of the park's beauty as I could.

I saw a guy ride up on this chopper at a gas station.  You talk about old school and roughing it!  Reminded me of Peter Fonda in Easy Rider!  I don't think there was much "easy" about his trip, though, I think I had the easy ride.

This is one of my favorite spot to view up at the northern part of the park.

 

 

This is one of the meadows I saw, amazingly beautiful!

 

Found a good spot for a picnic lunch of jerky and chips.

Soon after taking this picture, without prior warning, I came upon road construction.  Waited for 15 minutes, then road along rough and muddy roads behind RVs and other city folks for about 20 miles, which took more than an hour.  During that hour I got rained on, too!

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You can see the storm clouds forming in this picture. 

 

The first chance I got, I bolted from the crowds and traffic and went west into Idaho, then south towards Driggs where I had a room reserved.  I got rained on one more time, but saw roads I hadn't seen before, and saw the western side of the Tetons.

 

Checked-in, started some laundry, washed my filthy bike, worked on my blog, and went out to eat a bison burger.  The 340 miles I road today were pretty tough, and I'm looking forward to the bed tonight.  Going to see the Tetons tomorrow, which I missed last time due to mechanical trouble.