Grand Teton and Yellowstone

Up early to get to Grand Teton! No problems, the miles fly by. I grab some picnic supplies in town to have lunch somewhere in the park.

The park is huge, awesome, and organized. I’ve never seen anything like it. The mountains are really something, the most intimidating, sharp, dangerous looking rocks I’ve seen.

After riding through most of the park, I eat lunch and move on to Yellowstone.

The traffic is pretty crazy, but since the park is so big, you can still get away from all the fuss.

Fast Fact:

There is a special force field at the entrance to every National Park which deactivates the turn signals of all mini vans. It’s true.

The park is full of wildlife…

(This was less than 15 feet from the road)

bubbling pools…

and geysers.

I’ve always known Yellowstone has these things, but its amazing just how… common they are in Yellowstone. I mean, you’re driving down the road and the ground just spits up steam along the side. It’s crazy. It doesn’t seem natural, more like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Another thing that you don’t appreciate is the sound. Each site has its own soundtrack, some powerful and some peaceful.

Definitely go check it out.

I hit the Continental Divide again, actually several times. Much like crossing from Wyoming to Utah, this road can’t make up its mind.

There were buffalo all over the place. After seeing them in action, I now have no respect for anyone who hunted them. Sure, they are big and can be dangerous, but they’re really dumb. Like ugly cows. If you are bragging about hunting buffalo, you may as well brag about hunting cow.

There was an entire herd of buffalo right next to the road. I am disappointed that more pics didn’t come out well. But I wasn’t about to stop either.

This cow, I mean buffalo, is getting in trouble with the law.

He really didn’t care that he was backing up traffic.

I had to rush through the park to get a camp site, it was Friday and filling up fast. I lucked out and got a good one, and then took off for the 80 mile round trip (this park is HUGE) to Old Faithful.

As I’m leaving the camp, I notice that my speedometer just stopped working. I easily find the problem, but it requires a part to be ordered of course. It doesn’t affect the drivability at all, but it is a huge pain. No speed indicator. Plus no odometer (they obviously run off the same sensor). Most bikes don’t have a gas gauge, so you have to use the trip odometer. Luckily I have my trusty GPS to keep track of miles and speed.

I made it there just before sunset, and of course, it wasn’t erupting. I didn’t feel like waiting the 90-120 minutes for it to erupt again, so I headed back to camp.

Except the bike blew a fuse again.

And the service station at the geyser closed 10 minutes ago.

This time, I really figure out the problem. and rip the cigarette lighter out. Literally. I throw it in the parking lot to die.

Finally I found someone who had a spare fuse (I had left all my tools and supplies back at camp). Unfortunately because of the delay, the road back was closed. Instead of a 40 mile drive back, it’s now an 80 mile drive.

Not a good day. It’s very late. I’m very cold, I was not expecting to be out this late, so most of my cold gear is back at camp.

Because I don’t have the right fuse in the bike, I’m afraid to use my high beams. I’m doing about 50mph when I notice a black object, with glowing eyes, and hooves… it’s a f---ing buffalo! And by the time I realize what it is, it’s literally 20 feet away. At 50mph. After some stumbling hooves and squealing tires we both manage to miss each other.

Don’t tell Laura. Or my Mom.

By the time I get back, my fingers are totally numb. It’s after midnight and I haven’t eaten. I fix a quick dinner and hit the sack.

An old trick I learned from Boy Scouts; when it’s cold, sleep with a ski mask. You could be warm and toasty in your sleeping bag, but your head is sticking out of it!

Fast Facts:

Odometer Reading: 8,458

Plus 110 miles after odometer stopped working…
Corrected Odometer:  8,568

Elapsed Miles: 4,922

Buffalo seen: 54

Miles driven in Yellowstone: at least 200

Interesting Question:

All day, heck, all week, I’ve seen groups of Harleys riding around. They ride in groups of 2-20, and they all have camping equipment strapped to them. But I’ve been camping pretty much every day, and I’ve never seen one in a camp site. Where do they camp??? I’m convinced that they live nearby and just carry their sleeping bags around to look hardcore.

Speaking of hardcore Harleys, a few days after this I was watching a Discovery Channel episode on motorcycles, and they covered the Sturgis rally. They interviewed a bunch of people that were like “we came all the way from Milwaukee” and the narrator was going on and on about how people drove hundreds of miles on motorcycles.

Pansies.