Kirkwood Campground to Grant Village (Yellowstone)- 72 miles
Karl Murphy
Sorry, no pics from this days ride; it was a long, tough day. This one was taken the day prior on our tour of Yellowstone in the Lamar Valley. Such a cool spot.
Cue the Jurassic Park Theme music...
Today we pedaled through Yellowstone Park on a 70+ mile jaunt to our next stop at Grant Village on Yellowstone Lake.
Imagine taking your entire family from Orlando Airport to Disney World, on the first day of Spring Break, on a narrow two lane road, most people are driving rented RVs of 30' in length or more, and you are going by bike....with 7 kids....
Oh, I forgot to mention that ALL of the animals are let out of the cages...more like Jurassic Park...
Yeah, that was our day...
We started with a dozen elk across the Madison River - no problem.
Then there was this hill climb...and the traffic slowed...for some odd reason this black suburban veers into the shoulder in front of me...i curse out loud at the bleeping Sunday driver...then go silent...because I am eye-to-eye with a 1500lb Buffalo....i am in the right lane - 7 scouts behind me - he is in the left lane...he rotates his massive head toward me and literally blinks...taking in the moment i forget to warn the kids...one of our normally more talkative kids - Andrew D...calls out tersely "Bison left lane, keep pedaling..."
Thank you Andrew.
After we pass the Buffalo, Ed pedals up from the back "Murph, did that just happen!" "Yeah And its just 10 am."
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful for us...
- we saw painted boiling pots if mud - because Yellowstone is a volcano and steam comes out of the ground everywhere...
- we were covered in a geyser plume of hot water..."hey Mr Murphy does hand cleaner remove all that nasty stuff from the volcano!"
- we saw a huge RV drive off the road..or at least the result of it...stuck in a ditch...front wheels in the air...
- and we pedaled over two mountain passes at around 7800' in elevation...in the rain with hail bouncing off our helmets...a first for all of us...
After a slick 10 mile descent...we settled into our campsite on Yellowstone Lake. Had dinner at a restaurant literally on the lake and headed back to the campsite for a fire and marshmallows...
Campfire discussion revolved around scouts, scout trips past and next year's trip...
Tomorrow we head to Wyoming and The Grand Teton National Park