Day 24 – Yellowstone

By Mark Heggestad
Today we biked 51.4 miles from West Yellowstone, MT to Grant Village, WY, which is in Yellowstone National Park.  We had hoped to bike the entire 71 miles through the park, but the wind finally took its toll on us.  Most of the day we had head winds or cross winds of up to 20 mph and occasional gusts greater than that.  It is the first day we have had significant wind.  I like mountains better because they have a summit and a descent.  One knows there will be an end at some point, and then a big reward.  The wind just mocks me all day.

Yellowstone is a beautiful park and we saw a lot of wildlife.  We hadn’t been riding in the park for more than a half hour before we had to stop for Buffalo in the road.  I have been to Yellowstone previously and had to stop for buffalo that time also.  But it is a much different experience on a bike versus in a car.  By the way, it took me completely by surprise that Brian and I each had to pay a $15 fee to ride our bikes through Yellowstone.  Brian asked what it would have cost if we rode a tandem bike but we never got an answer.

Saw a lot of bison today

We climbed a couple of summits today getting up over 8,000 feet both times.  In each case we crossed the Continental Divide.

Crossed the Continental Divide twice today.
There is still a little snow in Yellowstone.

The Madison River in Yellowstone National Park

To summarize the day:
  • Rode through one of our beautiful national parks
  • Finished our third state, crossing from Montana into Wyoming
  • Climbed our first summit over 8,000 feet, twice
  • Crossed the Continental Divide two times
  • Biked in a harsh wind for the first time
  • Stopped for Buffalo on the road
Not a bad day of biking! 

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 25, 2017 at 7:05 AM

    Beautiful pics....what an amazing experience to bike through Yellowstone and cross the Continental Divide 2x in one day. 20mph headwinds. Wow that is tough and hard to maintain any sense of speed. Also, tell Brian, I love his question about the fee for a tandem bike :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMay 25, 2017 at 8:10 AM

    Great pics Mark! When we rode the Harley through Yellowstone, the buffalo kind of worried me (would they charge at us??). I can't imagine meeting them on a bicycle! Congrats on State #3......

    ReplyDelete

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