Yellowstone National Park - continued

Yellowstone National Park

We were headed toward Old Faithful, but we couldn't resist stopping at some more of the open pools with that amazing thermal energy pent up inside (below?) the water.

There was collection of them on our route, so we just had to stop. They had placed a walkway around the Geysers so that we could walk around them to get a closer view. I sure wouldn’t want to fall off the walkway!

We also saw some Elk along the way. These guys are amazing! One of them was so close to use that we could almost touch him. He didn't seem to mind that we were there either. He was just hanging out, grazing on some of the lush grasses that are in Yellowstone National Park.

Then we saw it, the sign pointing us in the direction of Old Faithful. We rode on up, and parked beside the little welcome center. We wandered around a bit and picked up a couple of souvenirs. There was a sign there that estimated the time of the next eruption, but the timing has begun to be a little off over the years, the sign explained. I didn't really understand the reasons - the shifting of the earth, I guessed.

We headed back outside and were greeted with bright sunshine. A perfect day for an explosion! The steam was already fizzing out of the mouth of the Old Faithful Geyser. It spit out a steady steam continuously - something I didn't know it did.

Sure enough, and time approached the preset prediction that was marked on the sign, it started - slowly at first, the steam begun to get taller and more pronounced. It seemed like only a few minutes later and Old Faithful was spewing in full force. Unbelievable!! The utter power of this thing, and what it is capable of is truly amazing.

If there really is a Great Volcano under Yellowstone waiting to happen, I sure hope I am a long way away from it when it happens.

I shot a video of Old Faithful, It's kindof lengthy, but to see it's awesome power - check it out!!



Heading onward - the Motorcycle Journey of Yellowstone National Park - continued next time

Yellowstone National Park - continued

Yellowstone National Park

The hike back up the 3/8 mile trail was a challenge. It was all switchbacks going up, and the incline was pretty steep. We must have stopped to take a short rest about five of six times before reaching the top. The guy we passed on the way down was right about it seeming like two miles back up!.

Once at the top, we took a short break before hopping back on our motorcycles.

We took off again, headed southbound to the southern 'loop' of Yellowstone National Park. We approached one of the areas where we could get up close and personal with a few of the Geysers. The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was undeniable. To me, it smelled like burnt matches - sulphur. The air was full of that smell. I didn't really bother me, it was just different.

The pools were bizarre. Just seeing the intensity of the heat boiling up from these things is awesome. It is really interesting the things that nature brings us. I sure wouldn't want to wade in one of those things, though!

We were headed in the general direction of Old Faithful. We wanted to see the famous Geyser. It's a must see if you’re in Yellowstone National Park. Along the way, we passed some wild animals. We saw some buffalo. These things were huge! We also were greeted by some Elk who didn't seem to mind that we were there. We were able to get pretty close to these beautiful animals and take a couple of pictures.

Yes, our next destination was Old Faithful, but we were not in a big hurry, because the journey was fantastic!.

On to Old Faithful - next time

Yellowstone National Park - continued

Yellowstone National Park

Off we were on our trusty steeds. First stop, gas. We stopped at a station not far from our campsite to gas up for the days travel. It was warm that morning, and we could tell that the sun would be shining and it was going to be a beautiful day.

The first place we decided to go to was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We were in the Canyon Campground, which just happened to be very close to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was only about a 6 to 8 mile ride, so our motorcycles didn't even really get the chance to warm up good, and it was time to park. Oh my! the view here was unbelievable!!. There was short trail to 'Inspiration point' which overlooks the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This is where we began our adventure of Yellowstone National Park.

We could hear and in some places see a waterfall not too far away, but it sounded as if it was below us. As we approached the sound, we saw a glimpse of it, and indeed, it WAS below us!! There was a trailhead that said it would take us to the mouth of the falls. The sign said it was only a 3/8 mile hike down to the falls, so we decided to go down.

We passed a guy with his family shortly after getting on the trail headed down, and he was breathing pretty hard. We asked him if it was tough climb back up the trail. His reply was 'Yes, it may only be 3/8 of a mile down, but it seems like about two miles back up'. With that to look forward to, we headed on down the trail.

After a short time, we approached the mouth of the falls. The climb down itself was not hard, except we had to lean backwards to keep our feet from outrunning us. At the base of the trail, there was a walkway with a rail that led us out to the brink itself. Standing directly over the brink of the falls allows you to really experience the power of these awesome forces. After a few pictures, and a moment of catching our breath, it was time for the climb back up the trail.

Heading back up the trail - more next time

Yellowstone National Park - continued

Yellowstone National Park

As darkness approached us on our first night at Yellowstone National Park, the signs of rain began to appear. Fist, a light sprinkle, then as it grew closer to sleepy time, the rain began to fall even faster and harder. Not unbearable - no typhoon, just one of those annoying rains. We put all of our food items in the nearby Bear Box as to avoid an uninvited visitor into our site.

It was late enough that we decided not to deal with it the first night, but thought we should pick up a small tarp and some rope at the Store by the visitor center on our way out to explore the following morning.

Into the tents we went, and off to sleepytown.

Morning arrived, and the sun peeked into our tents to awake us. I woke with anticipation of what wonderful things we might experience this day. I was glad that the rain had stopped sometime in the night, and that we were greeted by sunshine this morning. It is going to be a great day, I thought to myself.

We conjured up some breakfast, managed to get ourselves woke up, and gathered what little bit we thought we would need for our ride this wonderful day. We consulted our maps, and picked a route for our day. We decided to ride the south 'loop' of Yellowstone National Park.

The park is basically two loops that join into a figure eight of sorts. We decided to ride the south loop the first day, then the north loop the second day. One of the things that we knew that we wanted to see along the south route was Old Faithful, the famous Geyser. We were sure we would enjoy other sights, but really didn't know what to expect at the time, or how much beauty we would be greeted with that day.

Our first day riding in Yellowstone - more coming

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

After getting some essentials for our campsite in Yellowstone National Park from the Visitors center, we loaded up the 'extras' and saddled up to find our campsite.

We arrived at our site, and it was nearly perfect. We had a fire ring near the center of our site and two perfect spots for the tents. There was also a picnic table toward the back of the site placed neatly between two trees.

We started the unloading of gear, and proceeded to pick out the spots for our tents. Deciding where to pitch a tent is a pretty important part of camping. I had the smaller of the two tents 'the coffin', so I took a smaller spot between two trees off to the left side of our camping area. My brother in law took a spot on the right. I think I got the better deal, though, because his spot was on a small incline. It wasn't a hill exactly, just a small slope while my spot was relatively flat.

Once we had our tents pitched and the fire ring and picnic table surrounded, it was time to start a campfire. We gathered a little wood and soon the fire was born. We happened upon a really big piece that looked like the folks there before us had tried to burn it, so we added it to the fire once it was burning good.

A little chow, and a couple of drinks later, and we were kicked back at the picnic table reminiscing about our journey so far. From the Rocky Mountain National Park, to the Grand Tetons, and now Yellowstone, this had been quite an adventure so far.

Soon, it was lights out (so to speak), so we could plan where we were going to go in the morning. We only had three days planned in Yellowstone and wanted to make them the best we could.

More Yellowstone adventures next time

Grand Teton National Park - Continued

Grand Teton National Park

Idaho didn't last very long, or so it seemed. But then, when your riding a motorcycle and the wind is in your face, the weather is beautiful, sunny and warm - time seems to have no meaning. We actually stopped at some point in Idaho and were talking about when we would like to get to Sturgis South Dakota. We wanted to get there in time for the motorcycle rally, no too early, and not too late. As we were planning our timing, I asked my brother-in-law what day it was, and with a dumfounded look, he replied "I don't know". I think that was the best part of the trip! The fact that neither of us knew what day it was, and even better - we didn't care!!

The sun did follow us for a little while, but the weather began to start turning as we rode closer to Yellowstone National Park. We crossed the Wyoming state line (home of Glacier National Park), and realized that it was going to get nasty. The temperature started dropping, the sun no longer visible as the clouds encroached the sun above us. Then it happened, it started drizzling.

A little drizzle is no big deal, and expected on a motorcycle journey such as ours. We donned the rainsuits and continued our trek. As we entered Yellowstone, though, the drizzle started turning into sleet. Both of us were wearing the 'beanie' style helmet, so had no face protection. Ouch!!, those little pesky sleet particle hurt the face!!

Luckily, the sleet didn't last very long and it started clearing a little bit as we approached the Visitors center near our campground. We stopped in at the center, parked the bikes and proceeded to make sure that none of our gear was too terribly wet before entering the store for a few campground supplies - namely food..

Our campsite in Yellowstone National Park - next time

Grand Teton National Park - Continued

Grand Teton National Park

Southbound we rode, toward Jackson Hole. The mighty Grand Teton Mountain range was off to our right, and there was just no way to ride without looking over from time to time to catch a glimpse of these might beasts..

We stopped in Jackson Hole for fuel, and a quick bit to eat. Once we found our road heading westbound, we were off toward the ascent over the Tetons

The road was amazing. No real hard switchbacks, just easy flowing curves (a few tight ones) as we started climbing. There were a few places that we could see the road spilling down the mountain behind us toward Jackson Hole - it's weird to watch road below you as you are riding.. Over the pass we went, and begin the decent on the other side.

Once we 'landed' on the 'back' side of the Tetons, we stopped for a minute to get off the bikes and just take in the view from the other side. It was almost as incredible as the front. There were not as many jagged edges on the rocks, though - they were a little more rounded..

Back on the road we resumed, and headed northbound, crossing into Idaho. This is the first time I had the chance to see a real potato farm. They are massive!! We passed several of them along the roadways, and they seemed to stretch out toward the west forever..

As we arrived closer to Yellowstone National Park, we could feel the breeze starting to get a little bit chilly. It appeared as if we might hit a little rain (or something) up ahead.

Our arrival in Yellowstone - next time

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park

We woke up fairly early that morning because we knew it was going to be a long day. Not only that, we were looking forward to the ride we were planning. We could have easily ran straight north from Grand Teton National Park directly toward Yellowstone National Park, but naaah - that would have taken some of the fun out of it!.

We had mapped out a route that ran back south toward Jackson Hole, then westward over a southern pass across the Tetons themselves. This route would put us riding partially over the Grand Tetons!! The temptation was too hard to resist.

Not only would the route we chose take us over the Tetons, but we would wind up on the "back" (west) side of them so we can see what that side looked like. Our path also was going to lead us through Idaho, and as we headed northbound, we would skirt across a small part of Montana before entering into the west side of Yellowstone National Park.

So with our route in mind, we broke down camp, and repacked all of our camping gear. That task was becoming easier as well. It's interesting though that somehow, we managed to load our gear just a little differently onto the motorcycles each time we piled it all on them.

Once loaded, we started out, looking for a place to gas up along the way. I looked like Jackson Hole was going to be the closest gas stop, so off we went.

Our trip toward Yellowstone - continued next time.

Grand Teton National Park - Continued

Grand Teton National Park

Riding the Grand Teton National Park is an adventure that I won't soon forget. We woke up at our new campsite and got us a little breakfast before venturing out to explore. We met our new neighbors, which was really cool. My brother-in-law and riding partner is from Mississippi, and I from Tennessee. Our neighbors, as it turns out were from the south as well. Wow, what a small world!.

We rode out of our campgrounds and headed south toward those amazing peaks. There was a really cool place to stop with information about the formation of the Grand Tetons - and some good picture taking opportunities. The river below was small, but very beautiful. We saw a raft floating down the river just far enough downstream that we couldn't tell how many people were taking a floating trip that day.

We arrived in Jackson Hole just around lunch time and stopped at a little restaurant for a bite to eat. The building across the street had one of the most interesting roofs on it that we had ever seen. The entire roof of that place was covered with grass!!! Yes, actual, real, growing grass!!. We laughed about that for a bit, wondering how they got the lawnmover up there to mow the roof.

After lunch, we rode around "the hole" for awhile, then headed back northward to the road that runs by Jenny Lake. The lake was crystal clear, sitting just beneath the rise of the Tetons themselves. Picturesque!!.

That evening, we found a nice Italian restaurant at the edge of a lake, the Tetons lust beyond it, reflection mirrored in the clear greenish, blue water. We were able to get a table on the wrap around deck, so we could eat our dinner while enjoying the fantastic view.

Tired, full, and our eyes full of the beauty of the day, we headed back to the campsite to start our campfire.

The next day, we planned to journey on toward Yellowstone National Park, but we had decided to take the long way.. more about that next time.

Grand Teton National Park - Continued

Grand Teton National Park

I had already reserved a campsite in Grand Teton National Park for us to bed down. Since we had been riding for a pretty good ways by now, we decided to head directly toward the campground. As it turned out, we rode right along side of the Grand Teton Mountain range on our way to the campground. I still think about that view!!

We actually went a little north of the Teton Range, and toward Yellowstone National Park to get to our campground. Once checked in, we found our site and started unloading our gear.

I took along a really small tent. I called it "the coffin tent" because you basically had to lay down to get in and out of the thing, and once it was setup, it looked kindof like a coffin. It was OK, but in hindsight, I wished I had taken a different tent. Even though it packed up really small, it was a pain to get in and out of. It was almost impossible to change clothes inside of it. I have found much better tents since then.

By the time we made it to Tetons, we had the unpacking and setting up part down to a science. It didn't take us long at all to get our stuff setup.

We headed back to the office, got another map of the area and a little camping food, then headed back to our site for dinner. A few pieces of wood later and a little cooking, and dinner was served!

We only had reserved two days in Grand Teton national Park, so we got a little rest, because we know the next day was a riding day.

Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park

It was a little bit of a haul from Lander, Wyoming to the Grand Teton National Park. That was our next destination. I guess it was bout 150 miles or so when we began to notice a difference in the terrain. One of things that caught my eye on the sides of the highway were these wooden 'fence' sortof things. I really had NO idea what they were, or why they would be constructed along the sides of the highway.

My ever so genius brother-in-law and riding partner explained it to me. Those things are to help keep the snow drifts from getting to bad on the highways. It made sense to me. I can imagine that the winters in the middle portion of Wyoming can get pretty bad. With the wind rushing through, I have no doubt that some major snowdrifts can accumulate on the highways.

The further into the ride we travelled, the more ups and downs we found. The hills starting getting a little steeper. We did run into some road constuction, though. Parts of it even turned into gravel for awhile - ouch!! It seemed like we had not been in the hilly part of the ride for very long, and the next thing we knoew, we could see them. The Grand Tetons!!

What a sight! I had never seen mountains so tall. We naturally had to make a stop at a safe spot along the roadside to get a couple of pictures.

We rode a little furthur and cam upon the sign welcoming us to the Grand Teton National Park.

Our stay in the Grand Tetons - next time

Rocky Mountain National Park - Continued

Rocky Mountain National Park

The ride through southern Wyoming was definitely different. I guess we went about 300 to 400 miles across some of the most desolate land I have traveled. Riding down the highway, we had the road all to ourselves. We would occasionally see a house about every 50 miles or so.

We finally ran across the Interstate we were looking for, and jumped on. We passed several Oil Wells. I had no idea that they had those in Wyoming. I thought that was a Texas thing!! Live and learn they say.

We pulled in to Lander, Wyoming sometime early evening. I had in mind a camping area that we could stay in. I had not made reservations yet. We were pretty darn hungry by now, so decided to stop in a little burger joint on the main drag. Either I was really hungry, or that burger was awesome!!.

We started talking to this guy outside the restaurant. He asked us where we were staying. I told him the name of the campground. He suggested we stay in the city park. He said we could stay there for free - what a deal!. The park was great. We shared it with several other tent campers. There were no showers, but luckily the hotel in town had public use showers for 5 bucks, so we cleaned up before continuing onward toward Grand Teton National Park.

Rocky Mountain National Park

The riding in the Rocky Mountain National Park was just fantastic. Such beautiful scenery, the great winding roads we had to enjoy. We cooked hobo dinners over an open campfire the first night. The fire was a little hard to keep going due to the high altitude, but we managed to get dinner anyway. It would have been nice to have the space to carry a Dutch Oven, though.

On our way toward the visitors center at the top (over 11,000 Ft), we stopped to take a short hike on a trail leading to some snow that was still laying on the mountainside. It was great fun to have a snowball fight in the last week of July!!

We hung out for a bit at the visitor’s center, the headed around the other side of the park. riding through there was simply awesome! It's hard to put it into words.

Back at our campsite, we had a visit from a neighboring deer. He was no more that 30 of 40 feet from where we had out tents setup. It’s so awesome to be able to enjoy a plce like that.

When it was time to leave Rocky Mountain National Park, we decided to head almost straight north - toward Wyoming and Grand Teton National park.

Next stop - Lander, Wyoming.