Yellowstone

Beartooth Pass

As I laid awake, I was thinking about the Beartooth Pass and how much I really wanted to ride it.  I was hoping that things had cleared up some overnight and that it would be clear enough for me to feel comfortable for me to ride it.

The weather channel said that it had snowed overnight and the current temperature was about 22 degrees Fahrenheit/-5.6 Celsius, but should warm up to 27 degrees Fahrenheit/-2.8 Celsius by the time I would be there.  I was going to have to pass on the Beartooth Pass.  I may have been okay to ride it and the road conditions might have been fine.  But, I didn’t want to take any chances, so I made the sad choice to skip it.

I would go into Yellowstone by the North Entrance, near the Roosevelt Arch.  It wouldn’t give me a lot of time in the park, but a little bit of Yellowstone was better than no Yellowstone.

Lost

I intended to get a bit of a late start, but the insomniac that I am, couldn’t sleep, so I got rolling about 0705.  As is my habit, I felt for my wallet when I was a bit down the road.  I keep my wallet in my inner chest pocket.  Once I hit the highway speed, I reached for my chest to feel for my wallet and IT WASN’T THERE!  Holy crap!  I took the first available exit and double checked my pocket to ensure it really wasn’t there.  It wasn’t.

I had thoroughly checked the room and it definitely was not left in there.  It must have fallen out of my pocket when it was unzipped.  Fortunately, I was only about 10 minutes down the road from the hotel.  I took the exit in the opposite direction and headed back to the hotel in a complete panic.  I rolled up to the hotel and jumped off Lucille.  When I did, I realized that there was something in my pants pocket that didn’t belong there.  It was my wallet!  My relief saved me from feeling badly for driving all the way back to the hotel.  When I had ordered food to be delivered to me at the hotel yesterday while I waited for check in time, I was not wearing my jacket.  I put the wallet in my pants because there were people milling about and I didn’t want to turn my back on it.  This is why it pays for me to do things the same way all the time. The good news was, I was now leaving the hotel closer to the time I had originally planned.

The ride to the park

I had never gone into the park via the North Entrance and the ride there was beautiful!  The river flows along the road and everything was just stunning.  I pulled into a turnout at the Devil’s Slide and took a photo of Lucille.  She wanted to take one of me, but she doesn’t have fingers to operate the camera, so I took a selfie so I could prove I was there.  My kid says if I don’t have a selfie, it didn’t happen.

Lucille with the Devil’s Slide in the background.

You can just see the slide by my helmet.

On the way to the park.

Yellowstone

Lucille and I hit the road for the North Entrance of Yellowstone.  It was chilly, low 50s, and windy, but my excitement to get to my favorite park kept me warm enough.  I was looking forward to getting a photo of Lucille in front of the Yellowstone sign, but it was not meant to be.  They were working on the entrance road, so it wasn’t paved, only dirt and gravel (WHY all the dirt and gravel, people?!?) and there were about 15 cars jammed in every which way at the sign.  There was no room for Lucille unless I left her in the driving path.  I turned left to enter the park, and pulled into the parking lot that was the entrance.

There were so many cars trying to get in, and only 2 windows because of the construction.  In addition, there was a herd of about 7 deer that couldn’t decide if they wanted to cross the road or just hang out with the cars.  These deer walked back and forth among the cars, holding us all up!  They finally were out of the way for my line to advance.  I rolled up to the window, shut off the bike and started to unzip my jacket while telling the ranger I had a pass.  She told me not to undress, that she believed me about the pass.  She asked me what type it was and where I kept it.  My answers were enough and she waved me through.  Right as I started to let out the clutch, a huge elk sauntered in front of us.

I was glad I wasn’t really moving yet, because I probably would have fallen over in surprise.  Elk are HUGE when you’re up close to them.  This thing dwarfed Lucille!  I waited until it was safely across the road before rolling Lucille out of there.

Sightseeing

Yellowstone was a zoo.  And I’m not talking about the animals.  The crowds were insane.  Every parking lot and turnout was full.  Every bathroom had a line of 15-20 people in it.  I couldn’t believe it.  I’ve been here before, and in the summer, but I’d never seen it this packed.  I wanted to stop and take pictures, but there was just nowhere to put Lucille.  A lot of people were just stopping in the middle of the road and leaving the car there while they went off sightseeing.  It was crazy.  I did take some video, and grabbed a couple of shots from that.

This is part of where the big fire in 1988 was.  You can still see some burned trees.

There’s a waterfall down there.

I didn’t go because THIS was the parking situation for the waterfall view.

This was how people were parking all over the park.

   

Some shots of the river.

The one selfie I remembered to take in the park in a turnout that wasn’t full.  Probably because this meadow was the only thing to see!

The meadow without me mucking it up!

Still Beautiful

Even after I was officially out of the park, it was gorgeous.  I did get to see the Tetons, but the GoPro didn’t have the resolution for me to grab a photo good enough for you to see.  Those mountains are the mountains that taught me to love mountains when I was just a kid and they are still my favorites.

I got to my hotel and there was an Olive Garden right down the street.  Since I’d been eating mostly dehydrated food for a month, I thought something fresh, say the salad, would be fantastic.  I walked to the restaurant and had salad and soup for dinner and it was wonderful.  The hostess seemed pretty surprised that I wanted to eat alone, but I didn’t see anything wrong with it.

Idaho Falls, where I spent the night.

I enjoyed my dinner and walked back to my hotel.  As I did, I realized that tomorrow would be my last night on the road.  I’ll head to Battle Mountain, Nevada and the next day, I’ll be home.  It’s both sad and exciting that I’ll be home soon.