111 miles into Montana through Yellowstone

STATS:

Grant Village, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming to Cameron, Montana
Distance: 111 miles

I finally got it. I got the starry night I had been hoping for. I laid in my tent star gazing for 30 minutes somewhere between 2 and 3 AM. The milky way said “hello there”, and I smiled back at it. If you’ve ever seen the stars like this before, you know how mesmerizing they can be. If you haven’t, you must head out west and camp under the stars.

Alex and I woke up around 4:45 AM to avoid heavy traffic throughout the park, see some wildlife early in the AM, and make it to Old Faithful before the crowds arrive. We snuck into the bathrooms to warm up and enjoyed a small breakfast. I really enjoy riding with Alex, he’s an awesome guy, but during this particular morning, you could tell he had Mexican food for dinner. We traveled together, along with George, out into the main roads through the park. The temperature was in the upper 30’s, but we we’re quickly to undress with the ascents we had today. We noticed some elk immediately as we left our camp village, and already deemed waking up early was worth it for just that. The park was so incredibly quiet, I was almost in tears thinking how happy I was to have the park all to myself. Yellowstone is a fantastic place. There are features here that people from all over the world come to see. I just thoroughly enjoy the feeling of being so small in a vast wildlife park. I smiled as beavers and ducks took part in their morning routines, and tied to remain as quiet as possible when approaching turns, in the hope of seeing larger animals.

Eventually, after some of the most peaceful riding of the trip, I made it to Old Faithful, the tourist kingdom of the world! Old Faithful is still fun to watch though. It’s not the coolest or best geyser in the park, but at least you know when it will erupt. I sat inside the cafe area to warm up with coffee until I started noticing steam spewing more heavily. Thaaarrr she blooows! I chuckled as the people “oooo” and “ahhhh” like I did the first time around.

I moved on after that, there are other aspects like the Grand Prismatic LakesI really couldn’t wait to get to. When I got there, I spent a while observing the array of colors and reading the descriptions of how it’s all created. I’m absolutely fascinated with these pools, and they’re one of my favorite parts of any national parks I’ve visited in the country. The roads began to get busy once I left the lakes, so after a while I was just ready to ride out of the park.

I hit a few nice stretches when heading out because most traffic was now entering. This allowed me to enjoy the beautiful stream I rode along for a while without having to deal with zooming cars and rv’s every 10 seconds. I was in a very happy place.

Soon thereafter, I realized I was exiting the park boundaries, and heading into the town of West Yellowstone. This meant I was about to enter into Montana!! I took the routine state entry picture we’ve all come to love, and posted up in an awesome bike/coffee shop for a couple hours. What I like to do with my days are ride strong for most of the morning, post up and drink coffee/eat lunch, then bang out the rest of my day. Today was different though, I chose to shoot for a 125-mile day. I was told most of the trip was downhill, and I would experience headwinds for the majority of it. Have I told you to never listen to locals on a bike tour? I left the shop feeling great, and adored the mountain blue lake I got to ride along. All was wonderful, except, I had a headwind for 70 miles. Tail winds my ass. Never listen to locals, especially with weather and mileage. I only ask them for restaurant recommendations now. The 70 mile stretch was just that, I stretched out every last mental and physical fiber I had to attempt the 125 miles to town, but around 10 PM, I had to stop and refuel. The tow Cameron had a small store where I purchased and consumed a whole pint of ice cream and coffee, but with 11 miles to go and having already gone 111 miles, I called it quits. The owners charged $15 dollars to setup tents in there backyard, and after sharing this info with Liz, I quickly received a text from Venmo for $15 dollars. She offered to pay for me to get off the road and rest, saying that “this one’s on me”. Being so exhausted, I broke down and teared up, no lie. I freakin’ love her, but I’ll make sure to make it up soon enough.

I sent up my tent, and sat in the shower because the winds just took everything out of me. At this point, the temperature was in the low 40’s, so I took a while to leave the shower for fear I’ll never feel this warm again tonight. Realizing I hadn’t had a legit dinner and knowing I needed to recover after today’s ride, I brought a bagel and peanut butter into my tent and literally ate the two with my eyes closed. Today was a day for the ages, but at least I’ll sleep extremely well. Pat myself on the back, and get back to work tomorrow.

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