September 20, 2017
Week 130: to Bridger: Winter came early in Yellowstone
“I’m the one who sold you the tire patches” the cyclist said, going in the opposite direction, he slows and turns around to join us at the side of the road. “I’m Nick,” the owner of the bike shop Patrick had browsed in Powell. We talk for a while and he too has suggestions on our route. We reach the junction where Cody is to the left, we are confident of our decision to avoid Yellowstone, and turn right toward the Montana border.
Yesterday afternoon we watched the weather forecasts for Yellowstone. It was not looking good for us. Canyon Village was expecting up to a foot of snow with lows dropping down into the teens. The cold snap is supposed to last at least through the weekend, just the window we would need to get through the park. We decide to not risk getting stuck up there and make plans to go around the park. Missing Yellowstone is a disappointment this is the only entrance we've not cycled, but who knows what we will find on our route around the park. On our return-home trip in 2008 we found the “going to the sun” road in Glacier NP closed, upon riding around it on the eastern edge of Glacier we discovered a whole new area of the park we had not seen before which made it very worthwhile. So we have to be flexible and hope for the best.
The wind howled around the little camper in Scott and Sandra’s backyard last night. We slept well and stayed warm and dry. In the morning we have a cup of coffee and breakfast of cooked oatmeal made by Sandra before setting out. Following Sandra’s directions we take a road due west from Powell and are treated to beautiful views on the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains. The sky is blue and there is no wind, but clouds are sticking to the mountain ranges ahead of us. As we near the Mountains we turn north into the valley of the Clark Fork of the Yellowstone River. At first the country is dry high prairie, then a zone of eroded rock and gulley’s before dropping down in fertile green, irrigated fields along the river. We reach the main road going north from Cody just in time, the last few kilometers we have to fight against a strong and very quickly building Southwesterly wind. By the time we reach the main highway it is howling as predicted. The views to our west are awesome, but clouds are building and storms are dropping moisture in the valleys.
We turn north and enjoy a great tailwind, only stopping for a quick muffin snack and at the Montana welcome sign for a couple of photos. Our goal today is Bridger, google maps shows a municipal campground in the town. We reach it at about one, very early, but there is not much between here and our destination of tomorrow. The campground is disappointing; it is set up for trailers only. We could camp but there are no restrooms. For all that they charge a $20 nightly fee. There is a second city park, but here also no restrooms. On our way in we saw a motel and we ride back to check it out. There is nobody in the reception, the place is small and has a phone number to call for service. Rachel goes across the road to the bar and gets help there, twenty minutes later a friendly guy shows up to open up a room. While we waited at a picnic table at the end of parking lot, Rachel made ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. At $65 it is more than we want to spend, but short of the city park we do not have a lot of options.
The room is nice enough but no WiFi in the room, for that we go over to the bar and use their internet while enjoying a brown ale. Dinner is pretty good too, with left-overs for tomorrow night. We learn we made the right decision bypassing Yellowstone. The east entrance over Sylvan Pass is closed today and several roads in the southern part of the park are also closed due to snow.
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Today's ride: 86 km (53 miles)
Total: 39,845 km (24,744 miles)
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