Fourth Leg: West Yellowstone to Rawlins

July 14

West Yellowstone to Madison River Campground to Old Faithful to Madison River Campground

(Day 21 - 48.81 mi, Elevation gain: 1,063 ft)

Waiting in the line of cars at the gates of Yellowstone, the excitement and anticipation reminded me going to Cedar Point or Disney World as a kid. After entering, there was a noticeable difference in how untouched and undeveloped Yellowstone is compared to the surrounding area. Avoiding the steady stream of cars on a surprisingly generous shoulder, we biked to Madison campground and set up camp. It cost $10/ per person to set up in one of the spots reserved for only hikers/bikers. All the Yellowstone campgrounds had hiker/biker spots, so we were fortunate to easily find an opening without a reservation months in advance.

After setting up camp at Madison campground, we biked toward Old Faithful. We stopped at the lower geyser basin and the grand prismatic along the way. I actually welcomed the familiar smell of sulfur since it both brought back joyous memories of my time working at the refinery and masked the horrible BO that me and Mitch carried with us. At Old Faithful, we ran into more bicycle tourists who were traveling through Yellowstone to Cody, WY. We chatted with them and had a drink at Old Faithful. Mitch and I were pretty spent on the way back to Madison. Today was supposed to be a rest day.

Waiting in line to pay the park entry fee

The old faithful inn was surprisingly cool

A man not impressed with old faithful (and hopefully still alive)

Sun setting as we ride along the Madison River

July 15

Madison River Campground to Canyon Village Campground

(Day 22 - 22.14 mi, Elevation gain: 1,663 ft)

(Mitch) We woke up to a frigid morning and quickly got ready in order to stay warm. We started our day with a quick ride to the Norris Geyser Basin. On the way we saw Gibbons Falls which offered us a brief excuse to rest. We got to the Norris Geyser Basin, and I felt as though it was very underrated. It was an otherworldly area as the Hurricane Geyser was roaring nearby and several turquoise pools were laid out before us. It felt like we were on another planet. We also walked by the steamboat geyser which erupts at “unpredictable intervals” and reaches heights of up to 300 ft in the air.

After the Norris Geyser Basin, we rode to Canyon Village. This was again a criminally underrated location with the best views of our trip so far. We walked about 3 miles to get a glimpse of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the views did not disappoint. There were cliffs hundreds of feet tall that lead to the spectacular upper and lower falls. We had to do a fairly intense hike to get the best view of the falls but it was almost unbelievable how beautiful the view was. I’ll let the pictures below do most of the talking. All told it was an amazing day.

July 16

Canyon Village to Lewis Lake

(Day 23 - 50.0 mi, Elevation gain: 1,568 ft)

For our third day at Yellowstone, we planned to get up early to see the wildlife in Hayden Valley. Per our normal routine, we got moving a little later than planned. Despite not starting our ride until 8:30, we still saw plenty of wildlife in the valley. We rode pretty close to some buffalo, and Mitch saw a black bear and 2 cubs. Mitch was disappointed when we passed “Grizzly Overlook” without seeing any bears, but I was happy to have made it though the valley in one piece. With all of the drivers distracted looking for wildlife, cycling along this stretch of road was probably the most dangerous in the park.

We stopped in Lake Village and Grant Village. We relaxed by Yellowstone Lake. Thinking the Lake Michigan waters had prepared him for the cold water, Mitch took a dip in the ~45 degree water of Yellowstone lake.

We initially planned to stay the night in Grant Village but decided to keep riding since we had so much daylight left. After riding into headwinds for 8 miles, we got off the bikes and set up camp at Lewis Lake. The water at Lewis Lake was way warmer than Yellowstone Lake, so it was a great spot to go for a swim and then eat dinner.

Taking a dip in Yellowstone Lake at Grant Village. Supposedly, it the water temp was 44 degrees F.

Passing the continental divide again headed towards the south exit

July 17

Lewis Lake to Jenny Lake

(Day 24 - 47.93 mi, Elevation gain: 1,988 ft)

By this point of the ride, most of the pre-trip planning had been rendered useless. I had planned to do more research on the Tetons before heading to the park, but that didn’t really happen. Watching a couple of YouTube videos, reading the Grand Tetons national parks website info, and talking to other cyclists along the way served as my preparation for our Grand Tetons park. Since we were ahead of schedule, we wanted to take a zero mile day. Spending our time at Jenny Lake seemed to be our best option.

In between the parks, we stopped at Flagg Ranch. They had breakfast buffet, so I took the opportunity to have personal Man v. Food battle or Melt Challenge. I think we got a good deal.

The views in the Tetons really punch you in the face. With no foothills blocking your line of sight to the tallest peaks, we had some unreal views cycling towards Jenny Lake. The downside of no foothills is that winds can be crazy. A ranger at the Colter Bay visitor center had told us that we’d be lucky to find an open campsite at Jenny Lake, so we were rushing into some nasty headwinds. The parking lot was overflowing with cars, so we thought we were screwed. Turns out, we were worrying about nothing because there were plenty of open hiker/biker sites.

After we paid, the camp workers warned us that a mama bear and two cubs had been wandering through the hiker/bike area every morning. Having received this comforting news, we set up camp at Jenny Lake. A cyclist we met at Madison campground, Chris, was camping at Jenny Lake for a couple of days. The previous morning, Chris had seen the bears checking out a different biker’s loaded up bike. The mama was not very interested, but apparently, the cubs were climbing on top of the bike while Chris and the other biker frantically yelled “HEY BEAR” from their tents. Eventually the cubs got bored, and the three of them continued on into the forrest.

After hearing this story, we went for a swim in the most scenic lake I’ve ever seen and paid for some overpriced food at the general store. Chris had picked up a six pack to share, so we relaxed at camp before preparing to hunker down in our nylon fortress.

Leaving Yellowstone and headed towards the Tetons

July 18

Jenny Lake to Jenny Lake

(Day 25 - 0 mi biked, Elevation gain: ft)

(Mitch) First rest day since Missoula! Very exciting, but also a weird feeling to not be on a bike. Instead, we spent most of the hiking around Jenny lake and up Cascade Canyon. We managed to avoid any bear encounters along the surprisingly difficult hiking path. There were breathtaking views at Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls as well as a couple miles up cascade canyon.

We then made a decision to explore the mountainside off trail and enjoyed scrambling up rocks for a bit. Jimmy called me down as I was going too high apparently… As we traversed back down the mountain, my quads began cramping and I realized I should probably drink some water. The cramps eventually subsided, but it definitely delayed our return to camp. We ate another gourmet dinner at the Jenny lake store as well.

Charging our portable chargers near the showers

July 19

Jenny Lake to Dubois

(Day 26 - 72.54 * mi, Elevation gain: 4,039* ft)

We were ready to get moving today after having a day off. It was also nice to get away from the crowds at the parks. About 2.5 miles into the 17 mile long climb up Togwotee Pass, we ran into a lane closure due to construction. Since it was a one lane road, the construction workers offered to drive us across the 3 mile stretch under construction. *We gladly tossed our bikes into the back of their pickup for the short taxi ride.

Resuming our ride, my rear rene herse endurance tire had worn too thin and was punctured in two locations. The tubeless tire sealant plugged up one of the holes but the larger one would give me issues. I attempted to install tire plugs/bacon strips, but these only held temporarily. Eventually, I had to install a tube in the tire to keep moving.

After my flat tire adventure, we reached the top of the 9,500’ pass and pushed ourselves down the long descent to Dubois. We set up camp at the Dubois KOA and got food from Dew Boyz Diner.

July 20

Dubois to Lander

(Day 27 - 74.43 mi, Elevation gain: 2,093 ft)

(Mitch) Leaving Dubois, we had high expectations for Lander, WY. We had heard great things from several bikers about this small town. The wind was brutal today, but we managed to make it to Lander with a few hours of daylight left, despite me having another broken spoke. We were not disappointed.

Lander had free camping at the city park, free showers with a hot tub at the community pool, and there was a free concert at the city park. INCREDIBLE. The band playing was actually pretty famous?!!? Not sure why Rayland Baxter was playing free concerts in Lander, WY but okay. The vibes were incredible in this small town, and it was a surprise highlight of the trip so far.

Shortly after this was taken, we realized Mitch had broken a spoke

The terrain in central WY almost tops central IL

Don’t know how a small town can get Rayland Baxter to play a free concert

July 21

Lander to Jeffery City

(Day 28 - 58.80 mi, Elevation gain: 2,933 ft)

(Mitch) Another rough day of biking into headwinds as we labored to get to JeffreyCity. Morale was high as we had just repaired our bikes at the local bike shop leaving Lander, but this did delay our departure.

Upon arriving in Jeffrey City, we were starving and stopped at the only restaurant in town: Split Rock Cafe. We went to this sleepy bar at perhaps its busiest night of the year as a wedding party was being held there. However, we eventually were helped and ordered food at the bar as well as a much deserved Budweiser.

After our burger steaks at Split Rock, we headed to the much anticipated Jeffrey City Hostel. This was a cyclist only hostel located in the basement of this church. For context, Jeffrey City is a ghost town with 2 businesses still functioning and we are sleeping in the basement of the church. It definitely felt like a horror movie at first, but it really was an amazing place. We were comforted by the fact that there were 2 other bikers staying there.

In the middle of nowhere riding toward ghost town, Jeffery City

Dinner at Split Rock Cafe in Jeffery City

Storm rolled in while we ate at Split Rock Cafe

July 22

Jeffery City to Rawlins

(Day 29 - 69.95 mi, Elevation gain: 2,536 ft)

Mitch woke up with a headache today, so we got moving a little late. Using the extra time in the morning, I enjoyed some foldgers coffee from the hostel/church and relaxed a bit. We wound up leaving around 10:30 and set off toward Rawlins.

Split rock was just about the only interesting landmark on the route toward Rawlins. Historically, split rock was used as an important milestone along the Oregon Trail.

Even though we were lucky that it was only in the mid 80s, it was still in the mid 80s. Feeling pretty drained, we saw a lemonade/ice cream stand near the top of a small climb into Rawlins. Without hesitation, we pulled over and bought some lemonade from the intelligent entrepreneur selling refreshments along the most popular cross country bike route in the US. Eventually, we made it to Rawlins and made our way to Red Desert Rose campground.

I could see Mitch working on the Pony Express in a past life

Crossing the continental divide again. Saw lots of hikers on this road

Today's ride: 445 miles (716 km)
Total: 1,535 miles (2,470 km)

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