August 29, 2004
Day 2: To Lewis Lake campground in Yellowstone
The temperature was 37F (3C) in the morning. I'm not accustomed to such cold mornings in August, but that's normal here. I walked down to the beach to take pictures of the Tetons in the early morning sun.
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Then I went back to camp to make breakfast and pack up, and got on the road shortly after 9AM. The temperature had risen to 48F (9C) by then. After 3 miles Teton Park road merges with US Highway 89 and I continued north towards Yellowstone. There is a fine view of the Grand Tetons near that intersection but I could barely see Jackson Lake.
As I continued north along the east side of Jackson Lake it was apparent that the lake level was very low. The northern half of Jackson Lake wasn't really a lake at all. It was just mud flats. I stopped to buy a sandwich at a convenience store at the Colter Bay turnoff but didn't go down the road to look at Colter Bay. At the north end of the lake the road climbs several hundred feet up a hill to the Grand Teton National Park boundary.
On the way down that hill I caught up to a long line of cars waiting to go through a construction zone. I pulled over at the rear of the line and stopped to eat a sandwich. When the traffic started moving 15 minutes later I got on the road after the last car passed by, intending to follow all the cars through the construction zone. When I got to the construction zone the flagger stopped me and said that I'm not allowed to bike through the construction. I would have to wait and ride a pilot car. If I had ridden to the front of the line of stopped cars when I got there I could have gone in the pilot car that led that line of cars. Instead, I had to wait another 40 minutes for the next line of cars to go through. Very frustrating. The construction zone looked like it would be easy to bike through - it was all downhill. But the flagger claimed that "federal regulations" prohibit bikes and pedestrians in the construction zone. To complicate matters, I want to stop at Flagg Ranch which is in the middle of the construction zone. So I would have to ride the pilot car to Flagg Ranch, and then later I would have to wait for the pilot car again to get to the north end of the construction zone. After a very long wait I rode the pilot car (pickup truck) 2 miles through the construction zone past several graders, and got off at Flagg Ranch. It would have been easy to get through with my 1.75 inch tires.
I stopped at Flagg Ranch to visit nearby Polecat Hot Spring. It took me a few minutes to find the road that dead ends at Polecat Creek. From there I walked upstream 10 minutes until I could see the hot spring across the creek. I crossed the knee-deep creek. It was early afternoon, the temperature was about 75F, and there was no shade at the hot spring. Not exactly ideal conditions for a long soak in hot water but I had a long soak and walked around the area. The creek and surrounding valley are beautiful. The water temperature was a bit warmer than I prefer, probably 105F. The water would be more pleasant early in the morning. But it was nice to experience a "new" hot spring and enjoy the wilderness setting.
After hanging out at the hot spring for more than two hours and getting sunburned, I walked back to the bike and then biked 2 miles back to the construction zone. I only had to wait 10 minutes for the northbound pilot car to take me through the remaining 2 miles of road construction. The pilot car dropped me off at the Yellowstone National Park entrance. The road no longer has a shoulder after entering Yellowstone. I continued north, climbing about 1200 feet in 10 miles along the Lewis River. For the first time I saw large areas that burned in the 1988 fires that burned 80% of Yellowstone National Park.
At 6PM I pulled into a beautiful secluded walk-in campsite at Lewis Lake campground (elevation 7800 feet). There was no designated hiker/bike site but the ranger let me have the site for $5 (the hiker/biker price at other campgrounds). The campground is primitive, with pit toilets. I didn't get a shower yesterday so I was determined to have a shower today while the temperature was still relatively warm. Before setting up my tent I filled my water sack with cold water and started heating water with my stove. I boiled two 1-quart pots of water to add to the water sack, then attached the shower hose and hung it from a tree. With two gallons of warm water I am able to take a thorough shower including washing my hair. After the refreshing shower I started making dinner. By then the air temperature was cooling rapidly.
Today's weather was almost totally sunny with a high of 75F (24C). Very pleasant and I had a tailwind all day. It was an easy day but frustrating because of waiting for rides at the construction zone. I will pass many more road construction zones during this trip and don't know if I will be allowed to bike through them.
I saw four touring cyclists going south and talked briefly with two of them as they unloaded their bikes from the southbound pilot car. They were headed from Alaska to South America. The woman's bike looked fairly typical but the man's bike appeared to weigh more than 150 pounds, with 4 panniers plus the biggest bike trailer I've ever seen! My 90-pound bike is very light in comparison.
Distance: 40.5 miles (64.8 km) [had to go 4 miles in a pilot car]
Total climbing: 2220 feet (670m)
Average speed: 9.4 mph (15.0 km/h)
Maximum speed: 45.0 mph (72 km/h)
Hiking: 2 miles (3.2 km)
Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 66 miles (106 km)
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