I woke up early, anticipating a busy day. The morning was quite cool. Apparantly it was too early for the Highway Hiltons to fire up their generators, because it was amazingly quiet. I stretched a bit to get moving, then fired up the little stove for a bit of coffee. Just gotta have that morning jolt. Suddenly, I heard some noises, turned around, and about 20 feet away was a huge bison!!
Behind him, scattered amongst the tents and motorhomes was a herd of 20 to 30 of those shaggy beasts. What a photo op! I shot a dozen or so (pictures, not bison!), cursing myself for not bringing a faster lens. It's hard to get good pictures with a 200 mm F4.5 lens in the early morning light. With 1/30 & 1/60 shutter speeds, it's difficult to get sharp pictures. That's the only downside to bike camping. You can't bring your big lenses without leaving something else behind. Even so, I managed a few decent shots. Even got a couple of an amorous Bull attempting to mate.
His intended obviously had a headache, and kept pushing him off!! Poor guy was so frustrated. He went over and head-butted a young male, just out of spite. They grazed for a while, then wandered off. Most of the campers slept right through it. Most of them probably can't hear anything in those rolling Holiday Inn's anyway. I can't figure out why anyone would want to travel in one of those. I was surrounded by RV's, some so large they even had expanding rooms! The one behind me had a little 250 Honda Rebel on the back, so I gave him credit for a little class, but in my opinion, unless you"re retired and living in the damn thing, leave it at home! I think it dilutes the experience to carry all that stuff, and to be wrapped in your "house" while roaming around. Where's that old "Pioneer Spirit" gone? Maybe I'm over reacting. Perhaps they're just the 20th Century equivalent of the Conestoga wagon?
After a breakfast of bison steaks (just kidding, actually MRE toast with MRE peanut butter and apple jelly), I hit the road. I spent the entire day seeing the sights, hiking, and taking pictures.
If you want to see Geysers with less tourists, try the Norris geyser basin. The geysers there are less well known, and not as regular as Old faithful, but the area is much less "touristy", with lots of different geothermal activity. Despite the wood plank trail, it seems like a more natural environment.
I was sitting there waiting for Steamboat geyser to erupt (it is supposed to be 4 or 5 times higher than Old Faithful), when a ranger came up and mentioned that the last time it erupted was 1991, and it was due again anytime between now and around 2040 AD. I did still have about 3 weeks of vacation time on the books, but I decided to pass it up this trip. I did see one sight which underscored the need for the signs and walkways at Old Faithful. Seems there is a small geyser located by the Visitor Center at Norris called "Minute Geyser". It used to spout almost once a minute. Unfortunately, after years of tourists and other assorted idiots THROWING COINS IN THE GEYSER, it now hardly ever erupts!!
I came around a bend in the Geyser trail and came almost face to face with a pregnant female elk. What a sight. I backed away quickly and managed to get a few nice pictures before she wandered off.
The highlight of the day was Yellowstone Falls. The falls is in the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone"(1), with an Upper Falls and a Lower Falls (2) section. The Lower Falls (3) is stunning. After a loooong downhill trail you come to a platform with a view of the falls from about 20 yards away (4). If you travel down a bit further you come to a platform right next to the falls. It is impossible to describe the sound of all that water. The power is unimaginable. Zillions of gallons cascading down every minute (5)!! I can't wait to get to Niagara Falls! The downside of visiting the falls is the climb back up the trail. That's one hell of a climb when your at 8,000 feet elevation! On the way up, I met an old timer who told me 'Hell boy, this climb ain't nuttin! Try the Uncle Tom's Trail down the road a bit. You'll git a great view from the other side of the river, but you might not make it back up that trail."
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Well, that sounded like a challenge to me, so I took it. He was right about the difficulty. It is a well kept trail, but it goes down a long way, with one section consisting of about 350 steep metal grate steps.
The view from the other side was worth the effort (6 above), but the old ticker sure got a workout on the hike back up those steps. I'm in pretty good hiking shape, since I take my dog on 3 mile hikes in the hills 2 or 3 times a week, but it's a different ball game at 8,000 feet. I spent the rest of the day just rolling along enjoying the scenery, stopping now and then for photos. I splurged and had a buffalo burger for lunch. Not bad, but it will never replace a real hamburger! I gassed up at Yellowstone Lake (52.5 MPG!!). It's amazing what backing off the throttle will do for your gas mileage. But who wants to ride at 45 mph all day long?
I decided to head back up and take a shower at Mammoth along with visiting the Mammoth Hot Springs. After two hours of sweeping curves and scenery, I arrived at the Mammoth Hotel, where I enjoyed a 3 dollar shower. Sure felt good. It was getting late, so I only spent a short time at Mammoth Hot Springs, but the little bit I did see was interesting. Lots of little multi-colored mineral plateaus, with hot water cascading down. The smells there are fascinating, mostly sulphur (rotten eggs), with another odor that I can't describe to you (unless you have tried Korean Corn Tea).
I noticed the sky was filling up with ominous looking dark clouds, so I put on my rain gear (It was here I noticed that I had left my bottoms at home). Turns out I didn't need the gear that day after all, only a few drops hit me on the way back to the campsite. Shortly after I pulled in, a group of about 7 or 8 Goldwings pulled in, complete with wives and trailers. Those monsters were sure smooth and quiet (the bikes, not the wives). I don't see the need for stereos, heaters, and all the other bells and whistles, but I sure did envy their storage space! Of course I get better gas mileage, can park without a reverse gear, can pick up my bike when it falls over, and I can buy three Nighthawks for the price of 1 Goldwing, so I guess everything is relative.
I fired up the stove and had another wonderful MRE meal (Potatoes and Ham again, with a pack of MRE hot dogs tossed in too). Mmmmm. Hey, what can I say! I'm a culinary genius!
The ranger show that evening was about getting away from the tourist attractions and hiking out to see the best parts of Yellowstone. Sounded great, but I didn't have the time. We got another spiel about bear safety. I asked the Ranger for the ratio of people killed by bears to people that died of heart attacks at Yellowstone. It wasn't even close. Heart Attack wins hands down! Most folks don't think about the rigors of life at high elevation until it's too late. OK, that's my last warning. All you beer bellied Harley riders better start walking your dogs before you make this trip!
Just before bed I was talking to my neighbor with the Rebel 250 strapped to his Highway Hilton. He and his wife were traveling with the Motorhome couple across from them all the way up to Alaska! OOOH, was I jealous. Some day!! They were retired Firefighters from Arizona, with lots of time on their hands. I intend to make an Arctic Circle trip someday. Anyone want to go?
I managed to get through the night without being eaten or trampled!
|
|
|