Yellowstone Part II

Spent the day in Yellowstone again. What a beautiful place! There's no way to adequately explain it to folks who haven't been there. Of all the parks I've been in over my lifetime, this is the only park that I could spend a week in and not be bored. Most parks keep me entertained for a day or two, but this one has so much to see. And it's big.

The biggest treat today was watching a momma grizzly bear and her two cubs come across a meadow. The cubs ran and played just like you see on TV. They looked like they were having fun as they came across the meadow. As they came towards the road, a park employee warned everyone to get inside their cars. Since we were not in cars, we left in a hurry!

A half mile down the road, folks with spotting scopes spotted another grizzly quite a way off. I could not see it without a scope.

We did Old Faithful--neat, just like you see on TV. Also did Steamboat geyser, which was also neat. Lots of volcanic activity all ove the place!

Saw an Elk within 100 yards of us, crossing the road.

We left via the northeast entry, which, in my opinion, is the prettiest entrance. Saw hundreds of buffalo on this road--many more than we had seen in other parts of the park.

Unfortunately, we didn't get gas inside the park before leaving. As we left the park, the first worry was fuel tanks that were pretty enpty. The ranger at the entrance said there was a gas station 4 miles up the road in Cooke City. Relieved, we rode to Cooke City.

It looked like an oasis! Two operating gas stations! Several motels. Several restaurants. We gassed up, and since we had not eaten nor had gotten a room for the night, decided to try to find a room there (the next place was 80 miles away, across Beartooth Pass. We were advised not to do Beartooth Pass at night (good advice).

Found a room! Not lavish, but adequate--two beds, a bathroom, tv, and some limited Internet.

Then we found food and had a late dinner.

A very good day.

264 miles today (this post a day late)

Yellowstone

WOW!!! Yellowstone is awesome. We saw almost half--the eastern and southern parts today. The odor of sulfur is often in the air--venting from the many areas with volcanic activity. Bubbing clear water. Bubbling mud. Bubbling dirty water. Noises from the earth. Weird and wild!

Saw the upper and lower falls of the Yellowstone River. Both are very pretty and large, with the lower falls more impressive. Tried to post a picture of the lower falls, but it would not download. Will try again later.

Got to the hotel in Boseman, MT late--about 10:30pm. That was the closest motel we could find.

Beautiful weather today--perfect temperature and deep blue skys. A fantastic day.

Rode 284 miles today.

Tomorrow back to Yellowstone!

Exploring

Today was a very easy day. The motel needed our room for a family tonight, so we had to move to a normal motel room. That took a while to work out, so it was 11:00am before we got on the bikes.

Since we had seen all of Grand Teton National Park yesterday, we decided to ride over a steep pass (said to be the steepest grade in North America at 10.5%) into Idaho. The pass was okay, but if it was the steepest, I could not tell that it was that steep.

We rode north to Ashton, Idaho and then turned back south. The ride was very easy and nice, with parts in farmland and parts in forests. We were on the west side of the Tetons in a broad valley. So, we got to see both sides of the same mountains. They are impressive on both sides.

We continued to ride south by the Pallisades Reservoir (a beautiful body of water) and then turned back north to ride through the Snake River Canyon. I still believe the Snake River is the prettiest river I've ever seen!

Got back to the motel, checked into the new room, took a shower, washed some laundry, and walked to town for dinner.

A good, easy day. Rode 223 miles.

Tomorrow Yellowstone National Park.

Jackson Hole/Grand Tetons

We left Logan, Utah and headed north into Idaho, my first time ever in Idaho. The ride was very pleasant, cool but not cold.

At one point, we went through a valley on Hwy 34 that was the most lush and green we've encountered on the trip. Miles of green potato plants and wheat. It was very picturesque, although the riding was too good to stop for a picture.

We rode into Jackson Hole (or Jackson), WY, about 1:30 in the afternoon. It was moderately hot, and very busy. Cars and people everywhere.

Went to 3 motels before we found one with a vacancy, the Elk Country Inn, just off the main drag. They had one room with 2 beds (actually bedrooms) and an efficiency kitchen. Although it was overkill, we needed a room. Being in a high tourist area on the weekend before a major holiday (July 4) without a reservation is not a good idea. But it worked out anyway. The fly in the ointment is that it's available only tonight; not tomorrow night.

However, they have a room with 2 beds and nothing else tomorrow night for only $20 more. Why a smaller room with fewer amenities on a Sunday night is higher, I'll never understand...

Got the room and walked downtown for lunch while the room was being readied. A good lunch at the Snake River Brewery and then back to get into the room. We rested a while and then got on the bikes and rode into Grand Tetons National Park.

Rode through part of the park--beautiful rocky tall mountains. Still some snow on some of them, although it's been record-breaking hot! Beautiful deep blue lakes as well. And the Snake River is the prettiest river I've ever seen. Deep blue water, rapids, rocks--it is gorgeous!
bike miles and 5,295 gps milrs on the trip.

Saw a group of buffalo on the side of the road, having an early dinner. Also saw one lone deer near the top of Signal Mountain, just standing and looking at us as we rode by. I think we were intruding into his territory and he was not happy. So, we kept riding and he was gone when we came back down the mountain.

A good day today, 279 miles. I'm tired, but think it's from so much running for 2 weeks. I now have 5,437 and 5,297 gps miles on the trip. The bike odometer registers fast, but the GPS is correct. And we'll do another roughly 3,000 to get home.

Tomorrow, more Tetons

Chain Repair

Today my chain dilemma was solved. We left Mt Carmel Junction after a hearty and good breakfast and rode to Bryce Canyon National Park. The ride was good-the temperatures were very comfortable and the roads not busy. About 20 miles up the road a deer was standing on the road, watching me approach him. I slowed to a crawl, and when I was almost to him, he calmly trotted off. It was as if he was watching me to see if I’d stop for him. I did!

A few more miles later, the carcass of a dead on was on the shoulder of the road. Seeing both of them made me slow down and watch more carefully.

Inside Bryce Canyon, we went to most of the points and took the usual pictures. I think my expectations were too high, because I was a little disappointed. I believe we’ve seen so many beautiful sights over the last week that none are special now. I’m accustomed to seeing extraordinary sights! A sad state indeed.

The folks at Jorgensen’s Honda in Richfield had agreed to work in my service work mid-afternoon. So, we actually skipped a couple of points in Bryce so we could be there on time to get the work done and to get back on the road towards the Grand Tetons.

Leaving the park, most folks would turn left on Hwy 12 and then right on Hwy 89 to get to Richfield just off I-70. Instead, we stayed straight, on Hwy 22 and had a high speed on a road with no traffic and good road surfaces. It was a ball! We made up 15minutes in about 50 miles!

We got to Jorgensens by 2:45. They were expecting me and had the parts. I learned that the air freight charge was $40 instead of $30, but we needed the sprocket and I did’t fuss. After all, they were working me in to keep me on the road.

Within 15 minutes they were working on the bike. Since we hadn’t had lunch, we walked to a Mexican place and had a good lunch (but no beer!)

Shortly after getting back to the shop, it was ready. I had no idea what the bill would be; I was at their mercy and I expected to pay a premium price. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was actually cheaper there than the last one I had done in Raleigh! Even with the air freight charge!! The difference turned out to be labor charges were much less at Jorgensens. A good break.

The bike rides so much better! So quiet. So smooth. The old chain had gotten pretty bad and was making a lot of racket and vibration. Problem cured.

Leaving Richfield, we headed north towards Salt Lake City. It got HOT again, so we had to wet and don the vests. Just south of Salt Lake City, we stopped for a cool drink and a re-wetting of vests and to get a room for the night.

After trying two places, that turned out to be full, the third had space in Logan, Utah. So we rode to Logan for the hotel. By this time it was getting late and we were tired. Stopped for a late, lite dinner on the way and when we got back on the bikes, it had cooled off considerably.

50 miles later in Logan, it was chilly. Funny how the temperatures here change so rapidly!

Got to the hotel and learned that it was “full”. After fussing, the manager came out and miraculously found a room with 2 beds. It was not non-smoking, but that was no problem at that hour.

Got into the room, tried to connect to the Internet, and had no success. So, this is being posted late again.
Rode 447 miles today, did one park, and got the bike fixed. A good day!

North Rim and Zion

Two beautiful parks today. We left Page, Az this morning and rode towards the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The weather was great--not hot; not cold. Perfect. Of course, it was 8:30 am, so the heat had not started yet.

The two Suzuki dealerships I had located via the Internet the night before opened at 9:00 am. So, once we left town, the cell phone coverage stopped pretty quickly. At Bitter Springs, we stopped so I could check into dealing with my very sick chain.

The first dealer I called, in Cedar City Utah initially thought he had a chain to fit. But after checking, informed me that he didn't have one.

The second dealer, in Ricfield, also didn't have a chain, but said he could have one by tomorrow afternoon. I inquired about getting sprockets as well, and after checking, told me that he could get the front sprocket as well, but not the rear sprocket--except by air freight. I asked about the extra cost to air freight one, and he told me it would probably be about $30 extra. Because a new chain on old sprockets wears out very fast, I decided to pay the extra so I wouldn't need to worry about it again for another 15K or so miles. He checked with the service manager as to whether or not they could do the work tomorrow afternoon. He came back on the phone and said they would be able to do it. Hooray--there should be no breakdowns now. With Richfield less than 200 miles away, I feel home-free!

The phone calls took about 30 minutes and then we rode hard towards the North Rim.

It was great. I like it better than the South Rim because it is not as busy or crowded or developed. The views are equal. The lodging at the small village is quaint--lots of log cabins of different configurations for different needs. I liked the place a lot.

Then north towards Zion National Park. As it was getting later, we decided to stop at Mt. Carmel Junction to get a room. Got one that was perfect--you can park the bikes at the door of the room. Makes it so much easier to deal with carrying things into the room. The room also has Internet; hence this is being posted on the current night. As a bonus, the food I had for dinner was the best of the trip--a pasta dish that was very good! (Best Western).

Zion was beautiful. The road to the park was good--saw some buffalo along the way. The park road was fun--twisty and fairly tight at places. As a bonus, there were 2 tunnels-one short one, and one that was 1.1 miles long and twisty. FUN! Also, there was one area of multiple switchbacks that reminded me a lot of the Alps two summers ago. The riding in the park was fun.

Saw deer, turkeys, and mountain sheep. The sheep were awesome; they were walking on the side of a rock--how, I don't know. There was a ledge about 3 inches wide that they were walking on. Amazing!

The only downer in Zion was that we couldn't ride our bikes up the canyon. Shuttle busses are the only way to go up the canyon. So, the scenes were blocked by the bus. Oh well....

A good day. Most of the day we had good temperatures, with heat only in the afternoon on the ride down the hill from the North Rim to the hotel. We wet the vests for the ride from the hotel to Zion-a good move.

Tomorrow Bryce Canyon and new chain and sprockets.

Today was 320 miles.

Grand Canyon

Today, June 27, we made one of our destinations for the trip. Grand Canyon!

We left Mexican Hat and headed west towards the big canyon. The road there was fast, and very pretty. We went by the area known as Monument Valley, with a fairly level ride and huge rocks of varying shades of red, beige, and brown scattered along the way.

We also saw very poor living conditions. The road went through the Navaho lands, and I saw living conditions that appeared to be big-time poverty. It would be a hard place to live.

On to the Grand Canyon. Gary had never visited it before today; I was there about 15 years ago. I won't try to describe it; no one can d0 it adequately. It's just stupendous!

It was not too crowded, and we had easy access to all the overlooks we wanted to see. Had lunch at the Village Market; a chicken sandwich that was pretty good.

Went to the big hotel, just to walk through it so Gary could see it. A neat hotel that I'd like to stay in sometime.

Left the canyon to head to the north rim. As we left the high areas at the canyon and started downhill, it got very HOT again. We needed gas so we stopped at a gas station to get gas and to wet the Sahara vests. Oh, that helped tremendously! They make a huge difference in body temperatures.

As we rode north, it was getting later and we started talking about where to stay overnight. We originally planned to do the north rim and then head back north into Utah. As it was getting later, and we had several hundred more miles to ride, we decided to ride into Page, Az for the night and to go to the north rim tomorrow morning. A wise choice.

We found an adequate motel (with Internet), did laundry, and had dinner at a steak house nearby. Ok meal, but not great.

The Vstrom is doing okay, but the chain is failing. It's getting loose much faster, and I'm not going to make it home on this chain. So, we're going to start looking for a place to get it replaced soon. I hate it because it will be a waste of time, but it started wearing and then wore very fast. I think heat and speed kills it much faster than normal. In any case, it's pretty much gone.

Tomorrow to the north rim and on to Zion National Park.

342 miles today.