Ride Report - Yellowstone

Day 6 - July 4 - Lizard Creek (Teton) to Lewis Lake (Yellowstone)

With a short ride day into Yellowstone National Park, the plan was to score a camping spot early and with a quick camp set up, enjoy a leisurely ride of the south loop of the park. Sunny skies and warm temps may have lead to some brevity in camp preparations which combined with weather had us quickly switching to a Plan B later in the day.

But first things first, a visit to Ol Faithful and the historic Ol Faithful Inn which was built in the 30's and has some beautifully romantic tales to tell.

(and BIG THANKS to Craig for the great pano shots and pics of me... awesome to have another camera along for the ride... not to mention his expertise / photo journalism background! )

 

The "Crow's Nest" in side the Old Faithful Inn...

The Crow's Nest at the Old Faithful Inn | Atlas Obscura

On the third floor of Yellowstone's Old Faithful Inn, there's a snaking stairway leading 76 feet up to what seems to be an indoor treehouse. From the treehouse, a series of catwalks lead outside onto the steep roof of the inn, and stairs go up to a deck on the very top of the roof.

This jumble of stairs and catwalks is collectively called the Crow's Nest, designed by the then 29-year-old architect Robert Reamer. Popular belief is that he took special care to design the Crow's Nest according to a childhood fantasy of his.

In the early days of the inn, an orchestra was hired to play from the treehouse of the Crow's Nest, entertaining guests on the ground floor below.

Unfortunately, a 1959 earthquake that shook the park damaged the structural integrity of the inn, and the Crow's Nest had to be closed to the public. Repairs are being made, and the park hopes to reopen the section to the public sometime in the next few years. However, the inn's bell staff still travels to the top twice every day to raise and lower the park's flags, and will take a few tourists with them if you make reservations in advance (starting in May).

(we didn't know the last part about reservations to go up at the time!)

We hung around for a second 'showing' of the Ol Faithful geyser which goes off pretty reliably every 40-120 minutes. What we hadn't kept an eye on was the weather... you can see the black clouds creeping up on us from the NW. The first drops of rain turned into pouring rain and hail, chasing us back to our camp 30 miles away where we'd left tents without flys and gear without cover (and someone without his jacket ;). The weather cut short our exploring of the park but provided an excellent bike wash and a spectacular light and sound show which lasted throughout much of the night.

Being a fan of the 80s, this quickly became the Lewis Lake camp theme song... Eddie Rabbitt - I Love A Rainy Night - YouTube

The gear tarp the next morning with evidence of the amount of rain overnight... thankfully my wee 'bear burrito' tent is holding up well in the rain and for sunny mornings to dry out all the gear before packing!

 

Day 7 - July 5 - Lewis Lake to Madison

So much to see in Yellowstone! The day's route takes us up the east side of the park around the north loop to ideally find one more nights camping the park.

My first buffalo close encounter!! I parked on the other side of the road to get some pics (wasn't trusting my ability to keep the bike upright and operate the camera .. I do get a little excited!) The novelty of them doesn't really wear off, but there are 100s (1000s?) in the park so I did get used to riding by them.

more buffalo and a tourist not heeding the info in the next pic..

 

Mud Volcanos and Dragon Springs..

 

Lower Falls (308 ft) from Artists Point... (Craig's pics)

 

Another impressive (and close) encounter...

At this point, motorcycle gear or not, I started imaging the 'gorings' and made noises about giving this big boy (and his buddy who was joining him from the trees) more space!

The day was getting later and we started to encounter rain and cooler temps so started the search for a campground. We passed full campground after full campground and then had a ~45 minute 'traffic delay' Yellowstone style...

 

The last campground in the park, Madison, said FULL, but I had a feeling (or maybe was just tired and cold...) so asked at the gate anyway. YAY! Mere moments before someone had cancelled and we snapped the spot up knowing it wouldn't be available long. Setup in pouring rain isn't my favourite but I was thankful for my guide tarp to cook and hangout under. Yes, thats a big smile!

 

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Ride Report - The Grand Tetons

Day 5 - July 3 - Rigby, ID to Lizard Creek, MT

Tossing around possible routes into Yellowstone National Park, it was decided to head north on Hwy 20 to West Yellowstone and then into the park. Seeing as it is peak season, nearing both the weekend and the July 4 holiday, camping could be hard to find, so we planned to grab the first decent spot and then go exploring!

Heading north on the flat, straight (read 'boring on two wheels') Hwy 20 for 15 min or so, an idea from the morning whispered in my ear ... enter Yellowstone from the south via the Grand Tetons. Pulling over, a quick re-route of the GPS and a short back track had us on a beautiful, mountainous route leading to the stunning Grand Teton National Park. Camping was found fairly easily at Lizard Creek Campground a short 10 miles from the Yellowstone south entrance.

 

first glimpse of the Grand Teton mountain range...

my favourite kind of signage..

 

 

my first moose on the trip in, where else, Moose, MT..

 

After setting up camp, we took an evening ride back south for some photos..

cool log... my lady of the lake

Colter Bay Marina on Jackson Lake...

From Colter Bay Lodge... I swear there are elk in that meadow...

 

 

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Ride Report - the first four days

The first leg of my trip had me travelling from Vancouver, BC to Rigby, ID where a few treats awaited me. I'll recap the routes with pics and keep the writing brief.... enjoy!

Day 1 - June 29 - Vancouver to White Rock

The 'shake down' ride - pics are in blog post #2 "The" Day - a short 50 km day which was a good way to get accustomed to the loaded bike. Super happy to have Jay along for the ride and enjoy the hospitality of the Amy/Ringrose home before hitting the road for real.

Day 2 - June 30 - White Rock, BC to Spokane, WA

All the of the energy and fortitude to pack my life up before leaving carried onto the road. I meant to camp at Grand Coulee which would have been a very respectable 450 km first day. Alas I 'pushed on' to Spokane making it a long 650 km day. Not that it wasn't spectacular as I did ride the beautiful, twisty North Cascade Highway 20 and some equally lovely winding back roads between Grand Coulee and Spokane (17 / 174 / 2). Arriving near Spokane and the disappointment of not being able to find camping was eased by a comfy bed and a decent nights sleep. It would have been a 'great' night's sleep if I had unloaded all the gear from my bike. Seeing as I had splurged on secure soft sided luggage (Walter Colebatch Adventure-Spec Magadan Panniers), I thought I may as well get used to trusting them right off the bat! So the bike remained loaded in the parking lot over night and much to my delight was exactly as I left it the next the morning.

Rest stop along Hwy 20...

Day 3 - July 1 - Spokane, WA to Salmon, ID

OH CANADA!!

Leaving Spokane on the I90 in the cool early morning heading east was glorious. Once across the Idaho border the interstate sped through the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. Wanting a slower look at things, I was pleased to see an exit marked 'scenic route'. Meandering along rivers, through farmland and over a high mountain pass at the ID/MT border, the drive to Missoula was a motorcyclists dream. From Missoula, Hwy 93 took me south through the majestic Bitterroot Mountain range with a wide open ranch land valley and dramatic wildfire-scored mountain ranges to the east and west.

The hot, hot weather continued and with a little local knowledge gleaned at the Quiznos in Missoula, I learned that one could access the river for a cold water dunk at the 'fishing access' signs along the highway. This was a relief as it meant I could stop and soak my t-shirt to create a 'swamp cooler' in my jacket which made the +100F temperatures much more bearable.

At the end of another longish day, I found a lovely campsite in the charming small town of Salmon, ID where I had my first opportunity to use all the cooking and camping gear I've schlepped along.

A little Canadian pride marking the day...

Cool totem somewhere along the scenic route...

The summit of the scenic route and the border of the Idaho Panhandle and Lolo (MT) National forests..

Sunset camp and dinner in Salmon...

Day 4 - July 2 - Salmon, ID to Rigby, ID

Today was a short, early day that had me thrice rewarded. First was a beautiful morning ride through more ranch lands of south Idaho, second was a date at the Klim head office to pickup my new jacket and the third was to meet up with fellow adventure rider, Craig. He had ridden up from New Mexico via the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route on his KTM 950 and we planned to ride Yellowstone and Glacier together over the next several days.

Early morning, empty highway...

 

herd of prong horned antelope...

actual cattle drive down the highway (there were hundreds of cattle including a massive bull that crossed a bike length ahead of me... I was too excited to operate the camera ;)

and then at the Klim office where I replace the old jacket that I've had for 4 years and ~35,000 km...

with a shiny new Gortex, vented, fully armoured Klim jacket!

we even got a tour of the office and chatted with one of the designers, Heber..

so sad... out with the old.. (after Heber saw that face they offered to ship my old jacket home for me :)

and in with the new!

and my new travel mate who is equally enamoured with Klim gear...

(I'm pretty sure he said this sticker was going on his truck ;)

 

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Catching Up

As I rolled onto the highway yesterday morning, I headed north out of Lethbridge Calgary bound. The DR has a date at Blackfoot Motorsports for some fork seal love and new shoes. Clicking past the 2,200 mile mark on this trip, I ponder the last week and a half. There is so much to catch up on! I rode from BC to Idaho, meeting up with a fellow adventure rider, Craig from New Mexico on his KTM 950. Together we spent the past week exploring stunningly beautiful national parks and side roads of Wyoming, Montana and Alberta. As much as I enjoy riding and exploring alone, there are few things more enjoyable than following the flow of a well matched riding partner stopping to take photos or reaching a destination with eyes wide, exclaiming "did you see the size of that buffalo?!?". Sharing an experience is a huge part of what makes it so indelible.

The ramblings in my helmet drift over to the seemingly conflicting ideologies of autonomy and interdependence that have been steeping more consciously in the past few months.

Wikipedia says...

Autonomy (Ancient Greek: αὐτο- auto- "self" + νόμος nomos, "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself their own law") Autonomy can be defined as the ability of the person to make his or her own decisions.

Interdependence is a relationship in which each member is mutually dependent on the others. This concept differs from a dependence relationship, where some members are dependent and some are not.

In my younger, fiercely independent days, those words were mutually exclusive. The defence of my autonomy, self law and governance, took precedence. Dependence was seen as a weakness. In some ways this approach served me well as I broke away from my childhood supports and carved out my own life. This as part of a natural and sometimes painful evolution from dependant child to independent young adult. My drive for autonomy provided me an education, multiple careers, security and a sense of self with confidence enough to pursue adventure.

What I wasn't able to see at the time was the cost of that fierce autonomy. Romantic relationships struggled and failed as I did not yet understand how to negotiate conflicting needs for mutual satisfaction. The evolution of young adult to fully functioning human being involves moving past our own isolated self driven decisions or needs to being able to consider a wider set of needs. Through my dogged, gentle pursuit of compassionate communication and empathy, I started to see that the essence of human connection and intimacy is indeed interdependence. Both parties showing up with all of themselves, secure and insecure, needs and desires, hopes and fears, and allow another to do the same. For the dependence to be a two way street, not 'equal', but fair and with respect and kindness. For the giving to be generously offered and graciously received; reciprocated and acknowledged.

I feel that in order to maintain this delicate balance of autonomy and interdependence, there needs to be the courage and willingness to engage in open dialogue. All human interaction is destined for sticky misunderstandings. I offer that interdependence grows in a delicate balance of honesty and compassion and healthy autonomy benefits from self awareness and expression. Idyllically both parties are willing to contribute to cultivating a culture wherein freedom of self is balanced with generous mutual dependance.

Back in my helmet, I reflect on the comfortable, playful, inquisitive routine my travel mate and I fell into as we shared route planning, navigation, camp chores and exploring. I can see how the joy of it was in the magical locations and twisty roads as well as in the true acceptance, interdependence and sharing.

Our roads diverged as he heads east and I settle in for a couple down days in Calgary. I reconnect to a full measure of autonomy as I happily enjoy my home away from home and catch up on laundry, rest, puttering and yes, blog posts with pictures!

 

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