Let's talk about Yellowstone.

Hello, all. I've got five bars and full 3G access right now so this post is going to be filled with pictures of my adventure through Yellowstone National Park.

The world's first national park, Yellowstone is centered over the largest supervolcano on the North American continent. This gives rise to a fantastic array of geothermal features throughout the park. From pools of boiling sulfuric water to mud pits and hot springs, Yellowstone had it all and was definitely worth the trek.

Kepler Cascades

The morning after my Independence Day festivities with the other cyclists had an epic feeling to it. We all came together for one night to celebrate, but left on our own adventures the next day. Some headed east to explore more of the park, some headed south to the Grand Tetons, some headed west out of Yellowstone. Nearly all had thousands of miles left in their journeys, whether they be ending Virginia, Oregon, California, or Massachusetts.

I made it my goal to complete the 47-mile ride to the city of West Yellowstone, MT by nightfall. That gave me all day to lollygag in the southwest quadrant of the park. I already had housing in West Yellowstone figured out with my friend Jaba who was on vacation there, so it really was a completely stress-free day.

 
I was, however, a little bit disappointed with the shoulder in Yellowstone. Grand Tetons National Park just to the south has a palatial shoulder for cyclists to ride on. I wouldn't consider Yellowstone bike friendly at all with its constant soft to no shoulder. There were even some roads with a 200 foot drop into a canyon to the right and no guardrail! Combine all of that with the July 4th traffic and you get a recipe for an injured cyclist. I had some pretty close calls with RVs coming, I kid you not, within 6 inches of my handlebars. Some of them even had the nerve to honk at me as if I had less of a right to use the road as them. Anyway, this rant is for a later date. For now, just enjoy the pictures. Remember, you can always just click to enlarge any of them.



Lone Star Geyser. I hiked for 45 minutes and missed the eruption by two hours :(

Crowd at Old Faithful

Erupting every 40-126 minutes, Old Faithful really isn't that consistent



Boiling water!!! It's hot!!!

Buffalo/bison herd on the side of the road





An advantage to cycling: I get to bypass any traffic jam with the shoulder!



Biked through 2 states! 4 more states and 1 other country to go!