Yellowstone National Park
After getting some essentials for our campsite in Yellowstone National Park from the Visitors center, we loaded up the 'extras' and saddled up to find our campsite.
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We arrived at our site, and it was nearly perfect. We had a fire ring near the center of our site and two perfect spots for the tents. There was also a picnic table toward the back of the site placed neatly between two trees.
We started the unloading of gear, and proceeded to pick out the spots for our tents. Deciding where to pitch a tent is a pretty important part of camping. I had the smaller of the two tents 'the coffin', so I took a smaller spot between two trees off to the left side of our camping area. My brother in law took a spot on the right. I think I got the better deal, though, because his spot was on a small incline. It wasn't a hill exactly, just a small slope while my spot was relatively flat.
Once we had our tents pitched and the fire ring and picnic table surrounded, it was time to start a campfire. We gathered a little wood and soon the fire was born. We happened upon a really big piece that looked like the folks there before us had tried to burn it, so we added it to the fire once it was burning good.
A little chow, and a couple of drinks later, and we were kicked back at the picnic table reminiscing about our journey so far. From the Rocky Mountain National Park, to the Grand Tetons, and now Yellowstone, this had been quite an adventure so far.
Soon, it was lights out (so to speak), so we could plan where we were going to go in the morning. We only had three days planned in Yellowstone and wanted to make them the best we could.
As darkness approached us on our first night at Yellowstone National Park, the signs of rain began to appear. Fist, a light sprinkle, then as it grew closer to sleepy time, the rain began to fall even faster and harder. Not unbearable - no typhoon, just one of those annoying rains. We put all of our food items in the nearby Bear Box as to avoid an uninvited visitor into our site.
It was late enough that we decided not to deal with it the first night, but thought we should pick up a small tarp and some rope at the Store by the visitor center on our way out to explore the following morning.
Into the tents we went, and off to sleepytown.
Morning arrived, and the sun peeked into our tents to awake us. I woke with anticipation of what wonderful things we might experience this day. I was glad that the rain had stopped sometime in the night, and that we were greeted by sunshine this morning. It is going to be a great day, I thought to myself.
We conjured up some breakfast, managed to get ourselves woke up, and gathered what little bit we thought we would need for our ride this wonderful day. We consulted our maps, and picked a route for our day. We decided to ride the south 'loop' of Yellowstone National Park.
The park is basically two loops that join into a figure eight of sorts. We decided to ride the south loop the first day, then the north loop the second day. One of the things that we knew that we wanted to see along the south route was Old Faithful, the famous Geyser. We were sure we would enjoy other sights, but really didn't know what to expect at the time, or how much beauty we would be greeted with that day.
Off we were on our trusty steeds. First stop, gas. We stopped at a station not far from our campsite to gas up for the days travel. It was warm that morning, and we could tell that the sun would be shining and it was going to be a beautiful day.
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The first place we decided to go to was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We were in the Canyon Campground, which just happened to be very close to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was only about a 6 to 8 mile ride, so our motorcycles didn't even really get the chance to warm up good, and it was time to park. Oh my! the view here was unbelievable!!. There was short trail to 'Inspiration point' which overlooks the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This is where we began our adventure of Yellowstone National Park.
We could hear and in some places see a waterfall not too far away, but it sounded as if it was below us. As we approached the sound, we saw a glimpse of it, and indeed, it WAS below us!! There was a trailhead that said it would take us to the mouth of the falls. The sign said it was only a 3/8 mile hike down to the falls, so we decided to go down.
We passed a guy with his family shortly after getting on the trail headed down, and he was breathing pretty hard. We asked him if it was tough climb back up the trail. His reply was 'Yes, it may only be 3/8 of a mile down, but it seems like about two miles back up'. With that to look forward to, we headed on down the trail.
After a short time, we approached the mouth of the falls. The climb down itself was not hard, except we had to lean backwards to keep our feet from outrunning us. At the base of the trail, there was a walkway with a rail that led us out to the brink itself. Standing directly over the brink of the falls allows you to really experience the power of these awesome forces. After a few pictures, and a moment of catching our breath, it was time for the climb back up the trail.
The hike back up the 3/8 mile trail was a challenge. It was all switchbacks going up, and the incline was pretty steep. We must have stopped to take a short rest about five of six times before reaching the top. The guy we passed on the way down was right about it seeming like two miles back up!.
Once at the top, we took a short break before hopping back on our motorcycles.
We took off again, headed southbound to the southern 'loop' of Yellowstone National Park. We approached one of the areas where we could get up close and personal with a few of the Geysers. The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was undeniable. To me, it smelled like burnt matches - sulphur. The air was full of that smell. I didn't really bother me, it was just different.
The pools were bizarre. Just seeing the intensity of the heat boiling up from these things is awesome. It is really interesting the things that nature brings us. I sure wouldn't want to wade in one of those things, though!
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We were headed in the general direction of Old Faithful. We wanted to see the famous Geyser. It's a must see if you’re in Yellowstone National Park. Along the way, we passed some wild animals. We saw some buffalo. These things were huge! We also were greeted by some Elk who didn't seem to mind that we were there. We were able to get pretty close to these beautiful animals and take a couple of pictures.
Yes, our next destination was Old Faithful, but we were not in a big hurry, because the journey was fantastic!.
We were headed toward Old Faithful, but we couldn't resist stopping at some more of the open pools with that amazing thermal energy pent up inside (below?) the water.
There was collection of them on our route, so we just had to stop. They had placed a walkway around the Geysers so that we could walk around them to get a closer view. I sure wouldn’t want to fall off the walkway!
We also saw some Elk along the way. These guys are amazing! One of them was so close to use that we could almost touch him. He didn't seem to mind that we were there either. He was just hanging out, grazing on some of the lush grasses that are in Yellowstone National Park.
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Then we saw it, the sign pointing us in the direction of Old Faithful. We rode on up, and parked beside the little welcome center. We wandered around a bit and picked up a couple of souvenirs. There was a sign there that estimated the time of the next eruption, but the timing has begun to be a little off over the years, the sign explained. I didn't really understand the reasons - the shifting of the earth, I guessed.
We headed back outside and were greeted with bright sunshine. A perfect day for an explosion! The steam was already fizzing out of the mouth of the Old Faithful Geyser. It spit out a steady steam continuously - something I didn't know it did.
Sure enough, and time approached the preset prediction that was marked on the sign, it started - slowly at first, the steam begun to get taller and more pronounced. It seemed like only a few minutes later and Old Faithful was spewing in full force. Unbelievable!! The utter power of this thing, and what it is capable of is truly amazing.
If there really is a Great Volcano under Yellowstone waiting to happen, I sure hope I am a long way away from it when it happens.
We left the bench of the spot of Old Faithful. The eruption had now calmed to a mere fizzle once again. It was hard to imagine that this eruption happened like clockwork every single day!
Off we went, headed around the East side of the Lower Loop of Yellowstone National Park. The curves of the road and the scenery were fantastic! We actually arrived at a place where people could go swimming in a deep part of the river, warmed by the thermal energy of the surrounding Geysers. I sure wished we would have brought our swimming gear, but it was back at the campsite.
After a day of riding through Yellowstone, and a little picture taking, we were ready to head back to camp. We stopped at the store near our campsite for a few more supplies and a couple of souvenirs. We wanted to send a couple of souvenirs home, because we know we wouldn't have room to carry them on the motorcycles, so we stopped by the small post office that was just around the corner from the store.
We mailed our goods, and then rode back to camp.
We woke again to welcome sunshine. Grabbed a bite to eat for breakfast, and saddled up for the days ride. Today, were going to ride the north loop of Yellowstone National Park.
We had seen several animals so far, from Deer, to Elk, but what we really wanted to see were Grizzly Bear.
The scenery was certainly different riding the north loop than it was on the southern loop. There were not near as many Geysers visible near the road. The elevation was higher, and the curves and hills more pronounced. We followed along the river for quite a ways. The river was very beautiful - especially when it was so far below us!
We noticed a sign pointing us toward a petrified tree. Neither of us had ever seen a petrified tree. I am sure that there are plenty of them in the Painted Desert, but that was a long way away, so we decided to go check it out. We arrived, and were able to get up pretty close to the Petrified tree. It was amazing!.
Looking at the map, we noticed that there was a backroad that made a small loop 'behind' the main road. We though it looked like an interesting ride for the motorcycles (maybe not like Fall River road in the Rocky Mountain National Park), but interesting none the less.
We took the backroad loop, and I am sure glad that we did. Even though the road was narrow and a little rough in some places, the trip was worth it. We actually got the chance to see a wolf walking right beside us along the road!. We confirmed it was a wolf with one of the rangers back at the store near our campsite later that night. At first, I thought it was a Coyote, but he said it couldn't be because it was marked, and they don't mark the Coyotes, only the Wolves.
We made it back out onto the main road and continued our journey of the north loop.
Back onto the main road we spilled with our trusty rides. We had accumulated a little dust on our detour, but seeing the Wolf out there in the wilderness of Yellowstone National Park was worth the little bit of dust. We saw another waterfall - there were so many of them here!
Up around the curves we rode - taking in all of the beauty of this awesome place. One of the roads was literally 'built' along the side of one of the mountains. You sure wouldn't want to ride off the edge of that one!!.
Coming around another curve, we noticed a few vehicles stopped along the road. Something must be there, we thought. We pulled the bikes over to the side of the road, grabbed the camera, and went over to see what people were stopping for. There they were, up along the hillside - some female Moose!! Wow, now we had seen Elk, Buffalo, a Wolf and Moose too. We didn't see any with antlers, but I was just happy to get the chance to see them in the wild.
In order to complete the north loop and make our way toward our campsite, we actually rode back out the West Entrance are of the park. I am so glad we decided to take that route! As we rode back eastbound to finish off the rest of the Northern loop, a small Grizzly bear strolled across the road just ahead of us!
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We both slammed on the brakes as quickly and safely as possible. We edged over to the side of the road and parked the motorcycles. I am sure glad they are not any wider than they are, or we would have been blocking traffic for sure. I fished for the camera, trying to get it out of its pouch quickly, get the bike turned off and make sure the kickstand was down. He was already across the road and heading into a small patch of woods. My adrenaline was rushing in so quickly that it was hard to get the camera out, get the bike parked and get off of it. I wanted to get as close as possible and get a few pictures.
We finally got the motorcycles stopped along the side of the road, got the kickstands down, and I was even able to get the camera out of its bag and ready to take a few shots. The Grizzly had already made it across the road and was moving into some trees. Luckily, there was a path leading toward a small rock quarry that we were able to follow in an attempt to catch up with the bear.
I missed him on the first couple of shots, but finally captured him as he was passing between a couple of trees. By the time we were able to get the picture, there were a whole bunch of other people around us all trying to get pictures as well.
The bear crossed into the Quarry area, and dipped over a small hill on the other side and finally out of view. Unbelievable! To be able to get that close to a Grizzly bear and even get a few pictures of it! The excitement was overwhelming.
We walked back toward the motorcycles along with several other people all making their way back to their vehicles. Once back to the bikes, we though to ourselves "what if momma was around"? Of course it probably would have been smarter to have thought about that before we decided to 'chase' down a small Grizzly Bear! If momma HAD been in the area, I am sure that she would not be happy about us getting that close to her baby.
We left the area and headed onward to see some more of Yellowstone National Park. We passed by a stream that was very beautiful. The water formed a small cascade that rippled downward to a small ledge in the stream and fell off as if it was diving into the welcoming water below.
We circled around some more, and up ahead there were a number of vehicles stopped along the roadway. The Park Rangers were also stopped there. Cameras were everywhere. The Rangers were directing traffic. Something was definitely going on, but we didn't have any idea what.
As we rode around the curve and downward - we were greeted with a gorgeous view of the Valley. The main thing that caught our eye though was the frenzy of activity we saw up ahead.
Several vehicles were stopped along the sides of the road. The park rangers were also there, directing traffic. Something was going on here! We HAD to find out what all of the commotion was about.
We pulled out motorcycle over to the side along with several other vehicles. We couldn't see anything yet, but put down the kickstand, got off the bikes and grabbed the camera just in case. A park ranger was not far away, and began to walk over toward us and our motorcycles. We didn't know if he wanted to talk to us or someone else in the crowd. He approached us and said "You guys are going to have to go on up ahead - you can't park your motorcycles here"
We started to ask why, but then we suddenly saw the reason. There was a large Grizzly bear just a little way down into the valley - along with two baby Grizzly cubs, and they were coming toward the road we were parked on, up the hill out of the valley.
He didn’t have to tell us twice! We mounted the bikes, cranked them up and rolled slowly down the road just a bit an around another curve. There were several other people stopped here too, so with cameras with huge zoom lenses. We parked again and got our own camera in order to get a couple of shots of the Grizzlies.
What an unbelievable day! We had seen many of the animals we had hoped for on this journey.
It was getting late, so we decided to head back to camp. We had spent three wonderful days in Yellowstone National Park, and tomorrow, we planned to take of headed eastward. I had not reserved a camp site along the northern part of Wyoming, so we were going to have to play it by ear.
Our main destination was to stop at the Devils Tower on our way to the Bike Rally at Sturgis South Dakota.