Yellowstone and the Tetons

The last four days are gonna be hard to beat. Our ride took us through both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and the rainy weather and brutal headwinds are behind us. I would guess the majority reading this have been to Yellowstone so we'll save the description, however, simply stated....one of the most beautiful places in the country. No epic wildlife stories...grizzly, moose, or wolf sightings....nada. At one point we attempted to take a ten mile gravel bike trail to see a little of the less explored areas, however, we were turned around by a group/herd of bison that were determined to use the path to travel in the opposite direction.

 

 

With the beautiful landscapes comes the tourists. Nothing like standing ten feet away from and elk and yelling at it to get that perfect photo. Shocking how tame and comfortable animals can really become. 

Anyways, after a beautiful two day ride through Yellowstone, and crossing the Continental Divide a couple times, we cruised into Grand Teton N.P. 

 

 

Having only seen the Teton Range once before, as a 19 year old kid, and it actually being the first real mountains I'd seen I had a very grand and huge picture painted in my head....and man did it live up to, and exceed, that memory. Our day was filled with, "Wow look at that!"...."I can't believe how beautiful that is!"....etc, as it was Sarah's first time through the area also.

 

After swimming in a crystal clear lake with a view of the Tetons, and Sarah curling up in a ball and taking a nap in front of the local grocery store, we left the park....peddled into a horde of mosquitos and danced the jig while we set up camp for the night.....

 

 

 

 

Which brings us to today.....after what we've deemed "the worlds smallest omelet" we spent the first half of the day crawling up a 2,600' pass with the Tetons in the rear view. 

 

After making the top, and apparently just missing two grizzlies playing in a meadow, we had a mostly downhill shot into the town of Dubois....where we shared a dinner out with a handful of other cyclists. We treated ourselves to a excellent home cooked type meal, a couple beers, and a huge slice of pie with ice cream. Camping out for the night, looking forward to what's ahead.....

We've been meeting and camping with a bunch of different cyclists lately it seems, with a small handful becoming regulars. Today we actually met a family of 5, not counting the lab, that are on a long bicycle tour. The three kids are between ages 2-5. The dad tows a covered trailer which two of the kids and the dog ride in. The mom rides one on a double bike. Pretty awesome to see. Also been meeting tons of people that aren't on bikes....the conversations usually start with curiosity as to what we're doing. The funniest reaction thusfar has been, "Wheeeeew, that is some deep spiritual sh@t man!"