Yellowstone and Teton National Parks (to Pinedale, WY)

For a National Park that's so well known, I really knew little about Yellowstone, apart from the reliable geyser of Old Faithful. On reflection, what resonates with me more than anything about the Park was the wildlife. Quite literally, they were everywhere. Elk, moose, deer, bears, wolves and bison...all readily accessible.

Add to that canyons, mountains, hot springs, geysers and plains, and you have a Park truly unlike no other.

We ended up spending seven days in the Park, beginning with Madison campground (and a sidetrip to Old Faithful that same afternoon). From there we rode 35 miles to Mammoth Hot Springs (including a wonderful descent through the 'Golden Gate', pictured), where we spent two days; another 22 miles had us at Tower Falls, on the eastern side of the Park; 17 miles and 2200ft of uphill (six painstaking miles at 7 per cent grade) then had us up and over 8859ft Danraven Pass (see next picture, below) and into the Canyon of Yellowstone.




We hiked a short distance up from the Pass towards Mt Washburn. The views towards the south and east, as I'm sure you can guess, were astounding. The Tetons beckoned to the south, serious shafts of granite heaved towards the sky millions of years ago, while to the east Absaroka mountains formed a wall along Yellowstone's boundary. It was in this area (more to the north) that a recent Grizzly attack occurred, where one man was mauled to death in the middle of the night by one Grizzly mum and her three starving cubs. A freak incident we're told but a sobering one as well. We're constantly reminded of this event each time we stay at a campground in this area - you're made well aware of not keeping food in or near your tent. Even water bottles can't be kept with you (they may also have food odor on them) - all of it goes into a bear box, a rectangular metal container often found in campgrounds. Not that this helped the person who was mauled as no food had been kept in his tent. Just very, very unlucky.




I'd heard a little of the Canyon as we neared Yellowstone. We've been lucky enough to see the Grand Canyon, so in some ways you guess no other canyon is quite going to inspire you in the same way. Of course, this is never the way to approach any sight; they're all unique. And with two thundering waterfalls at it's head, and soft yellow rocks coloured by the heat below (Yellowstone is essentially the sight of a supervolcano, hence the amount of geysers and hotsprings throughout), this canyon had plenty of appeal.



Probably the most awe-inspiring leg of the trip was the next day's cycle, from Canyon to Grant Village, in the south. This leg took us through the Hayden Valley, and hundreds of Bison (buffalo) who were engaged in their annual mating activities. The boys who had girls and children were sticking very, very close to them, as plenty of young men were on the prowl for someone to call home. Think George St in The Rocks late on a Saturday night. We had to ease our way through the valley, often using cars to sheppard us past these massive beasts . You would catch the odd glance from a male, full of menace and intent. Our heads went down, and we pedaled hard. Very bloody hard.


As a special bonus, a woman who took a great interest in the Park's wolf population (they were reintroduced to the Park in the 1990s) allowed us to look through her high-powered monocular to watch wolf cubs at play.


Yellowstone was special, no doubt. What isn't so special is the amount of traffic flowing through its veins. I get it - it's a place many want to see, most of all in the holiday months of July and August. What we don't understand is how the Park appears to cater too much for cars and over-sized RVs. What had us appalled was whilst the Park had the 'hiker/biker' camp setup (this is where they keep aside space for bikers and hikers in otherwise full campsites, allowing us to get in later in the day), a wonderful idea, many of the roads within the Park made it nigh impossible to get to these sights. Half the park had great shoulders for riding; the other half had shoulders about as large as those of a horse jockey. The official cycling brochure essentially attempted to discourage bicyclists from doing the entire northern section of the Park (others we talked to confirmed this same impression, one that was made worse when you saw that some of these roads had been recently improved but still left without a shoulder) - we just went ahead and did it, with plenty of thanks to the many drivers who slowed down when passing us. For the rest of them, well, what a bunch of inconsiderate so and sos...it's amazing, they'll stop dead in the middle of the road to see an animal, holding up traffic for minutes on end when they do, but when it's a person on a bike, well, who cares. And, of course, the attitude is often that oversized RVs are OK but a person on a bike is an impediment to traffic. Go figure. My hope is one day they ban cars from the central part of the Park, and have a bus system implemented much like that of Glacier. Add to this some bike-only paths, and what a park you would then have.

And before you say that this all costs money, please consider that people are paying $25 to enter the Park. Add to this the hit of stimulus money the U.S. Federal Government recently pumped in (long overdue from what I could see - it shouldn't have taken a recession to funnel this money in), and I'm adamant it's all achievable. Alas, the car dominates here, and until petrol prices reach the levels they are elsewhere in Europe, Canada and Australia, it won't happen.

Sorry about the rant. Now, where were we...



On a much more positive note, the Teton National Park was in stark contrast to Yellowstone. The main road which runs along the eastern flank of the park, highway 89/191, has a generous shoulder, and in the park's south they've recently built an eight-mile bike path from Jenny Lake to Moose. This latter project was the result of research undertaken by a group focused on rural transport - we met a few of them as they undertook a post-construction survey, seeing how many people were using the path. It was plenty, trust me - from families through to serious cyclists, all gliding along under the gaze of the magnificent Teton mountains. The Tetons are a climbing mecca, the sheer granite spires attracting climbers from all over the world. It was hard to take your eyes off them; their sharp and abrupt nature so different from many of the other ranges we had enjoyed.


We had three days in the Teton National Park, which is located just eight miles south of Yellowstone. We were officially back on the Great Divide trail although not for long. As we wanted to venture to the south of the Park, and onto Jackson Hole, it made no sense to head north just to get back on the official trail. Instead, we headed through the tourist trap of Jackson along 191, all the way to Pinedale, WY, where we are now.




Wildlife again stole the show. Male moose from 10 yards, in a town called Moose. Well, what else did you expect to find? Moose are more dangerous than bears, weighing three times as much, and when I talk impressive racks, please confine your thoughts to those that sit atop a moose's head.



More and more we're using the Great Divide trail as a guide only. We do try and stick to it as much as possible. Yet there are times when hitting the highways, many of which have large shoulders (particularly 191), makes much more sense, for us at least. You can travel further, and if you're lucky the scenery is still magnificent and there won't be too much traffic.

The stretch from Jackson (another 8 miles of bike trail from the town almost to the next highway junction) to Boudurant was particularly impressive, more canyons, more history of fur traders and explorers, and yet more mountain ranges complete with jagged peaks and glaciers. The Gros Ventre and Wind River Ranges were our companions on our 57 mile leg from Hoback campground to Pinedale. Another 8000ft pass aside, this time 10 miles of 6 degree-plus road, and most of the day was spent pushing into a slight headwind at 15 miles per hour.

Pinedale meant rest, particularly sought after following 14 straight days of camping and only a few showers here and there (although plenty of dips in local rivers and lakes, with a cake of soap discretely placed in my hand) and we've been here since Sat evening doing just that. And eating. Lots. We leave tomorrow for a particular tough and remote part of the trail; 220 miles to Rawlins, through the dry and barren Great Basin. All things going to plan we should be in Colorado by Monday next week.


Our fitness levels are certainly strong although each day is different, and it can still be tough getting the legs going. And even if the energy is there, headwinds and steep ascents can sap whatever you have very quickly. As a summary, we've travelled over 1822 miles (2915km) including Vancouver Island and the Rupert-Terrace leg. That includes 51 riding days (this excludes rest days). It's still hard to believe how we've managed to get here, to keep going, and to enjoy what we're doing. Thanks for all your kind words, they can certainly motivate us when times get a tad tough.

But never as tough as 'real' life. We received the terrible news that our close family friend, Lorne, passed away a week ago from prostrate cancer. It's for his reason Alia has started up a website looking for donations - of any size - for cancer research. Please visit www.gofundraise.com.au/becausewecan . Thank you.