Big Sky to West Yellowstone

There's no map of today's ride.  There used to be one but I seem to have misplaced it.  No matter.

The “Shakespeare in the Park” presentation last night was adapted to the old west and was a lot of fun.  The company that put on the production is out of Montana State Univ. and they were very good.  The adaptation was clever but stuck to the original story line quite faithfully.  There was a good crowd, too, sitting in the warm evening sun in the amphitheater.  We had a picnic dinner of bread, cheese and veggies, a chocolate bar and a bottle of wine.  A great evening.

Shakespeare in the Park -- Taming of the Shrew

A perfect evening for the show

The play

Taming of the Shrew, old west adaptation

We planned to depart early in order to get as far down the road as possible before the traffic started to build.  The lodge had breakfast started at 7:00, but that was an hour later than we planned to roll out.  So the front desk graciously arranged to have a breakfast laid out for us at 6:00.

With happy bellies we hit the road shortly after 6 and it was cold, about 40 degrees, so gloves and coats were necessary.  But traffic was light, as would be expected at that hour.  The road follows the Gallatin River, which flows in the opposite direction, for most of today’s trip.  The river is very picturesque and there were quite a few fly fishers out (and lots of guide services along the way).  The river is not super fast flowing, is shallow, and has very little vegetation on the banks; it would be an easy river to fish (at least compared to the Metolius).

Along the Gallatin River

The Gallatin River

Slow water on the river behind some beaver dams

The road was a bit better here, too, as there was even a proper shoulder, albeit only about 18 inches wide.  But soon enough the road veered eastward and we simultaneously entered Yellowstone National Park (though no park gate here) and crossed from Montana to Wyoming.  Two amazing things happened: first, the speed limit dropped from 70 to 55 mph, and second, a shoulder magically appeared (about 3 ft wide).  Wow, what a pleasant difference.  Even though traffic was light and there was not a singled discourteous car, it is so much more comfortable to be able to ride well to the right of the white line and have cars pass you at a manageable speed.

Entering Yellowstone National Park

A decent road -- at least by standards here...

The Gallatin River

Our route was uphill all day, but only a 2 percent grade for about 50 miles prior to a drop into West Yellowstone.  You barely notice that you’re going uphill, but it is tough to get much speed going.  You feel sluggish.  We made good time but it felt like we should have been going faster.

But in no time at all we were in the small town of West Yellowstone, which is actually in Montana (again) and about 1 mile from the Park’s west entrance.  Since we’d made good time we were way early to get into the place we are staying (we knew this would be the case, but being on the road early was well worth it) we explored town a bit.  I will be circumspect in my description of the town and say only and generously that it caters to the folks entering the park and not much else.  Traffic was amazing – like being in Seattle at rush hour.  And lots of drivers seemed to be frustrated at the slow pace of things.  Horns were honked in anger (not at us though!).  The tie up is the park gate, which all cars have to pass through.  And where these pictures are taken is at least a mile from the gate.

Traffic jam in West Yellowstone

We did decide to stash our big panniers at the hotel and ride into the park.  There was a huge lineup of cars waiting in the queue but we rode past them in the “express” lane that required only a prepaid park pass and valid ID.  Lorie got a (free) Forest Pass that gives both she and I free entry into all National Parks.  We sailed through the gate and rode about 10 miles in, then diverted onto a little road that the ex-Yellowstone ranger told us about the other day, called Riverside Drive.  The main road is crowded with cars (45 mph max and a decent shoulder) but the side road was totally empty and went right along the Madison River.  We rode it to the end where it met up again with the main road, then went back to find a place to have a snack by the river.  We found a good spot and notice lots of bison poop, but we didn’t see any bison.  Hopefully we will tomorrow.

The Madison River in Yellowstone Nat'l Park

Madison River

Arrowroot Balsam along the river

We will get a very early start – first light – probably ahead of 6 a.m.  We have a long day tomorrow; 75 miles, 4,000 feet of climbing  (three times over the continental divide with each pass being over 8,000 ft).  And most importantly, we have a long list of stuff we want to see along the way.