Day 40, Sunday, August 26, 2012, Signal Mountain Lodge to Jackson, WY

Day 40, Sunday, August 26, 2012, Signal Mountain Lodge to Jackson, WY.

Last day and it was a good one. Beginning with great views of the Tetons and ending with Mr. Moose. We explored Signal Mountain Road to find Moose and the best I could do is the picture below. A reddish flash at the other end of the lake.

 

Mr. Fox in the foreground.

Mr. Fox decides to leave.

Signal Mountain Road was off course. An out and back with a pleasant climb and subsequent descent to return to the main road. We had lots of views of the Tetons as seen below. The first pictures I took of the mountains were done because I did not know there would be the pull outs to view them and were shot by the side of the road.

 

A distant and mighty cathedral looms.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

A chimney plug on a young mountain.

 

 

A glacier came down the cut between the peaks to form Jenny Lake.

 

We pulled into the Jenny Lake Lodge area to get a snack. Then I led the way onto the bike path linking Jenny Lake with Moose and Jackson. A great way to end our ride.

 

Antelope seen from the bike trail.

 

Using the zoom on my Canon camera is still a challenge.

 

At Moose we crossed the Snake River and then took a left on the bike trail to go for food at Denaro's (I'm not sure I have the name correct). We ate at the chuck wagon style restaurant. Decent heavy weight food. As the four of us (Herb, Bob, Jay and I) were sitting there finishing up our meal, Frank came up to us grinning like a mad man. He saw one! What did you see, Frank? A moose right back under the bridge crossing the Snake. If we hurry we may get a chance to see him, too. We jumped on our bikes and sped off to see the moose.

 

What Moose? I don't see no stinkin' Moose.

 

Whoa, look, it's a Moose!! Cool!

Stripping Willow leaves off the branches. And the trees don't seem overly damaged by his foraging.

 

Bye, Mr. Moose. We have to go to Jackson now.

After seeing the Moose we went back to tell Geno, Frank and Mike we were heading for Jackson and we would see them at the downtown square. The ride into Jackson on the bike trail became a race with the weather as their was a mean looking thunder storm off to the west. We got caught, but it was a very light, sparse, rain, primarily because the center of the storm was a ways off and going in a more northerly direction. It was sunny in Jackson.

 

The end of a long 40 days and 40 nights plus a few extra days and nights.

 

 

 

Here comes Mike! Bob in the background with a latte in hand.

 

And here's Frank.

And in  rolls Geno.

 

 

Left to right: Jay, Herb, Frank, Geno, Bob, Dennis, and Mike.

After Geno, Mike, and Frank caught up with us and we had the group shots taken above we set off for The Virginian Lodge which was on the other end of town.

Stats were lost in the ether.

Day 39, Saturday, August 24, 2012, Grant Village campground, Yellowstone to Signal Mountain Lodge, Teton National Park

Day 39, Saturday, August 24, 2012, Grant Village campground, Yellowstone to Signal Mountain Lodge, Teton National Park

It was friggin' cold Saturday morning. I had to pee real bad around daylight and kept putting it off until I became so aware I had to pee I couldn't put it off anymore. I threw on my Keene's and dashed for the toilet. I did a small internal battle whether I wanted to breakdown my tent and pack or get back in the sleeping bag. As soon as I stuck my head into the tent I opted for back in the bag as it was so much warmer.

I laid there for a while contemplating what I would wear and other unimportant stuff until I knew I could not put it off any longer. Breaking camp is always a lot easier than what one contemplates before attempting it. It was around 28 degrees. My bag had kept me warm but the tent is a 3 seasons tent and it was not keeping the interior warm. I bundled up: bike shorts, long sleeve T, wind front tights, bike jersey, bike socks with wool socks over them, Showers Pass jacket over the top half, the flexible B, B? (It starts with a b but I cannot remember it's full name) around my neck and pulled over the top of my head, and merino wool gloves on the hands. The ride to the restaurant for breakfast was one mile. My feet got cold and my nose was running like a waterfall by the time I reached the restaurant. My face was numb or at least I think it was. 

I didn't thaw out until my food had been served to me, so Bob's attempt to be cheerful landed on frozen ears and psyche. He didn't attempt to speak to me again until it was obvious I had thawed out.

Frank told me to eat real slow and I did my best so it was about 9:30 and the temp had got up to 32 degrees. Four degrees and sunshine helped me ride more comfortably. Eventually I found myself quite a bit out in front of the others. A coyote dashed across the road about 50 yards in front of me. It felt warmer and I elected to pull over and dress down. Off went the jacket, tights, and wool gloves, on went the vest and knee warmers. 

 

Lewis River Falls

We stopped just inside Teton National Park to snack. There were small climbs to be attained so people took off at different times to get it over with. Once we got to a place where the Teton were visible, they weren't. It was a very smokey day. After dinner I was able to get the pictures below with the iPad.

Stats: D= 48.8, T= 3:49, Mx= 35.6, Av= 12.7, El Gain= 1396, Mx Alt= 7749 (add 200 feet), ODO= 4367

Day 37 & 38, Thursday, August 24, 2012, West Yellowstone to Grant Village, Yellowstone Park and a rest day

Day 37 & 38, Thursday, August 24, 2012, West Yellowstone to Grant Village, Yellowstone Park and a rest day

Up very early, for me, to breakfast at a cafe opening at 6:30 AM, then back to the motel to put the panniers on the bike and dress warmly. It was very cold, comparatively speaking, this morning. Possibly 39 degrees. I put my wind front tights on, Showers Pass jacket and merino wool gloves. It was adequate meaning I did not feel chilled.

Those who possessed Golden Eagle cards showed them at the gate. Those who did not paid. We will be staying an extra day at Grant Village. There was no room at the inn so we have reserved camp sites.

Yellowstone is a different place in that one senses things are different here. This in spite of the constant stream of cars and RV units passing us by. The amount of new, young, lodgepole pines covering the hillsides and adjacent to the road is astounding. Yes, indeed, fire is an important ecological ally. I wonder how nature will reduce the density of the new growth in ten years or so. Another fire, pine beetles, both, again, or something new and challenging? 

I was on the lookout for wildlife and looked down on my right and there was a cottontail rabbit nervously twitching ears and nose and I and the rest of us rolled by. Was he waiting for a break in the traffic so he could cross the road?

We began to use every pull out to pull out and eyeball the terrain for some sign of big game. Bob chose not to pull out and down the road he rolled. A bit later we round a corner and there is Bob stopped on the shoulder along with a bunch of cars. Just before we reached him there was another pull out and we did. there was a break in the lodgepole pine density and I was able to see what Bob had stopped to see, a bull Elk, and off to the left were several other Elk. I snapped the pictures below.

Great shot of Elk butt. Bull Elk butt. Herb is looking at the two below.

More Elk butt and a Bob profile.

The pictures below are of Elk. I don't care if Herb insisted they are geese to my eyes they are elk!!!

 

See the rack on the lead bull? Impressive, huh?

 

See the Elk grazing. Only Elk graze in the grass.

When we reached Madison and turned toward Old Faithful and Grant Village we pulled off into a park area. All of a sudden people were pulling up in their cars, including a bus, and parking willy-nilly and dashing out with camera in hand. The bison bull below was heading for water.

We took the Firehole River loop and I took the pictures below of the falls.

 

 

We stopped for lunch at Old Faithful. We watched a film about Yellowstone, through which I slept and then it was time for the water show. I shot a video with my iPhone, but am not sure I have the knowledge to insert it into my blog. 

After Old Faithful it was time to climb to the Continental Divide, twice. the first climb, to Craig Pass, got us to 8262. There was some descent then we began to climb again and got to 8516, but it was not the divide. We descended some more then climbed back up to 8391 to cross the divide the second time. From here it was a descent to Grant Village and our camp sites.

Day 2 was a rest day and time to do laundry. The morning was very chilly and we were moving slowly. We got to the breakfast site while Geno and Frank were still there then Geno and Frank rode off to Hayden Valley to spy Bison herds. They did and rode their asses off on the way back. 

Statsl: D= 59.4, T= 5:41, Mx= 39.1, Av= 10.4, El Gain= 2809, Mx Alt= 8316(add 200 feet), ODO= 4318.    

Day 36, Wednesday, August 22, 2012, Campfire Lodge, MT to West Yellowstone, MT

Day 36, Wednesday, August 22, 2012, Campfire Lodge, MT to West Yellowstone, MT

Easy morning after a hard day. Breakfast at 8 AM was very good. The special was a blackberry pancake with one egg and three strips of bacon. The pancake was huge, edges overlapping the plate edge. I left about three bites of pancake on the plate.

The route was flat as our elevation gain statistic will attest. I took the pictures below as an example of the view across the reservoir. It has a dam so it's man made and therefore a reservoir. Unlike Quake Lake which has a nature made dam created during our lifetime. It's my opinion and I'm sticking with it.

Gorgeous morning to ride.

 

Same spot in the road as picture above.

 

I took these pictures of log house builders because I wanted to.

 

Fairly big structure. Good sized logs anyway.

 

Bucking the log to length while the front loader holds the log up.

 

The strap is centered and they are working the log around to carry it to the structure.

 

Off they head for the building.

 

A log flattened on one side.

 

The log is going to be placed somewhere on the back side of the building.

 

This man was notching a log.

West Yellowstone exists for the tourist trade. We ate at a Chinese food restaurant for dinner and the waiter says he moves to Salt Lake for the winter. The restaurant closes down during the winter.

It looks to me as if the tourism business is slowing down. It may be selfish reasoning on my part as I project it means less cars and rv's in Yellowstone. Wishful thinking, probably.

Tomorrow will be another long day, around 50 miles with over 2000 feet of elevation gain. We will climb to our highest point tomorrow for our whole trip. After tomorrow it is kind of downhill to Jackson. Three more days of riding the Rex on its inaugural trip. Then I pack it up and ship it home to Carmichael.

Stats: T= 1:55, Mx= 25, Av= 11.9, El Gain= 616, Mx Alt= 6490, ODO= 4259, D= 22.8