Yellowstone is a zoo

Leaving camp in the morning was no picnic. Our bikes were deep in the brush and hardly off road. After high centering and nearly starting another forest fire for kiel we got out of it. Heading to Bozeman,MT we rode for a while. Montana is gorgreous. the sky really is big there. It is as though you are in a snowglobe, (not that I'ver ever been) but it just seems like the sky is very close and goes on forever around the horizons. I think it is because you are on high plains (4-6,000) and there are mountains all around. Truly beautiful. Got to Bozeman a bit before kevin. Went to the Von's for some food. just then these half dollar size raindrops start splashing around me. So I get under the only 4 sq. feet of cover near the store and tuck my bike in. Then the rain stops. your welcome Bozeman. I grab a beef pasty and 46 ounces of v8. My stomach still hurts. While waiting for Kevin shared a bench with a guy who had the spent the last winter living under a bridge. Kept raving about his 20 degree below bag (ironically thats exactly how cold it got that winter). I suppose it is the simple things in life that make people happy. Kevin got in and we headed to a coffee shop to check the map. I have noticed that we look very distinguished looking at a map of the us that has writing all over it. people love us. Since kevin has to be in denver to learn soon we decided to get to Yellowstone to camp. Bozeman is a great town and I would love to go back. A lot of adventure sports there. So we finished the coffee, made friends with a couple dog owners, and headed for the land of Yogi and Booboo.

Caught a great sunset, and rode the 60 miles. We got to the edge of yellowstone and stopped for a drink at bar there. great spot. met some guys bicycling from florida to portland. Said it was a great trip. They told us there was no way to get into yellowstone for free. I slapped him and said: "really?" Apparently the three of them had just finished riding through10 miles of hking trails to get out of the park. they broke a bunch of spokes. a little disheartened we were. Got to the entrance and it was closed. we were in.



Met the ranger patrolling the hot springs. where we were gonna camp. no dice. she said all the campsite were closed. We told her no big deal of course we were riding the rest of the way through the park tonight. We left her and found a little town. Mammoth hot springs. We parked the bikes, Kevin said "should we cover em?" I said "No i think they're safe." We grabbed our sleeping gear and headed up a trail ontro a ridge overlooking the town about a half mile in. Found a spot off the trail that would be stealth frmo hikers in the morning and went to sleep. I couldn't. Soon rain started falling. A little rain not a problem. The drops got bigger and stung my face. The thunder and lightning show started. I counted the time between thunder and lightning. 4 miles. We had to get off this ridge. now. we rolled our now wet bags up in our tyveks and wne to the bikes to cover them. Hid out under an awning for some time before we grabbed the tarp tent and headed back into the hills. not as exposed on a ridge though. yellowstone wasnt done with our initiaiton yet. An hour into that camp i still couldnt sleep. Kevin still could. I heard a car in the distance. Something else did too. it came sprinting at our tarp trampling the small bushes in its path. It came within a few feet, I could hear the air rushing in and out of its wet nose. It was a black bear. I was using my pants as a pillow so i grabbed my knife out of them while it cirlced our tent. I clutched it looking out the open walls of the tarp tent, waiting to see its snout poke in and... lick me? who knows, coulda happened. A few minutes and it was gone. Slept with my nknife clipped to my boxers.
woke up that morning. broke camp. and headed for Mt. Washburn. Stopped at a few lookouts. Yellowstone is more of a safari than a park with craggy peaks. Stopped for a while to let a 12 point bull elk cross the road. Figured a 2000 pound beast probably has right of way. Climbed washburn. Good hike. Good view. Met a ranger up there who lives in solitude to look for fires in yellowstone. weird life. Asked him what the big drums on the side of the building were. He said something something microwaves. I said " ohhh, is that what you cook your food in." He didnt like really ridiculously funny jokes apparently.
Headed towards old faithful and something else. It was raining but still beautiful. Got to faithful. Missed it by 5 minutes. Figures. Took a nap on the front row bench. Awoke surrounded by hundreds of people wanting the space i was taking up by my body. Sat up within a secondi was surrounded by 6 Japenese tourists. the one next to me was funny. At the end of faithfuls eruption we booed it together. she was fun.
anyways headed through the tetons towards Jackson where i sit today in the public library. Tetons are unreal. caught them for sunset I will come back and climb them. Jackson was 20 miles aways and the only thing that stood between us and it, was a gnarly curtian of rain, thunder and lightning. That was the scariest 20 miles I have ridden to date. My helmet visor had hundreds of drops on it. i know because every passing car lit them up and the light reflected off effectiviely blinding me. The road had no shoulders so you cant stop. Very happy to get the the cadillac bar for a hot meal and a beer... and some great company.