Day 06.2 Invisible Lakes, Heards of Wooley Beasts, and Killer Flies

We rode into Yellowstone NP, our goal, AFAP, as fast as possible through the park to the Beartooth Scenic Byway. We stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs to use the restrooms, and ended up browsing the visitor center and then over to the general store a block up the street. We added an official sticker to the luggage, and a leather bound National Park guide to the luggage.

We headed off on the road toward the northeast entrance. I’ve been jaded by the number of people that have been in Yellowstone on my previous trips, and this one was no different. Cars everywhere, driving fast! We pulled over several times just to let lines of cars pass so that we could enjoy what we were riding through. We stopped at an overlook above a little river/waterfall. There were about 30 people crowded around, yelling, and joking, walking on plants, etc… We took a few pictures jokingly, when there was a break in the throng. Ah well.

Look at this badd bike!:)

Along the way we saw some pretty flowers.  Ooooo….

Further down the road, we happened upon an amazing lake! But now we’re not quite sure exactly what happened to it.

We passed by some fantastic open areas, with bison grazing in big heards. Though they looked like little ants in the distance, we really could tell what they were. We stopped along side the road for a break, near this river and took a rest.

After riding further through open spaces, we looked ahead to our quickly approaching destination.

It had been a couple hours since Mammoth Hot Springs, so we stopped at this picknick/rest area to take a break and use the bathroom. This was the site of the infamous “jacket kicking episode” I starred in. When we got off the bike, we set our jackets over the seats. This is when we realized that there were a ton of flies everywhere, buzzing, flying, landing, taking off.  You couldn’t really stay still without getting swarmed by them. In the midst of a barrage of flies, I lashed out with a vicious frontal kick that most likely missed all the targeted flies, and made a direct connection with my jacket which after briefly lifting off the bike seat, fell to the dirty ground. Grrrr!!

We hung out a couple minutes more, went down by the little river near the picknick area, where some people were fishing, and played around a bit in the water.

We ran up the road a bit, and reached the begining of the Beartooth Scenic Byway. Let the fun begin!

Check out the Panoramics below:

Pan 01
Pan 02
Pan 03

Day 01.2

We rode past the summit of White Pass, the symbolic dividing line between the green of Western Washington, and the brown of Eastern Washington. The increase in temperature was immediate. Fifteen minutes later had us parked by the side of the road shaded by trees, but overlooking the giant reservior on the way down the pass. I was getting so sleepy in the warm air that I could barely function. That was when we first used the red bandanas that we had brought on the trip, after which i don’t think we took them off while riding the rest of the trip. Dousing them in water, and tying them around our necks, kept us surprisingly cool when the weather turned hot.

Beautiful Eastern Washington

We reached Yakima, the “Palm Springs of Washington,” and stopped at Fred Meyer to get Stacey some sunglasses. We had both purchased tinted shields for our helmets, but both ended up wearing dark sunglasses too. I have to say though, I don’t think I ever want to go without a tinted faceshield again! It was amazing how much radient heat was blocked and how much more comfortable we were, especially since the high temperatures during the day over the whole trip were about 90f to 105f. The mesh gear was also a life saver! I just can’t imagine what it would have been like with normal textile gear.

We headed up I-82 to Ellensburg, stopping only briefly at the lookout at Manastash Pass, then took I-90 east towards Spokane. By the time we got to Moses Lake we were getting quite tired! We stopped to fuel up, and decided that we needed to eat something. Subway sandwiches filled us up, and the Gatoraide rejuvinated our bodies. We headed out, a bit stiff and sore already, with a few miles still to go to get to Coeur ‘d Alene, ID.

Stacey at the overlook near Ellensburg, WA.

The leg of the trip to Spokane, provided nothing much in the way of excitement, buzzing along at around 75-80mph. I had put in my headphones in Moses Lake, and enjoyed the change from the sound of the engine. It certainly made the time go by quicker, especially since the comm system that we had been so excited about wasn’t proving very effective. We had the Chatterbox GMRS X-1, and we had been really anxious to have a way to talk on the trip while we were riding, to share our thoughts, point out scenery, ask questions, signal stops, etc, but after getting on the freeway at Yakima, I soon found that my helmet was almost too loud to hear any of Stacey’s transmissions. And the wind noise in my helmet had the vox constantly activated which was very annoying. After all the buildup and excitement, we felt let down. Stacey said she could hear alright in her helmet, but we basically didn’t turn the things after the first day.

After watching the Long Way Round DVD’s, stacey got a couple of the first ‘chasing our shadows’ photos.

Back to the ride…we flew thru spokane, and into Idaho, and soon were buzzing over the hill and dropping down above Lake Couer ‘d Alene. The sun was setting over the hills to the west as we made our way along the east side of the lake to the Beauty Creek Campground. We snapped a few photos of the beautiful setting.

We got into the campground and setup the tent before it was completely dark, then left on the bike to go get some bottled water to cook dinner and drink, and spent about half an hour driving up the road to the south and back without finding a store, then the other way back towards the highway before heading back, after the nearby KOA’s store was closed as well. After returning to the campground, we discovered that there was a hand-pumped water spigot of potable water, there at the campground. We cooked some pasta dinner, before heading off to bed. A tired, yet happy pair.

Our gear opened up:

Me before bed:

Day 06.1 Frosted Flakes, The Long Way Round, and Icy Blast!

After a good night’s sleep we were ready to rock. We got up and got things packed up. I had told Stacey several times that the bike really felt heavy loaded up, so we decided that since we hadn’t used a bunch of the stuff we had in the luggage, we would get rid of some stuff to lighten up our load.

We finished all that up, and after showering and getting some of our gear on, we went upstairs to enjoy the free breakfast bits. Tasty Frosted Flakes from a bulk feeder, into one of those extremely small styrofoam bowls, that neither provides enough space for an adequate amount of cereal, or the ability to eat out of it.

As we were getting our stuff, a lady came into the breakfast area to eat, started talking with us. We ended up eating breakfast with her, she was driving from washington, to the farm in Nebraska that she grew up on. With her two daughters, she was having a blast, travelling, playing games, listening to audiobooks, etc… Her husband an actor, was actually supposed to be with them, but had a unexpected audition to attend, and was soon to join them. It was kinda funny that as soon as we started talking about our trip, motorcycles with her, she asked us if we had seen The Long Way Round DVD’s. We got excited, as it is a favorite of ours, as well as her’s. If you haven’t seen them, even if you have no interest in motorcycles, we highly recommend, and think you’ll like them.
See the links on the left side of the page.

After finding a UPS store in Bozeman, and mailing off our unwanted gear, we got back on I-90, and rode to Livingston, where we fueled up, then headed south for the entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

We arrived in Gardiner, MT, the gateway to Yellowstone, stopped for some Powerade, with some exciting, explosive name, and a bag of Habanero Doritos. Mmmm!

Click here to see the video of the excitement!

We rode across the river, then, a quick right and it was down to the arch that marks the entrance to Yellowstone NP.

Day 05.1 Rhubarb Muffins, George Bush, and Dog the Bounty Hunter!

After a fairly relaxed day riding up into Alberta, we had to make good time to make it down to the campground in Yellowstone NP that I thought we would stay at. It was another beautiful, and hot day to be riding.

We made our way down Highway 89, toward our first local destination, Kiowa, MT. Erik, my brother, and I had stopped there last summer on our trip through Glacier NP, and by chance had ordered some rhubarb muffins. They were fantastic, so one of the locations I wanted to stop at on this trip was at the little store to get some muffins.

We enjoyed the muffins, and I also found out that they made all kinds of other cafe type stuff, so a plate of scrambled eggs were ordered and quickly consumed!:)

We continued on down highway 89, trying to make good time, but getting rather worn out from strong crosswinds. By the time we made it to the little town of Choteau, MT, we had to stop, and meet the locals.

After using the rest area, and rehydrating both ourselves, and our bandanas, we headed south once again on highway 89. We got to I-15 and buzzed down to Wolf Creek, a little podunk community, where we got gas and took a break. It was super hot there, and we were really feeling the effects of it.

No better a place to cool down and relax, than inside this wonderful fuel station. Not only could you pick from a great selection of hotdogs, bad video cassettes, apparel (typical camo shirts/animal shirts), knives, and this wonderful display of multicolored camo hats sporting the saying “beer me”, below a large framed photograph of our Commander-In-Chief!

*note: on the shelf to the right of the large framed photo, was a sweet samarai sword that you could purchase, if you were lucky enough.

We hit the road again…

It was later than planned when we finally reached Bozeman, MT. We pulled into town, decided that since we were quite tired, and needed to do some laundry, we were going to hotel it. We select the upscale Super 8 motel right off the freeway. We got our room, took our gear inside and the attendants said to park right out front of the hotel office, so they could keep an eye on it. One of the other guests was in the office when I went up to ask about a local laundrymat. He said to just walk across the street through this other hotel’s parking lot and there was a laundry mat there. Just as he said, it was right there. We got our laundry in, and sat around watching Dog the Bounty Hunter on TV. Good times…

After we got back, we called around and finally found a place that would deliver a pizza, the problem being that most of the places didn’t have enough help during the summer to be able to provide delivery service. After getting our pizza, we sat back in bed and ate some chocolate with Huckleberry filling, and watched the movie Desperado on TV. It was nice being in a comfortable bed, after a windy, hot day of riding.

Day 04.3 Post-Bear sighting to Glacier N.P.

After the bear bit, we decided to stop near a waterfall and take a break. The river flowed about 25ft below us, as we sat on some rocks.

We continued back to Waterton Park, and stopped at a restaurant in town, that served burger fare. Not too bad, though we weren’t impressed. Certainly not the best food we’d ever had though. Anyway, we walked a bit, and decided that the best thing for us to do, the thing that would make our day perfect, was to get ice cream:).

Before leaving town we stopped at the rest area/information center on the outskirts. There I took a photo of the bike, and learned that, in fact…

…is a geographical feature in the park.

We left town, and buzzed past another lake, on the way out of the park.

We stopped by the welcome sign, and then headed out of Canada.

Even the view in back wasn’t too bad:)

When we finally got back, I collapsed in complete exhaustion…

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For some panaramics of the day trip to Waterton Lakes NP click below:

Pan 01
Pan 02
Pan 03
Pan 04
Pan 05
Pan 06
Pan 07
Pan 08