TransAm Day #43 Grant Village, WY - West Yellowstone, MT
TransAm Day #43
July 8, 2018
Grant Village, WY - West Yellowstone, MT
61 Miles
Ride Time 4:23 Hours
Tour Total Miles 3093
I slept great last night in my tent in Yellowstone. I ate so many s’mores last night! The plan was to get up early and beat the crowds to Old Faithful. I was the first one up. My tent collects a lot of condensation, so I had to shake out my fly and drape it over a picnic table to dry. My laundry was still damp and had to be put into my net bag to travel atop my rear panniers - my rolling dryer. Kyle and I pedaled out together, and Scott quickly caught up. Eileen would have to catch up with the pack.
I noticed yesterday while riding with Kyle that he’s not the neatest cyclist. He leaves his panniers open and unfastened. His lock, cable, tripod, and other things are haphazardly strapped to his bike. This morning we were riding down the road in a pretty tight formation. Kyle was in the lead, I was in the middle, and Scott was behind me. All of a sudden, Kyle slams on his brakes. A shirt he had been drying- his favorite orange shirt (not in a net bag) had come loose and was caught in his rear wheel. I slammed on my brakes. Scott didn’t react fast enough and rammed into me, pushing me into Kyle. It was a three bike pile-up. Luckily no one went down. Fortunately no one was hit by the motorist passing us. The road was littered with our panniers and gear. Surveying the wreckage I realized that the clips that hold my rear right pannier to my rack had been sheered. Scott’s front left clips were also shattered. So here I find myself, two thirds through the tour, without reading glasses, and down a pannier. It could be a lot worse. I heard through the grapevine that one of the ACA unsupported riders had all of their devices stolen while being charged. It’s that point of the trip.
We had planned to eat breakfast at Old Faithful, but our accident delayed things. Eileen had been behind, but she caught up to us where we had stopped to admire a waterfall. Old Faithful was underwhelming. The geyser was at full steam when we arrived, which meant that we had to wait a cycle for our front row viewing. We went to the beautiful lodge and had lunch. Thousands of people were sitting out on the benches waiting for the next blast.
Before I began my tour, I had been told that the TransAm was one ginormous National Park. I now agree with that sentiment. What stands out about Yellowstone is not the scenery or wildlife. It’s the thousands of cars, ‘campers’, and ‘RVs’. There are too many people here. National Parks should take a cue from New York City. Get cars out of parks. I look forward to getting out of Yellowstone and having the road back to myself.
I followed the Firehole River, stopping at Kepler Cascades and a gorgeous deep canyon. I stopped at Midway geyser basin and saw numerous beautiful tourquois hot pools surrounded by copper colored rocks. These hot springs are the source of the Firehole River, the name of which now makes sense to me.
I saw a turn off where ‘RVs’ and campers were banned. It didn’t matter that the loop was going the wrong direction. I was on it, and it was beautiful! I climbed up through the stunning Firehole River canyon, and ended back on the main route two miles back.
I caught up with Kyle, and we entered Montana together. West Yellowstone City is touristy and I don’t really like it. Kyle and I are staying at an old time western boarding house/hostel. There are dead animal heads everywhere. I’ve ordered replacement reading glasses and will jury-rig the pannier clips tomorrow. This is like hitting my marathon wall. My tiny dilemmas are annoyances. It could have been much worse. Basically everything is going well!
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