Click on any image to get a larger view with more detail.
The first picture is of Jane and I next to a geyser pool, all decked out in our motorcycle riding best!
Jane and I moved to Logan, UT in October 2002 and every year afterwards, when the snow melted, we vowed to take a trip to Yellowstone National Park. I was there for an environmental conference about 15 years ago, and we have seen many History and National Geographic stories on this, the FIRST, National Park in the entire WORLD, but until October 2009 we had never been there together. That is inexcusable considering we only live about 260 miles from the park. So, to rectify that gross lack of National Pride, and to get Jane out on her first long motorcycle ride on my big black Harley, we headed out for a long weekend, the first wee
k in October. As luck would have it, I was even able to get a cabin at the Old Faithful Lodge......we would be the last visitors of the 2009 season in the cabin. We discovered on arrival that the Park was shutting down, closing up and getting ready for its famous winters. However, they keep the main Lodge open, and provide "Snowbus" tours of the park, and local outfitters rent snowmobiles to lazy people incapable of using human power to get around in winter (are my biases showing yet!). The very hardy visitor can stay at the Lodge and cross country ski in virtually unlimited deep powder terrain.....however, that was not for us this time. The "bus" is parked in the front entrance of the main lodge.
We packed up the bike, both of us limited to one saddlebag and shared space in a rear rack bag, with a tank bag for maps and riding snacks. The plan was to take different scenic routes up and back. Up, we went through Tincup Pass to the Targhee National Forest, across through Jackson, Wyoming and into the Park; then through the Park to the Old Faithful area. Returning, it was out the a different Park gate and through Jackson again, but changing our return to travel through Star Valley, Montpelier, around Bear Lake and down Logan Canyon. We lucked out the entire trip with spectacular weather and the deciduous trees were changing colors all through the high mountain country. Literally every turn in the mountain highway gave us a new colorful vista of turning trees.
The ride up was fast and comfortable as we took what is the route of the Lotoja 205 mile bicycle race that leaves from Logan and terminates in Jackson every September. This is also something I have wanted to do as a part of a road bike relay team but there is a business event every year that falls on race weekend, so I haven't been able to do it. Elevation changes are steep, with miles and miles of narrow two lane "motorcycle road" through the mountains. We traveled up Swan Valley Highway, through the Palisades and past the Palisades Reservoir, stopping at an Alpine themed hotel that had a private park at the Junction of Rt 22 and Rt 34. The place was virtually empty and the owners kindly allowed us to rest and have our lunch in their park. From there we took Highway 22 to Jackson connecting with Highway 191 that runs along the border of the Grand Teton National Park. I had planned to enter the Grand Teton National Park and run through it, past Jenny Lake to view the spectacular Grand Teton peaks at their base but a huge fire was burning in the Park and the connecting road to Yellowstone was closed. We headed on up 191 and entered Yellowstone leaving about 35 miles from the Park entrance to our cabin site. Smoke from two major fires was making breathing a little difficult but the roads were still open. Shortly after entering the park we came upon a line of cars slowly moving along a winding section of the road with a cliff face on the right side. It was hard to determine what the hold-up was because the road had not been crowded prior to this section. It turned out to be a lone Bison (American Buffalo) walking in the road ditch beside the road....everyone in cars was slowing to take a picture, safely ensconced in their fully enclosed cars and motorhomes. On a motorcycle its a little different as we were about to pass a 2,000 pound wild animal with horns, that is easily spooked and can run faster than a horse.....and it was about 5-6 feet to our right side. This one seemed nearly asleep as we passed, although he was steadily plodding along. Too bad we didn't have a camera out as we could literally "see the whites of his eyes". Shortly afterwards I had my first riding challenge. The bike, with Jane, I and our bags, weighed something over 1100 pounds and it has highway tires....about 17 miles into the park there was a massive flashing sign that said "Motorcycles Take Care - Extreme Hazard" after which I came upon road work that lasted about 7 miles. The traffic was one way, escorted by park vehicles, and the road surface was "red clay, overlayed with gravel and sand. They were resurfacing the roadway and this was the only way into the park for us. I had never ridden on that kind of a surface, and it is about as bad as it gets for a cruising motorcycle. To make it even worse, they were spraying water on it to keep the dust under control. I quickly did a mental review of the techniques for riding on wet clay (visualize ice), gravel and sand; and then headed forward with Jane saying...."You can do it Honey".....she's always my biggest supporter, and considering she is sitting behind me with no personal control of the machine, she obviously had supreme confidence, even if mine was a bit shaky. The bike was more than just a little "squirrely" for seven miles, with not too many stops for traffic....and once we hit pavement again I felt much more confident regarding our return route.....which was over this same road. Another few miles and we rolled into the Old Faithful village just before it started getting dark.
k in October. As luck would have it, I was even able to get a cabin at the Old Faithful Lodge......we would be the last visitors of the 2009 season in the cabin. We discovered on arrival that the Park was shutting down, closing up and getting ready for its famous winters. However, they keep the main Lodge open, and provide "Snowbus" tours of the park, and local outfitters rent snowmobiles to lazy people incapable of using human power to get around in winter (are my biases showing yet!). The very hardy visitor can stay at the Lodge and cross country ski in virtually unlimited deep powder terrain.....however, that was not for us this time. The "bus" is parked in the front entrance of the main lodge.We packed up the bike, both of us limited to one saddlebag and shared space in a rear rack bag, with a tank bag for maps and riding snacks. The plan was to take different scenic routes up and back. Up, we went through Tincup Pass to the Targhee National Forest, across through Jackson, Wyoming and into the Park; then through the Park to the Old Faithful area. Returning, it was out the a different Park gate and through Jackson again, but changing our return to travel through Star Valley, Montpelier, around Bear Lake and down Logan Canyon. We lucked out the entire trip with spectacular weather and the deciduous trees were changing colors all through the high mountain country. Literally every turn in the mountain highway gave us a new colorful vista of turning trees.
The ride up was fast and comfortable as we took what is the route of the Lotoja 205 mile bicycle race that leaves from Logan and terminates in Jackson every September. This is also something I have wanted to do as a part of a road bike relay team but there is a business event every year that falls on race weekend, so I haven't been able to do it. Elevation changes are steep, with miles and miles of narrow two lane "motorcycle road" through the mountains. We traveled up Swan Valley Highway, through the Palisades and past the Palisades Reservoir, stopping at an Alpine themed hotel that had a private park at the Junction of Rt 22 and Rt 34. The place was virtually empty and the owners kindly allowed us to rest and have our lunch in their park. From there we took Highway 22 to Jackson connecting with Highway 191 that runs along the border of the Grand Teton National Park. I had planned to enter the Grand Teton National Park and run through it, past Jenny Lake to view the spectacular Grand Teton peaks at their base but a huge fire was burning in the Park and the connecting road to Yellowstone was closed. We headed on up 191 and entered Yellowstone leaving about 35 miles from the Park entrance to our cabin site. Smoke from two major fires was making breathing a little difficult but the roads were still open. Shortly after entering the park we came upon a line of cars slowly moving along a winding section of the road with a cliff face on the right side. It was hard to determine what the hold-up was because the road had not been crowded prior to this section. It turned out to be a lone Bison (American Buffalo) walking in the road ditch beside the road....everyone in cars was slowing to take a picture, safely ensconced in their fully enclosed cars and motorhomes. On a motorcycle its a little different as we were about to pass a 2,000 pound wild animal with horns, that is easily spooked and can run faster than a horse.....and it was about 5-6 feet to our right side. This one seemed nearly asleep as we passed, although he was steadily plodding along. Too bad we didn't have a camera out as we could literally "see the whites of his eyes". Shortly afterwards I had my first riding challenge. The bike, with Jane, I and our bags, weighed something over 1100 pounds and it has highway tires....about 17 miles into the park there was a massive flashing sign that said "Motorcycles Take Care - Extreme Hazard" after which I came upon road work that lasted about 7 miles. The traffic was one way, escorted by park vehicles, and the road surface was "red clay, overlayed with gravel and sand. They were resurfacing the roadway and this was the only way into the park for us. I had never ridden on that kind of a surface, and it is about as bad as it gets for a cruising motorcycle. To make it even worse, they were spraying water on it to keep the dust under control. I quickly did a mental review of the techniques for riding on wet clay (visualize ice), gravel and sand; and then headed forward with Jane saying...."You can do it Honey".....she's always my biggest supporter, and considering she is sitting behind me with no personal control of the machine, she obviously had supreme confidence, even if mine was a bit shaky. The bike was more than just a little "squirrely" for seven miles, with not too many stops for traffic....and once we hit pavement again I felt much more confident regarding our return route.....which was over this same road. Another few miles and we rolled into the Old Faithful village just before it started getting dark.
The next day was to be our only full day in the Park. We started with a terrific breakfast in the main Lodge and headed towards the turnoff for the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone". Unfortunately, it was "not to be", as the second large fire in the Park was b
urning near the connecting road. The Ranger told us we could proceed but if the road was closed we would have a 200+ mile diversion to get out of the Park then travel to Cody, Wyoming before we could head South and re-enter at the West entrance to return to our cabin area. At first we were going to give it a shot, and rode about 25 miles beyond the section of the road threatened by fire; but the wind seemed to be picking up and we decided there was plenty to see on the West side of the Park without the risk of a road closure. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. It is impossible to describe the different geysers and bubbling mud pots in any way that does them justice......you just have to see them. I thought this was an interesting picture of a lone pine next to bubbling mud pots.....how does it live!
urning near the connecting road. The Ranger told us we could proceed but if the road was closed we would have a 200+ mile diversion to get out of the Park then travel to Cody, Wyoming before we could head South and re-enter at the West entrance to return to our cabin area. At first we were going to give it a shot, and rode about 25 miles beyond the section of the road threatened by fire; but the wind seemed to be picking up and we decided there was plenty to see on the West side of the Park without the risk of a road closure. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. It is impossible to describe the different geysers and bubbling mud pots in any way that does them justice......you just have to see them. I thought this was an interesting picture of a lone pine next to bubbling mud pots.....how does it live!
After a full day of "touristing" on the bike we settled in for an evening with a "cheap dinner" at the Old Faithful grill. It was good that we did because it closed that night and was not open for breakfast the next morning......we were "forced" to use the main Lodge "again" and suffer through yet another fabulous full breakfast. This is the picture of a small part of the interior of the main lodge.
After breakfast we packed the bike, checked out and spent a few hours looking at sites that we had passed the day b
efore. The only geyser we saw multiple times was Old Faithful, which was literally outside our cabin area and it spouted on a predictable cycle enabling us to view it several times. There is also a walkway that we took on our departure day, that covers the entire geyser field in that area.......allow plenty of time and go with the Ranger on the guided tour.....it all takes about three hours to complete the transit. Among them are flows of hot nutrient rich water that has bacteria in it. The Rangers can tell the temperature of the water by the color of the bacteria, such as this red bacteria....sorry I'm not a Ranger and can't help you with the obvious question.
These two images are of the Castle Geyser, one near the end of its erruption and one with Jane near it to establish the scale. It was once much larger but early tourists chipped off pieces as souveniers. It makes a loud roaring sound very different from the other geysers in the area. and it errupts almost as predictably as Old Faithful.
We found out several very interesting things:
1. Yellowstone is the first National Park ever established in the WORLD. The entire US National Park system finds its genesis in this fabulous place......as do the rest of the Parks around the world. The theme has always been conservation, not exploitation and the model set by Yellowstone has been responsible for National Parks being preserved for the ages rather than being exploited like Theme Parks.
1. Yellowstone is the first National Park ever established in the WORLD. The entire US National Park system finds its genesis in this fabulous place......as do the rest of the Parks around the world. The theme has always been conservation, not exploitation and the model set by Yellowstone has been responsible for National Parks being preserved for the ages rather than being exploited like Theme Parks.
2. It has the largest concentration of geysers in the world. Iceland was once 
a major geyser area but their national development of geothermal energy has killed all of the geysers in Iceland by tapping the sources and diverting it for the production of energy. This destruction of a National Treasure cannot be recovered because once a geyser is extinguished it rarely starts again. Some in Yellowstone met a similar fate when early tourists threw trash in them, or damaged them but they are rigorously protected now. There is a national effort to stop geothermal energy development in the surrounding States as nobody knows how extensive the feed water system for the geysers is....it may extend over hundreds of miles and hundreds of thousands of acres.......Iceland is the example of how poor attention to conservation can destroy something like a system of geysers for everyone.
3. All of Yellowstone National Park is essentially the caldera of a "super volcano" that is dormant.....but NOT EXTINCT! That is the reason for all of the activity....magma is just below the surface fueling that natural wonder.
The ride home took us over the section of the road under work (again).....but I was quite confident this time and didn't worry so much about the squirrely front wheel, over the connecting road to Grand Teton National Park, along the base of the Tetons.....unfortunately still a bit hazy with smoke, out the Teton Park entrance, through Jackson, Hoback Junction and Star Valley, then canyon carving through the high mountain passes of the Bridger National Forest was exciting. We saw most of the wildlife that we saw as we left the park, including this very large bison. Jane is in the foreground and the bison is across the river a couple of hundred meters away. Given that scale of reference you can see that this is a very large animal.
a major geyser area but their national development of geothermal energy has killed all of the geysers in Iceland by tapping the sources and diverting it for the production of energy. This destruction of a National Treasure cannot be recovered because once a geyser is extinguished it rarely starts again. Some in Yellowstone met a similar fate when early tourists threw trash in them, or damaged them but they are rigorously protected now. There is a national effort to stop geothermal energy development in the surrounding States as nobody knows how extensive the feed water system for the geysers is....it may extend over hundreds of miles and hundreds of thousands of acres.......Iceland is the example of how poor attention to conservation can destroy something like a system of geysers for everyone.3. All of Yellowstone National Park is essentially the caldera of a "super volcano" that is dormant.....but NOT EXTINCT! That is the reason for all of the activity....magma is just below the surface fueling that natural wonder.
The ride home took us over the section of the road under work (again).....but I was quite confident this time and didn't worry so much about the squirrely front wheel, over the connecting road to Grand Teton National Park, along the base of the Tetons.....unfortunately still a bit hazy with smoke, out the Teton Park entrance, through Jackson, Hoback Junction and Star Valley, then canyon carving through the high mountain passes of the Bridger National Forest was exciting. We saw most of the wildlife that we saw as we left the park, including this very large bison. Jane is in the foreground and the bison is across the river a couple of hundred meters away. Given that scale of reference you can see that this is a very large animal.
We stopped several times on the return and found ourselves having to push it a bit to get to Montpelier and around Bear Lake so that we could get out of the isolated areas before nightfall.
Here is the bike at the Bear Lake overlook to see the Lake just as the sun was about to set over the mountains. We decided not to wait for it as it was getting colder and by the time we would get through Logan Canyon it would be "well and truly" dark. A good dinner at a Logan Restaurant ended our ride on a positive note......when we got home the "cat" was still alive (we have a cat sitter) and the house was right where we left it. Jane told me she thoroughly enjoyed the ride and had new confidence in my ability to handle my big motorcycle......she is up for more long rides to natural wonders all over the State and surrounding areas so long as we keep it under 1,000 miles and three days. She really soldiered on with this trip.......750 miles in three days, through three National Forests and two National Parks. There is a lot to see around here that fits that criteria and you haven't seen the country until you are immersed in it on the back of a big iron horse.
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