Day 55 - Livingston, MT

I woke up extra early and packed down my tent and gear excited to see more of Yellowstone. After spending the day before on the east side I decided to cut over and ride the west side of the upper loop of the park. The temperature is quite cool in the morning, perfect for riding and my legs felt pretty strong. The shoulder of the road disappeared 7 miles into my ride but luckily encountered little traffic and almost no RVs, the transportation of choice in yellowstone. I passed through another valley again with bison strewn across the fields. At one point there were large rock caves just off the side of the road, which i didn't bother to inspect.

Though i was gaining elevation I didn't particularly notice and i was well into the 21 mile stretch to Mammoth. I turned a corner to realize i was at the top of a high mountain pass looking down into huge canyon below. The road carved into the stone mountain side winded its way down below. I attempted to video parts of my descent managing to keep on the narrow road as the cars drove past. I sailed along a few miles of downhill until i saw a sign for the Mammoth Hot springs and turned into see the jewel of Yellowstone.

A vast array of thermal pools are spread out over the side of a stone hill. Over thousands of years the springs have bubbled up stone and minerals leaving deposits along the waters path, creating the effect of a stone watterfal. The springs themselves contained deep blue pools of water and dark red stone. They were really amazing to look.

I got to Mammoth lodge by noon with tons of energy left so I decided to push on out of the park. The road continued along a steep downhill following the Yellowstone river where I cruised at 45 mph keeping up with a few motorcycles next to me. Along the way i passed the 45th parallel and the state Montana state line, the 13th state of my trip. I stopped int he town of, a poor looking town seemingly propped up by the run off tourism of yellowstone to get a bit to eat and internet access. A cafe charged $2:50 for the net. Not for 20 minutes, or an hour, but the whole day.

I call my good friend Bob who lives in Missoula and I am eager to see before he and his family move to DC. My original plan was to get there on the 4th but the extra time spent in Yellowstone has put me off that time frame. I decided to ride another 55 miles to Livingston before they day was through, hoping the my legs, the hills and the wind would all cooperate.

Just before leaving town I got a text from Ryan saying he had left the park on the west side and was in West Yellowstone. I know this likely much meant the end of tour together after riding some 3000+ miles. We were tracking for different destinations and would be splitting up at some point. Now seemed as good as any.

I hoped on my bike at 3:30 and headed out of town along the Yellowstone river. I had brief moment of panic about an oppressive headwind as I saw the grass bend back in forth in a strong breeze. Then suddenly i didn't notice any wind at all; it was all behind me. Quickly i was up to 30 mph cruising along with little effort. I sat upright leaning on the top of my handlebars letting wind push me along, at some points running out of gears to keep up with the the wind allowed. Mile marks passed by with frequency. In two hours I had knocked out 50 miles and was just 4 miles out of town when the wind did an about face and slowed me to a crawl. I pushed my way into town and decided to not press my luck by continuing to Bozeman.

In the evening I caught my first rodeo which was a blast to see after hearing bull riding stories from a cowboy in colorado. Folks were decked out in there wranglers and cowboy hats, buying beers by the six pack laughing at the antics of the clown in the ring between events. I got close look at the roping contest and was truly impressed with the riders' ability to maneuver a horse at full speed.