June 30, 1998 - Canyon Campground - Mammoth Hot Springs Campground

DISTANCE TRAVELED: 102.62 Miles

TIME: 12 Hours

AVERAGE SPEED: 12.9 Miles/Hour

TRAVEL CONDITIONS: Cool and sunny in the morning changing to some dark clouds with a very little amount of rain which then changed into a clear skies. The afternoon then had some clouds again but no rain.

ROAD CONDITIONS: Smooth road in the beginning turning into a very rough road with foot deep potholes and cracks in the road everywhere.

TERRAIN/DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Fairly easy terrain with the exception of entering the park and a 9000 ft pass. There was a lot of gradual downhills with a few very steep descents.

DAILY JOURNAL COMMENTS:
Today we all got up fairly early to get a good campsite at Yellowstone. I woke up at 7:30 and by 8:00 my tent was packed and I was on the road. We traveled for a few miles until right before the park entrance where we stopped and I bought 3 fruit pies for $1. We then stopped in a local cafe where Abigail got a breakfast. We had locked our bikes outside in a very obvious place so the SAG would stop but it passed us right by. I ran out and tried to catch it since the entrance was only a short distance away. It was a gradual uphill and I was still able to travel at 27 miles an hour! I was 100 yards from the entrance as the SAG left to go to our new campground! We luckily were able to get in for free and met up a few miles later.(Picture26,Picture27,Picture28) I put up my tent since it looked like it was going to rain and threw everything inside. I thought that I would have a relaxing day and sleep all day but when I started to talk to Matt we decided to go further than our 25 mile planned ride. Around 12:00 we left for a 75 mile ride around the Northern route of Yellowstone.(Picture29,Picture30) We started out by climbing a short hill and then traveling by some Elk and over a bridge that carried us far above a river. We continued to climb for many miles until we came to a turnout where we could look out over the valley.(Picture31) We stopped and met some people who were from California and gave us some juice that they had in their coolers. We took off once again and had a nice downhill where I was able to reach 43 miles an hour before coming to a fairly long uphill that seemed like it wouldn't stop.(Picture32) (We were fortunate enough to see a fox lying in the grass on the side of the road.) Finally, when it ended, we were at the junction that would take us to Canyon Campground. We continued on and ascended a 9,000 foot pass that was about 9-miles long. The road was full of potholes that could easily break an axle on a car and was badly in need of a completely new surface not only a few patches which had been previously tried. By the time we got to the top(Picture33), we were exhausted and were able to see a huge distance. We were even able to see the Grand Tetons over a hundred miles away! We then started our descent which was fast and really nice after the horribly long uphill. As we went down, the road didn't improve at all and so we were forced to bunny hop numerous times to avoid getting a pinch flat an ruining our rims. At one point very close to the top we suddenly hit a wall of cold air that was completely unexpected since it was so hot out at the time. By the time we got to the bottom of the hill, we were at Canyon Campground. and started our tour of the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River." The trip was great at first allowing us to see down the huge canyon that was full of sulfur and iron cliffs that were spectacular.(Picture34,Picture35) The blue river ran through the middle with steam vents along the way. As we continued on up the river, we came to numerous lookout spots to see the falls that we were approaching.(Picture36) Finally we came to the lower falls where we hiked down a half a mile from the rim of the river. Here we were able to stand 5 feet from the river just as it dropped off 300 feet into a pool at the bottom. It was incredible to watch the water foam and spray as it went down. We finally left this area at 5:00 and saw Anthony who had come from the opposite direction. He continued on his ride with a "I need a ride to Mammoth Hot Springs" sign on his back since he was so tired and he still had 40 miles to go. Matt and I continued on for 12 more miles seeing some bison along the way. We came to a area of gyzers and walked around for a few minutes but we weren't able to see any go off. Unfortunately we didn't get down to Old Faithful for Matt to see since this was his first time in Yellowstone. Instead we went to another gyzer that was supposed to have frequent eruptions of 10-50 feet. Also it was known to have very infrequent eruptions of 300-400 feet. The last one of these was in 1991! We were starting to get hungry once again so we tried to get back in a hurry since we only had 20 more miles to go. The road was a very gradual uphill that was perfect for biking. I was able to keep up a speed of 20 miles an hour even with a small head wind. We turned into a campground where we saw a bison wandering around and as we left, we turned back onto the highway. I was looking for wildlife like always but this time I missed a pothole and hit it while going 20 miles an hour! My bike was fine, I didn't fall but my hands went numb immediately and were quickly back to normal. I didn't think anything of it until I tried to shift my front gears with my left hand. I couldn't push in the lever like normal with my fingers but instead I had to pull it across. My hand didn't hurt but for some reason it had absolutely no strength compared to normal. As we continued on this great road, we were able to see hundreds of elk and there were almost no cars. After a while we were tired of the elk because we figured that if there were elk then there probably weren't going to be any bears which Matt had yet to see. So we kept on, seeing more and more elk, until we saw a group of about 40 cars parked along the side of the road about 3 miles ahead of us. When we got there a lot of people were taking a picture of a large elk that had a huge rack. I couldn't believe that all of these cars were there just for this one elk when 10 miles down the road there were about one hundred elk in one area! A little later we discovered the real reason for the cars being stopped. There were three grizzlies about 100 yards from us on the other side of the road! There was one mother and two cubs which is very unusual to see. We stood there for about 20 minutes watching before we left. Right as we left a moose also came up! This area was great for wildlife. We then started a 3 mile 6% grade downhill which didn't last long enough. It was windy with a very good surface making it great to go down. We continued on and at about 2 miles from our camp we had another downhill which was even better being more windy, steeper, and faster. Finally we got back to our camp at around 8:00 and looked for the leftover food. All that was left was the broth with a few olives, some homeny, and one piece of chicken the size of a golf ball for both Matt and me. I drank 4 bowls full of the broth which although didn't have much in it tasted great. I then washed out my bowl and proceeded to have a heaping bowl of granola with milk. After this I had another Stoker bar which was followed by gathering all of my clothes together that I needed to take a shower. Matt and I rode back up a hill and went to a local hotel where we paid $3 for a shower where they provided towels and soap. It felt great to be clean again. We then rode back down the windy road in complete darkness hoping that we wouldn't hit any potholes on the way. We got back to camp without any problems and I climbed into my tent, finally falling asleep around 11:00.

TRIP ROUTE:
Take 89 into Yellowstone and set up camp at Mammoth Hot Springs Campground about 20 miles. Go up to the hot springs and take the road that will bring you towards Cooke City about 12 miles. Take this road until you have another choice where you will go towards Canyon Campground for about 20 miles. When you get to Canyon, take the scenic road along the Yellowstone River that will bring you to the falls about 3 miles. When the one-way road ends go right back to Canyon Campground and then take a left at Canyon towards Old Faithful for about 12 miles. When you come to the next junction, go right towards Mammoth Hot Springs for about 21 miles. Go back and stay at Mammoth Hot Springs Campground.