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Saturday 7/8/06Big Sky, MT to
Fishing Bridge, WY
Our Team in the Van
Christa, Toni and Bill, at the Comfort Inn in Big Sky as we prepared to roll out. Not your average
eastern warning sign Thankfully, we didnÕt have to joust with any elk during the next 10 miles. Entering
YellowstoneÕs West Gate: This was a handout at the park gate. Luckily, we were able to keep vehicles between ourselves and nearby buffalo. Elk in the Madison
River The river provided a barrier to keep away predators, including Bill. The Park Service is
allowing nature to take its course much more than in the past
This is a very large area along the west entrance road. There were two near-fledgling bald eagles in an older tree along the road here, with Park Service people keeping the overly curious at bay. Fountain Paint Pots Photos canÕt do justice to the colors and scope of the volcanic springs in the park Grand Prismatic
Spring The steaming runoff from the spring flows to the Firehole River. We spent so much time looking at these springs that we didnÕt feel the need to wait for Old Faithful. We saw JackÕs loaded rig, and knew that whatever we were experiencing, we had it easy. Jack is going cross-country carrying everything on his bike. Craig Pass We were damn proud to be here CarlÕs GPS tells the tale: 8,269Õ elevation, 87 miles into our riding day The dayÕs second
crossing of the Continental Divide Between the first and second passes we made it above 8,500Õ, but got no sign to show for it. At the Fishing
Bridge Intersection As we learned, you can tell where the wildlife is by where the cars are backed up. Amazingly, there are no motor homes in this photo. As we rode across the west, we concluded that half of everybody owns a camper, and half of those campers are Ôfor saleÕ at any given moment. At the Yellowstone
Inn The big, wooden Yellowstone Inn reminded us of the Overlook Hotel from the Shining. We half expected to see Scatman Crothers step out of this snow buggy (Crothers, incidentally, died of cancer). |
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