Fast Chill in Yellowstone

I slept like a baby. It rained hard and I was a bit relieved that there were taller RVs nearby with the lightning storm right over my tent. But I didn’t get wet and slept well.  I just chilled over my coffee as everybody else was packing up. I planned and already paid for two nights.  But the site sucked, and my gear was drying fast. I decided to pack and ride Yellowstone for the day and either come back or land elsewhere. This time I won’t just zoom through Yellowstone, rather see the sites, do the tourist thing.

As I checkout, the ranger refunded me the extra night and gave me a full itinerary through the park.

I visited and shot the geysers, thermal pools, meadows and bison as a disciplined tourist should do.

The ranger also suggested a 6 mile offshoot which turned out to be hard packed dirt. Beautiful meandering park countryside.

I decided to camp just outside the park ready to hit Beartooth highway first thing in the morning. As I approach the NE corner through Lamar valley and herds of Bison, I realized that it’s just 4:30 and I’m 1/2 hour away from Beartooth highway. So I rode through it all the way to Red Lodge. It is as incredible as I remembered it.

This turned out to be the shortest ride of this trip at just 200 miles. But with a lot of stops and mini hikes.

At that point all I wanted was a pub restaurant and a motel. And that’s what I got.

The next morning, as I checked out,I was still unsure of my destination other than North towards Glacier and/or Canada. I read somewhere about a road north of Glacier  (actually in the northern part of the park) from Babb that continues into Canada. This would be my destination. 430 miles away. By now I learned that my old 300 miles normal ride days are insufficient for me on this solo journey. My headspace needs more. Babb was nothing so I rode back 8 miles into Saint Marie and landed in the same campground I stayed in 10 years ago.

I did have an hour break catching up with my MEA pals on our monthly zoom meeting somewhere in nowhere Montana. There, a couple of older women on a weekend getaway ended up interrogating me about the Israeli Palestinian saga. Apparently, there’s no escape from it anywhere in the world.

Montana is vast empty space with beautiful landscape and mountains in the west. In contrast to Wyoming, it is beautiful green pastures and hills that accentuate the big sky reputation. Also I rode through a memorable road, 89, but this time it didn’t leave as strong of an impression like last time. Still nice.

So, tomorrow I think I’ll ride somewhere in Canada. Play by ear more and more. Soon I’ll be in avant-garde jazz riding.

Mood -

Calm all day. Almost. Some tiny mood swings, I think in response to the days light but the views changed it immediately.

Music -

I was all over the place. From Brahms to Anders Osborne, Government Mule, Pat Metheney, Mikes Davis, and the Telluride Jazz Festival artists. And this time also a lot of silence. Well, more like wind and motorcycle engine silence.