Upon leaving the Canyon Village campground, Keith and I were immediately greeted by a herd of buffalo crossing the road. One stood in the center and started bucking around - only a car away from the wild animal, we hid behind an RV.
There was plenty of wildlife to see on the side of the road.
We stopped at the natural mud volcano and sulfur pits in Yellowstone. There was a small one mile loop that we hiked around the various geothermal active areas.
Not sure why, but the buffalo were hanging out around all the thermal pits.
Also, now that we were on a touristy road, we ran into a bunch of cyclists. There were two guys from Switzerland and a couple from the United State. Easy conversation for Keith, having toured Switzerland in the past.
It is always fun to meet fellow cyclists.
We arrived at Fish Lake and had lunch. Yellowstone restaurants aren't anything special... all operated by the Delaware North company. The food is overpriced and mediocre at best.
After lunch, Keith and I went our separate ways. He is heading south towards the Grand Tetons and I am going east.
I got to ride along the lake, which is wonderful. Windy, but fun.
Prior to travelling through Yellowstone, I didn't even realize there was a lake right in the middle of it. I only heard about the abundant wildlife and thermal activity.
Well, the lake is massive.
After deviating away from the lake, the road turned steeper and ascended towards the pass. This area has a lot of snow during the winter, and due to the steep cliffs on either side of the road, the snow typically falls into the road.
Constantly.
Making it near impossible to pass.
After conquering the pass, I was rewarded with a five mile long, 7% grade. Absolutely glorious.
Towards the bottom I spotted a line of cars on the side of the road. I asked the first what was happening and the pointed at the hill. Sure enough, there were two grizzly's walking around.
Not camping here...
I pedaled another fifteen miles down the road to get out of bear country and camped in a beautiful canyon.
Joe