Every spring and fall some roads in Yellowstone are closed to cars but open to bikers as they get ready for the changing of the seasons. Yesterday I experienced this for the first time with a 42 mile trip from Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris Geyser Basin and back. I bought a new bike last week, a Giant OCR 1. It is a road bike. I’m excited about it. Yellowstone without any cars is rather grand. The weather was fairly warm (despite there being an abundance of snow that hadn’t melted yet). The 42 miles went by quite quickly. Riding a bike made for the roads is a lot faster than riding a mountain bike with some slick tires on it.
The 3rd picture is the Boiling River. It is a lot of water that emerges from underground after being heated inside the earth. It is quite warm and swimming directly in it is illegal. However, right after the spot where the picture was taken it meets with the very cold Gardiner River, and that is where you can swim.
The really hot water meeting the cold water makes for a very good temperature. Its like a giant outdoor hottub that is continually flowing past you. I’d driven past it many times, but never actaully checked it out. It is quite awesome, I’ve never seen anything like it. You just hang out in this warm water and watch the elk around you, (we actually saw a bald eagle as well). Pretty classic stuff, I was feeling very spoiled by my surroundings yesterday.
The last one is Luke pondering. When I learn how to put text inbetween these pictures I will, but its not really that easy to do if you don’t know how.
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Your trip sounds quite nice!
Dad
p.s. The NC governor has declared a five-day “state of mourning” due to Chapel Hill’s loss.
Thanks so much for sharing. It brought back so many memories of the bike trip I took through Grand Teton and Yellowstone last summer.
The end of that game was certainly tragic and very difficult to watch at times. I really disliked the CBS announcers, I had to mute it at times to retain sanity.
Interesting. We too hated the announcers who were prejudiced and nonobjective. Joe M says that Billy Packer went to Wake Forest and has always been against the tar heels. Dad always dislikes Billy Packer’s announcing.
You went swimming in that place?
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070321&sportCat=ncb
Informative article on Billy Packer’s rule of terror during the NCAA tournments that I thought you would enjoy. It pains me to say it but, I was rooting for UNC because they represented the ACC and possessed a bevy of talent this season. Tough loss for the heels and tough tournment for the entire ACC
thanks for the link brad. I particularly enjoyed this quote
“an astonishing number of fans across America fervently believe Packer has an ax to grind against their favorite team”
maybe the guy just has a nack for rubbing everybody the wrong way. although I definitely feel like a georgetown fan wouldn’t have been so critical.
Your pictures are well done!
And though you look cool on your bike, you have a ways to go to “outcool” your father.
i totally agree with you dad. it is good to have a goal however.
Those pictures make my heart ache. I can’t wait to visit. Gaaaaah!
P.S. to outcool dad, you could carry some golf clubs on your back when you bike.
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