We survived our first night in West Yellowstone without any animal encounters and after some bike adjustments and advice from the rangers, we headed into the park. In our first three miles we were greeted by the Yellowstone wildlife, including a Bison walking in our bicycle lane. Our first night at Morris Junction we met Pablo and Clem- the Spaniard and the Frenchman. They were also touring Yellowstone by bicycle so the next day we headed off together to see the geysers at Norris Junction. We were amazed by the beautiful colors, the smell of rotten eggs and the scorching heat of the sulfuric steam. We parted ways with Pablo and Clem at the Canyon (but ended up running into both of them again in the next couple of days!) The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Yellowstone Lake took our breath away. We decided on a daytrip down to the Tetons so that we could still go out of the eastern entrance towards Cody. The scenery changed dramatically as we headed east towards Cody and the heart of Buffalo Bill's Wild West. In Cody we stayed with our 'fairy godfather od the west' who we had first met in Cathlamet, WA. We couldn't have asked for better hosts. We still don't know how we will ever repay all the amazing hospitality and kindness we have been offered over the course of this trip. After coming out of the bighorns, we left the rocky mountains behind us and were officially in the Great Plains, finally! In Buffalo, WY we had the incredible luck of meeting another amazing host, fellow bicyclist and environmental historian. Unfortunately, Elisabeth's knee problems had been getting worse and worse over the course of the trip and she had to face the incredibly difficult decision of whether to continue the trip or not. Ultimately, she realized that the knee most likely would not be intact by the time she reached the east coast and so, faced with the hard reality, she and Lindsay parted ways in Buffalo, WY.

snow capped view over the roofs of West Yellowstone

entering Yellowstone!

reflective lake coming into Yellowstone from the west entrance

precarious bike riding when the Bison walks in the bicycle lane

Lindsay and Pablo and the crowd of tourists at Norris geyser basin, Yellowstone

porcelain basin, Yellowstone


geyser!

geothermal smoke, scorching heat and the smell of sulfur

Lindsay at the Yellowstone Canyon


unbelievably gorgeous Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Elisabeth at the Canyon

Bison on Yellowstone River

Yellowstone Lake!

The bicycles posing

elk on Yellowstone Lake

elk love on geothermal grounds

at the top of a canyon on the way to the Tetons

the bikes posing en route to the the Tetons

the Tetons rising out of the lake

unbelievable wetland scenery out of the eastern entrance of Yellowstone

on the road between the eastern entrance of Yellowstone and Cody

looking back on Shoshone national forest outside of Cody

crazy rock formations on the way to Cody

more beautiful rock formations coming into Cody


Buffalo Bill's wild west

storms brewing over the Buffalo Bill Reservoir


share the road

Cody- Rodeo capital of the world

Chugwater formations coming toward the Bighorns

our fairy godfather, the marshmellow queen and Lucie

coming down out of the bighorns

our first view of the Great Plains coming down from the Bighorns

our wonderful host's house in Buffalo, WY

A real he-man cookbook with recipes that use dead things, and hot stuff, and parts of pickup trucks

waterfall through Crazy Woman Canyon

top of Crazy Woman Canyon

lowest town population so far

coal train coming from Gillette,WY- town that hosts the second largest coal mining operation in the United States