Just as the ride from Jackson into the Grand Teton National Park where we are starting our day today was an incredible, mystical experience, so too was our journey into Yellowstone National Park. Where Grand Teton was a sort of shocking experience to see the mountains rise from the flatlands that surrounded, Yellowstone was a story of natural beauty. The forests, hills, and hydrological features felt like a true embodiment of the best of the American landscapes we have encountered across the country. We saw wilderness, tourist attractions, and wild animals. We even got to meet at 2014 Illini 4000 alum at the end of our day to cap off another great one.
Ride Overview
Mileage: 72.1 miles
Elevation: +3,595 ft. / -3,579 ft.
Points of Interest: Yellowstone National Park Entrance, Continental Divide (x5), Lewis Falls, Thumb Paintpots, Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, Madison
Tales of the Trail
Packing up our campsite at Lizard Creek in the morning was a bittersweet goodbye. We had such a good time there over our two nights and it was hard to imagine that the ride would get any better than it already had been. Nevertheless, the van got packed, we ate our bagels, and teams started getting on the road. The route today was mostly North with a little bit of travel to the West around halfway through the day before turning North again. We caught our last glimpses of the Tetons and said “so long” in our heads hoping that we will have the opportunity to return once again in our futures.
Riding out of this park and towards Yellowstone, we had a great descent through the forest that was long, but wide open and meandering where you could take the road at almost any speed and feel comfortable. The cars on the road going by were again from all over the country and sometimes as we are riding we can tell that they are interested in our jerseys and what it is that 13 people all dressed in the same orange jerseys are doing. Soon enough we were at the entrance sign for Yellowstone National Park and trying to get our photos in with the sign before buses of people showed up to get in line behind us. As was the case with Grand Teton National Park, we had the van shuttle us through traffic for about half-a-mile and then continued our riding towards the first designated rest stop, Lewis Falls.
These falls were pretty neat and able to be viewed right from the parking lot where we could stock up on water and snacks. Had this been anywhere but Yellowstone, I think we would have thought they were amazing, but our expectations were sky high, so Lewis Falls actually felt kind of small. Another 12 miles up the road, our second rest stop was right next to Yellowstone Lake where the Thumb Paintpots are. This was the start of the natural attractions that many of us had heard about or seen in photographs before. The colorful and steaming basins of water were very neat to walk by and take pictures at. Since this is a popular stop, we also had so many people coming up to ask who we were and what our cause was. Seeing the reactions on people’s faces when you tell them you are biking from New York City to San Francisco to support those with cancer is something special. They go from shocked, to amazed, to warm with love and generosity. This rest stop was just particularly fun because we had so much of it at once.
We had seen signs for it before the paintpots, so we knew that next up on the road would be Old Faithful, the crown jewel of Yellowstone if one could even be named. The riding over to it though got quite a bit more difficult than previously in the day. A couple of longer climbs followed by a surprisingly steep descent made this stretch tough. It also felt really long because of how short the distance between the first two rest stops was. Eventually though, we made it to the borderline metropolis that are the facilities around Old Faithful. Teams went inside the shop to get food, huckleberry floats, and memorabilia centered around Yellowstone and Old Faithful. We had around an hour to wait before the geyser would actually go off. There was a +/- 12 minute window on either side of 4:22 pm for us that it could be possible for the geyser to erupt. The whole team and everyone else nearby (maybe a thousand people) gathered around on the walkway to watch Old Faithful in action and she did not disappoint. For almost all of us, this was the first time we had seen a natural geyser and it really was amazing to see how high it went!
Before heading out again, we went back to the shop to pick up any last minute items and snacks needed for the remainder of the day. Then, it was just 7.5 miles to Grand Prismatic, our last attraction of the day. We marveled at its colors and the immense heat coming off of the pool of water that was driven by heating from within the Earth below. Grand Prismatic was an amazing way to end our Yellowstone Adventure.
The last 10 miles on the day were downhill and into the campsite in Madison, so this was pretty easy. Then, as we were setting up our tents, Ellen Butler, of the 2014 Illini 4000 team and who now works for the parks at Earthquake Lake Visitor Center showed up to say hello! She was so much fun to talk to and we figured out that she has been meeting just about the last 10 years of teams here in Yellowstone National Park. We found out the differences between our team and others. On behalf of the 2014 team, we also received a ton of snacks that will fuel us as we go on down the road. Thank you Ellen and thank you to those who came before us!
Our Yellowstone day was a success. We saw everything we wanted to see, made it to the campsite before sundown, met a previous rider, and had an awesome spot to camp. Tomorrow we leave Wyoming and we’ll see what kind of sights are up for us next.
