Hi everyone! Welcome to days 45 and 47. These 2 days were probably the most exciting we have had on the ride so far. We got to visit two (two!) national parks in these two days and saw lots of beautiful views.
Our Grand Tetons day started out with a bit of climbing which was not particularly hard however, especially given the beautiful views we got to enjoy on the way. We were first biking through the Teton National Forest, and even though it was only a small taste of what we would see before actually seeing the Tetons themselves, it was still an incredibly beautiful ride with tons of nice views.
We had a very long downhill leading up to the Tetons National Park entrance during which we got to see the Tetons in all their glory from afar. The first view of the mountains left us absolutely speechless and amazed, and we all agreed that they do not look real because of how breathtaking they were. The mountains were real however, as we got to learn as we got closer and closer to them.
The Grand Tetons are located in a flat valley, so the second half of the ride was not particularly strenuous, just slightly monotonous as it tends to get on flat roads.
In the last few miles of the ride as we were getting closer to our campsite, we stopped by a lake where we had an incredible view of the Tetons. Some of us tried to take a swim in the lake just to find out very soon after that was not allowed. Oops.
We got to our campsite fairly somewhat early at about 6 PM and after setting up our tents headed over to take showers. We had the traditional I4K camping dinner - hot dogs and beans - and then sat by the fire and chatted for the rest of the evening. The next day (day 46) was our Grand Tetons rest day, so we spent it exploring the park a little and, of course, resting from biking.
Day 47 was another exciting day as we were biking into and through Yellowstone. We got to the park in the first 10 miles and after taking some pictures with the park sign and getting a portrait with a person we met there, we headed into the park.
Yellowstone views did not impress us quite as much as the Tetons views did but we still saw some very picturesque spots along our route.
By the middle of the day we got to the main Yellowstone attraction we had on our route - the Old Faithful geyser. We got to watch it erupt along with an overwhelming crowd of people around us. After biking through mainly small rural towns and areas being surrounded by so many people was somewhat weird for us.
During the second half of the route we stopped by the famous Yellowstone hot springs including the Grand Prismatic Spring. Most of us agreed that the crystal clear hot springs water looked very tempting to either swim in or drink, but unfortunately it is generally frowned upon in national parks.
It was a long day, so we only got to our campsite at about 7 PM. After setting up the tents, we were treated with a dinner donation from an awesome I4K alum - Kathy Powell. Ellen Butler and the 2014 I4K team also donated lots of snacks for our team. Biggest thanks to them all!
-Valerie