The Rise Up Ride: Day 40, Out of Yellowstone, Finally
Date: 1 June 2021
Start Location: Canyon Campground, Yellowstone
End Location: Flagg Ranch, Grand Tetons
Distance: 104 km
Time: 5:07
Total elapsed: 8:35
Elevation: 595 m
Because it's June… June, June, June, and my mother-in-law, Arlene's birthday, today's objective was not only to get the hell out of Yellowstone so that I could finally bathe, but to find a signal to call and sing to her from "Oklahoma!" It's a family tradition that had my highest priority and neither charging bison (yes, that happened) nor pedaling halfway across the Park would keep me from this task.
At "bird dawn" I heated water for muesli and coffee before packing it all into the panniers and rolling south across the great ancient fuming caldera that is Yellowstone Valley. The elk by the road weren't perturbed as I glided up silently on my bike and quickly got a photo. But further down the road an impatient driver, anxious to get to the next group of charismatic mega-vertebrates, pushed his car through a herd of bison, scattering them in my direction. I ducked into the gravel behind a parked car before heading off in my pursuit of signal bars for my call.
On my descent from Sylvan Pass three days ago, I chatted with the only cyclist who I'd seen in several weeks. Kevin, from Connecticut, who was out riding before his shift at the Lake Hotel, invited me to stop by on my way out of the Park. Perhaps the hostess wanted to seat me somewhere other than at a table in the five-star breakfast room this morning, but I prevailed and ordered like it was my first sit-down indoors meal in a week. Kevin met me after a gluttonous feast of coffee, eggs and pancakes for a splendid ride and chat along Lake Yellowstone, before he returned to the best summer job ever.
In Grant's Village I found the illusive signal I'd hunted for across 40 km of wilderness and sang a full-throated chorus from Oscar and Hammersteinto to the bemused delight of several Midwesterners sitting outside the General Store. Happy MIL, happy SIL!
After crossing the Continental Divide the road turned steeply down along the Lewis River, which joined the Snake River and my exit from one National Park and into the Grand Tetons. There is something magical about pulling up fully-loaded at the campgound office, looking all adventurous and exhausted, to discover that the staff have suddenly discovered a vacant tentsite in a place that had been sold out for weeks. Tomorrow I'll head to Coulter Bay and a hiker/biker site but for tonight I'm happy for the kindness of strangers and safe haven at the Flagg Ranch Campground.
