Around Yellowstone

After Deb’s bike broke down, I have a passenger. It makes sense, since I was heading to Seattle anyway, so there is little impact on the trip.

 

Cooke City, Montana, is located on US212 on a small loop of road only accessible from Wyoming. The town is a single road, about a half-mile from end to end. At each end is parked an old car, painted like a police car, complete with a cut-out cardboard cop: they are the local police force, keeping order and alerting motorists to the strict 25MPH speed limit. Formerly a mining town, Cooke City now survives on tourists. There are a few small motels, restaurants, bars, and two gas stations. The Antler Lodge is immediately on our right as we enter town, and even though it is early afternoon, we reserve two log cabins for the night.

We’re just a few miles from the northeast entrance to Yellowstone Park. Paul guides us into the park. In the thirty miles into the park, I notice that the tall, dark, sharp, mountain peaks get a bit gentler, and turn into hills. The hard stone is now covered with grass. The trees aren’t just in the river valley anymore, but climb the sides of the hills. This is just as dramatic a transition as it was going from mountains to desert the day before. There are large meadows with herds of bison way off in the distance.

There is a tall bridge over the Yellowstone River. We stop for pictures. There is an elderly fisherman nearby. Tom gets the idea for a photo-op. The fisherman agrees to let us take a ‘trophy shot’ of him holding his fishing rod and his ‘catch of the day’, our blue plastic turtle, Waldo. This guy must think that these bikers are nuts, but he enjoys the joke. This was Waldo’s first photo, and the official start of what would be a fun gimmick for the rest of the trip. The rest of the trip, we would stop tourists to get a photo holding our toy turtle. It didn’t matter if they were Japanese tourists, or families. On mountain bikes, motorcycles, or mini-vans. We were always looking for new adventures for Waldo.

We stop at Tower Falls, one of the most accessible waterfalls in the park. There is a hefty walk down to the river, and the base of the falls. It is impressive.

As the sun begins to descend, we make it back to Cooke City, and find cold beer and pizza at the Miner’s Pub. We walk back to the cabins for a good night’s sleep.

It is an incredible way to start the day, opening the door to the cabin, looking across the road at the high mountains. It is as scenic as is it peaceful. I will find myself returning to this same spot many times in the coming years, sharing it with many close friends on many motorcycle trips.

Today, our goal is to ride through Yellowstone, visiting some of the many sites, then head to the town of Jackson, Wyoming. The roads through the park are basically in a figure-eight. From the top-right corner, a road leads east to Cooke City. We ride down the east side of the figure-eight. This region contains more of the canyons and waterfalls. There are many parking areas, providing plenty of angles for viewing the scenes of Lower Falls, and Upper Falls.

Ten years ago, wildfires tore through a significant part of Yellowstone. As we ride through these regions, the lonely, burned, decaying skeletons of pine trees are everywhere. However, this decay feeds new pine tree saplings have grown several feet tall. Scientists have discovered that pine cones require extreme heat to germinate, so, fire is necessary for new forest growth. The park rangers have a policy of allowing nature to reclaim the damaged areas, and it was impressive to see how well the process works. Nature has this all figured out after all. Wildfires are a healthy part of the forest ecosystem.

We ride across the middle of the figure-eight to the west side of the park, where most of the geyser activity is centered. Norris Geyser Basin is a field full of geysers. For many acres, as far as you can see, there is steam and water rising from the light-gray limestone ground. Water seeps into the ground and reaches hot magma, just a mile or so beneath the surface of Yellowstone. The water is heated and becomes steam, and escapes to the surface. As it rises, the soft limestone is dissolved and carried with the hot liquid. When the steam reaches the surface, it cools, and the limestone and other minerals are deposited on the surface. This is the way a geyser works. They are everywhere in this geyser basin.

We work our way south, visiting many of the amazing geothermal features. Certainly, the most famous of these is Old Faithful. Erupting at fairly regular intervals, about 90 minutes apart, and spouting dozens of feet into the air, this is the most visited geyser in the park. It is certainly worth seeing, but some of the other geysers can be more interesting. The paint pots, for example, are pools with various colors, caused by bacteria that thrive in the superheated, acidic, water. Then there are mud pots, that have less water and more minerals, forming a bubbling sludge. There are vents, where superheated air is escaping from the bowels of the earth. Yellowstone is truly a fascinating visit to another planet.

We learn that the volcano underneath Yellowstone is tied into volcanoes in Alaska. Years ago, when there was a huge eruption in Alaska, the regular timing of Old Faithful was permanently changed. The underground system of magma probably stretches through the ‘ring of fire’ volcanoes that connect from Alaska down through Japan and Indonesia. The size of this covers nearly a quarter of the planet, and it is almost too big to comprehend.

From Old Faithful, it is about one hundred miles to reach Jackson, Wyoming. We stop to see a herd of bison on the side of the road. While we are watching these massive creatures, something spooks them, and they run away from the crowds at incredible speeds.

Upon reaching Jackson, we find some rooms, and head over the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar for drinks. This tourist spot has saddles for bar stools, and a huge collection of memorabilia to enjoy. Paul arranges for a table at the restaurant in the basement. They have a wide selection of fancy meals prepared from local wildlife. I really enjoyed the elk fillet, although the price tag was a bit steep.

Next: To Seattle