July 25, 2007: Ride Home - Forsyth, MT

See route
Riding in comfort...
...for now, I prefer my bike.
On the way to Yellowstone
Got gas in West Yellowstone before
entering the park. Also got free
samples (cherries!) from this guy!
It was a weird kind of day at
Yellowstone. The sky was threatening
at times, sometimes not. Definitely a
"larger than life" feeling to it...
I wondered if ANY areas of the park
had NOT been razed by fire at one time
or another. There was always signs of
burnt out trees and newer undergrowth.
Everyone slowed right down to see this.
You're not allowed to stop but I managed
one picture of this Bald Eagle and its
nest since we were going so slow.
Same picture but hopefully you can see
the bird on the right side of its
HUGE nest.
Lots of traffic on the roads there,
especially RVs and cars pulling trailers.
There were a lot of places to turn off
the road, though. Each turnout offered
a great view of nature.
I found this hill/mountain interesting
because, on the surface at least, it
was made up of tons of small rocks.
Interesting shapes in the terrain...
...as well as meandering, relaxing
streams of water.
Before I got a clear view, I thought
these geysers might be small fires.
I stopped to see the geysers
and see their impact on the land
around them.
It was strange to see the water
boiling, steam rising.
It created bacterial fields like
this one.
The white covering everything was
silica... liquid to solid sand.
I thought the "Paint Pot" was one
of the coolest things I saw. Talk
about a witch's brew... "Bubble, bubble,
toil and trouble..."
As you saw the steam rising, you
knew you were standing on top of
a volcano...
...maybe not quite as active as
some but you wondered whether it
was wise to be there.
This tree was one of the geyser's
more recent casualties.
A jelly geyser... just ooze!
This one really spouted...
... so of course I got my picture
taken in front of it.
Yet another geyser, its warm water
flowing downward to destroy any
vegetation in its path.
Case in point...
I left the Lower Basin and went
in search of Old Faithful but first
I came to the Black Sand Basin.
These geysers ran along a stream
and this particular spout was small...
... but quite active!
When I got to the site of Old
Faithful, I didn't see IT erupting,
but I did see the Castle Geyser in the
distance.
I wondered why the Faithful One was
merely a wisp...
...until this Ranger (from Utah) came
to explain it all to us. I thought it
was a really neat idea that each child
got an activity book which they had to
fill in to get a badge. One thing on their
list: listen to or ask questions of a
ranger.
Finally! Old Faithful had filled
her well and the pressure had built
up enough to spew this 100+ foot tower
of water!
Kepler Cascades
Very pretty
Here, I am JUST on the West side
of the Great Continental Divide.
All kinds of beautiful flowers
and plants near/in this pond.
It would have been great seeing this
bison roaming free in the park...
...had there not been a circus around
him! Further along, I turned a corner
and had to slam my brakes. Not because
of a bison, but the car which had
stopped dead in the MIDDLE of the road
to look at him. DUMB!!
On the way out of the park, I
travelled along Yellowstone Lake...
...and the much smaller Sylvan Lake.
Sylvan Lake might have been small,
but I preferred the surroundings.
I travelled through Sylvan Pass to leave
the park and the views were spectacular.
Unfortunately, I could not take pictures
because they were re-constructing the
road (all gravel right now) and you
had to follow a pilot vehicle through...
NO STOPS ALLOWED!!!
Another thing to add to my "next time" list!
As soon as you left the park, the
scenery seemed to change immediately.
Exactly what you'd expect to find
in the Wyoming countryside.
Buffalo Bill State Park...
...complete with small poackets
of red rocks...
...dams and tunnels!
A view of the dam from the other
side of the mountain.
If you work at the dam, you get the
privilege of driving this road every
day. YIKES!!!
Just short of Cody, Wyoming
It gets better...
...much better!
Next Day

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