Day 37 – From Teton to Yellowstone! Who Can Ask For Anything More?

The morning began in long sleeves for only the second time on the trip. The first time was going over Hosier Pass but today anticipating the elevation of the entire day I figured I would need them. I did!! All day! The day did not begin until 9:15, which is a little later than I would have hopped but there are just some things that you cannot hurry nor avoid.
The beauty of the Tetons at night transformed into the immense beauty of the sun shining on them in the morning. They were awe inspiring and called for a picture around each bend.

We often obliged them! I did wonder what I was going to do with about 500 pictures of the mountains and surrounding scenery but then I decided that all of them would jar my memory bank of a trip I once took when I am old and senile and cannot even remember what I ate for breakfast!


We wound through the GTNP (Grand Teton National Park) and often thought, with as much as people were stopping we would not be the slowest traffic going through the park. People stop so often to take pictures and it is faster for me to dismount my bike to take pictures than it is for them to get out of their cars to take pictures. We were passed by the same vehicles over and over. They probably got sick of slowing to pass those same bikers.
In 1988 a forest fire devastated much of the park so we saw many hill sides with dead trees surrounded with new growth.

It is kind of funny to hear the rangers talk and say that forest fires are actually good for the forest in the long run. It allows for new growth and resupplies the soil with nutrients. I chuckle on the inside since God allows and plans the fires for the best of the forest! He is the best, constant and most knowledgeable rejuvenator of life. It is sort of hard to understand when all you think is that “nature” is just following its course, instead of an all knowing God is planning the course!
We eventually came to Yellowstone National Park!

It was another checkpoint in the journey today and one that gave us a sense of satisfaction. The Snake River greeted us as we entered and we followed it down below in this canyon.

As I was climbing the hills I saw a familiar flagged recumbent tricycle! It was Merle Knotts again!!

The first and lowest Continental Divide soon came and we looked forward to crossing it twice more still today.

Soon after, the second and tallest.

I was looking for a place to put the camera down to take it self-timed when this man from across the street came and offered to take our picture. I returned the favor for he and his family also. I guess there are still nice people in this world after all! Then Craig’s Pass, and the final crossing of the Continental Divide today, stood in our path.

This one was exciting because it meant that the rest of the day would be downhill, since we would be following the Firehole River and then the Madison River.
We crossed it and came down the other side to Old Faithful. We would be back tomorrow. We then came to a place where lots of people were gathered and decided to pull in. I am glad that I did.

The Firehole River offered a perfect opportunity for me to cool off (I was still in long sleeves). It was quite refreshing!
The last 30 miles of the day were, just as we thought, downhill and very nice. We passed through Madison Junction. The road there took us to West Yellowstone. As we came in to town we passed the state line sign and got a picture.

I have lost track of the number of states this makes but it seems like it is about 10. I felt quite welcome to Montana!
That night we enjoyed a family favorite, glorietta!! It is the best and brought back memories of Mrs. Herline making the same thing for hot lunch at my elementary school.
I decided it was date night, so Abigail and I ate ice cream and enjoyed watching Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in “You’ve Got Mail”. It was nice. We hit the air mattress late that night eagerly anticipating a wonderful day in Yellowstone National Park!