Day 39 – A Lazy Ride Down the Madison River

After a day of riding in the car and doing very little in the way of exercise, our legs were more stiff than after a normal rest day. So we drove back into town to where we had been picked up on Tuesday so we didn’t have to backtrack, the children said goodbye to their friend Sweetie,

they also got a picture in front of this bus that captivated their attention each time they saw it yesterday,

we got back on our bikes and began our ride. The stiffness and soreness was gone about a quickly as it take for a cockroach to scurry into the darkness, which made for a quite pleasant (even after that quite unpleasant analogy). We said goodbye to West Yellowstone, MT, the last bit of the Park, and said hello to the Madison River.

The Hebgen Dam created the Hebgen Lake which then continues the Madison River. Hebgen Lake is a beautiful lake at the base of the mountains and besides beautiful land for rental cabins it also provides many people with good fishing. We saw many fishermen during the day. The Madison River is one of the premier fly fishing rivers in the US.
As we came to one of the informational signs on the side of the road we met David, from England, and Elizabeth, from Holland.

Dad made a valiant effort at greeting Elizabeth in Dutch (my Hyink family came over from the Netherlands). She actually understood him and responded with a much more rapid and complex response hoping that he would understand. He didn’t. The fact that she understood was quite remarkable considering that we had a German exchange student when I was in Jr. High and Dad tried to break out his German that he had learned in 3 years of high school 33 years earlier, our exchange student looked at him thinking that he was speaking Yiddish or something. They were quite interesting people. They toured YNP for a few days and we were quite jealous to hear that they had seen 5 bear and moose. We saw none of either. They were traveling self-supported so we were able to pass them not too far up the road.
We rejoined the Madison River again and this time we came not to a man manufactured lake but to a God made lake. In 1959, an earthquake caused the side of a mountain to fall off and dam up the river causing road damage, trapping people near the rising water, and killing the trees that got trapped under the water.

Quake Lake was formed and was a neat sight to see. While we were looking, Dad noticed a bald eagle sitting on a tree branch. I stealthily approached and got a few good shots of him. He even smiled for the last one. Can you tell?

The rest of the day was now downhill and we enjoyed the relaxation that this afforded us. We pulled off to eat at a very well advertised restaurant, at least on the billboards, and it was CLOSED (only open from 4-9:00pm). That is worse than banker’s hours, or like a post office being closed an hour for lunch (when people might be off for lunch to do their mailing), or even like being closed every Monday (as we have found in the past). The one thing this place gave us was a funny picture. Check this new use for a camera tripod!!

Oh well, we were not too tired so we drank a few swigs of our bottled fuel, ate a few fig newtons that Dad keeps in his CamelBak for just times like this, washed it all down with water and set off for Cameron, MT, which was the next town with a place to eat. It was 30 more miles. Down the hill we went enjoying the sights of the river all the way.

Cameron, MT was there and the restaurant was open!! Our lunch gave us just what we needed to make the final 11 miles to Ennis, MT.

70 miles by 4:00. Not too bad! Very little effort expended too! What a great day! The LORD gave us good weather, a safe ride, and the health and strength to make it another day. Blessed be the name of the LORD!
Today I received great news after I got showered and was able to check my email! The owner of Fab Masters, the aluminum fabricating factory where I worked before I left, emailed me and told me that he had a job for me when I returned! What a huge answer to prayer! So those of you at Fab Masters who are reading this, I hope you aren’t too disappointed. I guess you could try to change his mind before I actually come back. Just don’t tell Brian Nielson. He might just do it! I’ll see you guys soon!
The weather forecast for tomorrow calls for record highs in temperature so we got Dairy Queen after supper to give us the energy to leave the campground at 6:30 to beat the heat. It is off to bed for me!