Today was Old Faithful day, geyser day, and hopefully we see some bison. We saw them all. But, before getting to Old Faithful we needed to climb another crossing of the continental divide and another mountain pass. The climbs are only getting easier. They are still pretty high in over 8000 feet above sea level but when you start at 6700+ feet above sea level they don’t seem so hard. Plus they are not as steep as the hills of Kentucky and Missouri. Once we made it over the divide and pass it was downhill all the way. The traffic was light once again. But at the the turn off to Old Faithful the cars and people made it seem like everything was back to normal. Once on the grounds of Old Faithful we rode as close as possible to determine when the next eruption was going to occur. It was soon because the people were on the viewing platforms. After a 10 to 15 minute wait it was eruption time. This is the third time in 4 years that I have been to Yellowstone and it still an amazement.
After the eruption occurred and we were fed it was time to walk the boardwalk around Old Faithful and to see the other geysers and geothermal activity. Almost immediately we came upon a bison in the trees. Of course there were the stupid people that tried to get closer to get a better a picture. Fortunately this bison was patient and meandered away from the people.
Next it was back on the bikes and heading north toward West Yellowstone including a stop at the overlook for the grand prismatic spring. I had never seen the spring from this vantage point before and it was worth it. It was getting later in the day so we needed to make some time to get to West Yellowstone. The ride from Old Faithful to West Yellowstone was predominantly downhill. Yes there were a few uphills but from Old Faithful to West Yellowstone it was drop of 1500 feet over 40 miles.
When we got into the West Yellowstone we went straight to the historic Madison Hotel/Hostel where we were able to commander a room for the evening. I stayed in this hotel/hostel last year and it is worth it. The building is over 100 years old and the furnishings, walls etc, are all from sewn timbers. I would go back.
Today’s stats: total mileage 60.31 miles, average speed 10.3 mph, elevation gain 2188 feet, elevation loss 3205 feet, maximum speed 34.6 mph.