Madison River Campground - West Yellowstone
Time Traveled: 3 hrs 45 mins
Distance: 39 miles
Food Eaten: coffee w/sugar, oatmeal (5th power), almond, grilled cheese sandwhich w/mustard, onion, tomato, lettuce, pickles, curly fries w/ketchup, veggie pizza, beer, salad, wine
The morning was a bright, beautiful one and we started off strong and bittersweet on our last journey in Montana. It wasn't long before we came across a junction that would give us the opportunity to cross over a few different Continental Divide passes (on road - we abandoned our previous route many miles ago).
It was because we were going to meet our friend Landon in West Yellowstone tonight that we decided to take an easier route that took us up a canyon into a National Earthquake Area. Up along the very full Madison River, we followed the road until we came upon two lakes. The first was Quake Lake, which had been formed more than 50 years ago in a huge earthquake. The second was Hebgen Lake, which is a long, thin expanse of water hosting the Hebgen Dam on the Western end. One of the gates on the dam was broken, resulting in a rapid frenzy of crashes and waves gushing out of the lake and down the canyon.
We realized two days ago that our food supply was getting low and all the convenient trail food to eat on the road had been eaten up. You can imagine our joy when another bike tourist we met told us there was a bar ahead with the typical fare. The cyclist had been on the road for over a month and have traveled all the way from New York! He was making his way all across the country and was headed toward the Northwest region.
I think it would take a lot of guts to take on such an adventure solo like that. Of course his rig was set up much more conducive for a road tour than our setup. He seemed very mild mannered and spoke with a European accent that couldn't quite identify. *side note* This reminds me that the old man we met in the Townsend Campground said he thought I had some kind of European accent. I think he said Norwegian or something. That was quite strange. */side note*
Soon, we found the bar and replenished our calorie deficit. I was mildly amused to find that this bar enjoyed taking Polaroids of people and posting them all over the walls. My amusement level raised by 1% when I saw that about half of the pictures were of women flashing their breasts and men flashing their asses. Those cameras seem to take the most unflattering pictures, making everything seem like its bathed in fluorescent light.
I considered adding my own breasts to the mammary menagerie, but unfortunately no one offered to take the Polaroid. This must be something that takes place when the sun goes down well after Happy Hour (which happens to be the bar's name). Maybe next time.
After we left the bar, it wansn't long before we were out of the canyon on on the main road into our destination city. 8, 7, 6...we counted the mile markers as they slowly approached and passed by. This was the final stretch and conclusion to our Montana Chapter. West Yellowstone is the place. My eyes teared up as we neared the small city and we stopped to take each other's picture in front of the sign at the town's entrance.
Over 650 miles had been pedaled to get to this point. When you work for each mile, then you really feel each and every one. We didn't stick to our original plan, but we still rode through an entire state. I look back at all the places we have been, all the people we have met and every tree we have seen. There have been so many nights in our tent out in all of nature's ferocious meanderings.
The earth had been temperamental with us. She gave us sun, wind, rain and even snow. She's been kind and she's been brutal, and we've loved her all throughout. My heart aches a little, knowing soon we'll be out of all this and back into our car with all the sensory deprivation that goes with it. While touring on bicycle, you are forced to take things at a very slow pace, but with that comes so much more to the traveling experience.
In a car, you are shut off form so much of what this world deals out. You zip through valleys and plains before you can see what they really look like. Detail is lost, as are the smells, sounds and each little climate change that lie within a landscape. I'm convinced that to really know a place, you have to take it slow and you must become dependent on it at some point. You have to inhale the air and breathe the land into your being.
Still, at the end of it all, I am grateful, relieved and so very excited to get in a car and go home. With all the houses I've seen on this trip, and all the many times I've spent the night in a tent, it makes me feel extremely blessed to have the home that we do. I've missed Utah terribly and I've been heartsick for all the people who await our return. My mother has been a nonstop line of support and I can't thank her enough.
I feel so incredibly lucky to have all the friends and family that we do. When you are cut off from the ones you love, then you truly appreciate everything that you come home to. Thank you, Montana, for the wonderful trip. Thank you, Utah, for being home.
