July 3, 2018
West Yellowstone – Grand Teton (Colter Bay)
145 km (90 miles)
1450 m (4756 feet) elevation
6:39 moving time
2312 km (1437 miles)

Today was one of our most feared and most anticipated day of our trip. We would be riding in the Yellowstone national park and amongst the wildlife we might encounter were bears, moose and bison.

We rode to the ticket booth in between dozens of cars in all directions. When through however the shoulders were wide and the traffic was slow and considerate.

The landscape in the park is absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful streams and rivers, great mountains, and of course the hot springs. We rode slowly and stopped at every possible turnout for a photo. We have probably not taken as many photos in one day as today.

Riding along the river we saw a bison up ahead on the right side of a car. We had been warned especially of the bison because they can be very agressive. People seem to fear them more than the bears. The traffic crawled past the bison and we rode our bikes on the left side of one of the cars to avoid it possibly attacking us. Thankfully it didn’t care about us or the cars.

Two tourists were recently rushed to a hospital after a selfie with a bison went wrong!

Seeing the Grand Prismatic Spring was an amazing experience. They are clear pools of warm water with amazing colors which are impossible to describe. Hopefully the photos can do the beauty some justice.

Hit our highest point so far as we crossed the continental divide (again) at 8391 feet.

The American flag was flown at half-staff honoring the victims at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland.

As we were riding our last hill of the day, already tired from all the climbing, a pickup pulls up next to us and the guy driving says ‘don’t you see that grizzlie bear?’. I thought he was joking but when he insisted my heart skipped a few beats as I imagined it might be next to the road ready to attack. Thankfully it was sitting happily eating grass or berries a few hundred yards from the road.

Arrived late to our campground but they fortunately have a separate hiker-biker campground which such people do not have to book in advance. Had some dinner but when we wanted to take a shower they had closed a few minutes earlier. We had to go to sleep without a proper shower, for the first and hopefully last time in this journey.