Miles City, MT to Idaho Falls, ID





I apologize for the tardiness of this report and when I am finished you should understand why it is late. Yesterday's ride was the day I anticipated the most since my scheduled route would take me through some of the most beautiful scenery this country has to offer.

I left Miles City, MT on my way through Billings, south to Red Lodge, up and over the Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212), and into Yellowstone National Park. Thankfully, I missed the First Family's visit by a couple of days or I would still be traveling through the park. The trip for the day ended in Idaho Falls, ID, my last night to spend in a motel!!!

Unfortunately this picture does not accurately portray the scene. The Beartooth Highway is much better than the descriptions I have heard, but how can you accurately describe it? The road goes straight up the side of the mountain with awesome switchbacks and curves that make you think you'll go over the edge. The weather was a little cloudy so it was cold and a nice change of pace from the heat on the first half of the ride. They were doing some road work higher up and there were several road bikes that were doing duty as dual sports. Several miles of the highway were torn up and basically were dirt roads. This made for some interesting gyrations to keep everything on two wheels, which we all survived without falling over. Coming over the top of the pass and heading down into Cooke City, WY was some of the most awesome scenery I had ever seen. I did not get any pictures because I saw a sign that said "This is Grizzly Bear Country" and I was not interested in providing some grizzly bear with an afternoon snack.

I stopped in Cooke City, just outside of Yellowstone National Park, for gas and again had to traverse a few more miles of the highway that was converted to a dirt road. I have never been to this little community and was impressed with the setting amongst some amazing mountains.

And then came Yellowstone. Just to travel through the park cost $20 but I made sure to get my moneys worth. The "scheduled" route was to take me from the northeast entrance to the west entrance, a total of 96 miles. I guess the park decided that I needed to see more of the beautiful, diverse scenery that was available because they closed down the one key road I needed to complete my "scheduled" route. According to my calculations there are approximately 250 miles of roads through Yellowstone and I traveled more than 175 miles before I was able to exit the park. What I expected to do in a couple of hours turned into a four or five hour odyssey. To be honest I lost track of time as I was trying to find my way out of the maze. I finally found Old Faithful and missed an eruption by about five minutes. This is awesome country and there are so many different eco systems that to do this park justice one needs at least a week to explore it. I think I will chalk it up as a reconnaissance mission since there are tentative plans for my family to make a trip here next summer. If my memory is still good I should be able to get around, unless they decide to close another road for repairs. Did I mention the maximum speed limit was 45 mph and there were several times I got stuck behind a line of vehicles that were going considerably slower.

I think what interested me the most is that Yellowstone used to be one GIANT volcano and the whole park sits on the floor. Now I cannot even put that into perspective, only to say I would not want to be around if Old Faithful decides to become Old "un"Faithful. As I mentioned there is so much to see and I highly recommend this spot for a future vacation.

I did manage to find the exit I needed and headed toward Idaho Falls. This took approximately two hours, the longerst two hours of the trip as the sun was setting rapidly and I had to finish it in the dark, something I tried to avoid during the ride. By the time I reached the motel I was wasted and the internet connection was not working correctly. I got something to eat at Denny's and went straight to bed.

8-18-09 Stats

475 miles scheduled + 81 miles unscheduled
5,545 miles down
727 miles to go
88.4% complete
States - MT, WY, ID