It was clear and cool in Jackson as we loaded the bikes and headed out to find some breakfast. Our plan for the day was to go through Teton National Park and Come in the South entrance of Yellowstone park and then depending on the traffic in the park go out the north entrance or if the traffic was slow take the shorter route and go out the west side of the park, Either way we wanted to end up in Great Falls at the end of the day.
The GPS showed a Village Inn on our way through town and that seemed like a good place for breakfast, but there was no Village Inn. There was a Bubba's Bar-B-Q there. It was open and there were several trucks in the parking lot that looked like locals so we headed in. They were serving standard breakfast fare and it was very good, probably a bit better than if it had still been a Village Inn. On the bikes and a quick stop to feed them and we are headed to Teton. When we arrived at the entrance John got in with a show of his senior pass so I asked about buying one. Best deal I have ever had, $10 and good as long as I am alive. I asked the lady about the cheap price and she said it works out good as old people can't run very fast so the bears get a lot of them. So as long as they live isn't all that many trips and it helps feed the bears. The road through the park is very pretty and the trees are very green and unmolested, as in has not been burned. The real beauty is looking back across some of the open areas at the very jagged peaks, very sharp and mean looking but covered with snow to give them a softer look. I think it was the perfect time of the year for that park, lots of green and still some snow along the road. That road takes you right to the south entrance to Yellowstone. I got to try out my new pass and was in free. John was ahead of me and showed his pass and picture ID and the ranger was from Flagstaff, just working Yellowstone for the summer small world.. Starting into the park traffic didn't seem too bad but we wanted to go towards the west to Old Faceful and as we head that way we are finding more traffic and more snow. for the first 40 miles the snow along the road is higher that my head, no chance of seeing any critters unless it is a snow bunny or a polar bear. The funny thing is all the cars are stopped and people are taking picture of frozen lakes covered with snow. But when one car stops, eight more stop thinking there must be some thing great here. There were no critters around and the lakes could have been any where, big areas of white. The area where the park had burned the snow was only a few feet deep and along the road in a few places the grass was starting to show through. About 15 miles from the geyser the snow was mostly gone and at the geyser all was clear and nice. We got there about 10 minuets after Old Faceful had spouted so watched the steam for a few minuets, had a cup of coffee and headed for the west entrance, or in this case the west exit. There were a few buffalo that people had stopped to take pictures of. The funny thing was that the buffalo were a ways from the road, another mile up the road we pass two heard of 40 or 50 each close to the road and no body taking pictures, they were all back at the poor Kodak minuets sites. As we came around a corner the traffic is stopped. There was a herd of buffalo walking up the road toward us, so we are stopped for 5 or 10 minuets till they pass, there is a ranger following them with a caution lite on top of his truck to keep the people behind the buffalo from trying to get through. It was amazing to be sitting on the motor cycle and having all these buffalo walking by on both side so close you can almost touch them. I did get some pictures and will get them posted when I figure out how. The cars behind the buffalo were backed up as far as I could see so I looked at my odometer just to check and see how long the line was---2.4 miles and the cars were continuing to back up farther all the time. Buffalo don't walk very fast and in fact they were just kind of ambling along as they passed us and there was a high bank on one side and the river on the other, they had at least another 1/2 mile to amble before any cars could get by. Out Kodak moment had to be an hour or more of frustration for the people waiting in line, not knowing why and not getting to be in the middle of a herd. There are a great number of buffalo in both parks and a few on some of the range between Jackson and Teton. Out side of the park we saw a few more antelope. That was it for the critters. Inside the park there were a lot of people fishing, not sure how most were doing as the water was pretty high and moving fast. Some must have done well as we based Biscuit Flats where there are a lot of the hot water pots with steam coming out there were several fishermen that had cleaned their fish and put them back on the hook and were holding them in the steam cooking them, I guess that would be really fresh fish.
Leaving the park we picked up 287 to take us north to Helena, We stopped in Ennis for fuel and then on north, some where we got on I 90 instead of crossing it about half way to Helena so we slabbed it over to Butte and then took I 15 north. I 15 north was fun, lots of up and down hills and lot of long sweeping fast curves following the river and crossing it many time. A really pretty ride. As we were getting close to Helena we were getting more and more clouds, a little bit like the forecast had said last night. We stopped in Helena for fuel and John asked if I thought we should put on our rain gear or take our chances and put it on when the rain started. I said lets ride, it is only 95 miles and we will miss the rain. More fun road and about 40 miles from Great Falls we just missed a shower, the roads were wet but the rain had moved west. At about 32 miles from Great Falls the road in front of us was wet and getting wetter and the oncoming cars had their wipers on. We stopped and put on the rain gear, or at least the jacket and pants, didn't worry about gators or the details. We just had a little lite rain on into Great Falls. by the time we got the bikes unloaded and our bags into the hotel rooms it was a lite drizzle but we walked a 100 yard to the restaurant and back with out getting too wet. So it did rain on our parade but not too much.
Traveler and the white donkey
PS. I don't promise to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
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