Yellowstone National Park
Exploring the edges of a vast wilderness
Yesterday I left Yellowstone NP after spending 6 days and 5 nights seeing the natural wonders of this historic park - sometimes in the company of hundreds of tourists. During the week, I slowed down my average cycling pace considerably from 50 miles per day to 28, in order to wander on foot and talk with people. Yesterday, as I was pedaling east on East Entrance Road, I came upon about 8 vehicles hugging the road shoulder with about two dozen people looking downslope towards the lake - many of them using binoculars or spotting scopes. I pulled off to the shoulder to see what everyone was looking at, but saw only a hillside full of standing dead trees, shrubby regrowth, and the lake.
I spoke with Pamela first - the woman with the short blonde hair in the above photo - and she told me that there was a 5-1/2 year old grizzly walking about 100 yards downslope towards the lake. Pamela is a professional wildlife photographer living in West Yellowstone and her life revolves around her passion - grizzlies. The grizzly that we were looking at is named Jam, and is one of the offspring of the mother bear named Strawberry. This portion of East Yellowstone along East Entrance Road is their home. Earlier yesterday, grizzly enthusiasts saw Jam’s sibling cross East Entrance Road moving upslope.
I was grateful that my first-ever sighting of a grizzly was with a spotting scope at a safe distance of a 100 yards. After hanging out with the grizzly observation group for a half hour, I got back on my bike to resume my ascent of Sylvan Pass. In less than a quarter mile I passed a large fresh dark pile of bear scat on the road shoulder - Yellowstone NP is a home for grizzlies.
Below are photos of the highlights from six days of exploring Yellowstone on a bike.
Sylvan Pass - the highest of my trip so far.
Lodgepole pines are the predominant conifer in Yellowstone (about 80%) and the only conifer that I saw in the park. I practiced yoga nearly every morning while I was in the park and this is the view I had at the end which is Shrivasana - the corpse pose.
Meeting these 5 young Cantonese tourists at the overlook to the Porcelain Basin Hot Springs was a delight. The two youngest members of the group did the majority of the translating back and forth.
Porcelain Basin - other worldly
This is the section of the Firehole River where I found an eddy to swim in - river right below the curtain of white.
Meadows and bogs are prevalent along the major and minor streams and it appeared to be peak flowering season. I saw over 20 species of native plants in bloom including Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja sp.) which was scattered in the meadows. In addition to this creamy orange Paintbrush, there were also yellow, a brighter orange, and deep red.
The main reason that I was able to spend so many days in Yellowstone was that I’ve been trekking solo since Day 2. The rest of my partners were heading south into the Grand Tetons and then Colorado. I’m the only trekker that I’ve encountered that brakes for flowers and trees.
Helianthella blanketing a slope above the east shore of Yellowstone Lake.
I’ve passed the halfway distance point of this venture and am continuing east on the ACA route called Parks, Peaks, and Prairies which started in West Yellowstone and ends in Minneapolis. I expect to arrive in Minneapolis at the end of July, at which point I’ll board a plane and fly home to Chico.
Donate to the True North Housing Alliance (Torres Shelter) via my personal fundraising page - Cycling for Shelter.