Part IV: Grand Teton And Yellowstone, Day Two

After my first day in Yellowstone I stayed at a hotel in West Yellowstone, Montana. It's a nice tourist town with not a lot going on. A guy at a restaurant I ate at said this past winter they had snow higher than the first story windows and the temperature got down to -48 degrees.

On day two I was off to see Fishing Lake and the lower east side of Yellowstone.



The snake river that runs through the park and under the fishing bridge.



Aside from all the geysers around Old Faithful there are other geyser basins in the park. This the mud volcano.



Yellowstone even has its own Grand Canyon, The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It's probably not as impressive as the real Grand Canyon but it is an impressive sight, more so because its so different from the surrounding terrain.



Yellowstone Lake, the largest freshwater lake above 7,000ft in the world, was a little chilly.



Despite there being tons of snow in the park and some road closures, most of the mains roads were open thanks to this little device.

After spending most of the day cruising around Yellowstone and taking more sites I needed to decide where to go next. The original plan was to see both Yellowstone and Glacier, further north on the Canadian border, but even though it was warm enough for just a light jacket during the day it was extremely cold at night and in the mornings. I had met a lady from British Columbia who had ridden up from Utah and she said the weather there was great. Utah was already my Plan B so I decided to head south instead of north and to see Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, and Arches along with all the other wonders I heard of Utah from Spencer, Patrick, Gabrielle, and others.



I rode south back through Grand Teton, where I saw a moose.



Then took The Oregon Trail Scenic Byway (89) into Idaho. I only rode through a small bit of southeastern Idaho but its a beautiful state that is often forgotten when people think of traveling in the US.





After riding through some low country side I went back up into the mountains and found this dirt road that went through a national forest. The campsite was closed. I considered camping here along the road but the ground was too soft and muddy and I thought I could get more miles in before dark.



This is Bear Lake on the border of Idaho and Utah.

I ended up in Logan, Utah. An awesome town just minutes from a bunch of national forest camp sites. I stayed at a Super 8 here thinking I'd go back up 89 the next morning and explore but the urge to keep pressing on caught up with me the next morning so I continued south.

While I was getting gas in Logan, two other motorcycles pulled up. A lot of people, on motorcycles or in cars or at stops, would talk to me on the trip because they'd be interested in the bike or notice my Georgia license plate. I got used to what I thought was an odd question: "I saw your Georgia plates. Are you from there?"

One of the motorcyclists asked me about the bike and wondered where I was going. When I told I had never been to Utah before but was heading south he said "Get out your map." I took out my map and he started detailing the route I had to take... "one of the best rides in the whole United States." I took out a pen and we discussed how I would proceed from Logan down to Bryce, Zion, and back around towards Arches. I wish I had gotten their names so I could thank them now but they were so right about the route! It's incredible! I'll post it in the last entry for the trip report.



Proceeding south I ended up at a Super 8 in Somewheresville (I don't remember). When I pulled in, I noticed a BMW, then I noticed it had Georgia plates. The bike had some graphics indicating it had done some mileage and the rear of the bike had been modified to support another gas tank. I wanted to meet its rider but it was late and I figured they were probably asleep in whatever hotel room they were in. The next morning I went to the neighboring Denny's for some badly needed calories and someone called to me asking if I was riding the other BMW. It was Ralph Joiner and his wife Judy.



They invited to me to sit with them at breakfast. Turns out they are from Kennesaw, not far from where I work in Marietta. They have quite a riding resume having been to Alaska multiple times. Judy maintains a site that chronicles their adventures: www.2n2ak.com. Definitely worth a visit. They confirmed the route that had been giving to me by the two guys at the gas station and filled in some gaps with a route that led me through northern Arizona then back into Utah, up to Moab, Arches, and then I-70 which I would use to return to Denver for new tires from BMW of Denver. After breakfast we said our goodbyes, I got their email address, and was off toward Bryce Canyon.