In preparation for the cold nights up here, we closed up all the windows of the tent last night. Either it worked, or it was not as cold, because we were not really cold at all.
This morning we slept in a bit, then got up and watched the action. Campground hunting, that is. By 9am, the place was full again, our site was claimed by a couple that then left to see the park for the day. We left at 11am, a good leisurely morning of drying out (it was really dewy this morning) and packing.
It took an hour to get the 30 miles to the South end of the lower loop of Yellowstone, not because we stopped a lot, but just because traffic was real heavy. Since it was noonish by then, we stopped for lunch in Grant Village. As usual, the service was excruciatingly slow, but as our saying has been for the last two days, sometimes you just have to be ok with a lot of people. We knew the risks of spending a lot of time in National Parks�
Anyway, while looking around the shop, we spied a fishing section. We had toyed with the idea of picking up some fishing poles for a while now, and this store had some telescoping rods that we could pretty easily strap on the back. There was a really nice older man that gave us the complete run-down on fishing, fishing poles and loures. He even managed to smack at least three shoppers in the head with the extended fishing pole, and got the hook snagged in the carped during a casting demonstration. The price was $15 each, plus $10 each for reels. Seemed pretty good, and we thought it would be fun to do some fishing on the way. Especially with so much time planned for Colorado in the next few weeks.
On south out of the park, we rode through about 15 miles of gravel construction and into Grand Teton National Park. It is absolutely beautiful!! Tremendously huge, sharp mountains blasting into the sky on one side, and plains and distant mountains on the other. In the middle are rivers and lakes all surrounded by forests. I could easily go back and spend a lot more time there. Mark it for a future vacation :-)
We stopped in the Colter Bay visitor center to check on the possibility of camping in the park, and picked up 2 one-day fishing licenses. We were told that there is a campground at the extreme south end (Gros Ventre) that has not yet filled up this year, so we planned on staying there. Our next stop was at a picnic area on the shore of Jackson Lake. We put the fishing poles together, and practiced casting a bit. Didn't catch anything, but the setup works really well, and is easy to keep on the bike.
At Jenny Lake we stopped again for a little fishing, again not catching anything� It was an incredibly beautiful lake, with the sun setting, and the mountains in the background. The ride on down to Gros Ventre was awesome. It was nothing but a straight two lane road with a low speed limit, but the scenery was just so cool. As we pulled into the campground, the gate said FULL!! Pangs of fear shot through us, but as usual, it was just the park service being, well� for lack of a better thought, mean. There were plenty of sites left, especially for tents. We got a great site with a level tent spot next to the river. We saw the same thing at our campground in Yellowstone. They would put the full signs out well before they were actually full. It pays to ask, and not just trust the signs�
We set up camp, and cooked dinner, and realized that this campground does not have bear boxes anywhere. No big deal for most people, as you are just supposed to keep stuff in your car, but on a bike we can't do that. We did meet a nice man in the site next to us (on a road trip from South Carolina in a '79 Nova with 39k miles) who let us toss our food in his car for the night.
Tomorrow, we've got to figure out where to go next�
david.
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