Day 5: Rest day at Yellowstone National Park

 

 

 I was glad for a day off the bike. Doing some sight seeing at Yellowstone with a few miles of walking were just what my legs needed to recover. Also staying at the same hotel for two nights meant none of the high pressure logistics to get everything organized at the crack of dawn. Also for the first time in four days there wasn't any noticeable smoke in the air!

Since Tuesday (Sept 10) was a short day, Rachel rented a car and we made an excursion to Old Faithful in the late afternoon. The timing was good - we only had to wait a few minutes for the next spouting.

You can't say they weren't warned:

Then on Wednesday Rachel, Mollie (her roommate) and me took another trip into the park to do some walking around Yellowstone Falls. The Park Service labels it "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone" which I gotta say sounds a bit pretentious. Why not call it "The Niagara Falls of Yellowstone"? It is a nice river canyon for sure, but "grand"? Especially in the context of so many actually unique and magnificent features in this park!

 

 

  

 

Liking the way they build this to allow water to drain off the road:

 

 

Nice culvert!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking ahead to 135 miles tomorrow to get to the Grand Tetons with a bit of dread. Temperatures expected to be 40-50 all day with some rain. Good thing we got some rest today.