Day thirty three, Thursday, September 14th
West Yellowstone, MT., to Cody, WY., via Yellowstone NP
When we were checking into the hotel last night I was griping about the fact that breakfast was not included with a hotel room that cost us almost $500 after all the taxes and fees were added to it. The clerk must have felt bad about it because she gave us complimentary breakfast passes for the restaurant that was part of the hotel. That was nice, but even with this the breakfast was still barely as good as most of the free continental breakfasts we had been enjoying at other hotels. Still, it was better than nothing. While Sarah and I were eating, we could hear a couple behind me talking and it sounded kind of like they were speaking French. As they were about to leave I stopped them and asked where they were from. The wife said they were from Israel. I mentioned that it sounded like they were speaking French, but she said they were speaking Hebrew. I don't know that I've ever heard anyone speak Hebrew before and I told her how much it sounded like French to me. She said that numerous people had told her the same thing. She did in fact happen to speak French fluently as well, and her English was also very good. Impressive. They were here for an extended vacation, as was the case with so many of the Europeans we had been encountering along our travels.
After breakfast we headed back to the room to get everything packed and ready to go. It was a very cold and damp morning, with a thick fog obscuring everything. By the time we got out to the bikes, it had lifted enough that it was clear under it, but still blocking the sun. I could barely see it trying to peek through from above. Across the street there was some kind of adventure touring company that had all these jacked up 4WD yellow vans with massive tires. Those were pretty cool. Once we got the bikes loaded, we stopped for gas and then headed for the entrance to Yellowstone Park. We did not need the vehicle permit now because it was after September 10th. From that point on, all that was needed was the regular annual park passes, which all of us had. The line to get in wasn't too bad and we didn't have to wait a long time. There was a good deal of traffic though. Once in the park we headed South upon reaching the Grand Loop Road. Just across the Gibbon River we turned onto Firehole Canyon Road. This runs one way from North to South through a tight canyon formed by the Firehole River. It is all 25 mph, which is fine because it is very narrow and tight, and there is a load of traffic! We stopped at an overlook not far from the beginning and again at the waterfalls where there was a decent parking lot. It was crowded! Once we got past the falls, there were a few other places where lots of people were stopping, but we opted to just head back to the main road and continue South. Just a bit further down the road we turned onto Fountain Flat Road, which runs next to the Firehole River a short way before dead ending into a parking area with walking trails leading away. We immediately got back on the main road, crossed the Nez Perce Creek and encountered heavy traffic almost immediately. It was that annoying speed that is too fast to just stop but not fast enough to leave it in first gear and crawl, so the clutch hand was getting a serious workout! When we reached a pull out area I pulled over just to take a break. From there I could see the problem. There were a bunch of Buffalo hanging out not far from the road near Firehole Lake Drive. People were stopping to take pics and they weren't being real quick about it
When we eventually got up there a Park Ranger was standing there trying to waive people along to keep them from stopping, but everyone just flat out ignored her and stopped anyway
So that took a good 15-20 minutes to get through. No sooner did we get through that we got down the road a few more miles only to have the traffic come to a complete stop for another 15 minutes or so. This was near the Biscuit Basin Trailhead parking lot. Apparently they were painting new crosswalks
So... we finally got past that and made our way to the Old Faithful complex.
It was immediately clear that Old Faithful is a huge draw for tourists. The size of the parking lots and number of buildings indicated that a LOT of people come here! We rolled in and found nice parking spots near the main buildings. We headed over to the Old Faithful Lodge and Cafeteria to find out when the next show was supposed to happen. It would seem Old Faithful has been slacking in recent years because it now had an eruption time plus or minus twenty minutes! So Old Mostly Faithful
Anyway, we went into the lodge and it was actually very nice. The main area had a massive fireplace and huge windows facing out toward the geyser. If you wanted, you could easily sit inside and watch the show. The cafeteria had a wide variety of overpriced food, so we got ice cream
Then we went outside to wait and people watch. The next eruption was supposed to be 20 minutes from now, so we decided to hang around and watch. Already people were gathering around the benches that surround the South side of the geyser. Off in the distance on the other side of the Firehole River we could see another geyser erupting at a fairly steady rate for quite a while with the steam rising high above the trees. Cool.
As the time for the Old Faithful eruption drew nearer, we moved down to the benches and got a front row spot. We really didn't know what to expect. We were hearing all kinds of languages being spoken around us. That was kind of cool. Then there were a few spurts and everyone got all excited, holding their cell phones high to catch the drama. Then there was nothing but some steam... A few minutes later there were more spurts and gurgling, and then slowly more steam and water began to push up out of the ground. It wasn't as loud as I would have thought it would be. The volume of water was also much less than I expected. The stream of water shot up maybe 50 feet, if that? Mostly it was just a LOT of steam rising into the air and cold water vapor raining down on us as it drifted on the breeze. Within a few minutes it was completely done. The kids looked at me. I looked at them. "I guess that's it!?" We were all a bit underwhelmed by the experience, but at least now we would be able to say, "Been there, done that." So we headed back to the bikes and fought the traffic to get back out on the main road. It was a lot like trying to leave at the end of a football or baseball game where everyone is trying to leave at once.
The traffic wasn't quite as heavy heading East from Old Faithful as it had been trying to get here from the Northwest. I've no idea why, but we were glad. The road crested at Craig Pass around 8200 feet and then dropped a few hundred feet down into the De Lacy Creek Valley and quickly climbed back up around 8400 feet before gently dropping down to US 287 at Yellowstone Lake. Right at this intersection there was a large parking area for the West Thumb Geyser Basin. I pulled in just to see what it was. It was an interesting collection of hot springs basically, all slightly different in character from the others. They varied by sizes, colors, and even the consistency of what was coming out of them. Some were bubbling gray mud, and some clear water, green water, blue water, orange, etc,... We were all kind of surprised by this variety. We did have to do some walking to view most of them. There were a series of the elevated board walks that eventually led down to an overlook where there was a really big hot spring that drained into the lake. I got tons of pics and then we wandered back up to the bikes. At this point it was getting on into the afternoon and it was dawning on me that the likelihood of actually completing the planned route for today was a big fat ZERO. We were going to run up to US 212 (The Northeastern Entrance Rd) and then head up and over Beartooth Pass, then backtrack to Chief Joseph Pass, and eventually head down into Cody for the night. But that was still a few hundred miles!! The traffic had really slowed us down. So I went into seat of the pants mode and spent a few minutes communing with my GPS. I asked the kids what they thought about just cutting that North part off the route and heading directly to Cody and taking an extra day to come back and ride those sections tomorrow. They liked that a lot.
We headed North up the Grand Loop Road and followed that around the North side of Yellowstone Lake. This was a nice scenic ride. At the East Entrance Road we continued along the lake shore until the road turned away from the lake and climbed into the mountains. The lake it self sits at about 7800 feet and Sylvan Pass is only at around 8500 feet, so it was a gentle climb following Clear Creek. After the pass the road followed Middle Creek Valley down out of the mountains. This road got a bit twistier and more fun on this side of the mountains. It did not take long to reach the park entrance and the start of US 14. We stopped to get come pics of the park signs before continuing down through the valley. The real fun started when Middle Creek merged into the North Fork Shoshone River. There was very little traffic here compared to inside the park and we could enjoy the road a bit more. Where we did encounter traffic, we were usually able to pass or people even pulled over to let us go by them. We were also dropping faster now and my ears kept popping as we made our way to lower altitudes. At one point I got stuck behind a school bus full of kids and the road was twisty with steep drops, so I just hung back. I didn't want the driver trying to go faster with a bus load of kids! I think the driver appreciated that because he pulled over at the first available turn out to let me go by and then pulled out behind me as I went by waiving to the kids that were all waving frantically at me
If you look at a map of US 14 you will see all the twisty bits coming out of Yellowstone and then it quite suddenly straightens out a few miles West of the Buffalo Bill Reservoir. This is a right hand corner if you are traveling East as I was. In the middle of the corner on the left was a dirt road. The paved road was banked, low inside and high on the outside right where the dirt road was. It looked level on that side and there was a wide shoulder. The view on the North side of highway was nice and I wanted to shoot a panoramic video of it. With no traffic coming, I quickly crossed the oncoming lane and pulled off wide onto the shoulder just beyond the gravel road. I put the side stand down, pushed and pulled the handle bars to feel whether not the bike had its weight on the side stand, which it did... or so I thought. Typically when I take pics while still on the bike I will stand up on the pegs to make sure the luggage and controls don't show up in the lower parts of the images. I did this now, as I have done hundreds if not thousands of times before today. I had my phone up, my torso twisted left and back, and the left side of the scene in the frame. As I hit the record button to start the video and began rotating my torso back to the right, I suddenly felt the bike starting to tip over away from the side stand and toward the oncoming lane of traffic!
There was nothing I could do to save it, so I ejected, doing everything I could to keep myself from crossing the white line into that coming lane. As luck would have it, there was a car coming right at that moment, the first one since I had thought about stopping
The lady driving happened to be paying attention and saw me going over. She swerved to make sure she wouldn't hit me and immediately pulled over to check on me. I never crossed that white line, but I sure came close!! The bike was now laying on its side on a downhill slope. The kids were somewhere up the road ahead of me and I did not want to have the bike laying here waiting for them to come back looking for me. So I started removing luggage. I ended up only removing the large duffel bag that had my tent, sleeping back, and sleep mat in it. As I was doing this the bus load of kids went by waving
The lady came up and asked if I needed her to call her husband to come help me. He was only a few minutes away. I told her to hang on a sec while I gave it a go. I squatted, grabbed the right grip, put my butt against the seat, grabbed the right side passenger grab rail, and started in with the old man grunting! Surprisingly, I got it up with very little trouble. I didn't even feel like I had to strain. Maybe all that walking I'd been doing in the past few weeks was paying off! I got it back on the kickstand and then moved it to make sure the weight was REALLY on the side stand this time before strapping the bag back on the bike. Seeing that all was good and I was not injured, the lady hopped back in her car and went her way.
As I was getting everything situated, I noticed a spot of fresh oil on the pavement where the bike had been laying... Ruh roh! This was the same side the bike fell over on back on Day nine when Sarah's new brake lever got snapped in two and the same side I dropped it on when we were leaving the campground at the Salmon River headwaters. I took a peek and the valve cover guard looked wet, but nothing was pouring out. There wasn't really anything I could do here, so I hopped on the bike and took off to find the kids. I quickly found them sitting in a parking lot on the side of the road just a few miles later. When I pulled up Daniel immediately pointed out the oil that was all over the front of my right saddle bag and my riding pants!
Sure enough, I was losing oil. We checked the sight glass level and I still had plenty left, so I was pretty sure I could get to Cody without any problem. So we got back on the road and ran the rest of the way into Cody. Once in town I set about finding a place to stay. There were several Best Westerns in town, but they were pricey! I recalled a hotel where I had stayed with Roger in 2017 and called them. They were on the far side of town by the airport, but they had a room and the price was right!
We got checked into the room and unloaded the bikes. It was nice because the room had a door to the hallway but also a door to the parking lot and we were able to park right outside our backdoor. We had arrived fairly early in the evening and I still had a few hours of daylight, so I decided to pull the valve cover and see what kind of damage I might be able to find and the source of the oil leak. I carry most of the tools I need to work on the bike, but they aren't always the easiest tools to use because I am trying to minimize size and weight. Parked right next to me was a big work truck and it looked like one that would have all kinds of tools. The owner just happened to be in the parking lot so I struck up a conversation with him, explained my problem, and asked him if he had any tools I might be able use. "Oh? You need tools?! I HAVE TOOLS!!"
He proceeded to open up the truck and pull out an amazing collection of tools. He told us to just use what we needed, then put it back in the truck and holler up at his room window, which was open, to let him know to lock the truck when we were done. Sweet!!
Daniel and I proceeded to take the engine guards off, then the MachineArt Moto head guard, and finally the cover itself. I inspected the cover gasket for any signs of damage and could not find any. I carefully wiped the excess oil from the inside of the cover and inspected the inside and outside of it, but still could not find anything obvious. So I made sure to clean the gasket and both mating surfaces very carefully, just in case dirt or something had forced its way in there and created a leak path for the oil. We got everything buttoned back up tight, cleaned up, and started thinking about dinner. We were all in the mood for a good steak. Unfortunately, Cody didn't have an Outback or Texas Road House. Bummer. We did see a steak house when we came into town, the Wyoming Steakhouse. We decided to give that a try. There was no Uber in Cody, but there was a private cab service. We got their number from the guys at the front desk of the hotel and gave them a call. Before we left I hollered up at the room window of the tool guy and listened for the, "chirp chirp" of the alarm. Shortly after that a nice lady showed up in a minivan and drove us across town. Right away the steak house didn't give a good vibe. The people were friendly, but the place was practically empty at dinner time... We ordered and waited. It didn't take long for the food to arrive, and it wasn't bad, it was just kind of... meh... We did meet a nice couple from Ogden, UT., after dinner as we were about to leave. He does a LOT of riding on Harleys. We had a nice visit with them. Disappointed with dinner and feeling the need for a pick me up, we walked next door to the Dairy Queen and got some ice cream! It was good! I had mentioned to the cab lady that we were going to be needing a ride back to the hotel after dinner and she said she'd probably be back over on this side of town in a hour or so. While we were sitting in the Dairy Queen, I got a text from her and I replied that we were at the Dairy Queen and would wait for her outside. I must have misunderstood her text. As soon as I looked up from my phone I spotted a face outside the Dairy Queen door staring at me intently. It was her sitting there in her van waiting for us!
She had already gone by the restaurant to look for us and spotted us over here! That is service! She got us back to the hotel via interesting back roads through town and then we called it an evening. I made plans for tomorrow's ride and turned in for the night.
Cold and foggy start to the day in West Yellowstone
They had a fleet of these and do winter snow tours. There were more behind the trees on the left and across the back of the parking lot.
The fog eventually yielded to the sun and cleared off as we got into Yellowstone park
Start of Firehole Canyon, a one way 25mph road
Firehole Canyon Falls
He's standing on higher ground. She's not really that short and refuses to stand up straight!
People HAVE to stop in the middle of the road when they see stuff and they back up traffic for miles
In this case a small herd of buffalo lounging in the grass
Happy to see the sun and have it warming up
We sat here for 15-20 minutes without moving. They were repainting a crosswalk...
Inside the Lodge near Old Faithful
You can watch from inside
People getting seats for the show
LOTS of people!
Front row seating
My phone stopped recording for some reason so I don't have the whole thing start to finish, here is what I got,
Lake over look pull out on West side of the lake where the Grand Loop road meets the Rockefeller Jr., road. There was a hot spring right in the parking lot full of percolating mud.
We decided to do a bit of walking to see the sights
Got this as we were heading out the East side of the park on US 14 after deciding to cut the route short and head for Cody.
The North Fork Shoshone River Valley
My first attempt to shoot a video of the scenery at the end of the nice canyon run on US 14
And the video I was trying to take...
Daniel pointed this out to me after I caught up with them shortly after the tip over!
The dent in the crash bar is from the Day Nine tip over, and I think the real culprit of the damage. Today's tip over might have been the final feather that made it really start leaking.
Buffalo Bill Reservoir
The sun was setting right in the V of the canyon we had just finished riding before rolling into town to find a hotel
The guy with the truck behind my bike had TONS of tools and let us use whatever we needed!
I'd butcher his name if I tried to say it, Gildardo Ruiz Meneses. Super generous and a real gentleman.
No immediately obvious signs of what was leaking other than perhaps the seal on the cover bolt, so we cleaned it and put it back together.
Sarah's rear brake lever. The part with the four holes should be roughly parallel to the side of the bike and the foot peg center line should be perpendicular.
She says it works and is getting the job done for now
View from the door our of hotel room. There is a door to the hallway inside and a door to the parking lot outside. It makes it convenient to load and unload the bikes!
Looking back into the US 14 valley
Distant clouds tops in the East still lit up by the waning sun
Gildardo's personal truck, brand spanking new. He has a big diesel tank in the bed and gets $1500/mo from his employer to haul the fuel to worksites where he is a heavy equipment operator and maintainer. Over $100K for this truck!! He is doing very well for someone that is only 27 years old!
Our backdoor