Ride Director: Warner Griswold
Ride Co-Director: Christy Simpson
Ride Driver: Jim Van De Vreugde
Report by: Lee Gartley
Yellowstone Park
On Friday July 23 2021, Bicycle Adventure Club members from all over the USA and Canada arrived in Belgrade, MT.
Our destination was Yellowstone Park, located on top of a very seismically active plateau situated above a giant column of molten “Magma”. The cone of a massive volcano that erupted over 600,000 years ago, is evident in the surrounding hills. The hydro-thermal activity, geysers of all sizes and shapes, streams running with steaming water, boiling mud pots that exploded into existence blowing out and tossing the trees far away, are signs that it is still active and could erupt again, hopefully not when we are there.
Our journey was to experience this unique geography, and the creatures who live there, on a bike.
Warner, our leader, explained the basics: luggage, locking the truck, Happy Hour, food and lunch making. That rented Penske truck would become a welcome sight along the way during our rides.
Our cycling group, average age sixty- something, included four E-bikes, two tandems, and four Bike Fridays, (small wheels, high seats, can fold down into a suitcase).
It takes two days to ascend the plateau to Yellowstone Park, Belgrade to Ennis, first, and Ennis to West Yellowstone, second. These are the most challenging of the ride, due to distance, climbing, and altitude, (which could diminish strength up to 15%).
First day’s route, we rode up and coasted down the rolling hills of the Madison Valley and along the beautiful Madison River.
Second day was upstream (uphill all the way) along the Madison River, past Quake Lake, and Tilted lake, the former created by and the latter “tilted” by the earthquake of 1959, that blocked the flow of the Madison river, killing twenty-eight people.
Ospreys and four bucks swimming cross Madison River were sighted.
Warner was very good at anticipating the needs of the cyclists, if you didn’t have the energy to cover 70 miles (E-bike battery capacity or tired legged cyclists), the truck would take you up the road a few miles.
In the town of West Yellowstone, after some therapeutic time in the hotel hot tub, there were many attractions to check out, a bear and wolf sanctuary, a museum (with info on the huge fire in Yellowstone in 1988), an IMAX movie about Yellowstone, (in case the park doesn’t impress in real life, the movie was amazing), quaint shops, restaurants, and cafes. Some cyclists did an optional ride to Henry Lake.
While there are plans to pave the shoulders 4 feet on all new road construction, the present conditions are heavy traffic on the main highway entering Yellowstone Park, which was a good incentive to take the more relaxing optional routes to Old Faithful.
First was a climb up to spectacular Gibbens Falls, then along white, cascading water falls and rapids on Fire Hole River Road.
A change of pace, along a primitive, loose sandy bike trail, Fountain Flats Road, went to iconic Prismatic Lake, an incredibly blue pool, sun-like “flames” streaming from the edges. It is best viewed from the overlook here, than from the boardwalk off the highway.
Last stop, Biscuit Flats, as if colored by Dr Seuss, more than a dozen sapphire blue, opal, or turquoise thermal pools.
Back on the bikes a few more miles, and there, on the horizon, like a giant wooden castle, was Old Faithful Inn.
Inside, the soaring all-log, cathedral ceiling in the lobby, candlestick lighting (electric now) giant fireplaces with stone mantles, passage way ceilings of rough hewn logs, and pillars of natural bent trees, was like stepping into the past.
If the Old Faithful Inn was like stepping into the past, the area surrounding the Inn was like stepping into Prehistoric times. It is “Geyser Central”, 60% of geysers, some of the largest in the world, are in Yellowstone Park, and a lot can be viewed by walking around the trails right here. It was a strange juxtaposition of green forest and grass 50 feet away from a sulfurous, bubbling inferno of steam and water and mud.
Cycling from Old Faithful to Lake Village, we crossed the Continental Divide, at 8262 ft. And if it wasn’t enough fun the first time, we crossed it a second time at 8391 ft. That was a lot of climbing for one morning.
Lunch stop was on the shore of the huge Yellowstone Lake where steam vented and mud pots bubbled. In July, 600 earthquakes were recorded under the lake in an uptick of seismic activity. We were happy to to find our cute little cabin in Lake Village.
A day off in Lake Village could be spent
hiking to a natural stone arch, or through a lodge pole pine forest to a high point overlooking the entire Yellowstone Lake and beyond,
then sitting in old-style rocking chairs on the big veranda at the elegant all-log main lodge, looking at the lake and chatting with people,
or walking over to the gracious Lake Hotel and enjoying a Huckleberry ice cream from a nearby shop.
In the evening, we went on an ‘Elk hunt’, down to the lake where the elk often go and drink at dusk, (none were spotted).
From Lake Village to Canyon Village was short, it was good to stop at every viewpoint:
Le Hendrie Rapids, (clear and cold)
‘Mud Volcano’, (pits filled with violently bubbling, stinking, thick, muddy water); canyons, waterfalls, Inspiration Point.
Along here we saw deer and bison. We were on the wide open plains, in the middle of a “Bison Jam” where the massive beasts stopped traffic on the road. It was like being on safari, on a bike.
On the day off from biking, our lovely modern hotel in Canyon Village, was a great place to rest after a day exploring the “Grand Canyon of Yellowstone” thoroughly.
Places to hike were Sublime Point, or Upper and the Lower Falls on the Yellowstone River, (600 ft elevation), and more.
Some people booked a Wildlife Excursion to see wolves and bears, etc
We started to descend from the vast Yellowstone plateau cycling from Canyon village to Mammoth Hot Springs, steep, curving, downhill most of the way.
Some view points were:
Norris Geyser Basin, (steaming with geysers of all sizes, shapes and types and colors), and the
‘Roaring Mountain’, (whole side of mountain with holes that ‘roared ’ with venting steam, not so loud nowadays).
Obsidian Cliff, towering beside the road, ‘frozen’ millenniums ago as it flowed over a cliff, a glass-like rock spewed from the volcano, that was prized for making excellent arrowheads.
We left the main highway onto a scenic, quiet, one way road, (for us the wrong way), for a peaceful ride with marvelous views of the steep canyon directly off the side of the road, and arrived at a town with classic 1930 Art Deco buildings all painted pale yellow, Mammoth Springs.
After supper we saw elk, just hanging out in the grassy park beside our hotel.
Places to go, and things to do in Mammoth Hot Springs..
Hike the boardwalk to overlook the ’Hot Springs’, (many colors, one flowing into the other and into the next again).
There is a swimming place in the river, with a pool of water from a hot spring to soak in, (it was closed due to the swift current when we were there).
We took a hike up to the Beaver Pond, stopping on the way at the Travertine Terraces (a natural pyramid of white rock with blue pools on some levels).
We encountered a herd of Elk, a mule deer, little picas (ground squirrels), and many varieties of wildflowers, butterflies and insects.
The Huckleberry, an iconic berry of Yellowstone, grows all around here. You will find Huckleberry jam, Huckleberry ice cream etc, in shops.
At Happy Hour, it was a Huckleberry Margarita for me!
We exited Yellowstone Park at the north east gate, through famous Roosevelt Arch, traveling from Mammoth Hot Springs to Livingston.
Making good speed as we continued descending the plateau, we took the scenic East River Road, one of the best stretches of cycling of the whole trip.
A stop at Chico’s Hot Springs, a big swimming pool fed by natural hot spring water, was a refreshing break on our journey.
The final day, Livingston to Belgrade, was a big hump, uphill for a long climb (really, this IS the last hill), a plaque said this hill was the “Bozeman Pass” that Lewis and Clark discovered. Then downhill through ranch country, to arrive in Bozeman by
lunchtime, and after that, it was a short ride to Belgrade.
We started this ride with a group of people we didn’t know, but finished the best of friends.
I was glad to accomplish this tour, it was tough sometimes, but the experience was incredible.
Lee Gartley
Total distance: 365 miles (588 km)
16278 ft elevation. (4961 metres)
Bicycle Adventure Club
PO BOX 23998 San Diego, CA 92193
Telephone (858) 715-9510 office@bicycleadventureclub.org