DAY 11

Yellowstone National Park
Grant Village, Wyoming to Madison, Wyoming

Here we go. Away and racing. Time for the good stuff.

We started by checking out West Thumb Geyser basin, what the guide books, at best, described as "modest". Let's put it this way: up until now this was the coolest thing we've ever seen. (Note: up until now). Google image search Black Pool and Abyss Pool to see what we mean. In fact Google image search everything we mention in Yellowstone. There was steam smoking, mini volcano-like geysers bubbling and hissing right on a lake's edge, multi-hued pools and springs draining silently into completely different coloured rivers and new pools and springs, mud baths, you name it. We spent hours here, absolutely transfixed. Modest? Imagine what the supposed good stuff had to offer.

Well the good stuff was even more awesome. It's hard to describe in words without doing what we saw injustice and/or tacky lameness. Check the photos below, or, again, Google it. Highlights of the Upper Geyser Basin, for us, were watching Old Faithful erupt, Grand Geyser, Castle Geyser, Pump Geyser, and Morning Glory Pool. These and the seemingly hundreds of other geysers/pools/springs were equally unique and beautiful in their own way, as obvious or subtle as they may be. There was just so much to look at, an absolute stimulus overload.

A dragonfly succumbed to its death on the hot thermophiles that grow in such extreme heat, and create all the colours of the pools.

Old Faithful erupting

Morning Glory Pool

If all this wasn't enough, we spotted Coyote and Bison on the ride home.

Here we also met a bunch of camping cyclists: John, a Kiwi taking time off work to ride from Canada to Utah, Daniel, a local on a quick loop of the park, and Spencer, a larrikin riding a tall-bike living off donations and good-will.

The gang discussing directions