Into Wyoming - Biker on her own

BETH writes of July 4th- Today was a push - 58 miles so that I would have less to do tomorrow. The first 30 miles was on a rail trail that had been torn up by ATVs so parts of it were painfully deep sand while others were compact and wash board. There were tons of cattle and I often got small glimpses of the Tetons. Once off the rail trail I climbed out of the valley to the Idaho that I expected to see - green grass, fields of hay and potatoes! Huge stretches of fields and lots of irrigators. After crossing the many miles of rolling fields I again entered the woods and began to climb. By 52 miles I had completed my second state and was in Wyoming with wonderful views of the back sides of the Tetons. I rode until 7pm where I found a great spot to camp on the edge of South Boone Creek. Once again I find myself camping in the middle of nowhere and in bear country. I hung my bear bag and went to bed, only later to hear the crunching of sticks outside the tent. What ever the animal was I scared it away when I shone my head lamp out of the tent and my bear bag was still hanging untouched in the tree.
JAN writes - Beth headed out today for two days where we can not access her. Ann and I drove into Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and then drove south into Grand Teton National Park. Beth will join us here tomorrow evening. We crossed the Continental Divide four times today. The highest crossing was at 8391 feet. Yellowstone is famous for, among other things, its hot water geysers. We saw lots of wildlife along the road as we drove to the Old Faithful area. The geyser, pictured here, is so named because it has such regular eruptions of boiling water. Yellowstone was the very first National Park in the US. It should definitely be on everyone's "to see" list. Luckily Ann and I have both been here before, since you can not do the park justice in one day. We are staying the next five nights in a rustic cabin in Coulter Bay on Jackson Lake in the Tetons. Our husbands and Beth's boyfriend fly in tomorrow. Beth and Dave will be on their own for 5 days.

BETH about July 5th - 47 miles and I would see my boyfriend, Dave, my Dad and Ann's husband Don. I guess that was my motivation when I was up and on my bike at 8am - the earliest I have ever been ready to go. I climbed the northern flank of the Tetons through the woods which was a nice change since I had not seen many trees since the middle of Montana. I rode along the southern border of Yellowstone National Park and eventually into the area where the 1988 fires burned. It is amazing to see the scar that fire can leaves on the land. Even after 17 years, the forest was in a primary succession with trees that were only 5 ft or so, grass and flowers. The Lupins were thick today and the smell heavenly! Fire is a needed natural occurance in this area every 200-400 years. Although, this fire was started by a tree falling on electrical wires and burned thousands of acres and threatened many communities and homes. I soon entered Teton National Park and saw Jackson Lake and the Mountains streched out before me. At this point I was dealing also with the campers and crazy drivers who have no idea about bikers. The good news is I survived to reach Colter Bay earlier. AHH, a hot shower and clean laundry! While waiting for my laundry I met a wonderful couple from Grand Rapids, Michigan. They were a pleasure to talk to and had two daughters close to my age with similar interests. That is one of the best parts about this trip is all the wonderful people I have met!! Finally, the guys arrived and we had a wonderful dinner! It is great to see family and friends after being gone three weeks - 3 weeks and 800 miles - I have had quite the adventure already!