Ennis to West Yellowstone, MT

Posted on July 1, 2004 by Kevin

I decided to take the first SAG van out today, which leaves around 6:45am. I helped set up the lunch stop at mile 33, in a rest area, and hung around there for a while. It was kind of chilly this morning, and although the route was fairly flat, I heard that the riders faced some pretty stiff headwinds.

The second SAG van arrived at lunch a little while later, along with the baggage truck. Peter was ready to leave right away in the baggage truck, so I decided to hitch a ride with him. This turned out to be a bad idea. The rough ride of the Penske rental truck was pretty harsh on my collar bone, and after about 15 miles I was writhing in pain. Peter stopped at the water station along Route A, which was at the top of Raynolds Pass where the route crossed back into Idaho. I decided to wait there; it was sunny and pleasant, with a nice view. Peter called Ryan in the SAG van, and Ryan came by to pick me up about 45 minutes later.

Finally back at the campground around 12:30pm, I spent most of the afternoon setting up my tent (with help from Robert), doing laundry, and taking a shower. The campground staff provided a great dinner on-site.

After dinner, two vanloads of us went into Yellowstone National Park to see Old Faithful geyser. We saw a lot of elk, and one bison along the way. We got there about 7:40pm, but the next expected eruption of the geyser was not until 8:34, so we killed time by exploring the nearby Old Faithful Lodge, which is 100 years old this year. The weather had turned pretty cold and threatened rain, but when the time came, Colleen and I braved the elements to watch the eruption close-up. We all left in the vans immediately afterward.

I was pretty tired and nodded off a few times on the drive back to camp, so I turned in as soon as we got there. I slept well, protected from the now quite frigid air outside by my tent and sleeping bag.