Aug. 24
I stopped in Kamiah to top off the tank so I wouldn't run out before making it to Lolo.
We were stopped a few miles later for road work.
It was long enough I was able to get off and stretch and walk around.
After we got moving again, I made a quick stop at Lochsa Lodge to take a picture with the big sign they have out by the road.
Then I got going again.
I didn't stop long at the lodge, because I had planned for a longer stop at the Lolo visitors center.
I have been by here many times over the years, but had never gone in.
I checked it out and took some pictures.
Before I rode off, I stopped again out by the road and got a picture next to the Montana sign.
I stopped in Lolo for fuel and lunch a little after 13:00.
From Lolo, I headed south on highway 93.
I stopped to check out the Lost Trail Pass rest area and took a couple pictures.
I rode down the hill into Salmon and fueled up.
The plan was to spend the night here, but it was still early (16:00 my time, 17:00 local time).
I did hang out for about 20 or so minutes before continuing on, now on highway 28.
Out in the middle of nowhere I stopped, shed my outer layer and got a couple pictures with mount Borah.
Then, I got going again.
Pulling onto highway 33 at Mud Lake.
By the time I pulled into Rexburg it was 20:22.
I called my sister, which had lived there while at school, and asked if there were any good places to camp.
She didn't know of any, but she got online and found one south of town off highway 20.
I did check with one of the hotels nearby but they wanted $100 ish for the night.
So, instead I spent $21 at the Rainbow Lake Campground.
They didn't have any trees big enough to hold me up in the hammock, so I just picked a spot on the ground. I changed in the facilities and climbed into bed.
Aug. 25
I started the morning early. I got up, got changed and loaded up the bike. And pulled out of camp at 5:37. I did stop at the entrance to take a picture, so I could remember the name of the place.
I rode back into Rexburg and stopped at JB's for breakfast. I was a little early, so I had to wait a few minutes for them to open.
After eating I was back on my way by 7:00. Heading down south of town, and got onto 2000 W (Archer Road) heading south. This road automatically turns onto 7800 S and then naturally turns back south at 600 E. I followed it as it dropped me in the back side of Ririe, at which point I headed over to highway 26.
From there, I headed east over the flats, towards Star Valley.
Stopping for a minute at the Clark Hill rest area, I got a picture and then continued on.
I stopped again at the bottom of the hill coming into Swan Valley to take a couple more pictures.
The morning fog and the position of the sun made quite the picture.
I stopped at the Rainey Creek convenience store (home of the square ice cream cone) to get a couple pictures.
I still get a little chuckle out of the handicap sign
I continued on until Palisades where I stopped to get a picture at The Dam Store.
I also rode across the dam and got a picture of the power plant from above and the reservoir.
I then pulled over in the pull off area and took some pictures including some of a kite surfer.
I then rode on into Alpine, stopping at the border to get a picture with the Wyoming sign.
And I finally took the last 30 minute stretch to Grover.
I spent the rest of the day hanging out with family and spent the night at my parents house.
Aug. 26
A couple miles south of Moran, I was able to get a good picture of the Tetons. Trying to remember, we may have been stopped for road construction.
I stopped for a few minutes at Colter Bay, then continued on to the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
I had to pay the park entrance fee back getting into the Grand Teton National Park, so I didn't have to pay again. But, I did stop and get a picture in front of the sign.
I first went North East on highway 20 heading to Mud Volcano.
However, before I arrived, traffic came to a crawl as a bull bison came wandering down the road towards me.
The thought came to mind... "Boy that's a big animal and there is nothing between me and him."
I'm sure I'm not the first or the last motorcyclist to have this cross their mind.
Luckily for me, the bison wandered off the road before it got to me.
I continued my way to Mud Volcano and pulled into the parking lot. I was removing my outer layer when the guy in the jeep next to me got my attention and warned me of the bison coming towards us. This one was much smaller than the one on the road. We gave it a wide berth and it walked past us as if we were not there.
I walked the trails around the Mud Volcano area and took several pictures.
I then moved on headed towards the "Falls". However, I was still a few miles away and the road had turned into a parking lot. There were cars as far as you could see, and you could see quite a ways. Being on a bike, I was able to make a U-ey and head back the other way.
On the way back, I came upon another line of cars. On the left side of the road there was a parking lot, but no, they decided to stop in the middle of the road. At first, I couldn't see the front due to a curve in the road. As I got closer, I noticed that a car was stopped for a few moments and then drove off. The next car in line pulled up and stopped for a few moments and then drove off. This continued for a couple cars before I could see that each car was stopping to take a picture of a deer a little off the road. I continued to wait in line until I could see far enough around the curve that I knew it was safe to pass. I then romped on the gas and let the pipes roar as I came around the cars, hoping that it would scare off the deer. I quote: "I hate stupid people" - Bill Engvall
I eventually made my way around to Old Faithful.
I found a spot to park and was getting ready to walk over to the geyser and I noticed I had a message on the phone.
It was Amber asking if I got my wallet.
You see, when I stopped for fuel in Afton, I left my wallet.
The lady that works there had opened the wallet and saw the sticky note with Amber's number on it.
However, my brother works there, so he had already brought it to me, so I already had it back.
I called Amber and let her know what had happened.
As I was walking to the geyser I stopped to take a picture of a custom trike from Wisconsin.
My timing was pretty good, because I didn't have to wait long before Old Faithful went off.
After walking around the area, and checking out the visitors center I headed back to the bike. I did some calculations and decided to add my spare gallon of gas to the tank. With the price in the park, I decided it would be better to fill up once I got out to West Yellowstone, MT.
On my way to Henry's Lake, to the Sandau cabin, I did stop in West to fill up. It was much cheaper. I also refilled my spare can.
I then continued on to Henry's Lake and turned off the highway and made my way over the gravel winding road trying to remember the right places to turn. I did miss one turn and had to back up to get on the right drive. And finally, I arrived at the Sandau cabin.
We chatted for a bit and then we drove over to Quake Lake.
I took several pictures.
Aug. 27
This day I spent with Kurt and Diane.
Our first stop was Sawtell Peak.
Diane said that the haze was pretty bad.
She said that normally you can clearly see the Tetons, but as you can see in the picture, they are more of a shadow in the distance.
From there, we went over to Big Springs.
The water was so clear, you can count the spots on the trout.
We also visited the Johnny Sack Cabin, which had been turned into a small museum.
After Big Springs, we drove over to West to check out the painted buffalo at the Holiday Inn.
On our way there, I was able to catch a couple pictures of statues.
Here are pictures of the buffalo on display.
Once we were done there, we headed back to the park.
We visited Firehole Falls.
And the Midway Geyser Basin.
We returned to the cabin and relaxed a bit.
Shhhh... Don't tell Kurt, he doesn't like his picture taken.
I believe this is the evening that we went back into West and I bought us Pizza for supper.
Aug. 28
I stopped in Winston for a few minutes and got a picture.
My next stop was at the visitors center in Helena.
There wasn't much here, but it gave me a chance to stretch my legs.
I pulled off the highway and rode up to the vista on MacDonald Pass.
I spent a little time here taking some pictures and enjoying a little rest.
They had a lot of dead trees in the area.
My next stop was at Stoney's Kwik Stop.
I recognized this place from the trip Scott and I took on 6/22/2007.
I had originally planned to stop somewhere for the night, but it was still early enough that I rode the rest of the way home.
And thus ended my first week long ride.
Statistics:
Aug 24: 481 miles
Aug 25: 117 miles
Aug 26: 250 miles
Aug 28: 513 miles
Total Bike miles: 1,361 miles
AJ's Crazy Biker Adventures
