Day 35, Madison Campground, Yellowstone, WY to Lizard Creek Campground, Grand Tenon Nat’l Park, WY

Miles – 69

Ave Riding Speed – 3-25 mph

Hours Start to Finish – 9.5

Weather – Sunny and 85

Temperature got down to the mid 40’s, but we were snug and warm last night. Kim and I got up at 7am and packed our gear and ready to leave at 8am. I noticed my front tire was running low, like it lost most of its air during the night. Earlier this morning, Kim happened to be walking past a family camping last night, on her way back from the bathroom and asked to stop at their fire and warm up. They chatted and learned that family is from Atlanta, with two soon to be in junior high school boys. He mentioned that they had brought their bikes. With a low tire we walked our bikes over to their camp and asked if we could use their tire pump. They were happy to oblige, and I pump my front tire to 75lbs and figured, if it failed again, I’d change out the tube.

We rolled out of camp at 8:30am, Hwy 20/89/191/287. That’s what my map says! We were heading south for the day. The traffic was fairly light, being it was early, for Yellowstone standards. The stretch to the Old Faithful cutoff was pretty undramatic. The nature was awesome and we managed to stop on the roadside and see a lone buffalo off to the west. Our goal was to get through Yellowstone today, so we didn’t do much sightseeing. Plus, there was little shoulder, so we paid attention to what was in front of us.

After 16 miles we passed the Old Faithful cutoff and pushed on another 20 miles to Grant Village, where we knew they had a convenience store. Buy this time traffic was in full thrust and we had to climb Craig Pass at 8,261 feet and then the Continental Divide Pass at 8.391 feet, each 900 and 500 feet climbs, respectively. They probably wouldn’t have been such a task, but the traffic and little or no shoulder was wearing on us. By the time we hit Grant Village, after only 36 miles, we were feeling spent.

The overnight options heading south from Grant Village was looking pretty slim. Kim mentioned that she just wanted to get down some elevation. I took that to mean we were headed for Grand Teton National Park, another roughly 25 miles. About 10 miles south of Grant we could have pulled in to another Yellowstone campground that had the hiker/biker deal, but I didn’t slow down. We rode another 15 miles to the Headwaters Lodge and stopped to see if they had anything in the lodge, cabin or camping, but they were full. That put Kim over the edge a bit, but I said there was a hiker/biker campground about 10-miles up.  She was tired and so was I. Thankfully if was mostly a downhill roll, with a shoulder, at 15-20 mph.  

We rolled up to the Lizard Creek Campground and the sign said. “Full.” I kept up my confidence and we bike about a half-mile west and we found the Host. He smiled when we rolled up and said, “I bet you guys are one of those hiker/bikers.” We smiled and said we are and we’d love to stay the night. He smiled and said, “I think I can help you.” Relief!

Bruce, the host, offered us a glass of ice water and said we should take a load off and relax. He was a nice guy and walked us to a site that was reserved, but the folks left earlier, so it was open. We talked bikes a bit and I asked him if he had a tire pump, as the one I have I can’t get enough pressure in it for a good ride. He said he did and he’d be happy to borrow it to me.

Kim and I fixed up our PBnJ sandwiches with Fritos, setup camp and put our food, supplements, etc. in the metal bear bin. After Kim went to the tent to read and likely asleep by now, I tightened up the valve stem on my front tire and used Bruce’s tire pump fill it back up. I’ll see how it looks in the morning and change it out if need.

With 4 nights in a row of camping we’re ready for a real bed tomorrow. About 8 miles up we’ll be in Coulter Bay Village and charge our phones and try to make a plan through the July 4^th weekend. Should be interesting finding a place to stay, but we’re trying our best to be flexible.