TA 2 - September 9

Well, it’s been 11 months since finishing the Trans Am 1 in West Yellowstone but today it seemed like we just picked up where we left off last year. We have 15 of the same riders as well as the same guides. The new riders are all very experienced and are easily fitting right in. It feels so good to be going again.

We had a wet evening in West Yellowstone yesterday and everyone was checking the forecast with a bit of dread. But - the forecast improved somewhat overnight and except for cool temperatures and some light scattered showers, the day was actually quite pleasant.

We had plans for a group photo at the Yellowstone park gate but KJ’s flat tire right away scuttled that plan.  At about 5 miles we crossed over into Wyoming. A WomanTours tradition is that we have margaritas before dinner whenever we cross a state line, so guess what we’ll be doing before dinner tonight......

We rode by lovely views of the Madison River and did a side road through Firehole Canyon; very nice!

I stopped at the Midway Geyser Basin and walked up to the Grand Prismatic Spring. Good views were hard to come by since it was quite cool today and the steam was spewing forth in abundance.

I seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time today changing layers as sprinkles came and went. With all my stops and clothing changes, I missed the eruption of Old Faithful.  I’ve seen it quite a few times before so I don’t think I missed too much.

A few laps around the parking area and finally I found the way back out to the main road. We had most of our climbing later in the day, as we crossed the Continental Divide twice. Thankfully any rain showers were done by then.

Everyone was to be in to the Visitor Centre at Grant Village by 2:45 so that we could load up bikes and riders for the 2 hour drive south to Jackson. Apparently commercial trips aren’t allowed south of Grant Village due to non-existent shoulders and heavy traffic. We drove through the south end of Yellowstone and the entire length of Grand Teton NP to get to Jackson. Along the way we drove by a huge herd of bison.

Jackson is a ritzy little ski & tourist town. It might have been fun to spend a rest day here, but I suppose day 2 is too early for that.

Due to late arrival in Jackson we had pizza & margaritas (and ice cream) for dinner.

It was a great start to the tour. Great people, beautiful riding, and weather better than expected.

Stats for the day:
West Yellowstone to Grant Village
55 miles.  89 km.
3170 feet up. 2060 feet down.
Temps: 5C to 11C. Scattered showers and mostly single digit temps. Brrr!

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