The Road Less Traveled

Day 6 - Montana Roadtrip

With nothing but sunshine in the forecast, Keith unloaded the bike and we headed north along the Gallitan River to Bozeman then on to Gardiner and the North Gate of Yellowstone. We stopped at Mammoth Lodge for lunch (can we all say $10 hamburger? Fries, drink, napkins extra!) and then off towards Tower, Canyon and West Yellowstone.
It was a great ride, not too much traffic and lots of animals out and about. We pulled over for a break around Cascade Falls and a Harley pulled in behind us. The driver got off the bike, lit up his cigarette and struck up a conversation. "Did you see that buffalo on the road? He tried to get me and when I revved up the engine, it just made him mad!" Yup, we saw him too, and that's why you use a Dodge Ram pickup as a shield.

The tourist traffic in the park was quite a bit less today, so it made it nice when we wanted to pull over and look at the river or the mountains - you didn't have 100 people asking "What are you looking at?". Everything just seemed to move at a slower pace and it was enjoyable to hear the sounds and breathe in the smells of the park.
We were heading towards the West Gate and found the large herd of Elk by the river again. The same cow and twin calves were attempting to swim across the river and #2 was still as awkward as before. This time though, we saw some young bulls resting under the trees.
We pulled in to watch the Elk and the "Crazy Tourists". "Stay on the bike, this could get ugly" is the last thing Keith said as he got off the bike to grab his camera. Keith with the camera, me with the binoculars, watching the spike Elk, 6 cows, 4 calves and more fools than you could shake a "Stupid Stick" at. One lady had to push her luck with trying to get too close and had the young bull jump up and turn towards her. Time to leave before we had to pick up the pieces!
We stopped in West Yellowstone, picked up some groceries and headed towards home. What a great ride!

Critter Count: Elk, Buffalo, Geese, Ducks