Day 11 - West Yellowstone, MT to Logan UT

On Day 11 we got up, had breakfast, and headed back into Yellowstone Park. The skies were once again overcast and threatening rain. Thirty minutes later we parked and walking about the Lower Geyser Basin. Later, we made our way down to the Old Faithful Lodge and Geyser. For once, our timing was perfect. Old faithful was anticipated to erupt in 20 minutes. It only erupts approximately every 92 minutes. Unfortunately, it wasn't the most dramatic eruption of the old gal, but she's been at it for a long, long time. Before leaving Old Faithful, we toured the Old Faithful Lodge. To say that the interior of the lodge is dramatic with it's huge natural beams and over sized fireplace would be an understatement.

Departing Old Faithful, we headed south to exit the park via the south entrance and headed for the Grand Teton National Park. Before arriving, the sky opened up and dropped a tremendous amount of rain in our path. Approaching the Grand Tetons, the sun poked its head out and the blue sky provided a dramatic backdrop to the Teton Mountains. We got off the main highway and followed a scenic secondary road adjacent to Jackson Lake into Jackson Hole, WY.

Once in Jackson Hole, we we beat feet to the Cowboy bar for lunch, more Bison burgers, yum. The Cowboy bar is unique in two regards; first, the bar stools are all saddles, and secondly, the bar is inlaid with silver dollars, hundreds of them, some dating back to the 1800's. The bar top alone is worth a small fortune.

Departing Jackson Hole after lunch we motored south down Hwy. 89 toward Logan, UT, our destination for the evening. En route we passed through Fish Haven and Bear Lake. Climbing to
the top of the mountain overlooking the lake, we stopped at a rest area/visitor center to take in the dramatic view of the lake and community in the glow of the late afternoon sun. It was just beautiful.

After a few quick pictures of the lake, we motored down Logan Canyon, the highlight of our afternoon ride. Logan Canyon is a 40 mile long meandering, winding, twisting road with an adjacent stream, surrounded by lush green vegetation and dramatic rock formations, including a spring that flows right out of the mountainside. It was an ideal afternoon motorcycle riding experience, enjoyed immensely by all eight of us.

We checked into our hotel at 8:30 PM after twelve hours of riding and 340 miles. Due to the late hour, we just hoofed it across the street to the local Subway for supper, in violation of of our own rules not to in chain restaurants or eat fast food. Somebody is going to pay for that!

A word about the hand-painted fiberglass buffalos; each buffalo is hand painted by a local artist and will be auctioned off in August to raise money for the local West Yellowstone art community. There are 36 of them scattered throughout the town.

Pls. Note: photos for Day 11 are both before and after the narrative; don't miss any.