Day 9 - Helena, MT to West Yellowstone, MT

We were on the road by 8:00 AM this crisp, clear morning headed for a gas fill-up and breakfast. We accomplished both tasks in East Helena. Breakfast was at Smith's Bar & Grill, a little hole-in-the wall bar & restaurant just east of Helena. They looked at us in our biker garb and apologized that the bar wouldn't open for another twenty minutes. We told them that it was okay we just wanted breakfast, after all it was only 7:45 AM. The food and service were both excellent. We try to avoid chain and fast-food eating establishments in favor of small mom & pops eateries. We're seldom disappointed.

Departing East Helena we headed toward Belgrade, MT, just west of Bozeman for a T-shirt shopping spree at Yellowstone Harley-Davidson. En route, the the skies began to darken and the first drops of rain began to appear on our windshields. Ten minutes later, we were riding in a downpour. We ducked under a freeway overpass and donned our rain gear--those of us who carried rain gear.

Upon reaching Livingston, MT, we departed the Interstate and headed south on Highway 89 toward Gardiner, gateway to the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Before entering the park, we stopped in Gardiner for lunch under partly cloudy skies. You may have noticed that the only thing we do more often than riding is eating, three times a day whether we need it or not.

Immediately upon entering Mammoth Hot Springs and the park headquarters one has to carefully negotiate around the numerous wild Elk wandering the streets. In Yellowstone, animals have the right-of-way.

We elected to head east toward Tower Junction and the 8,800 foot Dunraven Pass. Bad choice, the ground was covered with snow, and rain began to fall again. To add insult to injury, the pass was nearly obscured by freezing clouds. But, we prevailed and motored through the rain to the various waterfalls, geysers, paint pots and femorals belching steam.

At one of our stops, we encountered a large group of Harley riders, none of whom we could understand. They were HOG (Harley Owners Group) members and had flown in from Germany and rented Harlies to tour the West.

All in all, it was really an okay day. Later in the afternoon we headed for West Yellowstone, MT where we would spend the next two nights. En route "home" we came across a small herd of Buffalo, including two calfs, lounging along the Madison River, and one bull walking down the center of the highway. We also saw two Bald Eagles nesting in a tree.

We ended our first day in the park with a walk around the quaint, albeit touristy, town of West Yellowstone, and supper at Bullwinkle's Restaurant. It was alright. Tomorrow, we return for a tour of the park, including the Old Faithful Geyser.

Please stay tuned.

PS - The headless rider in the above photo is our very own Sylvia (Snow White) Hayes taking a well-deserved rest.