The 4th of July is a big deal in the US, and certainly here in West Yellowstone, a town of about 1200 people, seemingly all of whom were involved in the street parade. As you’d expect, fire engines, police cars, kids on bikes and horses, all throwing (probably Chinese made) confectionery to the crowds long the street. We watched from the air conditioned comfort of a restaurant, very civilised and a nice meal too. Sunset is not until we’ll after 9pm, and the fireworks started at 10. I was surprised that they’d have such a huge deal so close to the park (and animals). The show went on for over half an hour, with many of the bangs almost shaking our hotel. We had 7:15am start and had been warned to dress for the cold (3 -5C), so potentially character building if you got it wrong. Most had 4-5 layers which came off during the course of the day, and I was down to short sleeves when arriving at this afternoon’s hotel at 5pm - the last hour was spent at Bear Tooth Harley Davidson in Billing’s, Montana who did a great trade in T Shirts and miscellaneous essential Harley paraphernalia. Our route took us back through the guts of Yellowstone Park, and we were pleased to be treated to more bison, a fortunate few spotted bears and even a coyote trotting along out of everyone else’s way. The roadworks were extensive and impressive, certainly not the half dozen blokes dicking around that we are used to. Road builders here see obstacles as challenges, not something to be lost in “planning” or with wonks at council or govt - they just go for it. As we rose into the snow line (snow in summer!), we entered what could have been a moonscape, obviously cold and very rugged. There appears to be a distinctly different view to road safety as well (perhaps for the better) with no road cones and fairly limited (and pretty beaten up) Armco barrier - if you are foolish enough to go over the edge (and plummet hundreds of metres to certain death), good luck to you. Our morning tea stop was at a small hamlet comprising of a couple of gas stations serving takeaway coffee (average) and donuts (not bad). Unfortunately the one we stopped at will be remembered for neither. Rather than an inside toilet there was a lineup of 6 portaloos, all of which bar one was locked and that was long overdue for an empty- let’s just say it was full….that said, none of outer stoic Harley ladies complained Bear Tooth Pass is regarded by many as the best ride in the US, certainly amongst the very best. Think the Crown Range near Queenstown then go crazy, much higher, much, much longer, with scenery that really is beyond description - without waxing too lyrical, assuming I get there, I wouldn’t be surprised to find it is close to heaven. The ride up then down again was some of the best we’ve experienced on the trip, and will no doubt be relived over drinks tonight At nearly 11000 feet (3300m) the air is a bit thinner, and certainly chilly, but quite a spectacular place to stop for photos (aforementioned crackers in Linda’s hand). Linda has really been looking forward to feeding the chipmunks in one of the viewing areas we visited in 2014, and prepared herself by buying a packet of peanut butter crackers- the firs little fella grabbed a whole biscuit and was off - unfortunately his apparently too well fed cousins were less interested. A small cocker spaniel belonging to a lady from South Georgia had a ball “flushing them out” - he was on a lead, so no harm done.
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Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
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