Thursday, September 12, 2024
Day 10 — Winter Weather in the Parks Date: Thursday 9/12/2024 Destination: Grand Teton National Park via West Yellowstone Pocatello, Idaho Travel Time: 5h 40m Miles: 201 Notes: Today was supposed to be a gorgeous ride through Yellowstone into Grand Teton National Park, and camping at Signal Mountain CG in the park. The weather had other ideas. It was pouring rain (and cold) all the way to West Yellowstone from Bozeman. By the time I got to West Yellowstone I was getting severe winter weather warnings on my phone calling for up to 3 (three!!) inches of snow accumulating in the high passes in the park. It’s bad enough in a car, but that’s a disaster waiting to happen on a motorcycle. I parked my butt at Mountain Mama’s Cafe in West Yellowstone to warm up / dry off and decide what to do. I almost had myself convinced to push through when I realized that, even if I made it to the campground ok, I’d be setting up camp in the rain and I’d likely be miserable all night. Grand Teton would have to wait. From West Yellowstone it’s easy to bail west into Idaho and get away from the park weather and elevations. So that’s what I did. It was not a pleasant ride, though. I was in torrential downpours all the way to Idaho Falls. Arriving in Idaho Falls, I was exhausted and sure I could just find a room for the night. I dropped the bike at a roundabout (short-legged it coming to a stop; I knew it was going so I just rolled away). Guy behind me helped me pick it up. Then, there were no rooms because it was move in week for the two universities there (U of I, ISU). This would become a recurring theme. I rode further to Blackfoot. Still no rooms. I called ahead to Pocatello and got a room at a Red Lion there. I was never so happy to be off the bike. No pictures this day. I couldn’t even get the action camera to turn on.