On getting up this morning I looked outside and saw that the skies were overcast and my bike was wet!! What in the world was THAT about?!?! The weatherman has promised sunshine all day long. I huffed to the lobby and pulled up weather.com and found that the weatherman was standing by his claim! I swear I am going to buy that bastard a window!
The hotel had breakfast ready in the lobby so I ate a healthy portion of biscuits and gravy, a banana and a couple of eggs and polished off a yogurt. I thought that would hold me in good stead for the better part of the day and would avoid a stop in the rain.
I took off under cloudy skies and enjoyed a 25 mile 90 mph sprint on Interstate 90 (they don’t enforce the daytime speed limit in Montana .... I LOVE it here!) to Livingstone where I turned south on route 89 to head up to through the valley carved by the Yellowstone River between the Absaroka mountain range to the east and the Madison range to the west. The drizzle let up a few miles from the northern ranger post and I hoped that was the last of it for the day.
After passing through the ranger post the road turned wickedly curvy with good sight lines for a couple of miles and I was fortunate enough not to have any cars in front of me so I gunned it and soaked them in and then turned around to head back down to take photos ........ um, and, yeah, to ride it again!! hee hee
This is the Absaroka Mountain Range as seen from the valley of the Yellowstone River north of the park. The low clouds and rain limited visibility so I am sure there are even more peaks visible on better days. 
When I rode back down the wickedly curvy road I stopped to take a photo of the 45th parallel and a passing bicyclist offered to take a photo of me and my bike! Bicyclists ROCK!!
Here is a shot of the Yellowstone River that I liked. On the lawn was a small herd of elk that seem to have become so accustomed to human attention that they appeared to ham it up for the cameras. All you had to do was ask for a profile view and in a couple of moments your wish was granted.
Just up from the Mammoth Springs I stopped in to see the Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace and got to enjoy a few more geysers and the wonders they push up from beneath the surface.
The elk in the square at Mammoth Springs. You can see that the biker in the photo made sure to be all the way over to the edge of the road!
Mammoth Hot Springs info.
This spring sprung up some interesting stuff. The water is full of minerals and as it pushes up and trickles out this mound made up of subterranean minerals continues to grow
This tree sure found the WRONG place to sink roots!
In the foreground you can see clear through to the bottom of this pond!
I decided to take the western loop towards Norris and then east to Canyon Village. I stopped off at Sheepeater Cliff to see what that was all about and then got back on the road. As with a lot of this side of Yellowstone, the drive was pretty much just a drive through the woods and across open plains with not much to see. One of the things I have learned about Yellowstone is that you do need to get out in the back country to really see it so that will mean a trip back out here with hiking boots a backpack and a tent!
Still north of Norris I was passing through a wooded area next to the Gardner River and I was stunned to see a lone bison strolling up the road towards me. I stopped and wondered what to do. I had read the warnings about their unpredictability and also their ability to very quickly get to a full 30 mph charge if provoked. Only, they didn’t tell you what provoked them; for all I knew this one may have had something against imported motorcycles.
As I was stopped pondering my next move a car came up behind me and I waved it by so that I could see how the animal reacted to vehicular traffic.
It totally ignored the car and kept coming towards me. Another car came along, I waved that one by and it too was ignored by the beast. Okay, my test samples produced a result that appeared to be favorable to me so I put the bike in first and putted forward keeping an extremely keen eye on the buffalo and leaning forward, ready to roll heavy on the gas should the buffalo change its habits and all of a sudden develop either an interest in motorcycles or a great irritation with them. I was ready to take advantage of the machine’s ability to sprint to 60 in 3.2 seconds and dart out of danger.
Thankfully, the danger didn’t come and it ignored me. Emboldened by the experience, I turned around and passed it, albeit, very close behind a car so it seemed I was in tow and then, turned around again so that I was in its path but over to the side of the road. I was determined to get my photo but the closer the buffalo got, the lower my boldness sank and, though I had the camera ready, I really didn’t want to take my hands off the throttle and I also didn’t want to turn off the bike or take it out of gear so, having only two hands, I had to be satisfied with just watching this wild beast walk by about ten feet from me as I listened to its every breath and each clip clop of its hooves as it majestically strolled by with a twig hanging from its left horn.
I did get a photo of it but it was of the ass-end when I felt confident that I was far enough out of danger.
Funny how places get named!
Here is the photo of the ass-end of the bison that was walking along the road.
The drive to Canyon Village was unremarkable but just south of the Village I was greeted by the splendor of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and I will let the photos below tell the story. Even though the colors look good, they are a horribly poor rendering of the true colors and this greatly disappointed me. Now I REALLY want that new camera!
This is a shot across the Yellowstone River at rocks on the other side with different colored moss and plants that I found interesting.
I am not sure if it is moss or fungus but I liked this red growth on the rock. the river behind it didn't come out as I would have liked ....... did I mention I am getting a new camera for my birthday?
The rocks in the foreground tell the possible story of why this park was called Yellowstone. 
This photo was a true dissapointment! The actual colors of the rocks are the yellow above and the pinks below.
Beautiful as this view of the Yellowstone River may be from Artist Point, it does not reveal the scale and true beauty of this place!
As I was taking my photos from what is named Artist Point it started to snow! I had to get over Dunraven Pass at 8,859 feet in elevation and if it was stating to snow here that might mean even more up there so I decided to get going. It did get colder than the 41 degrees at Artist Point and there were some light flurries but nothing was sticking on the road. Still, I took it easy on the descent which was a shame because it is a wonderfully curvy few miles on impeccable pavement!
Looking north on the Yellowstone River
Looking south at the Yellowstone River and the Absaroka Mountain Range
And, my photo of the vertical steam vents
I made a couple of stops to take photos of the Yellowstone River and then turned east towards Cooke City. This road tracks the Lamar River and Soda Butte Creek in a wide valley that, to my pleasant surprise, was populated with good sized herds of buffalo. It was a wonderful experience to be zipping along with mountains on either side and herds of buffalo within clear view; I knew there were some songs about the open range and buffalo in the wild west but I don’t know any of them so I just tunelessly sang buffalo lalalalala ...... wild on the range la di da in a horrible rendition of whatever it was I was hoping to sing. Let me just say that you are in no danger of hearing it on any radio station anytime soon; only one set of happy ears was punished.
Bison grazing by the road
A handy escape vehicle should the bison decide to charge
On exiting the park I was greeted by a construction zone with the dreaded “Motorcycles take extreme caution” road sign. I was first in line at the lollipop holder so we chatted as I waited for my turn and she told me that this part was not too bad but further up it got pretty sloppy because of the rain that had come through in the past couple of days.
On this first part I had to ride across a muddy section that took us off the paved road and then curved back on. Just as I was about to get back on the pavement the rear wheel started to slide out on me and I was sure the bike was going down but a good stomp of my size 15 riding boot kept the antenna up! A little further up the road there was another stop and the lights of two bikes I had seen in the rear view mirrors came around the cars and behind me. It turned out to be two German guys traveling around the world and they had come from Germany, across Russia and down through Alaska. I mentioned the mud we had just ridden through and they laughed saying that was not mud. They were a little impatient and when the pilot car came down they went around the waiting line of cars and positioned themselves behind the pilot car. I though of following them but the road became rather slick at that point and I chose to take it easy because I didn’t want to push past the cars and then drop the bike up the road to the glee of the folks I had passed. It was a rather nerve wracking couple of miles with a little slip and slide here and there but I made it without putting one boot down. I stopped in Cooke City to gas up the bike for what, if the rain and snow held off, promised to be a fun run into Cody Wyoming.
The weather up ahead didn't look too promising!
But the views were amazing 
And, I stopped to smell the flowers I liked this shot because in a somewhat barren expanse, in among the shaggy grass and rocky soil was this dash of color.
A closer look at the flowers. I liked this one because it show the flowers in various stages of bloom
A look back at the mountains that border Yellowstone to the east.
The weather up ahead looked like it cleared up somewhat
The rain did indeed hold off and I had an enormous amount of fun dragging the foot pegs through hundreds of corners, winding the motor up to the rev limiter between corners and pulling hard on the brakes to scrub off speed in preparation for the next grin inducing and gravity defying lean through a corner. I think the engineer who built this road must have been a motorcyclist! I installed new brake pads the day before leaving and if they had not seated themselves with all the emergency stops for animals in days gone by, they were good and seated now!
The eastern mountians of Yellowstone National Park
Panning to the north, even more mountains of northern Yellowstone and southern Montana
Yes, you get a little education on this blog!
I like the fact that you can learn the history of the area as you drive throughIn Cody I checked in and had dinner at a restaurant that touted itself as the maker of “The Best New Mexico Style Mexican Food” and it didn’t disappoint!! The service was quick and the food was tasty! I had a good view of the street and watched dozens of bike rumble by and tourists peering in windows. My waiter had lived here for a few years and then gone back to Mexico but he moved back just two weeks before. He took great interest in my bike which was parked right outside and he asked how quickly it got to 60 mph and when I told him it was 3.2 seconds he was amazed and went to tell the other staff members but none seemed to have any interest in his newly learned fact. (there was only one other table seated and they were replacing advertising that was in the ceiling lighting)
After dinner I gassed up and went back to the motel. I pulled in behind a group on Harley’s who were on their way back to Washington state from a huge rally at the Harley Davidson headquarters in Milwaukee Wisconsin. It was a big anniversary for the company and over 300,000 bikes had showed up and they said it was just crazy! After my experience in New Mexico with biker rally traffic over Memorial Day weekend earlier this year I was glad to have missed it. Even they said it was too much.
Back in the room when it was still light I sat down to check out the news of the world and write. I managed to get to the news but I didn’t write ...... as is evident in the delay in getting this leg of the trip posted! The plan for tomorrow was a ride across the Big Horn Mountain range and on east to Rapid City South Dakota and, if time allowed, a stop by the Crazy Horse monument.
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