Day 9: Livingston to Yellowstone

the penultimate day of the tour... ending in our nation's first (and still largest) National Park

Nearing the end of my journey... today I'd finally read Yellowstone National Park - hoping to camp in the Norris Campground (the best campground in the park, in my opinion).

But there was more to look forward to... today, my beautiful wife Kelly would finally be getting her first prenatal checkup.  We discovered Kelly was pregnant when we were serving up at Young Life's Castaway Club camp in Minnesota, and because of our silly HMO health insurance rules, we basically cannot receive non-emergency medical treatment outside of the chicagoland area without paying for it in full out of our own pockets.

So, we skipped the routine 6-8 week initial prenatal checkup (where you normally get a due date estimate and all that), and continued with our plan to vacation out West after Kelly's assignment at camp was over. Then, once she was home, Kelly would get her check up. Today is that day. The only problem? I was still out West.

While I obviously would have loved to be there, she could only schedule the appointment for this week, and that would have meant drastically cutting my tour short, and I had already committed to be in Denver next week for an AP US History conference. So I would have had to drive back and then drive/fly out to Denver right after I got home.

I knew Kel could handle it. For the record, here is a list of things Kelly did while pregnant:

1. run a half marathon
2. be a program director at camp for a month
3. went on runs with me (in Minnesota, and in Montana at elevation)
4. hiking and biking (a little) with me out west (beartooth pass, yellowstone, tetons)
5. camped with me out West (sleeping in a tent and all that)
6. went on a Wilderness trip, spending a week no-trace backcountry camping with YL girls
7. took an entire trip (100 kids) to Frontier Ranch in Colorado where she...
8. completed the peak climb at Frontier Ranch
9. got in a car accident where some jerk ran into her

Granted #9 might not be quite as impressive, considering she didn't really achieve anything... but the point here is this: Kelly is tough.  By the way, numbers 1-6 happened before her first doctor's appointment.

She is an impressive woman.

Anyway, she was gone for 2 of the 3 weeks of my trip, so I'm not quite as terrible a husband as I may seem. This appointment just so happened to fall on the middle week (when she was home, and I was away). Regardless, I was determined to make it to someplace that had cell phone reception by 1:30pm central time, to see if I could listen in on all or any part of the appointment.

departure photo. (yes, I put on a helmet afterward). also, since we stayed in Bozeman last night,
this Albertsons in Livingston seemed as good an arbitrary departure point as any...

the bike path out of Livingston was nice...

until it stopped. abruptly.

this shot is indicative of first half of the day. gradual uphill through a valley - larger mountains ahead

much of the ride followed along the Yellowstone River (going against the flow)

I had been texting with Kel, antsy for her appointment (is the baby okay? will it be twins?), but apparently the doc was held up, and she was waiting longer than expected in the waiting room. (which, come to think of it, is pretty much the norm, right?) Kelly's mom was in town and was with her at the office, so she would let me know.

Then... she called. One baby (not twins). And was I ready to hear the heartbeat?

uhh... was I?

I mean, my phone and ears were working, but I wasn't sure if I was ready... you know, existentially. This was a big deal. She put the phone up to the machine (I was on speaker). 

Then I heard it. pitter patter pitter patter pitter patter... the heartbeat. Except it kinda sounded like a squish noise. It was so fast (about 160 bpm). Amazing. Totally amazing. 

Better than anything on this entire trip (obviously). Hearing the signs of life... still so small and growing. Nestled safely inside my amazing wife... and one day it would be a baby out in the world that I would have to care for. I am woefully incapable and unprepared. It was an amazing and humbling experience. We laughed and cried (actually I cried... I'm not sure if Kelly did). Then she had to go... finish up the rest of the appointment and all that.

I hung up the phone, sat down on the banks of the Yellowstone River... thought for a while... and cried some more. I was going to be a dad. This information (while not entirely unexpected at this point) was almost impossible to process. 

Guess I should get on with the ride. The bicycle allows for plenty of time to contemplate. 

this nondescript place at the edge of the Yellowstone River (north of Corwin Springs) is where I first heard my baby

Kelly sent along photos. There she is. Unbelievable.

Off I went... I needed to get to Gardiner (the town just north of Yellowstone) for some food. I was running low on supplies, and was pretty hungry after all that crying. (does crying make you hungry?)

made it (town is just a bit further down the road)

Once in Gardiner, I stopped at a burger joint... you know, a REAL old school out-west burger joint: Helen's Corral Drive-In, advertising "beef, bison, and elk hamburgers". I wasn't sure what to order... I wanted to try something different... then again, I had another 50 miles and 3,000 feet of climb, so I better play it safe with just a large bacon cheeseburger and side of fries.

Deeeeeeeelicous.

"best in the west"
also, interesting rankings...

Now, with a full (and I mean FULL) belly, it was off to Yellowstone National Park, where I would be met by a steep climb, some wild animals, and eventually... my destination.

"for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." I love Teddy Roosevelt.
(this is the Roosevelt Arch)

I'm here!

elk causing a traffic jam. move along cars... you'll see plenty at the top of the hill in Mammoth Hot Springs.

Then the climb started... a solid 2000 feet, pretty steep (feel free to refer to the graph at the top of this post). It was about midway through that I began to regret my lunch time decision... the large bacon cheeseburger was not sitting particularly well...

a normal sight, as I look down in determination: 5% grade, 6.6mph... 1500 feet of climb to go...
the grade was getting steeper - my heart rate was probably close to my baby's by now

Mammoth Hot Spring Campground, just below the town... easily the worst campground in the Park

lots of the buildings (this visitor center included) used to be old army stations/barracks.
the army occupied Yellowstone in the late 1800s to protect the park

told ya there were more elk up here (really, there are LOTS of elk in Mammoth)

I didn't take too much time in Mammoth Hot Springs (I usually don't... on account of the crowds). Just pushed on through... there was still some significant climbing to be done, and I wanted to get up on top of that plateau, over rustic falls, and enjoy the ride through the caldera meadow.

the town's namesake hotsprings

ha! pushing an 8-9% grade here... obeying this sign should NOT be a problem

Rustic Falls... just need to get to the top of that and stuff should flatten out.

aaaahhhhh... the beautiful alpine meadows of Yellowstone. (and a manageable grade). wonderful.

lake

more hot springs

Norris campground is on the other side of this meadow. A stream meanders through.
This place is full of wildlife and beauty. Best campground in the park.

great place to stop for dinner.

I stopped at Norris, as planned, but it was full and I was still feeling good. I had met up with my dad a few miles back and had agreed I would go to Madison Junction. He could pick me up there. We were going to camp in a small forest service campground just outside the Park (yellowstone fills up very fast in July, and it can be tough to get a campground when you don't know where you'll be).

I still stopped at Norris, partly out of nostalgia... and partly because I was hungry. I had a quick dinner of granola bar, doritos, and fruit snacks. that'll be enough to get me home. And off I went...

self portrait. (doritos bag provides evidence of a delicious dinner)

very late afternoon light near Madison Junction. I used lights.
plenty of cars on the road... but they were courteous.

sunset over the valley. I love the meandering rivers of Yellowstone.

I pushed through Madison and met up with my dad taking sunset pictures by a river.  It was a beautiful sunset, and I didn't hesitate to hop right off the bike, park it, and pull out my photo gear and start taking pictures while we had the light. ("hey, who is that guy in spandex with the camera gear?" / "I dunno, probably some weirdo... c'mon let's go") 

I had made it just over 100 miles. An all around great day... on so many levels. We packed stuff back into the car and made for camp, with a quick detour at a rundown laundromat that offered cheap showers. After mercifully *not* being murdered, I was nice and clean and very much ready for bed. It was a long day, and I wanted to be ready for tomorrow: the final day of my tour.