We left Butte on I-90 at 8:15am. After a few miles we reached the continental divide at 6,900 plus feet. From here on, all the water flowe=s to the Gulf of Mexico. Twenty odd miles later, we switched onto US 287 and headed up the Madison River Valley. What a beautiful ride. It goes through cattle country and the fields are mainly devoted to growing hay. As one acquaintance in a bar told me: "Montana and the other western states have banned the use of square hay bales in favor of round ones." I naively asked why, he said because the square ones constipate the cattle. One on me!
We passed through Ennis, a great little town completely restored to the 1800s. Further on, we stopped at Cameron, where we me four fellow bikers from Kansas City, Missouri (pic). Monte, Shannon, George and Sharron were riding softails (Loaded with chrome) and were a delight to talk to. Monte informed me that if you bought your bike in Montana, and you owned a piece of property in Montana, there was no sales tax and you could license the bike for about $125 for the life of the bike! Montana loves bikers!
Further up the Madison River Valley we saw many fly fishermen in the river and in boats with guides, fishing for trout. The river is absolutely beautiful and I was full of envy.
We arrived in West Yellowstone at 11:30 and checked into the Holiday Inn. We had lunch ane headed into the park (I have a seniors lifetime pass!). Our route was the North circuit to see some geysers and the Mammoth Hot Springs. If we had it to do over again, we would skip the North circuit. The roads are narrow and there are many places where the speed is less than 20 mph. We did see a few herds of elk, but no other wildlife. Some of the scenic sites were quite nice (pics).
We arrived back in West Yellowstone at 5:30pm and had a walk up Yellowstone Ave. Several nice shops, including a biker shop! We then returned to the Best Western and had a beer or two and dinner. Any typos are the fault of the bar in the hotel.
Talk to you tomorrow after we see Old Faithful and the other sites on the South Loop.
Cheers
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