Rude name for a pretty place - Day 28, Grant's Village, Yellowstone, to Colter Bay, Grand Teton

Grant's Village opened only recently, so the wildlife hasn't quite figured out that they should avoid it yet. We saw some elk in camp, and in the morning I spoke with Jeremy, another cyclist, 15 minutes after a grizzly had wandered into his site. He had photographic evidence. The rangers actually sent a helicopter to track the thing, possibly to tranquilize it and fly it somewhere very far away.

Jeremy told me a great story about his stay in Eugene, Oregon, on this same trip. He stayed at an eco-village, and was invited to participate in a bike mob to celebrate the opening of some new bike lanes. He unloaded his bike and said he was ready to go. His host asked where his costume was. He hadn't packed one, so his host took him to a room and said he could choose anything from it. The first thing he found was a penguin costume, and shortly thereafter he was biking through the streets of Eugene in a penguin suit, wondering if this is what bike touring was always like.

We ran into Brandon and Ed again, and this time Brandon had managed to bake brownies in his giant skillet. They made a great breakfast.

We left not-quite-so-late and began fighting wind and RVs to get out of the park. After a few close brushes, Hamish stayed at the rear and started taking the full lane whenever a large vehicle might try to pass despite oncoming traffic. This approach pissed off a few RVers, but it got us out of the park in one piece.

Along the way, we met two westbound women from Boston. One was older, very tall, and had a German accent. The other was younger, very small, and had an interesting accent that was a mix of Boston and something southeast Asian. Hamish was "that guy" and asked Lubna, the shorter of the two, how much she weighed - 100 lbs, or thereabout, with a bike and gear that was about the same weight as my setup at 70 lbs. Despite Hamish's lack of tact, Lubna said to look her up on Warm Showers, a site to find places to stay while cycle touring, if we ever ended up in Boston.

Previously, the Katies had mentioned that Grand Teton National Park was way better than Yellowstone. They actually cancelled their last night in Yellowstone to go back there. Our first real view of the Tetons convinced me that they were right - see the pictures at the end of this post.

Eventually, we made it to Colter Bay, and heard a whole lot about Grizzly activity. A westbound cyclist told us about flashing signs up on the pass saying "GRIZZLY ACTIVITY - STAY IN VEHICLE". A passing pickup driver noticed that his bike wasn't exactly grizzly-proof, told him about a sow with two cubs in the area, and carted him a few miles over the pass. A little further on, a driver waved him down and said there was a lone male grizzly ahead. Having little other choice, he kept going. Sure enough, he saw it on the opposite side of the road. He waved down an RV and they agreed to drive slowly, staying between him and the bear until he was well past. That night, sitting in the cabin office of Colter Bay, I also heard a radio report of a grizzly sighting in the cabins nearby. When I rode back to camp that night, I kept my bear mace handy and sang a stupid tune to avoid startling a bear. They supposedly avoid you if they know you're coming.

Here are some first views of the Tetons, which apparently were named by rude French explorers who had never seen a human breast: