Riding and hiking in the rain...
Another early start to the day. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get a hiker/bicylist campsite. But, it turns out I had no problem.
Today also marked a change in the weather that would make riding much easier. A couple of weeks ago when I was riding, it was very hot. The newspaper headlines said that this was global warming and the summer was only going to get hotter. So it was nice to have thunderstorms for the next three days. Given the choice, I prefer cold and rainy over hot.
I bagged my first moose this day. It just sat there on the other side of the river and stared at us.
I decided to hike to the Monument Geyser Basin.
Fortunately I didn't see any bears on my way to the Monument Geyser Basin ("Go Away Bear"). Neither did I see any people. I did see many weird-shaped geysers.
The best part was leaving the geyser basin. There were expansive views of the Norris River. This view is looking towards Norris Junction. The lodgepole pines left standing were burnt in the large fires of 1988. New pines are growing around this area, some now as high as 15 feet.
This stream was located right next to my campsite at Norris Campground. This water was very cold - good place for a bath. Later during the dusk, a few moose came out to graze in this meadow. And when I got up in the middle of the night, I steeped outside, looked up and saw a ton of stars. Fortunately, I didn't see any bears.
After I arrived at the Norris campground, I walked over to the Norris Geyser Basin. Halfway through my walk around the geyser basin, it began to rain. Hard. This allowed me to have the geyser basin to myself. It also allowed me to get very very wet. Even though I had rain gear, I was soaked after 30 minutes of walking in heavy rain. There were many strange colored geysers and many jets bursting from the ground.
This is an overview of the north side of the basin.
I thought this was an interesting shape.
Day 19 - Madison to Norris - 14 Miles
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