Day 21 - Canyon to Tower (July 27)

It's raining outside, so I stay inside the cabin. This leads to a late start.

When I finally got going, I decided to take one last look at the Grand Canyon of the Yosemite before getting to my destination.

Upper Falls. They are not as tall as the Lower Falls.

But these falls are tall. Can you see the people on the other side of the river?

A parting shot of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

After the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, I needed to climb 1,000 feet to get over Dunraven Pass, the highest pass that I had ridden over to date at 9,000 or so feet.

At Dunraven Pass, I decided to do a 6 mile roundtrip hike to the top of Mt. Washburn.

Nice views from Mt. Washburn. This is a section of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone downstream of the earlier photos.

There was an abundance of wildlife on the hike.

There is actually a small rabbit-like mammal in this photo called a Pika.

On the descent, it was getting late, so the wildlife (Bighorn Sheep) came out.

Traffic Jam.

Baby Bighorn

This one had crazy eyes.

Is this a grouse? A hen? A?

Say Cheese.

What a pretty bike.

Tonight's destination. Tower Falls.

The loneliness of travel.

Looking over the land from Mt. Washburn, I can't help but feel somewhat lonely. I look over the distances. In this wilderness, it takes a long time travel from point to point. In past, you would travel and travel and then get to a small town where your arrival signified something. Now the families zoom around from place to place. Stay in this place. Stay in that place. Find this campground. Find this hotel room. Does anyone connect with anyone else anymore? Maybe the bikers have it right. Get a big group of people together - go to a biker bar, socialize and meet other bikers. What if you don't like bars or aren't a biker? They out to have communal lunches and dinners at a given time each day. That way visitors could meet people from different places and have a chance to meet them. Instead of squeezing by each other at the general stores and visitor centers, people would be forced to interact with each other.

What about me? Do I meet people? Yes some, but many times, the hiker/bicyclist sites are separated from the sites at campgrounds. This can be a benefit or it can be isolating. When there are other touring cyclists, then I have someone to talk to. Often I talk to other non-cycling tourists. I have only had a few good conversation with non-cyclists since Canada. But, I've had some good conversations with cycling tourists that were staying at the same campground as mine.

Day 21 - Canyon to Tower Falls - 29 Miles