We made it! After 1,248 miles of sometimes laborious but so often glorious biking, we pulled up to the west gate of Yellowstone Park today.

The start of the day was serene and pastoral as we rolled beside the Madison River through lush valleys and mountain notches, with remarkably little traffic. The last 8 miles or so were on a major highway, flat and straight, and featuring the trucks and campers that had blissfully disappeared for our morning ride. Chris pointed out that instead of having the end of our journey be on a major highway he would have preferred that we would have overcome another mountain pass today just before descending at high speed into West Yellowstone.

Though perhaps short on drama the moment was still poignant when we loaded our big bikes into a pickup for the ride to our friend Wanda Wilcox’s ranch. It’s bittersweet that tomorrow we will have no miles to go before we sleep.

After being picked up we enjoyed a spectacular ride in the truck over the Bear Tooth Byway to Red Lodge and then Absarokee, Montana and we are now ensconced at Wanda’s.

The final blog post on the bike trip, with summary reflections, tomorrow.