Day 64 July 25th Seven Years

Pahaska Tepee WY to Canyon Campground Yellowstone NP WY 45 miles (2,801)

Today I commemorated my 7th year after open heart surgery (July 25th, 2014) by riding into Yellowstone, up and over Sylvan Pass, and on into Canyon Campground. To say that God has been good to me would be a gross understatement. 

Here are some of the views from today's ride:

The road up, over and down Sylvan Pass seemed safe as it had a shoulder to the north and some of the views from the pictures above to the south. Beside the shoulder we're granite walls interspersed with trees and grasses and punctuated with waterfallettes:

Tonight's campsite in Yellowstone:

Note the bear box I was sharing with a couple of cyclists who had just graduated from Cal poly at San Louis Obispo. They were cycling around Yellowstone from campsite to campsite.

I began this morning with a hearty breakfast at Pahaska Tepee Lodge Restaurant.  Alex was not my waitress, but she came over to ask me if I was the same guy who had stopped there a couple of years ago on his way from Alaska to Cody:

Alex has made several cross country trips in her car. She hopes to drive her bicycle across the USA someday.

Here are some pictures of the Pahaska Tepee Lodge area, which was Buffalo Bill Cody's Mountain retreat:

Carson and Hannah are the ones who took my picture at the Yellowstone National Park sign. They are traveling around the country in a van/truck that Carson tricked out:

(This picture really shows off my amateur photographer skills.) I was still high from yesterday's experience having a major mechanical breakdown and so many people stepping up to help. So I told them about it. They then told me about a similar experience they had earlier in their trip when their radiator blew. We agreed that we live in an amazing country - and that it's the people who make it so.