I woke up to a wonderful view at the rising sun behind the mountain ridges.

It would have been a place to spend a few days just talking in the view from the hill.

The previous ride at night proved to be a massacre on the local insect population. The bike was coated in a fuzzy pelt of bugs.

Before I packed up my gear I planned my route through Yellowstone National Park. There is only a hand full of roads through the it and to be efficient with my time I wanted to make sure I only as many roads twice as really necessary.

Finally I was ready to get back on the road.

I found that the remoteness of a road could be determined by the amount of bullet holes in its street signs.

I finally arrived at the western gates of Yellowstone National Park before noon and entered it with the exciting prospect of a day of discovery ahead. The ticket cost about 25 Dollars and was valid for five days.

Just a few minutes in I noticed that my helmet’s visor felt very loose. One of the plastic screw screws which fixed the visor to the helmet on either side had broken into two pieces. My helmet was a 10 years old SHOEI (very good quality) which my dad had already used years ago. It was a surprise that the helmet had lasted as long as it did but it was still quite an inconvenient time for it to announce it’s end. With a bit of glue however the screw was as good as new and I was impressed that the glue was even strong enough to allow me to screw the screw the big plastic bolt in with as much force as was needed for a tight grip.

Soon after I was rewarded with the first view at some of the parks inhabitants. An elk family was crossing a river. The calf was as big as a stag and it’s parents were the size of medium sized horses.

The next sight announced itself by it’s smell. The first hot spring’s sulfur smell was so intense, it was difficult to breath when the wind blew towards me.

What makes Yellowstone National Park so interesting in it’s appearance is the fact that it is a geologically very active area which stems from the fact that it is one of the biggest volcanoes on earth. There is a popular myth that Yellowstone’s super-volcano is overdue to eruption but that isn’t true. And even if it were true it would not be an Armageddon scenario as often believed. It would significantly impact the surrounding US states with it’s ash fallout but that’s about it. Maybe a few pyroclastic flows here and there..

This is what the center of the volcano looks like. The colors on the ground are caused by bacteria living in the and around the hot water.

There is no big crater as you might expect from a typical volcano. The only thing that gives away it’s true nature is it’s measured geology.

To my surprise it is allowed to fish in the National Park and there were a few people at some of the many lakes casting their rods.

I hadn’t been aware of the fact that there were actually camp sites inside the park. Of course they were all fully booked by the time I found out. This friendly campsite administrator kindly would have offer me to ring up the surrounding camp sites to check if there was a spot for a motorcycle left but there were no landline phones and cell phones had no reception in the park either. I had to chuckle a bit because this scene with the flag gently waving at him was so American, it would not have surprised me if he had started singing the US anthem after we finished talking.

Soon after I got spoiled with the most impressive sight yet. A grazing bison. They seem like unreal machines with their massive bodies and gigantic heads.

The hump on their back is not just fat or the spine being curved. The spine is actually straight and like a dinosaur with a comb on it’s back the vertebrates in that section of the spine simply grow large spikes. The skeleton really looks like that of a dinosaur.

The thought crossed my mind if there would be an opportunity to taste bison.

It really was difficult not to stumble upon wildlife every few kilometers.

And there also was no shortage of breathtaking scenery.

White means there is no bacteria to add color.

Caused by pressure from below this cone took a few hundred years for form.

Now I knew why there wasn’t even a choice to get a less than five day pass. I hadn’t even seen a quarter of the park yet and the sun was already setting. It was time to look for a place to spend the night.

It was heading towards the south entrance of the park to look for a camping spot when I saw another camp site inside the park. Not expecting anything I thought I’d give it a try and to my delight the only space left was one motorcycle spot.

The golden hour of the setting sun made for a good photo backdrop.

I used the burned fire wood that I had taken with me from my previous camp fire to make my dinner.

The smell of the fire was a little bit too much for my delicate neighbor who was travelling on his Harley. He even had a cover for his bike under which it was safe from the warm summer night ……

By the time the bacon was done he had moved his tent away and missed the chance of being part of the feast.

It was delicious.