Day 19, June 15

West Yellowstone, Mt to Madison Campground, Yellowstone Park, WYOMING
17 miles

Drained by the slog into the wind the previous day and facing a rain that wouldn't stop, I ended up making this primarily a rest day.

I woke to a rain and every time it would stop long enough for me to think that it was time for me to get out of my tent and pack up, it would soon start right back up.  I ended up staying in my tent, dozing on and off until about 10:30.  After that I headed into town (West Yellowstone), ate, did some grocery shopping, did my laundry and took a shower.

Around 4 in the afternoon I finally headed toward Madison campground, about 14 miles into Yellowstone Park.

Hello Wyoming

The scenary can speak for itself.

Once in the park finding camping space was not an issue.  They have a policy of not turning away hikers/bikers; mainly because they want us off the road early due to heavy traffic and limited shoulders.

At Madison campground I met Ron, who is also cycling the transAmerica trail.  He had already heard of me since he spent a day riding with Ethan and John and some of the other guys I left in Missoula.  He had an aggressive schedule of about 90 miles a day and had passed those other guys a couple of days ago and would no doubt be far ahead of me by the end of the next day.

The campground was excellent, with free morning coffee (in a ceramic mug) for anybody in the hiker/biker area.