Would have liked to stay longer but while today's forecast was OK, Thursday's was back to sleat/snow, so I had to move on. Said goodbye to Loinel (who was cycling back to West Yellowstone and the first of numerous buses to Vancouver) and headed south on Highway 287 to climb over the Continental Divide twice (8262' and 8391') at Craig's Pass.
At Grant's Village the clouds disappeared and the sun came out as I continued south on 287, leaving Yellowstone by the south entrance. 287 then continues as the John D Rockerfeller Jnr Memorial Parkway and I entered Grand Teton National Park.
Jackson Lake is reached and I have to be honest, words now fail me. To the west side of the lake is the Grand Teton main mountain ridge. It is unbelievably beautiful. I can only thank Mr John D Rockerfeller Jnr for purchasing and donating 30 odd thousand acres of this mountain terrain to the people of the United States. This was added to by others. Honestly, words fail me. Just stunning.
By the time I reached Jackson Junction I was starving so on asking about restaurants, I'm directed to the Jackson Lake Lodge (http://www.gtlc.com/). Now this can only be described as upmarket. Picture me: I reek, having not washed in days; my white ALZHEIMER SCOTLAND 'T' shirt is all sweat stained; and my hair is all over the place. Still, nothing ventured, as they say, so parked the bike at the front door (no need to lock it here - trust me) and went 'where no (sweaty) man has gone before', the reception desk. "Certainly sir, can we recommended the Pioneer Grill". So far so good. On the way up to the restaurant carrying my bag with its Saltire flying, was approached by a lady who previously stayed at Murrayfield, Edinburgh when her husband worked in Ferranti. They now stay in Miami but are on vacation at the lodge. The special of spaghetti and meatballs with loads of carbs was required. Spoke to a couple with Scottish ancestor connections and who both have experience of looking after relatives who had dementia. Funny how despite my appearance, folks were really interested in the trip and willing to talk to me. And to Georgi (my server) and his wife, who I both spoke to for a bit, if your dream after graduation is San Diego, "Go for it". I should add that the whole of the west wall of the lodge is glass, so the views over to the mountains are just superb. As is no surprise, the bike was still outside and I headed down to Signal Mountain Resort (http://www.signalmountainlodge.com/) where I got the hiker/biker rate at 5 dollars.
Update: Cheyenne, Wyoming (library)
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