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Yellowstone Grand Loop - Day I I - Lake to Old Faithful

September 8, 2008 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: high 20s -> 60 and sun/hot

Comments:
We had a great night's sleep in our little cabin at Lake Village. We awoke around 0645 to a very cold morning! The skies were clear, with no clouds to retain any heat whatsoever, so it was for sure below 30F when we packed up and headed to the lodge for a bit of breakfast.

The first bit of the ride, along Yellowstone Lake to West Thumb, was beautiful and quiet. The early sections saw steam rising from the clear blue lake, which was amazing.

Today I let Dan lead the ride. I felt badly for stringing him out many times over our first two rides of this trip, so I figured I'd let him lead and set the pace, so he didn't feel like I was grinding him all day. We kept it pretty easy, such that I often wasn't peddling throughout this short, 38 mile section from Lake to Old Faithful.

We had a nice, yet chilly, stop at West Thumb to look at their lakeside geysers, then a easier than expected ride over two Continental Divide sections to Old Faithful. Along the way we ran into a family of four that was biking from Fort Collins, CO, all the way to Seattle! We were definitely impressed by that!

As expected, we rolled into Old Faithful Area, where we booked our 2nd night of the trip in another little cabin, quite early -- just after noon, actually. We were allowed to check in and we got a terrific little cabin that was literally a hundred yards from Old Faithful geyser! That was sweet.

Since the ride was so short and easy, I was determined to do a trail run once there. I found a pretty sweet loop that took in the geyser basin, ran along the highway for a while, then cut up a ridge to an alpine lake before barreling back down to a trailhead right behind our cabin area. Around 1PM, after waiting for the super-overrated Old Faithful to blow, I departed.

My heel continued to bother me while walking around and on the bike a bit, which was not a good sign. Despite that, I went on this run. I made sure to self-massage and stretch beforehand, but it clearly wasn't enough. After 25 minutes running I felt a couple "twinges". I should've turned around at that point, but thought a stop to stretch and massage would help. It did, but it didn't last.

After four miles I turned up to climb the ridge. About halfway up -- at least 2 miles from any road and 5 or more from camp -- it began to really stab! FUCK. This totally sucked. I got very worried, not because I was worried for my immediate safety, but because I worried what it would feel like when I finally got back to camp. Would I be able to bike tomorrow? Am I gonna be out for months like this spring? FUCK!

I took it really easy on the rest of the climb and whenever I encountered a steep part, I walked. Without too many more stabbing sensations, I made Mallard Lake and a nice downhill.

On the 3.5 miles back to camp, which was predominantly downhill, I bet I felt it just one time, which was a huge relief! This was in spite of the fact that I just HAMMERED down this trail. Even though I was worried about the heel, I rolled it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just love hammering on a downhill trail -- it's exhilerating! Some added excitement also included a HUGE DIGGER, after tripping on a root along the trail. I laid out full like Willy Mays Hayes into the dirt trail. Thankfully the only casualty was some skin and blood on my hands, a nice shoulder bruise, and a lot of dust! I walked it off and kept hammering...

I finally made the trailhead, which was located just on the other side of the Firehole River, which runs through the geyser basin. Without any hesitation, I took off my socks and shoes, and had a seat in the cold waters to get an immediate ice. After 15 I was out and traipsing past a bison chewing on grass just 10 yards off the trail! Yikes!

I returned in rough shape to find Dan out working on his bike. I showered, and then, worried greatly about my calf, made him massage it out, which was painful.

We wrapped up the day with a bunch of terrific microbrew bottles, which we enjoyed on the deck of the Old Faithful Inn. Despite the setbacks, it was another great day! I just hoped my heel would hold up for the last ride of the trip!

Distance Duration Pace Interval Type Shoes
12.0 Miles