West Yellowstone > Teton Valley

The Better Half and I just spent the last couple days riding from West Yellowstone to the south end of Teton Valley (our home) - really fun trip through a lot of varied terrain.

The first 20 miles or so took us along the South Fork of the Madison and over Reas Pass from Montana into Idaho. We had a buddy drop us off, and he rode with us for the first stretch:

 
 

After dropping into Big Springs and the Island Park area, we encountered frequent sandy trail conditions, deep enough in one stretch that we had to walk for a bit. Most of it was rideable, but made for slow going. Still, the country was beautiful, and riding over the Henry's Fork and the Buffalo rivers was great. Once we got south of that area, trail conditions improved and we alternated between traveling on the old (converted) Yellowstone rail bed, and gravel roads.



 
As we got nearer to the Warm River drainage, the scenery changed and the topography got more rugged again. This section was really scenic, with good trail conditions and a cool gorge below the trail:

 
 

It had been a long, hot day at this point and since we hadn't found a great place to camp yet, we decided to take a break and cook a trailside dinner before carrying on in the cooler hours of the evening.

 
On the menu: Thai curry and a nice Syrah:

 
We called ahead, and reserved a table with a view:

 
And with full bellies, it was time to carry on in search of a home for the night...

 
We dropped down off the volcanic Yellowstone plateau, into the vast rolling farm fields of eastern Idaho:

 
55 miles from where we started, we found a fine place to flop down in a barley field. This pic is looking north, and in the distance you can see the plateau we had descended that afternoon:

 
The next morning we carried on through rolling farm country, mostly on the rail trail.

 
First good view of the Tetons in the distance:

 
Crossing Conant Creek:

 
The Better Half being only 10 weeks out from ACL replacement surgery, chose to call it at mile 84 in Tetonia, where we had left a vehicle just in case. I bade her farewell and continued south for another 20 miles, rolling up to our porch later that afternoon:

 

It was a great overnighter, and as with so many trips, I found myself at the destination wishing I was getting up tomorrow and continuing on. We will certainly be revisiting parts of the ride again, as we link it up with other connecting trails that we're curious about. The gravel touring around here is endless. If you get a chance to tour this country, I would highly recommend it!