timber@earthnet.net
Yellowstone Country Adventure

Dates:
(8 days, 7 nights; Sat-Sat)
Aug. 7-14

Assembly Point: Bozeman, MT
(airline service to Bozeman; Timberline transfers to and from airport)

Tour Cost: $2,595
(includes all lodging, breakfasts
and dinners, support van, leaders, transfers, tour maps & narratives)

Itinerary

        In our minds, at least, no other region that we claim as “Timberline Country” quite captures and expresses the essence of all that is special about the west as does the Yellowstone Country embracing the park’s northern and western perimeters. The Absarokas to the north, and Gallatin and Madison Ranges to the west, the mighty Yellowstone, Madison and Gallatin Rivers that have carved their indelible signatures upon this landscape—these are but some of the elements that constitute the Yellowstone Country that will be the focus of our new Yellowstone Country Adventure.

    Yellowstone Country assembles in Bozeman and we’ll ride east from town on Day 1 for an early-morning encounter with Bozeman Pass (5,712'). We’ll join the Yellowstone River in Livingston and follow its course upstream through the beautiful Paradise Valley to Chico and an evening at the Chico Hot Springs Lodge.

    We’ll continue southward through the valley on Day 2 as we ride beneath the towering spires of the Absarokas to the east and Gallatins to the west. We’ll pause at the 45th Parallel and hike the short path along the Gardner River for a soak in the hot springs in pools built by the Park Service to capture the steaming pour-off from the Terrace Hot Springs above Mammoth. We’ll continue into Yellowstone and on to Mammoth and spend the evening at the Mammoth Hotel.

    We’ll do some different things on Day 3 to maximize our ability to tour much of the northern section of Yellowstone (and comply with NPS cycling restrictions). We’ll van shuttle from Mammoth to Tower Falls, hike to the base of the falls (2 miles), shuttle up Dunraven Pass and then hike to the summit of Mt. Washburn (10,243'), among the park’s tallest peaks (6 miles). It’s then on to Canyon and a visit to the magnificent Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We’ll spend this night at Canyon and then it’s back on the bikes the following morning as we ride through the Hayden Valley. with it’s vast Bison herd. We’ll skirt the shore of shimmering Lake Yellowstone to West Thumb and then climb from the lake to the Continental Divide atop Craig Pass (8,262'). From Craig’s summit, it’s downhill to Old Faithful and an overnight at the Old Faithful Inn. We’ll tour the geyser basin at Old Faithful, including an obligatory visit to the famous old geyser itself.

    Day 5, we become the ultimate bicycle tourists as we tour Biscuit and Midway Geyser Basins, Fountain Lake Drive, Fountain Paint Pots and Firehole Canyon before turning to the west along the Madison River to West Yellowstone and an overnight at the Stagecoach Inn.
 
   Early morning of Day 6, we’ll ride from West Yellowstone through beautiful Madison Canyon. The massive Madison earthquake of 1959 profoundly altered the appearance of portion of the Yellowstone Country. On our way to Ennis, we’ll visit the Earthquake Interpretive Center and ride the shores of Quake Lake, a creation of that cataclysmic event.

    We’ll climb from Ennis the following morning and then descend into the historic 19th-century mining town of Virginia City. We’ll follow the Jefferson River north from Twin Bridges as it flows toward it’s union with the Madison and Gallatin at Three Forks. We’ll spend the evening at Three Forks, enjoy a spectacular final dinner at the Headwaters Café and somehow squeeze in a visit to Wheat Montana, one of the great bakeries of the Western World. Early on our final morning, we’ll visit the Missouri Headwaters Monument at the actual confluence, and then ride on to Bozeman where our tour concludes.

Total cycling mileage — 398
Total hiking mileage — 10


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