Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1935 to provide protection for the last 70 Trumpeter Swans. Now there are over 46,000 in the US. The refuge also provides habitat for many other fauna and flora species. The visitor centre has the interlocked antlers of two male moose, found in the mud of the lake. Imagine the force of their collision and all because they were fighting over a girl!
Our campsite at Upper Red Rock Lake.
Pine forests are changing into Aspen as we head south.
The first border crossing since entering the US. We were in Idaho for only two days before crossing into Wyoming.
Big Spring is a natural spring with water seeping through the volcanic rock of the Yellowstone basin. It provides a perfect breeding habitat for trout as the water is clear, cold and nutrient poor.
Even golfers carry guns around here. Apparently, moose are more dangerous than grizzly bears.
Our first cold morning. Kirsten's GPS suggested 4 degrees!
We teamed up with Alba and Gerard from Barcelona for several days. There are many riders on the trail from all over the world, but most of them are going much faster than us (and are much younger). Alba and Gerard came specifically for the solar eclipse and had to slow down, so they wouldn't ride past the umbra.
I didn't even know about the eclipse until I read a National Geographic article. What an amazing coincidence that we were at exactly the right place at the right time!
We decided that Moose, just north of Jackson was the perfect spot to view the eclipse. There were thousands of people everywhere! A local told us about an abandoned farm where we could camp. It was fabulous, with a view of the Tetons and we had it all to ourselves! Here's the view from our tent...
The sun got smaller for about one hour, then the total eclipse for two minutes and then another hour back to full sunshine. It was very quiet and eerie. It never got totally dark, but the temperature dropped drastically and it looked like a sunset all around. The eclipse is impossible to photograph without specialised equipment and we were too busy watching anyway. Below an impression of how the colours changed.
After the eclipse there were major traffic jams for miles! Lucky we were on bikes and could pass everybody!
Gerard's bike went belly-up. It had enough!
The Tetons are amazing!
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