Cyclists Rule: Aug 19, 2009

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Coulter Bay Village (Grand Teton NP) to campground/RV park east of Moran Junction, WY

Via Hwy 289. 17.1 miles.

Today was really a rest day for us. Although we normally don't get anywhere near the bike on rest days, in this case we finished the last portion of the ride that we had planned to do yesterday but did not due to the lateness of the day (by the time we had dealt with the late start due to cold weather, flat tire and road construction.) We spent the morning lounging in our sleeping bags* and touring the Visitor's Center at Coulter Bay, which - among other things - had an excellent display of Native American artifacts. Even before recently reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, I felt awful about the white settlers' nearly-successful effort to exterminate the Indian tribes. One only has to consider that, in less than a couple of hundred years, many of our European ancestors managed to wipe our civilizations that had been in existence for over 9,000 years. While there were many different tribes and diverse cultures, what they had in common was love and respect for the land, the plants and the animals. Many years later we are still trying to learn those lessons. Which society was more advanced?

*We spent the night in a "tent cabin". It had a roof, wood stove, canvas walls and 4 prison-style bunk beds (spring and mattress only) attached to the walls. As was the case in the Grant Village campground, anything even remotely smelling of humans (including toothpaste, water bottles and tolietries) had to be put into one of the bear-proof containers provided by the Park Service. At the office they had some pictures of what bears had done to tent cabins where people didn't follow the rules. As they say, a picture is worth 1,000 words. BTW, we didn't see any bears but did hear a chorus of wolves howling as we bedded down for the night.