Day 17, Sunday, July 3

Struck camp today, packed up the trailer and headed down into Teton National Forest. Saw a mother black bear and her cub on the way there. It amazes me how incredibly STUPID so many of the tourists are. They were getting out of their cars and trucks and clambering over the sides of the road amongst the trees to try to get as close as possible to the second most dangerous animal in the park (exceeded only by a mother grizzly bear with a cub.) About the only thing they could have done to further my amazement would have been to empty their ashtrays of cigarette butts on the ground prior to running after the bear.
The ride down into the Tetons was much shorter than I expected it to be and I was absolutely stunned by how abrupt and brutal the Teton range is. I’ve never seen mountains like them ever before (from ground level, that is). Another thing that added a high note to today was when I asked for the price of campsites at the Coulter Bay campsite…$5.00 per day for motorcyclists, bicyclists, and hikers! Outstanding! I’d planned on only spending a day in the Tetons but when I heard that, I booked my sight for three nights instead.
The guys camping at the site across from mine were out of California and were cycling the Great Divide back roads on mountain bikes.