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Around The World In 80 Days Motor Challenge
Yellowstone National Park
26 June 2000Billings, Montana
Photos © 2000 by Randy Jokela (RJ) or Tim Winker (TW).
Today was truly a relaxed one for the Around The World group as they visited one of America's great natural wonders, Yellowstone National Park. There were no tests and they were given twelve hours to travel the distance. That allowed plenty of time to pause at the various hot springs that produce the largest concentration of geysers on the planet.
Yellowstone is the site of a huge volcano some 600,000 years ago, and the 28 by 47 mile caldera that was left from that explosion is now the heart of the National Park.
The park is also a wildlife refuge, and there are often traffic jams as nature seeking visitors stop to photograph bison, elk, bear, moose or coyotes. The bison and elk were seen in abundance, with just occasional glimpses of the others.
Several teams arranged to meet on the shore of Yellowstone Lake for a picnic. Nearly all of the competitors were able to make the trip, including the Mercedes of Claude Picasso. Team Passepartout had worked on the car much of the previous evening, straightening damaged body panels, fitting a replacement door handle and installing a windshield from a Chevy Suburban with the aid of the Handyman's Secret Weapon, duct tape.
The real "test" was after Yellowstone, on the Bear Tooth Highway (US 212) to Billings. The climb ranks with some of the best in the Alps, with many switchbacks and changing weather conditions. Near the top those conditions included fog and snow. At least two cars - the Fiat Millicento and the Citroen 2CV - needed the assistance of the sweep vehicles to reach the crest, nearly 11,000 feet above sea level.
The Meeus' Jag skipped the Yellowstone trip, instead remaining in a local body shop to straighten out some of the damage from yesterday's rollover.
Tim Winker