Day 18 - Grand Teton National Park

Saturday, June 23, 2007

We slept a little later than usual today and then wandered around Jackson for a little while, trying to find a spot for breakfast. I really think Jackson is a cool little place. It has a Western feel to it in the fake, tourist sense without seeming too fake or touristy. There is also a place called The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, which basically lets you know the place rules.

We spent the rest of the day in Grand Teton Park. Our first stop was an old homestead where a guy name Meron had set up a Ferry back around the turn of the century. We ran into a ranger who spontaneously took us on a tour and told us all about the two Meron brothers. They basically lived in a one room shack and made a living by charging people to take them across the river. What I took from this is that in those days you really had to be self-sufficient. These guys came out here, built a house, and then set up a ferry. They weren't professional builders or anything; but in those days you had to know how to do everything. I have no idea how to build a house. Or a ferry.

Later, we took a hike to a place called Hidden Falls and another called Inspiration Point. Much of the day was spent searching out views of these spectacular mountains. We also drove to the top of Signal Mountain, which gave some great views of the surrounding valley. We were hoping to spot a moose, but we never found one.

Also, a couple days ago a jogger was mauled by a Grizzly Bear just outside the lodge in Grand Teton Park. Today, we saw the trail where it happened. Apparently the bear was protecting an elk carcass that she and her cubs were feeding on. They've said the bear won't be put down, as this is normal behavior, but the area has been closed off until Elk calving season is over.

We drove through Cody, Wyoming as we began our journey toward Devils Tower. Apparently, this town is all about Buffalo Bill Cody, as there are five museums and five dozen businesses named for him. There was also a rodeo going on.

Day 17 - Yellowstone and Grand Teton

Friday, June 22, 2007

After breaking camp, our day got started quickly when a black bear crossed in front of my car not more than 10 minutes after leaving camp. He walked right across the road in front of us, probably only about 25 yards ahead. We pulled up alongside him to snap some pictures as he headed into the meadow. We were probably within 10 yards of him. Trying to respect the rules of bear encounters, we didn’t stop for long.

Our big project today was a hike to the top of Mount Washburn, about a 6.5 mile hike that gains 1400’ on the way to the 10,000+’ peak. At the top there is a fire lookout station where some ranger apparently lives by himself for about five months out of the year. From here, you get a nice perspective of the variety of the park’s landscape. In fact, Yellowstone is the world’s biggest active volcano and its caldera surrounds much of the park. From the summit of Mount Washburn, you can see the canyon, the mountains, and even steam rising from some of the geysers.












On our way out of the park, we came across another bear jam. This was another Grizzly, foraging on a ridge next to a herd of bison who were keeping a watchful eye on her, forcing her further and further away. The whole scene was pretty distant, but we did get a good look at the bear through the viewing scope of a very friendly couple. The enthusiasm of these wildlife watchers really shows in how readily they offer up their equipment and insight to a couple of road-weary vagabonds.

Once we left Yellowstone, it was only a short drive to Grand Teton National Park, where we drove down the John D. Rockefeller Parkway, with great views of the mountains to the west. We didn’t do a whole lot of stopping today, because we’ll be going back through tomorrow. We did get some more great views of bison, however.














We’re staying in a hotel in Jackson, Wyoming, which is kind of like Palm Springs, but in Elk Country. There are lots of restaurants and cowboy bars, which is pretty cool. This would be a great spot for a group trip, with lots of opportunities to wander down streets that resemble Western movie sets and drunkenly say things like “pardner.”

Day 16 - Yellowstone National Park - Day 2

Thursday, June 21, 2007

We started today by catching another eruption of Old Faithful before heading up toward Canyon Village. We spent most of the day viewing wildlife and had some pretty great sightings.

Our first sighting was a smaller group of 3 bison hanging out in a forest clearing. We stopped the car and were able to get within about 30 yards of them before they sauntered off into the woods. It’s worth nothing that, in Yellowstone, the guidelines for wildlife viewing are 100 yards for bears and 25 yards for other animals. This was an exciting encounter, but it was just a taste of what we would see later.

As we continued on our journey to the northern part of the park, we passed great herds of bison, probably numbering between 30-75 head. It wasn’t long before we reached a long lineup of stopped cars, looking out into a broad valley. We stopped to see what was going on found out that a Grizzly was just down the ridge, probably about 100 yards away. We waited a short while, and sure enough, a 3 year-old female Grizz was foraging down in the meadow. We watched her for a while as she rooted around. From a distance, it was hard to tell how big she was, but I got the feeling she was relatively small, especially compared to the big males which can reach 10 feet in height. If I had to guess, I’d probably say she’s stand about five and a half feet.

Once we left the Grizzly behind, we came across two bison walking about 5 yards off the road. We slowed down to take pictures, matching their speed. Suddenly, the two of them locked horns and then bolted toward the road. They pounded across the pavement right in front of us, leaving us to wonder what they might have done to my car if they had decided to take a different course. As far as wildlife encounters go, this was pretty exciting.













Eventually, we reached Canyon Village and took short hikes on Uncle Tom’s Trail – a long staircase with a great view of Yellowstone Canyon and of the falls – and Artist Point, which is where one of the most famous renderings of Yellowstone was created. Yellowstone Canyon is somewhat striking. Most of the landscape in Yellowstone is broad, hilly meadows, surrounded by forest and bordered by mountains in the distance. So, it’s somewhat surprising to see such a large canyon right in the middle of the park. The colors of the walls are most likely what gives the park its name.













As we headed north, hoping to find a campsite, we came across another “bear jam.” This time, it was a black bear, about 25 yards off the road. We stopped the car and joined the crowd of onlookers. It wasn’t long before the bear decided to go on the move and actually started moving closer to the road. At one point, he was probably no more than 15 yards from us. Per the ranger’s instructions, we tried to keep our distance from him; but, as we headed back to our car, there wasn’t much we could do. The ranger stopped the two of us and a young family and gave us a little bit of a lecture about keeping our distance from bears. I think he should’ve given the lecture to the bear.









Next, we headed into the Lamar Valley, where we picked up a few more wildlife sightings. We were within 10 yards of a bighorn sheep, saw a group of goats grazing, and even got a distant view of a wolf through the binoculars of some friendly wildlife watchers.









After taking a sidetrip to Mammoth Springs, which was a little disappointing, we finally made it into the camp. With no threat of rain here, we were able to keep the rainfly off the tent and sleep with a view of the night sky.

Day 15 - Yellowstone National Park - Day 1

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

When we hit the road this morning, I was the most tired I’ve been on the whole trip. I think I coked it up (Coke Zero, that is) a little too much last night as we pushed to Helena, so I didn’t sleep very well. That combined with the canoeing and hiking yesterday must’ve taken a toll (not to mention my butt bones are really sore from sitting in an aluminum canoe). Either that, or two weeks on the road is starting to add up.

We made it into Yellowstone, the first National Park, around 16:00. After a quick stop at the visitor center, we started checking out some of the geothermal phenomena of the park. Our first stop was a spot called Fountain Paint Pot. This was a half-mile trail on raised wooden planks through an area of steaming hot springs and bubbling mud pits. The stench of sulfur is thick in the air around these openings, which reach deep into the earth.

The next area we checked out was Midway Geyser Basin and Prismatic Spring. The interplay of colors in the pools is pretty impressive. The water is especially blue because of microscopic particles suspended in it, and the underlying ground is colored green and orange by different species of thermophilic bacteria.

On the way to our next stop, we saw a couple of elk. We stopped for a few pictures and they actually started walking toward us, until they were within about 5 yards. We had seen elk before at Redwoods; but this was a much closer encounter and we could really get an appreciation for the size of these animals.

We also got a distant look at a bison. Hopefully, we’ll get some closer looks at these before we leave. Speaking of bison, Agent Orange had it for dinner. I don’t understand why anyone would want to eat these majestic creatures, especially in a sanctuary dedicated to preserving them. It’s the same complaint I have about zoos and aquariums serving meat. Why is it when people look at animals, the next thing they want to do is eat them?

Our final stop for the day was at Old Faithful. We sat and watched for about 30 minutes before the geyser slowly started bubbling and then erupted in a powerful gush reaching probably close to eighty feet. It’s almost unsettling to think about the activity under our feet that can produce something like this (and certainly much more).

We’re staying tonight in the Old Faithful Inn, which is a National Historic Landmark. It’s basically a giant log cabin (and smells just like The Cabin), one of the largest wooden structures in the world. The rooms are pretty rugged, in a sweet way. We had dinner in the downstairs dining room, which was also pretty nice.

Day 14 - Glacier National Park

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Around 1:00, Agent Orange woke me up because he thought he heard some kind of breathing outside the tent. Turns out it was probably me breathing inside the tent. We both stepped outside about five minutes later and neither of us were eaten. About 4 hours later I decided to pee in nothing but boxers, which was probably more dangerous considering it was really cold. It's amazing just how quick you can start shivering. Getting back inside that sleeping bag really felt great.

We broke camp a little late -- around 9:30 -- and headed over to Eddie's for breakfast. Huckleberries are big here and we had some Huckleberry yogurt with our huge breakfast, which was quite good. Next, we rented a canoe and headed out onto Lake MacDonald. It took us a little while to get the steering figured out, but eventually we got the hang of it and had fun exploring the lake. I was a little annoyed that the rental company gave us boundaries on where we could take the boat and that there is a law about wearing life jackets (they don't even have sales tax here, what do they care about laws?); but it was a great way to spend the morning.

Next, we headed over to the other side of the park -- St. Mary -- which took about two hours. Here we took a hike up into the high country to get a view of a glacier. The ranger we spoke to beforehand warned us that we'd be in territory where Grizzlies are often sighted. So, we had to be sure to make plenty of noise as we hiked the trail. Luckily, we had recently memorized the lyrics to Hoo-Yip, the song from the closing credits of Grizzly Man.

The trail essentially follows a stream until it moves above the trees and into some steep meadows that look exactly what you would picture a Grizz rolling about in. All the way, there are giant mountains rising up out of the valley, with snow scattered all over them. At the end of the hike, we realized that it's not that easy to identify a glacier compared to other big deposits of snow. I'd say we most likely saw the glacier we set out to see, but it's hard to say for sure at this point.

After finishing the trail, we drove the leg of Going-to-the-Sun Road that is open on this side of the park. It was shorter and less scenic than yesterday's drive, but still had some great mountain views.

Finally, we exited Glacier and started the drive to Yellowstone along winding roads through farmland where horses and cows have gotten fed up with being fenced in and sometimes wander right out onto the road. After stopping for dinner at a Subway in Blackfeet Indian territory, we pushed on for Helena, the capital of Montana.

Day 13 - Glacier National Park

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

We drove through some light snowfall this morning as we left Idaho and entered Montana. Despite a full day of driving yesterday, we still had a lot of road ahead of us this morning. Finally, around 15:00, we rolled into Glacier.

Glacier is about as beautiful a landscape as one could imagine. The forests are deep green, the lakes perfectly teal and the grey mountains are covered in white snow. Unfortunately, as we pulled in, it started to rain heavily. Thankfully, it didn't last long and we were able to set up camp under fairly clear skies. With it being late in the day, we decided to start our time in Glaicer with a drive on the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Going-to-the-Sun Road is an approximately 60-mile long path that winds around the lakes and through the mountains of the park. It's an engineering marvel with spectacular vistas around nearly every corner. The road is closed about 27 miles in, where it has yet to be plowed, but I think we probably got to see the best parts. The trip ended next to the Weeping Wall, which is a steep rock face where water seemingly flows out of nowhere, through cracks in the rock. Also, on the ridge far above were a couple of mountain goats; but, we could only get a glimpse of them through the binoculars some lady loaned to us.












After grabbing dinner in Jammer Joe's near the park entrance (they actually serve Fat Tire, prompting 3rd Stop nostalgia), we headed to our campsite at Fish Creek. It doesn't get dark this far north until about 21:30. Still, we were setting up camp in near total darkness. We stashed our food and other scented items in the bear locker and stuffed ourselves into my 2-man backpacking tent, which is significantly smaller than a double bed. After some initial discomfort, we actually got a decent night's sleep.

Day 12 - Mt. Hood, Lake Coeur D'Alene & The Long Drive

Sunday, June 17, 2007

We left Portland this morning and headed onto the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway. After driving through some thick fog, we finally got above it and rounded a corner onto a great view of the summit of Mt. Hood. It's over 11,000', but for some reason I thought it was bigger (over 14k'). From the ski lodge where we stopped, it didn't look that as intimidating as I'd pictured. It's a very prominent peak, however, with no other peaks nearly that high anywhere to be seen.

After leaving Mt. Hood, we headed out onto Columbia River Scenic Byway, which was a nice surprise. The river was really choppy, almost like a bay. Across the river, there were rolling, treeless hills stretching off to the distance, and walls of rock rising up on the side next to us.

We made into Washington, which was basically just miles and miles of hills as far as we could see. It was nice scenery and we made good time from there until we finally made it into Idaho.

We stopped for a few hours at Lake Coeur D'Alene to have dinner and check the place out. It's kind of like Palm Springs, except instead of being in a desert, it's near a lake. There were a lot of people hanging out at the resort that we stopped at, but it's hard to figure out what they were really doing there (chillaxing, probably).














After Coeur D'Alene, we planned to drive into Montana. But, seeing that the road was tough to drive at night, we decided to stop a little early in a town called Mullan. Unfortunately, the only hotel there was one that looked like it was straight out of Vacancy. So, we turned around and headed back to a town called Wallace. We filled up with gas at one of the three remaining stations in America that doesn't allow you to pay at the pump, and perhaps the only station in America with a camoflage-wearing family of wanderers hanging out in it.

The hotel we ended up in is actually pretty nice. Tomorrow, we'll be driving into Glacier and most likely camping there tomorrow night. Today marked the first day in the trip that I was actually getting closer to home; so, that's something.