Do YOU Know Your Scat and Tracks?

When you are travelling around national parks, etc, don't forget to look down as well as up. I find tracks and scat, otherwise known as poo, fascinating and love to try and guess who was there. I know, I'm a geek. I married a geek/nerd. My daughter, for all her coolness, also has geek tendencies. Most of my friends are geeks. I revel in my geekiness; now you can too ;)

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGEDY JOG

Farewell to the Tetons. Farewell to the Parks. Alas, we begin out trek home; but not without “driving donuts” and coffee. The day is clear and temperatures promise a warm drive home. Gradually, the mountains become foothills, which become rolling plains. Western Wyoming is as large as Montana, as we track parallel to mountain ranges, fifty miles distant, on either side of us.

Cattle and pronghorn dot the landscape, certainly in greater number than humans. It should be noted that evidence of human presence is minimal, not unlike the western half of South Dakota. Hey, it’s a road trip – there’s nothing out here – it’s Wyoming.

Thanks for joining us on the trip. If nothing else, at least we found where the deer and the antelope play.

Stay tuned for "do you know your Scat and Tracks?" and "In Retrospect"

If You Give a Moose a Muffin

We got off to our earliest start of the week, how ironical. Not surprisingly, we enjoyed another stellar morning with expectations of higns in the 60’s. We have come to expect warming temperatures as we leave the area – part of our contribution to support tourism. While we have been willing to share the road with our hooved friends, this morning we were caught up in the middle of an Eastbound parade of bison on the highway. My guess is today was the anniversary of Buffalo Bill’s passing, (they did look happier than in the past). The cool still air also presented some singular views as we passed through geyser basin, backlit by the morning sun.

Heading south through Rockefeller Parkway and into Grand Teton National Park, we are again amazed at the depth of snow that remains this late in the spring. Most of the drive has been through Lodgepole pine forest, with the occasional lake or meadow. After an hour of restricted views, snow taller than the car and dense forest, we finally reached the north end of Lake Jackson and the Tetons exploded into view. Rising about five to six thousand feet from the lake edge, the rugged, steep mountains, covered in snow contrast sharply with the smooth lake and flat plains at their base.

Lake Jackson is the headwaters of the Snake River, which works its way south then west to the Pacific Ocean. The mountains and river valley were shaped by intense glaciation, scouring and depositing, during the last Ice Age. Jenny Lake is one of the results of this activity, and as the day was warm (relatively) and sunny, we felt a hike was in order. A simple up and back trail skirted the west side of the lake, rising quickly several hundred feet along the base of the mountain. Snow covered about two-thirds of the trial making it slow going and tiresome. On our return leg, we spotted a moose moving through the forest, not more than twenty yards ahead of us. Tracking an animal that is neither dainty nor light-footed, we c carefully poked our heads around trees to catch fleeting glimpses, but the moose quickly vanished in the forest.

Our last stop in the park was the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center. Opened within the last year, the center is an impressive architectural work that draws the visitor to the mountains immediately to the north.

Then it was off to find the Alpine Vista hotel (small print), known now as part of the Snow King Resort (large print). We finished the day with bison burgers and microbrew at Sidewinders. Tomorrow we drive home, ending the Great Western Adventure.

Of Wolves and Grizzlies

Eagle's Nest - It was hard to get this shot because we had to stay outside the boundary of their territory.

One of the disappointments in our visit to Yellowstone this early in the season, is that so much of the park facilities remain closed and that much of the park was inaccessible to us due to the snow. On the other hand, every time we pulled into a near empty parking lot or stopped to take pictures, we were grateful for the lack of traffic and the virtual solitude.

This bison isn't wet; those are icicles.

Today, our goal was to tackle the east side of the park. An inch of snow fell last night, leaving a top coat of beautiful white on the ground and a gentle frosting on the trees. Morning sun in a clear sky made the drive enchanting. Of course when we arrived at Canyon Village, it was closed, with several feet of snow yet to be cleared before next week’s opening. The village is less than a mile north of one of Yellowstone’s signature features – the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the upper and lower falls within. Over 20 miles long, and ranging in depth from 800 to 1,000 feet, the canyon is anchored by the 100-foot upper falls and 300-ft lower falls. As a bonus, we were early enough to catch the morning mist rainbow at the falls(see new blog header photo).

As we headed south, we spotted our second grey wolf, this time getting photographic evidence. On a side note, we went from being a lone car on the road to one of a dozen as cars came swerving into the lot, doors flying open, to catch a glimpse of the elusive prey like the paparazzi in Hollywood.

Moving south to Mud Volcano, yes there are mud geysers as well as water geysers, cauldrons and springs we had a close encounter with a 2,000 pound bison who decided to share the trail with us.

Lunch for the week has been comprised of peanut butter sandwiches made in the car, with pretzels and/or oreos. Today, we lunched at Lake Village (also closed), then headed back over Craig Pass, stopping for a short nap at Old Faithful, then back to West Yellowstone. We toured the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center – a small nature center that is home to eight Grizzly Bears - (I’ll bet you thought we met one in the park)- and a half dozen wolves.

Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Tetons!

A Mammoth Day

(note from Stacey - we take on average 150 photos - each - each day. We're trying to pick the ones that show the park at its best, but for every 1 we show, we have 30 others that are fabulous as well)

For the first 32 years of its existence, the park was run by the U.S. Army, at Fort Yellowstone at what is now known as Mammoth Village. The village includes administrative offices, gas station, visitors’ center and general store. The primary attraction of this area is the hot springs terraces – a surreal collection of thermal springs that, over time, have created terraces as the mineral laden water cascades down the side of the mountain. Coupled with the steam, clouds and overwhelming sulfur odor, the place appears to be something from another planet.

Oh, and the bathrooms are very large here.

Apparently you can fit a bus in them.

Immediately to the east, we were lucky enough to catch site of a lone grey wolf; not a picture however. The Grey Wolf was re-introduced to the park in 1995, and the current estimated population is at about 120.

Moving south, we visited Tower Falls, meeting a couple from Syracuse while we hiked down a short trail for better views of the falls. Dunraven pass, immediately to the south, is still closed, so we turned back and made our way over to the Norris Geyser Basin.

The middle of the park is said to be the remnants of a super volcano that collapsed about 640,000 years ago, the result of a geologic “hot spot” several miles below the park. This accounts for all of the thermal activity that is visible on the surface. The Norris geyser basin is an otherworldly collection of small geysers, hot springs and bubbling mud pits that cover hundreds of acres. We discovered that geyser clouds follow the “Law of the Grill” in that the odorous steam cloud is always blown in the direction of the photographer or subject.

Heading south, we stopped at Gibbon Falls, the west back to the hotel. More elk and bison, blah, blah, blah. Truth be told, seeing all of the elk and bison never got old. The route back to the west entrance is 14 miles along the Madison River, linked by a series of meadows, so that the elk and bison graze their way through the area every morning and evening, often on and along the road.

Pizza and local microbrew followed our return to West Yellowstone. A couple from Detroit was able to convince the owner to put the Red Wings game on. Some trash talking was noted, but we were playing from a weak position as Detroit remains in the playoffs while our Av’s are busy working on their tans. Stacey’s Penguins and JR’s Blackhawks also remain in the playoffs.

Still Frozen After all These Years

Prior to our trip, we had looked at average and record temperatures for all of our stops in order to understand what to pack and expect on our trip. We knew that Yellowstone would be the coldest of our stops by about 10-15 degrees and we were fine with that...right up until we realized that the forecast was for snow, rain, and highs in the 40’s, then we opted to find a hotel room in West Yellowstone, at the Grey Wolf Inn.



The Park is enormous – over 2.2 million acres (about 25 times the area of Denver), surrounded by snow-covered peaks, and filled with wildlife and geologic oddities.

We worked our way in from the West entrance, stopping incessantly for photo and wildlife opportunities. Sometimes, they come to you as evidenced as this through the window shot...yes, he really is about 3 feet from the car.

A pair of loop roads create a “figure-eight” in the middle of the park. It is about a 15 mile drive to reach the loop road from the west entrance, and from there we worked our way south to the geyser basins, and then, of course, to Old Faithful.

There are four “villages” within the park, each with lodging, fuel, stores, restaurants, museums, and information centers. Old Faithful Inn is one of the oldest lodges in the park, reflecting what has become known as the park service style of architecture. After the scheduled performance, we stopped for lunch, then headed over Craig Pass, traversing the continental divide twice, to Yellowstone Lake – still frozen in mid-May.

We have been lucky(?) enough to share the hotel with a bus load of Germans, and I am not sure whether it is because it is the early season and crowds are non-existent, but the number of foreign languages we hear spoken is remarkable. We’ve also met folks from Texas and other parts of the country.

MEET ME IN MISSOULA

Jill Vaitkus and Stacey go back to Stacey’s days at Monroe Group. A bit over a year ago, Jill started a new job that landed her and her husband Darius in Missoula, Montana. Since we were already in Montana, what’s a short drive across the continental Divide? More beautiful countryside, blah, blah, blah. However, shortly after stopping for fuel on the way, we caught sigh t of a camper truck, desperately trying to overtake us, and upon coming abreast of us, waving frantically. We pulled over to discover that we had left our rooftop Thule open, keys in the lock; and even more amazing – not an item out of place. Whew!

Jill was kind enough to purchase tickets to the International Wildlife Film Festival, and we followed that with a taste of Missoula nightlife. Five minutes later….. In the morning , Darius prepared a wonderful breakfast, and later that afternoon we were off to Yellowstone.

Thanks to Jill and Darius - we had such a wonderful time and it was waaaaaay too short.

Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of Jill, Darius, Timber (their greyhound/husky), Rain (malamute) and Ike (mix), so I'll take ones from Jill's Facebook....

A Driver Runs Through It

What are driving donuts, you might ask. “Driving donuts”, also known as “hiking donuts”, or breakfast of champions, are the little Hostess or Dolly Madison miniature, chocolate-covered, cake donuts that come a dozen to a box or countless to a bag. High in sugar, carbohydrates, and portability, they represent the ideal energy food for starting long hikes (or drives) – at least that is what I tell myself.

Stacey and I are visiting Montana for the first time. Just for the record, upon awakening we once again scraped frost from the picnic table and car. I must say, that as a never ever camper, Stacey has handled the cold and inconvenience with aplomb, and to begin mother’s day by scraping ice off the car and putting on gloves without complaint is pretty remarkable.

Anna and Andy York used to live across the way from us in Littleton when we first moved to Colorado several years ago. After a few moves, they ended up in Billings, Montana so we thought why not extend our trip up from the Black hills to visit?

Driving north through Hill City and Deadwood, we dallied in Deadwood to see if we could find Wild Bill Hickock’s grave. We found the cemetery, but not the grave. We also mosied around for some architectural and kitschatectural pictures.

The plan was to meet Anna and Andy for dinner in Billings, allotting several hours for stops, largely concentrated at the Little Big Horn Monument. We decided to re-apportion our time allotment, and detoured to Devils Tower, several miles off the interstate. It was well worth the time. Growing out of the rolling hills of northwest Wyoming like a lone tree stump, it is easy to understand why the native Americans saw it as a sacred place.

Shortly after crossing into Montana, we stopped at the Little Big horn Monument, site of the infamous Custer’s Last Stand. A modest memorial and visitors center occupy the site. Especially poignant, are the small stone markers that mark the spots where soldiers fell, and the five mile drive and narrative panels that describe the battle for the visitor in time and real space. We should have alloted a half day here - 5 mile road chronicalling the battle. The history books can't convey the vast landscape. Truly a must-see.

A short drive to Billings later, we set camp, then headed over to Anna and Andy’s for a wonderful dinner with them, Anna’s mother and their two children.

The Thrill is Gone, but the Chill Remains

We woke up this morning and there was frost on the ground, (and the picnic table); the thermometer read 29 degrees. I went to the outdoor spigot and … nothing. Third night in a row of near or below freezing temperatures, and yesterday it never got above 45 degrees. Perhaps “blue” hills is more apt to describe this part of South Dakota. Undeterred, we drove into Rapid City to replace one of the car remotes, which had died, then back to the Black (blue) Hills to gather up our hiking gear and tackle the tallest mountain east of the Rockies – Mt. Harnley, (also the tallest peak in South Dakota).

Under mostly cloudy skies and a brisk wind, with the thermometer reading a balmy 45 degrees, we set off from the Sylvan Lake trailhead. Rising fairly evenly over the three and a half miles, the trail opened up from time to time to incredible views of the Black Hills and surrounding plains. We were sprinkled with “dippin dots” snow on several occasions, not enough to deter us, but enchanting in an annoying sort of way.

The summit had been used as a fire-watch tower, and imagine our surprise when we turned the last bend in the trail to find steps, then walls, then railings, then an aluminum stairway, a nice little entry garden, and finally a stone watch-tower with a wonderful south-facing veranda. The Black Hills sort of spring up out of the Dakota plains, not unlike the flatirons, so the views encompassed the south half of the Black Hills and beyond to the surrounding plains.

More snow on the return, and a quick trip to the general store for “driving donuts” and ice, then showers in the unheated common bathroom, and laundry. Tonight’s dinner is fresh buffalo burgers on the grill (not that fresh), and free ice cream at the lodge!