A Beary Good Day

Today (June 23) was a very busy day that started with a trip toward Tower Falls. Not long after we were on the road, we saw a big traffic jam. We grabbed our binoculars and took off and were very happy to see a black bear with a cub. The cub was playing, then decided to take a nap. It was very cute. Hard to see in the photo. Look for the black dot.



We made it to Tower Falls and were treated to a glorious view of the falls. What is it about waterfalls that is so mesmerizing?


The next stop on our trip was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. In order to get there we had to go over the Washburn Mountain range and go through Dunraven Pass, which is a hot spot for bears. We were up pretty high and there was still a lot of snow on the ground. As we were driving, a car was frantically waving at us to stop. Why you ask...There was a black bear on the side of the road. Kate could have touched it had she wanted to. Way cool!


We were still on a pretty good high when we came upon another groud of cars pulled off the side fo the road, so wew dashed to the top of the hill to see what was there. At the bottom of the ridge, less than 100 yards away was a grizzly bear! He was digging for roots and grubs, and we watched him for a long while. It's not too common to see one that close (and maybe not taht safe either), so it was awesome!


We finally made it down to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (not the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Different canyons). Our first stop was Artist Point, where you can view the Lower Falls and the canyon from a distance.


We then hiked down the Southern Rim of the canyon which was pretty strenuous, but the views are worth the work. We ate lunch with a view of the falls. Next we went to the brink of the Upper Falls where the water goes over the falls. It was neat to watch the water go over the falls from above. Next we hiked to the Brink of the Lower Falls, the taller fo the falls. The path drops 600 feet and is pretty steep on the way down, which stinks for the walk back. It was good exercise and a great view.

After the canyon, we headed down to the mud volcano area. It's a thermal activity area with some pretty cool features. It smelled incredibly bad, so much that I got a little nauseous. The sulfur coming up from teh ground smells like the worst rotten eggs ever, but the sites are very cool.

After the Mud Volcano, we traveled down to the Lake Yellowstoen area and had a quick ice cream snack on teh lake. I had Moose Tracks which I thought was very appropriate. We sat in teh historic Yellowstone Hotel for a while, which used to be teh cream of the crop of hotels, but has gone downhill a bit in my opinion.

We decided to go down to Grant Village, which is still on the lake, to eat supper at the Grant Village Lake restaurant. They had a decent buffet for the price (everything is kind of expensive here. After supper, we rode through the Hayden Valley in hopes of seeing soem wildlie. We saw a blad eagle, whcih was cool enough, but he was fighting a hawk. We think the hawk may have had a nest in the area. The eagle ending up flying away, but I don't think his heart was in the fight.

Today was a really good day, and at the pace we're covering the park, we probably won't stay there entire week we had planned. Tomorrow is the Lamar Valley and hopefully some wolf sightings. Until then.

~Andy

Next Stop...Yellowstone

I know we're a little behind on the posts, but we've found an internet connection, and I'm going to try to get us caught up. I typed everything on the day it happened, so I'm just going to keep it the way I typed it. Sorry for all the type-o's, but I'm tryong to go fast becasue we're paying for internet access right now.

Today (June 22) we left Grand Teton and headed north to Yellowstone. It was hard to say good-bye to the view form our campsite, but other exciting things lay ahead. Below is a pic from our campsite and a pic of the bear locker we had to keep stuff in so teh bears wouldn't get it. Scary!


The South Entrance to Yellowstone is only 15 miles from where we were in Grand Teton, so it didn't take long to get to the park, but Yellowstone is over 2 million acres, so it takes a while to get around the park. We were going to stay in the Madison campground, but decided to change that up and head further north to the Mammoth Hot Springs campground on the Wyoming-Montana border. It has showers and a general store and will alos allow us to make it up to Glacier National Park in one day, instead of two. More on Mammoth in a moment.

The Old Faithful area was on the way to Mammoth, so we decided to get a look at that first. We walked around the Old Faithful Inn, which is pretty large, but this is the most touristy part of the park. It was very crowded which was a departure from what Grand Teton was like. We got a good front row seat for the geyser's eruption which was very cool. They said it woudl erupt around 1:30pm and they were right. I'll try to post video later.


There are a bunch of thermal features around Old Faithful and below is a pic of the Blue Star Hot Spring.

The campsites at Mammoth are first come first served, so we got on the raod and headed north toward that area. We came across a traffic jam, and saw a coyote taking a nap in the middle fo a meadow which was pretty neat. We thought it was a wolf at first, but a ranger later told us that it wasn't. We finally made it up to Mammoth after some road construction delays and got our campsite set up. It's pretty windy and cold, so we'll be bundling up, but we're sleeping much better now that we got a sleeping bag to put under us.

The Mammoth area is set up like a little town, with a hotel and stores. The elk, apparently don't know that they're supposed to stay in the woods, because they enjoy dining on the lawns of the hotel.

We decided to go see what thet Mammoth area is named for before supper. There are hot springs that expel minerals and gases (sulpher being one of them so it stinks!) The minerals trickle down and create these terraces. The park has a boardwalk around all of them so wew walked around it. It's hard to believe that it's a naturally occuring phenomenon.


After a supper of smoked sausage, peppers and onions and potatoes, we wrote some postcards and called it a night. It stays light until 10:00pm so our internal clocks are still a little off.

~

A Wet Night and...Tatonka

It rained all night last night. Kate and I got into the tent around 8:00 and passed some time by playing some UNO. We've played 10 pretty spirited games so far, and I'm up 6-4. We're keeping a running total so I'll keep you updated on the UNO tournament.

So like I said, it rained all last night and into the morning. Another pretty cold night as well, made a little colder by the dampness. Thankfully, our tent is still dry. Thanks God! We're still getting a little cold from the ground up, so we bought a sleeping bag today to put under us to keep us warm from the bottom. It should do the trick.

Since it was raining this morning, we decided to jump in the Jeep and head out to see what we could see. As we were traveling, we passed less than 10 feet from and elk getting ready to cross the road. It had to stop so it didn't hit us. It was quick, but very cool. It had a radio tracking collar, so I guess the naturalists are studying it.

We got to a crossroads and decided to head down to Jackson Hole, WY to check out the town. It's definitely a tourist town, but we went to say we saw it. We walked through a few shops, and explored a little bit. They did have a very neat arch in the town square made out of elk antlers. The National Elk Refuge is right by Jackson, and every spring, after the bull elk shed their antlers, the boy scouts pick them up and they auction them off in the town square. They used a lot to build these arches.


They also have a stage coach tour you can take around the town. We didn't take one, but Kate posed for a pic.


We started to make our way back to the campsite when we noticed a bunch of cars pulled off the side of the road ahead. In these parts, that can mean only one thing: wildlife sighting. We were pretty excited when we realized that a small herd of buffalo were making their way down the side of the road. We were less than 30 feet from them. They are massive animals, and we were very excited to see them roaming free.


After a quick lunch, we went down to the marina and rented a canoe. We thought we would paddle around the lake for a couple of hours to see if we could spot any animals. After about 30 minutes, we realized that neither of us could paddle that long, so we called it after an hour. It was great to see the mountains from the water though.



As we were leaving the marina, an adorable little girl asked us if we liked her black lab puppy, Charlie. When we said yes, a conversation ensued where we learned that she had rocks in her pockets, a blue raft and a pine cone garden. I feel that we would have learned much more had we been able to talk to her longer. She was great!

It's about 3:00 now. We're going to go to a worship service at 5:30, then have some grilled cheese and soup for supper. We finally ate all the chicken we cooked in Kansas last night, which is very exciting to me. After supper, we are going to take showers (the first since Thursday) and do some laundry in preparation for the trip to Yellowstone. We leave for Yellowstone tomorrow morning, and I'm not sure if we'll be able to post or not. Hopefully we can find a place.

Until then...Happy Father's Day to all you dad's!

It's Cold in the Rockies...

So we went to bed last night and we had our blankets on, but we were just wearing our normal sleeping clothes and it was comfortable. We went to bed at 9:00 and it was still a little bright outside. Then we woke up in the middle of the night freezing, because the temperature dropped into the 30's. We put on our coats and I put on my toboggan. I slept pretty well after that, but I don't think Kate ever got comfortable. We woke up around 7:00 and it was still cold. I guess that's just going to be par for the course for the next few weeks.

We started our day by driving over to another section of the park called Jenny Lake. On the drive over, we saw an entire herd of elk grazing in a pasture. Kate saw a mother with her baby. Unfortunately, we had to be at our destination at a certain time, so we couldn't stop for pictures. There are a lot of glacial lakes here and they are all amazing. The water is so clear that you can see all the way to the bottom at a pretty large depth. We read in the park newspaper that a ranger would take you on a hike to Inspiration Point and explain the formation of the Tetons, which we thought would be neat. We met the ranger and started on our way up the 1 mile hike to Inspiration Point.

A little ways into the hike, we came upon a creek/river winding its way through the canyon. The water was all from the snow melting and it was raging. It was some pretty impressive white water.


Next we came to a place called Hidden Falls which was beautiful. The water is very cold and it sprays you as you stand under it, so we didn't stay long. I've got some great video of the falls and the river, but the connection is too slow to upload them where we are. I'll try to get them up later.


We started to go up along the path and we made it to the first spot, called Exclamation Point, named for the spectacular view.


We went further up still to a point called Perspiration Point, because by this time you're sweating quite a bit. The trail is a bit vertical here, so we started to really feel the hike.


At last, we made it up to the top of Inspiration Point. It's easy to see where the name comes from. The final path is a but precarious, to quote the ranger. It's about 4 feet wide and has a 200 foot fall on the right. The trail was built by the CCC during the depression. The destination was worth all the work though.

We decided not to take the ferry back to the trailhead, and instead we hiked 3 miles back to our car. We were sweating a bit on the way back, and the clear water looked very inviting. We decided not to jump in since the water temperature is still below 60 degrees. It was a good hike and we got treated to a marmot that posed for us.


Kate's a little jealous of me since every third person we walk by comments on my Appalachian shirts. It identifies us to other North Carolinians, which there are a surprising amount of here. And, other people comment about our big win over Michigan. The Ohio State fans are especially friendly. Kate wants to wear an App shirt so she can be as popular as me, but I'm going to keep the spotlight to myself.

We heard talk of a mother moose and her baby in the area so we were pretty disappointed when we got back to the parking area and hadn't seen a glimpse of her. Then, we saw a bunch of people gathered on a bridge, and then we saw the moose with her baby. It was just for a couple of seconds, but it was great. We didn't get a photo of her, but we're getting up tomorrow to go looking for animals along the Snake River, so hopefully we'll have some good pics for you tomorrow.

After lunch, we ran into a bit of rain, so we retreated to the tent for a little nap. We went to the Jackson Lake Lodge to use the Internet, and ran into a major thunderstorm. Hopefully our tent will be there when we get back. There was a wedding taking place in the lodge, which was interesting to watch the hustle and bustle. They have free wi-fi here, so hopefully we'll post tomorrow night.

That's it for today. Hopefully more to come tomorrow.

~Andy

Grand Teton National Park...We Have Elk!

We began today's journey in Rawlins, WY and headed toward Grand Teton National Park. Just the drive out there is absolutely amazing. Kate and I were taking pictures as fast as we could. We went through Red Rocks Canyon near Dubois, WY which was awesome. I'm running out of adjectives to describe the landscape so I'll let my pictures do the talking for me.


As we got closer to the park, we saw a mountain rainge in front of us that had to be the Grand Tetons, so we were excitedly snapping photo after photo.


What we didn't realize, was that those mountains were just the warm up act for the Grand Tetons. We came around a bend and WOW!

We pulled into the park and went to our campsite at Colter Bay. Most of the camping areas are located around Jackson Lake which is the crystal blue lake with huge mountaisn framing it. Again, just see for yourself. Even the pictures don't really do it justice. This is one of those things you have to experience for yourself.


After we got camp set up, we decided to go for a hike around the lake to a spot called Swan Lake and Heron Pond. We were hoping to see some wildlife and we weren't disappointed. As we were standing on the bank, we saw an osprey and some white pelicans. Who knew there were pelicans in Wyoming? Then, all of a sudden, Kate ripped the binoculars out of my hands. She spotted an elk just across the lake. We don't know whether it was male or female, becasue the males don't have their antlers yet this time of year. We got a couple of pics from the distance. This was our first major wildlife spotting of the trip, which isn't bad since we had only been in the park a couple of hours.


We got a little lost on the way back, but we found our way. You feel a little silly as you hike because you have to clap your hands and sing to scare bears off the trail. You feel pretty dumb when people come by and look at you funny.


That's it for today. More to come from Grand Teton...

~Andy

A Breezy Night and a Great View

One thing we didn't plan on was the time difference we would encounter on the trip out. So as we were sitting around the fire at our campsite in Bonny State Park, both of us began to get very sleepy. We thought it was odd since it was only 7:30pm, but our bodies are still on Eastern Time which made it 9:30. We decided to make ourselves stay up until 8:30 then we both instantly went to sleep.

Here's where things get interesting. During the night, a cold front moved through the area, bringing high winds. Fortunately we didn't get any rain, but it did seem like we were sleeping through a hurricane. The winds finally died down and we got back to sleep, but not after we lost the prime sleeping hours of the evening. Jim and Steph, just think Lake Phelps all over again.

Another thing we didn't plan on was the fact that the sun comes up earlier the further north you go. It makes you get up early, regardless of if you want to or not. Kate did get a good shot of a sunrise. We were packed any ready go by 8:30 and headed toward Wyoming. We saw this flower on the way out. Anyone know what it is?




We got our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains outside of Denver. They are as beautiful as you imagine. It is a bit disconcerting to see snow on the tops in June, knowing that you'll be sleeping in a tent pretty close to there soon.


As we were traveling through Colorado and especially Wyoming on our way to Rawlins, I couldn't take pictures fast enough. Every time I looked out the window I saw something new. It seems like God had a really artisitc and creative notion when he made this area. I can't describe it in words, so I'll try to show you in pictures. I'm going to try to get a Picassa page up and I'll try to explain to everyone how to access that in an email if I have time. Tonight may be the last time we have internet for a while.





As we traveled through cattle country, Kate and I thought of her dad, Jim. This is prime cowboy country and it made us think of old westerns. Jim Biggers and Mitchell Haigler would have a blast working a ranch out here. There was a very large cut out of a buffalo guarding the Wyoming state line. It was kind of random.


We pulled into our KOA campground and quickly realized that we were now in the Rockies. The temperature is a balmy 56 degrees with 15 mph winds. From what I've seen of the forecast, it looks like highs in the upper 40's and lower 50's and lows in the lower 40's and upper 30's for the Grand Teton leg of our trip, so that should be interesting. Good thing we packed some winter clothes.

That's it for today. Next stop: Grand Teton National Park

~Andy

We're Not in Kansas Anymore...Thank Goodness!

Today's trip was dedicated to the state of Kansas. Most of the people I have talked to about this trip said that Kansas would be the worst part. They were right. At first it's novel; the rolling hills and huge farms. Then you see more rolling hills and huge farms. Then you see more rolling hills and huge farms. You get the picture. Kansas isn't all bad, though. Clark Kent did grow up here. Kate did get a great shot of the typical American farm.



We got across Kansas and finally into Colorado, which was a bit anti-climatic. Most people think Colorado is very mountainous, but the eastern part is just plains like Kansas. We camped at Bonny State Park near Burlington, CO. To say that Bonny State Park was remote is a bit of an understatement, a fact they don't readily tell you on their website. It is in the middle of Colorado farm land and would be a good place to hide if you never wanted to be found. Their website suggests that you make reservations for campsites, which is nothing more than a money making scheme since it costs you an extra $8. We were the only people at the campsite, which is something I've never experienced and is a bit weird. It was very quiet and peaceful and we did get to see some wild turkeys and deer in the field across from us.




After much research and discussion, we decided to change our route for tomorrow. We'll be staying at a KOA in Rawlins, WY instead of Seminoe State Park. Seminoe was a little too far off the interstate, and we want to get to Grand Teton as soon as possible.

That's it for tonight. Obviously no wi-fi at Bonny State Park, so this post will be a day late. Next stop: Wyoming and the Rocky Mountains! Happy Birthday Dad!

~Andy