Yellowstone National Park

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Returning to Yellowstone for my fourth visit and Alan’s third, we decided to explore some portions we have never seen before.  Actually, that’s almost three-fourths of the park.  We always enter at the Western entrance from Montana and exit through the Southern exit to the Grand Tetons.  Concentrating in the past on the geyser basin, home to Old Faithful, in the southwestern region, we had missed out on so much. 

The park is huge, so trying to explore the entire area is a daunting task.  Stretching over 3749 square miles, it provides a tremendous variety of wildlife and landscape.

Each year over 3 million people visit Yellowstone; so competing with crowds can be an issue during the busiest months of July and August.   Traveling in the less popular areas of the park or outside the peak season can help solve that problem.  Also getting out of your car and walking any of the 1000 miles of trails will get you away from crowds.  Our walking consisted primarily of treks to various rivers with the hope of catching some trout.  Alan hammered his previous dry spell by catching 7 trout within 30 minutes, fishing in a downpour along Soda Butte Creek.  Fishing 50 yards down the creek, I left empty-handed.  Not wanting to be greedy, we packed up our gear and headed back to camp, where we enjoyed a tasty fried trout dinner.

Grizzly and black bears are present in the park, so heading out into the wilderness areas needs to done with caution.  Posted recommendations suggest groups of 3 or more, carrying bear spray (which is available in park stores), and talking, singing or making noise as you walk so the bears will know you are there and will avoid you.

Putting about 200 miles on the Honda in 3 days, we drove to the Lamar and Hayden Valleys, to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, over to Mammoth Hot Springs and down to Norris Geyser Basin.  We were rewarded by seeing countless bison, herds of elk, mule deer, tundra swans, pronghorn antelope, white-tailed deer, and gorgeous and, sometimes, bizarre landscape.

One morning, Alan headed out to do some plein air watercolors.  As he finished painting and packed up his gear, he walked over Fishing Bridge, and up along the Yellowstone River toward the Lake.  He noticed a bear print, looking around and across to the other side of the river, he saw the grizzly lumbering out of the water.  Apparently, this was the same fellow, which had left the prints only moments before.  Luckily, Alan got there when he did and not a few minutes earlier.  Also, he had his point and shoot Canon handy to document the sighting.

  

Our visit was, in a word --- AWESOME.  

Traveling quickly to the west, we will soon be along the coast of Oregon.  

Colorado and Wyoming--Pictures along the Drive

Departing Glenwood Springs, CO and driving over a few days to Yellowstone National Park, we passed some dramatic scenery I'd like to share.

Grand Teton

Grand Teton Range

Making our way back home

Sept. 25, 2009, Spent Alan's birthday in Vancouver, BC.   Clear skies and mid-70's, a perfect day for Stanley Park, we rented bikes and completed a trip around the park.  This lovely park is primarily surrounded by water and provides great views of the city and the mountains overlooking the area.  Having explored Vancouver extensively in the past, this trip we did not explore.  After working up an appetite, we drove to our other favorite spot in the city, Granville Island Market.  This market consists of 50 vendors selling an incredible diversity of items--flowers, seafood, meats, produce, spices, nuts, pastries, and on and on.  We loaded up on goodies for the road as we headed south.

Back in the USA, the next leg of the trip took us east on Route 20 and into the North Cascades Natl. Park.  Venturing out on the Diablo Lake Trail, we were supposed to go to the top of a mountain and an overlook of glaciers.  Taking a detour, we were led to the North Cascades Institute.  This facility provides a variety of natural and cultural history courses.  Living quarters, cafeteria, and classrooms are in a fabulous mountain setting.

Driving out of the Cascades, we noticed a strong burning smell and smoke rising from the engine.  Luckily, we were able to coast off the highway and into a campsite located just off the road at Lone Fir, a US Forest site.  I guess the mountains of the Cascades had been the last straw.  After determining the problem, the following day Alan drove with limited brakes, downshifting 100 miles south to Wenatchee, WA.  The Columbia River Valley produces around 60% of the apples for the U.S. and there are numerous boutique wineries but we had not realized that succulent peaches, nectarines, pears, and plums are also grown in this area.  the peaches and nectarines were perfect, definitely a two-napkin requirement for eating these juicy, sweet treats.

The gravel and mountainous roads had been hard on the RV.  We spent the next two days in Wenatchee and then into Spokane, getting new brakes for the front end, two new tires and a ball joint replacement.  Driving toward Yellowstone Park along the Madison River Valley, we spotted many guide float trips fly fishing for trout on the river.  Never one to miss an opportunity to go fishing, we stopped.  Alan was able to catch a trout on the first cast.  On our entry to Yellowstone, a Bald eagle was causing a minor traffic jam as he surveyed the area.  Animal sightings in the park are accompanied by a line of traffic on both sides of the road.  The following morning, we watched the spectacle of Old Faithful and then spent a lazy afternoon next to Yellowstone Lake.

Outside of Grand Teton Natl. Park, we camped along the Wind River.  The sky was so clear and the night so dark we were able to see millions of stars and the Milky Way--indescribably beautiful.  The evening was accented by a lovely fire, one of the dozens we have had over the past months.

Continuing south into Utah, we met Bob and
Stan, two Harley bikers.  They were part of a group of 500 bikers riding from St. Joseph, MI to Sacramento, CA in a rally tracing the route of the Pony Express Trail, around 2000 miles.

We headed through a gorgeous canyon drive down to Wellsville,  where we visited friends.  In their agriculturally-zoned city home, they grow much of their own fruits and vegetables and have several chickens providing eggs for their family--a lovely pastoral setting.  As we continued our drive, we passed road signs, "Antelopes entering highway at 55mph".  Thankfully we did not have any such encounters.

The cave dwellings, of the Ancestral Puebloans at Mesa Verde, were our next stop.  Nearing the end of September, the evenings were dipping down into the 30’s, and the campgrounds were fairly empty.  Beginning around 550 AD, the Puebloans lived on the mesa tops.  Around 1200 AD, the group began building their homes in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls, that the Park is known for.  But by 1300 AD the population began moving south.  Looking around it is hard to fathom how they managed to survive in this setting for over 700 years.

Snow flurries fell as we drove through the mountains toward Taos.  Approaching the town, we spotted another unusual community, Earthship.  These homes are built with natural and recycled material and use water harvesting, and solar and wind electric power. (website-www.earthship.com)
They can function100% off the grid.  Very cool to see an area successfully functioning in this manner.

Taos  (pop 6500) is an artist community.  Over 80 galleries are found in the area, and almost 30% of the population are artists.  Perusing the galleries and partaking in gourmet southwestern cuisine, we enjoyed visiting this lovely town.  Now, it is time for the manatees to leave the byways and hit the highways for home.