The Yellowstone Expedition's
Journal
Thursday
September 8, 2005
The day
started out at 5:15 this morning with my car service picking up the wrong person
outside my building. After a phone call to Tel Aviv the car was back 15 in
minutes to pick me up and I was on my way to the airport. Next time I am going
to use
Carmel
. This is the second time in 6 months Tel Aviv screwed up. I met
Roy
at the gate and we were off. I
slept the whole way there on the plane and arrived in
Jackson Hole
refreshed. We were picked up by a guy named Donavan from Old West
Transportation. Donavan was a cool guy and really informative, apparently though
according to Donavan everyone comes here to either hunt or fish and we were
doing neither.
We picked up
the RV which was a 23 feet long 2005 model. It had everything you could need a
microwave, oven full service bathroom, running hot/cold water, refrigerator and
a freezer. This being our first time in an RV we were highly impressed. Once we
were checked out in the RV we made a grocery list and went to the store. We
picked up food for the week and some adult beverages too. I even found my
favorite
Chile
wine that we were drinking in
Costa Rica
called Casillero Del Diablo.
So we headed
north after stocking the refrigerator and drove through
Teton
National Park
then into
Yellowstone
Park
. When you enter the park you have to stop and pay a $20 entrance fee. You do
this at a toll booth like structure which should be no problem for a
New Yorker like me, well as I am pulling up I am realizing at the last
minute that that I had about 10 feet up vehicle above me and I swerve at the
last minute to avoid the top of the toll booth overhang. It was a close one and
the Ranger was laughing at me. As we
entered the park we were first hit by the remnants of the fire that had burned
through the park 10 years ago. There is a lot of growth that has come back but
you can still see the old taller burnt out trees.
We decided
to stay the first night in
Grant
Village
which is on the west side of
Yellowstone
Lake
. We picked up a campsite and had a dinner consisting of Ham & Cheese
Sandwiches, Lime Tortilla chips, salami and cheese. After
dinner we took a walk around the campsite and down to the lake where we saw 2
Elk which I took some pictures off. That capped off the night as we retired to
our beds with the smell of campfires in the air. One last note on the day is
that we are staying at 7800 feet and the air is thin compared to home. We can
feel it on our hikes around the camp but I am use to it from skiing and hiking
at higher elevations.
Roy
will take some time to get use to it as this is the first time he has been this
high in elevation.
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Friday
September 9th, 2005 -
Old Faithful
and on to Canyon area
We were up
early this morning and took showers around 8AM. We grabbed breakfast at a place
called Grant Village lake House where we sat right on
Yellowstone
Lake
while we ate. I was an all you can eat buffet and the food was decent. With
breakfast done the next stop was the
Old Faithful
region. On the way we stopped at
the Keplar Cascades which was a waterfall in a deep ravine. From a wooden
platform built out over the ravine we were able to get a good view of the falls.
When we got to Old Faithful we were greeted by a heard of
Buffalo
. We pulled the RV right up to the side of the road and I was able to get some
great up close pictures.
We geared up
for a hiking day with our back backs and set out for old faithful. We got lucky
with the timing as it erupted within 5 minutes of us arriving at the geyser. The
geysers are really impressive. We decided to hike a hill that overlooked the
entire basin and I was able to take some great shots of
Old Faithful
. We spent the rest of the day hiking around the geyser basin. The
only challenge of the day was the weather. It
was raining on and off all day. Mostly sun showers with down pours here and
there. But with our rain gear we were all set.
We finished out at the day at the
Yellowstone
lodge. The lodge was the most commercialized place we had encountered thus far
in the park. It was actually really cool inside as it was built using massive
logs over 100 years ago. The structure is over 4 stories tall and cavernous
inside.
After we
left the lodge we decided to drive to the Canyon area of the park and stay there
for the night. On the way we stopped at Gibbons falls which were about 60 feet
high. Tomorrow we go to lower falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Park. We
finished the night out with
Roy
getting his butt whipped in 2 games of Backgammon and a camp fire in the fire
pit.
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Saturday September
10, 2005 – Canyon Area and on to Mammoth
I was woken up last night by thunder and
lightening so strong it actually shook the RV. It felt as if some one was
rocking the vehicle yet the storm was still miles away. It was a bit cold this
morning and there is a forecast of snow showers for the morning. In the morning
we took showers and went for a walk through of the Yellow Stone General Store
where I found a pair of my flame sunglasses. Now, you might be wondering why I
mention this. Well I bought these
Orange
lenses and flame painted frames in Aspen Co 2 years ago. A few months ago they
broke and I have been looking for them ever since. I walk in to the store and
look at the rack of no name sunglasses and there they were. It made my day and
it was only 9 AM.
We moved on
to the Grand Canyon of Yellow Stone Park. We drove to Inspiration point where we
had a great view of the Canyon and the Upper and Lower falls. As we drove a long
the North Rim we stopped at Grand observation area and then on to the South Rim
where we geared up with lunch to hike down to the bottom of the Lower falls. On
our way there it started snowing; we decided was better then rain. We hiked down
the rim for about a mile or so and taking in awesome vistas. We turned back
after we stopped to talk with a couple who were hiking along the rim and they
told us how to get to the steps going down to the bottom of the falls. It has
stopped snowing by the time we had reached the top of the 300+ steps. So down we
went and went and went for a total of 500 vertical feet. At the bottom we were
about 100 yards from falls. The way up was tough but after a few breaks we were
back at the top. It was a tough climb for 2 guys from sea level. When we arrived
at the top we decided to have lunch back at the RV and then head up to Mammoth.
As we headed
north we drove as high as 9000 feet as we headed over the mountains in to Tower
Roosevelt. Along the way we stopped at Tower falls where we once again hiked to
the bottom. The trail was washed out at the bottom so we could not go to the
bottom of the falls, instead we went to the rivers edge down river from the
falls which turned out to be an awesome place. We took a lot of pictures there.
Once again we were faced with a long hike out of the canyon but only about 200
feet would be my guess. On the way out we hiked past an older guy from Texan who
was about 10 steps away from a heart attack. We stayed with him until we were a
little short of the top. We saw him after we hiked out the
final section and he looked like he was going to make it.
So on we
went, next stop the Petrified tree. Now first we had to park a ¼ mile down the
road because we had a big vehicle. Oh and by the way a
Wyoming
¼ is different from a NY ¼ mile. When we got there it was the biggest let
down, it was a 10 foot high tree that looked like any other tree in the forrest.
So after that waste of time, on we went. We
pulled in to Mammoth, made a stop at the
Visitors
Center
and got a campsite. The area around Mammoth is much different from the rest of
the park. Its very arid and has very little trees.
We took a
5:30 Ranger guided tour of
Fort
Yellowstone
. The Ranger George Nill had a plethora of information and was very
entertaining. It was a great tour. On the way back to the campsite we got into a
traffic jam when a Stag decided to hang out in the middle of the road. Now a
stag is a male Elk and during the fall they “in heat” and you are suppose to
give them a large berth of space. These Elk are running around all over Mammoth.
Well this particular Stag was crossing the only road to the camp grounds so we
had to wait about 10 minutes for him to get off the road. Later tonight he
decided to visit us at our camp ground as here came trotting by the front of our
RV along with his harem of female Elk.
Roy
opened the door and pointed the flash light at him. He gave us the look of
death so we quickly shut the door.
Tomorrow we
are headed Gardiner
Montana
then to
Boiling
River
to go for a soaking in the hot spring there.
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Sunday
September 11th 2005 –
Montana
This morning we hit yet another breakfast
buffet and headed north to the town of
Gardiner
. Gardiner is the gateway town to the north entrance to
Yellowstone
Park
. This was also the first entrance to the park back in the late 1800s. At the
entrance is an arch that was built out of stone and stands at least 50 feet
tall. It’s very impressive. Now, there is not much to Gardiner but gas
stations, bars and casinos. The one thing Gardiner does not have is a stop light
which can give you an idea of the size of the town. We decided to drive further
north in to
Montana
to see what the state was all about. We drove about 30 miles into
Montana
and I have to say it’s absolutely beautiful but desolate. We were at a lower
altitude and the mountains opened up to flowing plains allowing us to see for
miles and miles. We drove past a lot of ranches and hay farms. We stopped at a
place called the Devils slide which was this rock formation that was turned on
their side thousands of years ago and looked way out of place. It looked like
the ultimate ski chute. Only pictures can describe it and I have a few of those.
After that
we entered back into the park via the north entrance. We stopped at the 45th
parallel which is not only the border of
Montana
and
Wyoming
but half way between the equator and the North Pole. Now besides being the 45th
parallel it is also the home to
Boiling
River
where you can go for a soak in the
Gardner
river where it meets up with the hot spring water from Mammoth
hot springs
. This was
Roy
’s first time in a hot spring and he absolutely loved it. I had been in
hot springs
before in the Costa Rican jungle but it so cold up here that you really feel
the extremes of the temperatures. There were a few people there and yes a couple
of cuties in bikinis too.
After we
were done soaking we decided to go and see the source of the hot water. We went
up to the terraces of Mammoth
hot springs
. Once again Yellow Stone provided awesome display of nature for us. These
springs are wild. They are ever changing which was proven by the changing
boardwalk maze. The terraces rang about 300 vertical feet and are accessed by a
series of boardwalks. If you venture off the board walks you risk the
possibility of falling through the thin crust of the terraces and getting
scalded
After the
hot springs
we headed to the General Store for supplies. Then over to the village green to
see the Elk heard and take some pictures.
After dinner
Roy
decided to hike up the hill next to our campsite before darkness set in. He
wanted to see if he could spot the Elk heard back in the village. I stayed
behind because we had started a campfire and some one needed to watch it. So,
there I am watching him hike up one side of the hill and on the other side I see
the heard of Elk and close to the top is the Stag with the big horns. I am about
a quarter mile away so yelling a warning to him is not an option. So I sit there
and watch it unfold along with a few other people from the campsite.
Roy
makes it to the top then realizes that the heard he is looking for is right
there. Fortunately, the bull was not spooked by him and he left with out
incident.
Dilemma of
the day happened on the way back to Mammoth we had a wine bottle fall out
of the closet and break and go all over the back of the RV so we were smelling
wine for a while in the RV.
Today is four years after 9/11.... its the first time I have not been in
the city on this day... although it was in my mind all day today, it was
uplifting to be out here in the mountains living life to the fullest and doing
what I promised myself after that day. That promise was to travel the world,
embrace and take advantage of every opportunity and live every day with out
regrets.
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Monday
September 12, 2005 – Mammoth to Fishing Bridge via Norris
This morning
we were up early and back to the
Boiling
River
for a soaking in the
hot springs
again. This time is was snowing and about 32 degrees out.
Once again this was the highlight of the trip for
Roy
. After we dried off and warmed up
we had breakfast and headed out on to the road.
Our first
stop was the Park Ranger museum where we met a retired Ranger named Bill. He
talked with us about his 30 plus years with the National Park Service as a
Ranger. He was a very interesting person. After touring the museum we headed off
to the
Norris
Geyser
Basin
. These were some cool geysers. They were very colorful and one of them
continuously blew steam like a Con Ed man hole in
Manhattan
.
Then on to
the mud Volcano, where there was a lot of sulfur. In fact to much sulfur at one
point I thought I was going to puke. By far though the coolest thing I we saw on
the trip was the Dragons Mouth. This was a cave which would roar with steam as
it bellowed out of the cave. You would think that there was actually a Dragon in
the cave spitting fire.
We left the
Mud Volcano and headed to
Fishing
Bridge
where we checked in and took showers for the first time in 2 days, there were
no showers facilities in Mammoth. We also did a load of laundry. Dinner this
evening was at the
Lake
Lodge
in
Lake
Village
. We had some great views of the
Yellowstone
Lake
and took a walk down to the lake shore after dinner.
Thought of
the day is still the crazy weather. Through out the day the weather has gone
from very cold and snowy to sunny then snowy again to overcast and sunny to an
all out Blizzard to finally a nice sunset after dinner.
I am glad we did not push the trip back another week otherwise we would
have been in the beginnings of a Wyoming Winter.
Tomorrow we
plan on hiking the Elephant loop then moving on to explore the Tetons.
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Tuesday
September 13, 2005 - Flying Bridge to the Tetons
We started out this morning with Breakfast at
the
Lake
Lodge
and yes if you have not noticed everything seems to have the word “
Lake
” in it. We made arrangements for a campsite with hook ups at Colter Bay in
the Grand Teton National park which is south of Yellow Stone. We checked out of
the RV site in
Fishing
Bridge
with a refund for tonight and headed to Elephant Back trail. This trail was
about 2.5 miles with a vertical rise of 800+ feet. It was a great hike which
took us up into the snow elevations where we saw a bear track. Well, we are
debating whether it was a bear track or just some snow that fell from the tree
that looks like a bear track. I took a close up of it and you can decide for
your self. When we got to the top the views were awesome. We could see all of
Lake
Yellowstone
as well over into the mountain range on the eastern side of the park. When we
got down to the bottom we had to sign out at an unmanned Ranger station. We had
signed in when we started but some how had failed to notice until we signed out
that yesterday 4 grizzly bears had been spotted at the summit of the mountain we
just hiked. Yes 4 Grizzlies! There was a clear note at the bottom of the sign in
sheet. Oh well.
We then set
out for a 60 mile drive to the Tetons. Along the way we stopped at Lewis falls
and also at a neat over look into a deep canyon in the southern portion of the
park. This
Yellowstone
River
was at the bottom of this canyon and this was also where the fire had managed
to jump about 500+ feet over the canyon, back in 1988 and continued to burn
through the park.
As we pulled
into
Grand Teton
National Park
we were both taken back by the magic of the mountains. We checked into our
campsite and did some errands. Yes errands.
Roy
needed stamps for his Post cards and I needed to file for my unemployment check
for the week. Luckily there was an internet access terminal in this campsite’s
office so I was able to do so. You have to appreciate the modern convenience
that a internet terminal can provide. We decided to have dinner at the Signal
Mountain Lodge but first we drove about 10 miles into the park to take a further
look. It’s amazing how the mountains continue to change with every minute of
the day. As the sun moves across the sky, the mountains seem to take on a new
look every minute. Tomorrow we plan on taking a ferry ride across
Jenny
Lake
to the base of St. John Teton where we will hike a trail through one of the
major canyons areas of the Tetons.
Oh and by
the way I beat Roy AGAIN in Backgammon….
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Wednesday
September 14th, 2005 –
Jenny
Lake
, Grand Tetons
We were up
early this morning and decided to make our own breakfast of bacon, eggs and
English muffins. We then moved on to
Jenny
Lake
where we grabbed a boat ride across the lake to the base of the Tetons. We
started our 4+ mile hike up
Cascade
Canyon
at Inspiration point which had a great view of the lake. There were a lot of
people there as this is a popular hiking area. As we moved further up the canyon
we saw less and less people. The views were some of the best all trip. The
canyon walls had to be at least 4000-5000 on each side. After hiking to the
“Forks” which was 4.1 miles we had lunch on the side of a smaller canyon. I
ate my peanut and jelly sandwich sitting on the edge which did not please
Roy
very much. But I did not fall off
so I had that going for me. After lunch we started our hike back to the dock and
the boat ride back to the other side of
Jenny
Lake
. On the hike back we finally saw 2 horses on the trail. This solved the mystery
of what animal was responsible for all the dropping along the trail. We are
resting now in the parking lot at
Jenny
Lake
and will head for dinner soon. Our last night here will be spent cleaning the
RV and packing. We have an early start tomorrow down to
Jackson
to return the RV then off to the airport.
This has
been a great trip. The parks never ceased to amaze us, every day there was
something new an awesome. Roy and I survived living with each other in a 23 foot
RV for week and I am the official Wyoming Backgammon Champion.
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