Yellowstone

Read more about the article Yellowstone Road Trip – Final Reflections/Tips for Future Travellers
The souvenir I did buy - The Spirit of Indian Women

Yellowstone Road Trip – Final Reflections/Tips for Future Travellers

We travelled a total of 3,131 miles on our Yellowstone road trip by road and about 100 miles on foot. That is a lot of ground. We could have cut the trip short by missing out the Wild West bit around Rapid City/Mount Rushmore, but we would have missed out on quite a bit of the flavour of the place then and I wouldn't want to have done that. The National Park annual pass turned out to be great value at $80. All the National Parks quieten down significantly after Labour Day at the end of August, so then is a good time to go, as long as you don't leave it so long that the snow arrives - it is a small window, RMNP is definitely the busiest park (people per square mile), so I would leave that as late into the season as possible.

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Read more about the article Last Chance Saloon – Hitting the Sweet Spot in Denver
The Cheesecake Factory Denver

Last Chance Saloon – Hitting the Sweet Spot in Denver

We had a couple of hours drive to reach Denver again after checking out of our Estes Park lodgings. I was left wanting more from Denver on our first visit, so it was easy plan the few hours we had left to us today. I had three objectives in mind: See Grand Union Station, visit the enticing looking Cheesecake Factory and take a photo of the mile high city skyline... Grand Union Station - tick! Art deco style - never fails to please.

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Read more about the article Cub Lake/Fern Falls – RMNP – All Fired Up!
All Fired Up - Rocky Mountain National Park

Cub Lake/Fern Falls – RMNP – All Fired Up!

With a full day to spend in RMNP, we hiked to Cub Lake today and decided to go beyond to Fern Falls - an 8 mile round trip in all. The foliage is a more fiery orange/red here, although it is a late fall this year.  Our hike was accompanied by the loud bugling of elk all along the trail. This is rut season and you can hear it going on all around you. I thought it would be confined to sunrise/sunset - but the cries rang out around the tranquil vallies all day. During the fall, bull elk become aggressive as this is the breeding rut. They gather harems of up to 60 females around them and fiercely defend them using their antlers as weapons as they lock in combat with other bulls for breeding rights to the cow elk. I failed miserably to capture the sound of a bugling elk all day.  

Continue ReadingCub Lake/Fern Falls – RMNP – All Fired Up!
Read more about the article Accommodation Review: Wildwood Inn RMNP
Wildwood Inn RMNP

Accommodation Review: Wildwood Inn RMNP

Self catering at the Wildwood Inn RMNP made a pleasant change at this late stage of our trip.  Shopping in the supermarket was interesting too.  The accommodation is a drive away from the nearest shop though.  It was too cold to use the outside jacuzzi and it didn't look too inviting anyway.  Bears raided the bins at night - which could have been better managed.  The accommodation was very spacious and comfortable though.  The Wi-Fi signal was very weak/slow.

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Read more about the article On Top of the World “Rocky Mountain High Colorado” – Rocky Mountain National Park
The Continental Divide

On Top of the World “Rocky Mountain High Colorado” – Rocky Mountain National Park

We drove back towards Denver, heading for the Rocky Mountain National Park this morning. It was a long but beautiful road with dramatic scenery all the way along. We arrived at the Park Entrance in the early afternoon and drove the Trail Ridge Road up into the Park and across to Estes Park our next - and last - stop.

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Read more about the article Hiking in the Heart of The World – Colorado National Monument
Colorado National Monument - The Coke Ovens - aptly named

Hiking in the Heart of The World – Colorado National Monument

We visited Colorado National Monument this morning. We had planned to spend just a couple of hours there, but ended up spending the whole day it was so interesting. John Otto was the man who fell in love with the place when he visited it in 1907 and dedicated the best part of his life to building trails there and getting it designated as a National,Park, which he achieved in 1911. He worked as the park's caretaker then for $1 a day, so dedicated was he to the site. John Ottos's Dream:  "I came here last year and found these canyons, and they felt like the heart of the world to me. I'm going to stay ... - and promote this place, because it should be a National Park."

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Read more about the article A Walk down Main Street Grand Junction
Grand Junction funky street sculpture

A Walk down Main Street Grand Junction

Grand Junction is such an interesting town to visit - I am really glad we stopped here and we could easily have spent another day. It has lots of individual shops selling all manner of things from antiques to art and everything in between. There is a big foodie bias - lots of breweries and wineries and shops selling artisan cheeses - one stocked 54 varieties of extra virgin olive oil. Main Street is lined with sculptures - public art - but with a quirky, fun bias rather than anything high brow.

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Read more about the article Dinosaur Log Jam – Dinosaur National Monument – Utah
Allosauraus Jammadseni

Dinosaur Log Jam – Dinosaur National Monument – Utah

We turned off at Vernal and visited the Dinosaur National Monument. We walked the fossil trail which is a short hike through desert country. There were fossils to see all along the trail, but it is hard to identify them if you are not exavtly sure what you are looking for. We walked the trail with a family whose son was convinced he could see bones everywhere. His Dad was less convinced - "your'e asking the guy who can't even find the ketchup in the fridge to find a fossil?!" The indicative white arrows had been largely rubbed off, so that made things significantly more challenging. We definitely found one exhibit though - see photo! 

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Read more about the article Accommodation Review:  Homewood Suites Hilton Rock Springs
Homewood Suites Hilton Rock Springs

Accommodation Review:  Homewood Suites Hilton Rock Springs

The Homewood Suites Hilton Rock Springs is a reasonable base  for this portion of the trip.  The hotel was comfortable and the room was spacious - but without much character.  There is a Chinese restaurant nearby which is OK.  Jackson would maybe have been a better place to stay - but it is really difficult to balance reasonable driving distances with the best place to stay on a long road trip like this.  The compromise was reasonable here, overall.

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Read more about the article Rock Springs via Jackson – Aiming for the Armpit
Elk Antler Arch Jackson

Rock Springs via Jackson – Aiming for the Armpit

We got talking to a couple of local guys in the Deadman's Bar last night - well actually, they'd started the conversation by asking us how we were enjoying our visit to the colonies. We laughed at this and the conversation went on for an hour or more by which time we had sorted out American politics, English politics, beer, whisky, resource management and - well we ran out of time for world peace. They asked us where we were headed next and when we said Rock Springs , they told us this was the armpit of Wyoming, in their opinion. Great - so we are aiming for the armpit then! We headed off towards Jackson and stopped off at the National Museum of Wildlife Art on the way. This was a fantastic museum - really worth the stop, I would go so far as to say that if you have time to visit only one museum in this area, this should be your choice.

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Read more about the article Cascade Canyon – Autumn Gold
Grand Teton Range reflected in Jackson Lake

Cascade Canyon – Autumn Gold

We took a long day hike into Cascade Canyon today. Even with the boat ride across Jenny Lake, it is still a 10 mile hike. We were rewarded with fine views of the changing Autumn foliage.  Personally, I didn't find the view from Inspiration Point particularly inspirational - after the very strenuous hike through thin air, I was really hoping for something more - but I did have a sense of achievement for accomplishing the hike this far and enthusiasm to press on to the Forks - the majority of people get no further than Inspiration Point, but the trails flattens out after this, so why not press on?

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Read more about the article Snake River and Taggart Lake – All I Need is the Air that I Breathe …
Tim finding his niche at Taggart Lake in Grand Teton National Park

Snake River and Taggart Lake – All I Need is the Air that I Breathe …

We made an early start on our fist full day in Grand Teton National Park to join a float trip down the Snake River organised through Signal Mountain Lodge. Mountain and lake scenery does it for me every time. I would very much like to come here in Spring (I.e. last week June/1st week July) to see the alpine flowers in bloom. Now though, we have the beautiful fall colours of the cottonwood and aspen trees. It is such a short season here - soon (2 weeks max,) - the trees will be reduced to twigs again and the snow will come - up to 300 inches in Jackson usually and 700 inches in the mountains.

Continue ReadingSnake River and Taggart Lake – All I Need is the Air that I Breathe …
Read more about the article On the Trail to Grand Teton National Park
Willow Flats Grand Teton National Park

On the Trail to Grand Teton National Park

We arrived at Signal Mountain Lodge much sooner than we had expected - I think we must got the distances a bit wrong somewhere in the planning. It only took a couple of hours from Yellowstone Lake. This meant we had plenty of time to call in at Colter Visitor Centre and plan the rest of our trip. The scenery on the drive into the Grand Teton National Park was absolutely stunning a provided a welcome change in colour from Yellowstone. Mount Moran dominates the landscape on the drive in - the turnout at Willow Flats gave us a beautful view of it nestled into the lake and tucked in with sagebrush and fall leaf colour. Absolutely stunning.

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Read more about the article Old Faithful – “O Come All Ye Faithful”
Old Faithful Yellowstone NP

Old Faithful – “O Come All Ye Faithful”

Old Faithful erupts pretty reliably every hour to hour and a half - hence the name - so we decided to take a pew and just wait it out - in case we missed it later on. We got a front row pew - they were all empty because OF had obviously only just done it's thing. We waited for 45 minutes - chatting happily to a couple from Florida and a Dutch couple - always interesting to talk to other people and share travel experiences etc, It really helped to pass the time. The suspense mounted - the crowd grew and was soon three people deep all around OF ... Eventually, OF began to hiss a bit and bubble and steam and then - yes - reliably enough (a bit later than predicted - but - hey, this is a natural phenomena. - so who's counting? she blew ... and yes, the sheer power and height of it was amazing.

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Read more about the article Bear Lake – Let’s Take a Walk
Lake Haiwaya

Bear Lake – Let’s Take a Walk

Today, we took our longest hike of the trip - a 10 mile loop from Bear Lake past Alberta Falls to the Loch Valley, past Lake Haiwaya and back down to Bear Lake at the end. Bear Lake is at 9,475 feet elevation and the Loch adds another 990 feet - it was rough walking in places - a lot of up and not much down until the last couple of miles.

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Read more about the article West Thumb Basin – Thumbs Up and Jingle Bells
West Thumb Basin - Abyss Pool

West Thumb Basin – Thumbs Up and Jingle Bells

This morning, we visited West Thumb Geyser Basin. This was a quieter area than Norris and there some interesting things to see there.   There were a number of interesting sights here, but the best were: ​Abyss Pool - one of the deeper hot springs descending to 53 feet and varies from turquoise blue to emerald green and various shades of brown ...

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Read more about the article Norris Geyser Basin – Let’s go for a Hike – Across a Boiling Cauldron?
Porcelain Basin - thermopiles create the colours you see in the hot acidic water.

Norris Geyser Basin – Let’s go for a Hike – Across a Boiling Cauldron?

Today, we visited the Norris Geyser Basin. We stopped off at the Museum of the Park Ranger first. We learned that most of the Bears in the Park are in the higher territory where there is an abundance of worms - that made me feel a bit safer. We also learned that bison can run at 50 miles per hour - so now, I am scared again as there are far more bison here than bears! The bus one like to come to the Norris area in the Winter apparently, because the hot water melts the snow and they can forage more easily - although they can forage though up to 15 inches of snow, apparently. The museum is worth a trip. it tells you all about how the Park Ranger service grew from what was originally a military unit based at the park. Their mission is to interpret (help visitors to appreciate) and protect. In my second life, I think I might come back as a Park Ranger, though they say the most difficult bit of the job is to keep cheerful and smiling doing the same job day after day. They are without exception always friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable - I wish we had them in National Parks back home.

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Read more about the article Bear Encounter – Grand Canyon of Yellowstone River
Artist's Point - Absolutely stunning - if you only visit one thing in the Park, this should be it!

Bear Encounter – Grand Canyon of Yellowstone River

This morning, we headed out for Canyon Village. It took 2 and a quarter hours to get there from our hotel - our concept of distance has completely changed. We have to do that trip back the other way at the end of the day too, of course - but there is no alternative of you want to see all this place has to offer. We decided to do an 8 mile trail along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone River . It took us about 3 hours to complete this - and it was absolutely spectacular. I will let the pictures do the talking here, but this was without doubt the highlight of the trip so far. Artist's Point is definitely a "must do".

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Read more about the article Mammoth Hot Springs and Steam
Mammoth Hot Springs Yellowstone NP Up Close

Mammoth Hot Springs and Steam

We drove into Yellowstone today and stopped at a cool saddle shop in Gardiner on the way to buy a belt for my camera. This was a shop for REAL men ... Saddles, gun holsters, cowboy hats, after shave and razors. You could buy an off the left saddle for $2,500 - or have one custom made at the back of the shop for $3,500. We visited Mammoth Hot Springs first off.  

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Read more about the article Accommodation Review:  Chico Hot Springs Hotel
Chico Hot Springs Hotel

Accommodation Review:  Chico Hot Springs Hotel

We finally arrived at Chico Hot Springs hotel just in time for dinner. This is an old historic lodge our room is tiny and three floors up with no lift - a bit exhausting hauling the bags up all those creaky stairs. Dinner was fabulous. The food on the trip so far hasn't been anything to write home about really - standard American menus. Last night was different though - Beef Wellington for two carved at the table. We washed it down with a bottle of The Crusher Merlot - a Californian Merlot which tasted.absolutely wonderful despite it's less than romantic name! No room for dessert, sadly. Overall, this was a great place to stay and I would definitely recommend it.

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Read more about the article Beartooth Highway – Jaw Dropping!
High on Life at the Beartooth Highway Summit

Beartooth Highway – Jaw Dropping!

We left Billings behind us and continued to head West towards the Beartooth Highway. This 68 mile stretch of road runs right into Yellowstone Park. We passed through Red Rocks on the way, which is a lovely little place. This would have been a better overnight stop than Billings I think, although we had travelled about as far as we could go yesterday, so another hour would have maybe been too much.

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Read more about the article Bye Bye Billings – A 1 Night Stand
Billings

Bye Bye Billings – A 1 Night Stand

Billings was our choice for a "one night stand" - only because it was about as far as we could drive towards Yellowstone without stopping really.  We walked up the top end of Main Street to buy a few bits and pieces we needed. The hotel was located right next to a liquor store with a friendly notice "No Soliciting" - and there was an all pervading smell of frying. We reached the CVS Driv Thru Pharmacy and asked the shop assistant if we should walk down the rest of MaIin Street to downtown Billngs? People drive, they don't walk. go if you like - but "I've lived here all my life - it's not real fun". thanks - We'll take a rain check on that!

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Read more about the article Accommodation Review:  Country Inn and Suites by Carlson, Billings
Cool Waffle Maker

Accommodation Review:  Country Inn and Suites by Carlson, Billings

The Country Inn & Suites by Carlson was easy to find in Billings and the room was massive and comfortable. You can see from the photos that there was a rather oddly placed hot tub right in the middle of the bedroom. It had full length mirrors and a plant in the corner of it and a basket of folded towels at the side - I am searching for an adjective here - and a few (pejorative) come to mind - but I am going to plump for ..... AWESOME! the power shower was excellent too.

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Read more about the article Buckle up for the Badlands …
Boiling Heat in Badlands National Park

Buckle up for the Badlands …

We headed off on the Interstate 90 towards the Badlands National Park with Lucinda Williams ("too rock to be country, too country to be rock!) belting out Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. The road took us through Wall, on the edge of the Park. from a long way away, roadsigns for Wall Drug started popping up every c5 miles or so. We were driving too fast to photograph them - "Frosted Mug Beer", "Badlands Maps", "Homemade Pie", "Breakfast Roll, Donuts, Fudge and Pie" - all available at Wall Drug. It seems like you can get just about everything at Wall Drug, I was beginning to wonder if there was anything you couldn't get?  "Be Yourself" at Wall Drug - you can even get therapy?! OK - the temptation was just too much - we just HAD to pull off at Wall Drug.

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Read more about the article Rapid City South Dakota – Spelunking, Bison and Patriotic Fervour
Bison roaming free

Rapid City South Dakota – Spelunking, Bison and Patriotic Fervour

Staying in Rapid City South Dakota gives you the chance to explore two National Parks and Mount Rushmore.  We set off early this morning headed for Wind Cave for a spot of spelunking. It was a long and winding road through the prairie to get there. The cave is situated where plains meet mountain, so we had lovely views of the Black Hills of South Dakota covered in ponderosa pine and also the vast sweeping expanse of prairie. The landscape is soft and undulating - all colours of pale green and gold - like a rich tapestry you could reach out and touch - only you couldn't because there is just so much of it!

Continue ReadingRapid City South Dakota – Spelunking, Bison and Patriotic Fervour