Yellowstone – we love you!

The day after……

Monday saw Tannika and Ricky off at dawn to catch their flight from Boise (two hours drive away) and dinner at Good Bear Ranch with The bride and groom and other survivors of a great night. Tuesday saw Gill, Beth and Rosey also headed for Boise at an only slightly more civilised hour, leaving Russell and I to rendezvous with Ben and Rodney to collect Zoe who had stayed the night with them. At the rendezvous point (Maccas of course) we were also in time to say goodbye to Kim, Jordan and Barney who were also departing Baker City.

So, with our group reduced to three we said our goodbyes and headed east for the final part of the trip, destination first night – Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Idaho Falls was basically a 'breaking the journey' stop en route to the Grand Tetons National Park and it was pleasant enough…

but the excitement was building when we hit Jackson the next afternoon.
Jackson is the crown of the Jackson Hole region, a skiing Mecca in winter and the gateway to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone in the summer and a great shopping spot as well πŸ˜‰

Antler Arch

We managed to while away a few hours here and contribute to the local economy as well before heading off for our accommodation in the Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) – Signal Mountain Lodge.

We were in time to see a bear disappearing into the forest as we drove up and after the excitement subsided we settled into a lake view room, our home for two nights and then strolled around taking advantage of the long twilight and our balcony before dinner.

 

GTNP is a photographers paradise and we spent the next day dodging thunderstorms and “shooting” the famous Mormon Row barns, a heard of bison, and stopping for lunch at a picturesque river spot where we met an interesting fellow from the Ozarks.

 

In the afternoon we decided to do a short 'nature trail' walk around a lake but some members of the group were slightly perturbed when we met hikers coming back and telling us about the grizzly they had seen 1/4 mile up the trail…

Continuing on, each of us with various degrees of trepidation, we did indeed see said grizzly disappearing into the trees and therefore sprinted around the remainder of the path (a very fast walk, we did not run) with my iPhone playing Alt-J announcing our path in lieu of a bear bell!

Amazingly though, on the way home we were treated to a mother black bear and her two cubs ambling down the road toward us, the first time we realised what the sun roof was actually for πŸ™‚

Friday we were headed for Yellowstone but as it wasn't far away we decided to do the short boat ride over Jenny Lake and hike to Hidden Falls before we got on the road proper.

This started off well, very scenic lake and a not too strenuous hike away from the boat landing along with the rest of our fellow sailors, we even saw some wildlife along the way….

However, mountain weather is changeable weather and on the return hike ominous clouds rolled in bringing with them fat drops of rain whilst we thought longingly of our wet weather gear safely locked in the car!

By the time the return bust arrived the rain was pelting down, coming in horizontal sheets stinging your face and making us very envious of the few lucky souls who had snagged the first few (undercover) seats on the boat – the rest of us were head down and soaked through πŸ™

Back to the car there was a mad scramble in still heavy rain to find dry clothes and bolt to the long drops to change, eventually emerging to crank the car heater up to the max and continue on our way.

Yellowstone… America's 'first and best national park' is their theme and it's easy to see why. In the tradition of great old American park lodges we were greeted with soaring log structures, hordes of tourists, activity desks and bellmen reminiscent of Dirty Dancing – I kept expecting to see Baby wander around a corner. It is beautifully rustic and an experience just to stay there however next time I would book the “Old Snow Lodge” a couple of hundred metres away but blessed with a laundromat and wifi, the former we needed and the latter we wanted.

Loading up the washing machines we had time to wander over to Old Faithful which erupts 'faithfully' every 90 mins or so and so we joined the throngs to check it out. It was certainly a spectacular sight… Difficult to convey the magnitude with photos…

After collecting our washing we went back to check out the Inn and organise dinner.

The next day under brilliant blue skies we tried to experience a substantial taste of what Yellowstone has to offer – the geological aspects, the wildlife and the stunning and diverse scenery.

We visited the technicolour Grand Prismatic Springs up close and from up the mountain for a birds eye view.

The park is dotted with geothermal activity and informative interpretation boards along the way which really do give you an appreciation of what a unique area this park is for so many reasons.

 

Eventually, leaving the springs behind, we became stuck in a traffic jam of epic proportions, at least 25 mins of crawling along at snails pace – no roadwork signs, no indication of what was holding us up until eventually we rounded a corner and spotted a huge bison ambling along the road up ahead!

We suspect he had originally been actually on the road ( as we experienced that situation later that week again) but by the time we reached him it was mainly people slowing for a look and a photo that was causing the delay, this turned out to be the norm in Yellowstone and we understood why.

Wildlife in Yellowstone is prolific, over the course of the next couple of days we saw more bison, more bears, deer, moose, pronghorn antelope, osprey, squirrels and marmots plus numerous other birds we couldn't identify with any certainty.

Osprey nest

And it is a photographers paradise – we arrived at this spot late in the day and there were dozens of photographers set up with tripods and obscenely long telephoto lenses… When I asked what they were photographing (beyond the stunning vista) they told me they were waiting for the wolves to emerge . Sadly we had to move on before any were spotted but it was a beautiful place either way.

The next day we covered a small section of the northern part of Yellowstone on our way north toward Gardiner, Montana, just outside the park entrance.

Our route took us through beautiful and changing scenery from the heights of Logan Pass with sensational valley views, more bison road hazards and ultimately to the Mammoth Lakes geothermal area.

This guy was strolling along a bridge ( about half a kilometre long) holding up huge traffic flows πŸ™‚

This is the queue on the bridge about 20 minutes after we had left it!

Mammoth Lakes

With a great deal of regret and with every intention of re visiting this wonderful part of the world, we rolled into Gardiner and ultimately made our way to the Ironhorse Bar and Grill for an entertaining dinner where almost everyone is welcome!

 

 

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