Thursday was going to be only a travel day; a long way to drive to get home. We took our time getting ready as there really was no rush; nothing scheduled at all. The lady at the front desk recommended "The Bunnery"; we got there just in time as right after we were seated a huge line formed. The food was good, filling, and moderately healthy; there were Oats, Sunflower, and Millet (O.S.M.) in about everything.
From there we pushed north through Star Valley and into Idaho and Bear Lake; stopping in Garden City, Utah right at the junction for lunch and a raspberry shake. Merlin's was where we stopped; I've been there 3 times now and have stopped at a different place each time.
The Logan river was full but not in flood stage; I guess down in Ogden canyon they had flooding. The water features of the trip were full; no drought in the north. I guess we were lucky that the snow had melted enough to do some of the things that we did! Since it was a Thursday we knew we'd encounter traffic in Ogden and Salt Lake; luckily the HOV lane kept us moving reasonably well.
And now it's Friday; a day of rest and relaxation recovering from the road. If I could have done the trip differently I would have extended it by a couple of days but centered in the Old Faithful area at the Inn or Lodge. I would have liked to have spent more time wandering around the Upper Geyser basin; we missed Daisy, Geyser Hill, and the hike out to Morning Glory Pool. I guess we have to go back!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 5
Wednesday - our last day in Yellowstone and a lot still to see. We hadn't done any exploring of the geyser basins north of Old Faithful and we had a dinner appointment down in Jackson that we had to make. So that meant we had to get going and early!
Early turned out to be arriving at the Inn at eight for breakfast. We just don't get moving very quickly on these trips. After breakfast and a quick supply stop at the store we left Old Faithful and headed north; destination the Firehole drive and Great Fountain Geyser and the Fountain Paint pots.
Great Fountain geyser is currently unpredictable; we were hoping but were disappointed. But just down the road was White Dome geyser and it is very regular and would only require a maximum of 30 minutes to wait. But right after we got to it it started; what timing! A nice geyser that shot a jet up out of its dome. And then a bonus; Pink Cone geyser was erupting and it only goes off once a day.
Across the road from the Firehole drive is the parking lot for the Fountain Paint pots. And the lot was full; we had to circle around to find a spot. But there is enough turnover that we found a spot pretty quickly and set off, hoping to see some of the geysers around the pots. Devyn was fascinated by the mud pots; he has loved to watch them bubble and has wanted to spend the most time watching them.
There are a number of geysers at the pots, but only Twig and Clepsydra geysers were going. They were pretty awesome; Clepsydra pretty much is always erupting. It is amazing that such a concentration of geysers exists at Yellowstone; just one of these geysers anywhere else would be a big draw and there are hundreds here.
Down the road from the Lower Geyser basin are Midway, Biscuit, and Black Sand Geyser basins. At Midway is one of my favorite thermals: Grand Prismatic Spring. And it didn't disappoint today; the steam rising off the pool reflected all of the colors around the pool, from the orange and yellow edges through the green to the deep blue of the center. Corwyn really thought it was cool as well and accompanied me around the entire loop.
At Biscuit Basin Corwyn and I walked up to Sapphire Pool which was really deep blue and then found a group waiting at Jewel Geyser. Since it was supposed to erupt within 5 minutes we waited and were rewarded with a fun eruption. Jewel is one of the more regular geysers in the park and notwithstanding its smaller size was very nice to watch.
I talked Corwyn into walking the Black Sand Basin trail; it was a short walk but I don't know if I have ever walked it. Knowing the way I always wanted to hike every trail it is possible that I made Leslie go 23 years ago; if I did I don't remember it, though.
After leaving the geyser basins we headed south through Grand Teton National Park, taking the park road instead of the main highway. The road gets right up next to the mountains and they are really impressive, even more so from that close vantage point. Then we drove into Jackson and found our Motel, the Buckrail Lodge, an old log-cabin style motel that was well kept and in great condition. Just in time, too, as we were going to the Bar T 5 Dinner and show.
Not far from the motel was the old Bar T 5 corral; at the corral you climb onto horse-drawn covered wagons which haul you up Cache Creek canyon to where they do their show. Along the way we were ambushed by Indians (all they wanted was the brownies we were told) but were chased off by Buckskin the Mountain Man, who later made an appearance at the show and tried to run off with one of the young ladies. We ended up buying a CD of the entire show so that the kids will remember.
After 3 hours of food, fun, and shenanigans up the canyon we arrived back at the corral and headed back to the motel. A great day, full of fun, and a good way to end our last full day of vacation.
Early turned out to be arriving at the Inn at eight for breakfast. We just don't get moving very quickly on these trips. After breakfast and a quick supply stop at the store we left Old Faithful and headed north; destination the Firehole drive and Great Fountain Geyser and the Fountain Paint pots.
Great Fountain geyser is currently unpredictable; we were hoping but were disappointed. But just down the road was White Dome geyser and it is very regular and would only require a maximum of 30 minutes to wait. But right after we got to it it started; what timing! A nice geyser that shot a jet up out of its dome. And then a bonus; Pink Cone geyser was erupting and it only goes off once a day.
Across the road from the Firehole drive is the parking lot for the Fountain Paint pots. And the lot was full; we had to circle around to find a spot. But there is enough turnover that we found a spot pretty quickly and set off, hoping to see some of the geysers around the pots. Devyn was fascinated by the mud pots; he has loved to watch them bubble and has wanted to spend the most time watching them.
There are a number of geysers at the pots, but only Twig and Clepsydra geysers were going. They were pretty awesome; Clepsydra pretty much is always erupting. It is amazing that such a concentration of geysers exists at Yellowstone; just one of these geysers anywhere else would be a big draw and there are hundreds here.
Down the road from the Lower Geyser basin are Midway, Biscuit, and Black Sand Geyser basins. At Midway is one of my favorite thermals: Grand Prismatic Spring. And it didn't disappoint today; the steam rising off the pool reflected all of the colors around the pool, from the orange and yellow edges through the green to the deep blue of the center. Corwyn really thought it was cool as well and accompanied me around the entire loop.
At Biscuit Basin Corwyn and I walked up to Sapphire Pool which was really deep blue and then found a group waiting at Jewel Geyser. Since it was supposed to erupt within 5 minutes we waited and were rewarded with a fun eruption. Jewel is one of the more regular geysers in the park and notwithstanding its smaller size was very nice to watch.
I talked Corwyn into walking the Black Sand Basin trail; it was a short walk but I don't know if I have ever walked it. Knowing the way I always wanted to hike every trail it is possible that I made Leslie go 23 years ago; if I did I don't remember it, though.
After leaving the geyser basins we headed south through Grand Teton National Park, taking the park road instead of the main highway. The road gets right up next to the mountains and they are really impressive, even more so from that close vantage point. Then we drove into Jackson and found our Motel, the Buckrail Lodge, an old log-cabin style motel that was well kept and in great condition. Just in time, too, as we were going to the Bar T 5 Dinner and show.
Not far from the motel was the old Bar T 5 corral; at the corral you climb onto horse-drawn covered wagons which haul you up Cache Creek canyon to where they do their show. Along the way we were ambushed by Indians (all they wanted was the brownies we were told) but were chased off by Buckskin the Mountain Man, who later made an appearance at the show and tried to run off with one of the young ladies. We ended up buying a CD of the entire show so that the kids will remember.
After 3 hours of food, fun, and shenanigans up the canyon we arrived back at the corral and headed back to the motel. A great day, full of fun, and a good way to end our last full day of vacation.
Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 4
The day after the 4th - could it possibly a bit less crowded as everyone was heading home leaving the park almost empty? Fat chance there. Still lots of cars on the road and parked in the turnouts.
I was worried when planning the day that we wouldn't have much to do in the morning. At noon we had booked a fishing trip on Yellowstone Lake from Bridge Bay marina but we didn't need to get there until half past noon. So what to do in the morning? Well, by the time we got breakfast at the Soda Fountain, turned in the Junior Ranger books at the Visitor Center, and got on the road it was 10:30. Still, it wouldn't take 2 hours to go the 20 or so miles from Canyon to the marina, would it?
Almost immediately after turning south on the Grand Loop road we encountered traffic. There were multiple herds of Bison in Haydon Valley and as we all know the grass is greener on the other side of the road it was time to migrate. Some of the herd wasn't quite sure, though, so we sat and watched with everyone else as the last couple of stragglers finally decided to cross.
We road to Gull Creek was closed on the Bridge Bay side (flooded, the water is really high) but we found the other end of the road and drove back to the picnic area. There we found a really nice lakeside table where we could eat our bagels and drink our chocolate milk and watch the boats on the lake and take pictures. Of course as we walked closer to the lake to take pictures, leaving our bagels on the tables, the local birds got interested and swooped down to bite off pieces. Luckily we had broken the bagels into small pieces to prevent anyone from choking. After shooing off the marauders with some well timed photo shots we headed for the harbor.
Tommy from Tennessee was our guide for the fishing trip, a 2 hour ride to the southern part of the lake, near the West Thumb inlet. Naturally the kids were quite excited about the ride, and even more excited about the prospect of catching some of the native cutthroat trout and the lake trout that were infesting the waters. The fishing method was trolling; get close to the edge of the lake in about 10 feet of water and troll some lures out the back. We were lucky; in the first hour each boy caught a cutthroat which was released back into the lake. Sadly however Leslie didn't catch anything and Devyn was quite upset about the fact that we didn't catch any of those lake trout. If you catch lake trout you can take it to one of the restaurants and they'll cook it up for you!
We then headed over the Continental Divide twice on the way to Old Faithful and our lodging in the Snow Lodge cabins. Instead of checking in though we headed for the Visitor's Center and caught a bench to watch Old Faithful erupt. Still impressive after all these years! And the kids loved it! Then we had dinner, dropped off our bags in the cabin and headed out to see if we could catch Castle Geyser erupting.
The skeeters were swarming badly when we arrived at Castle. The predictions for Castle and Grand are for a specific time plus or minus an hour for Castle and 2 hours for Grand! So that meant we could be waiting for 2 hours for Castle. While we deliberated Beehive went off up near Geyser Hill; that was nice. As we looked down towards Grand we could see and heard from passerby's that it hadn't gone off yet; even though it was into it's last hour. Hmm, Castle or Grand? We took a chance that Grand would go off and we could return to Castle if it went off. Well, halfway to Grand Castle did go off; Corwyn returned and enjoyed a close-up view of it as we watched from the benches at Grand. Then Corwyn rejoined us at Grand. Which was late. Really late! And the skeeters were about ready to drive us off and the sun set. But then...
Grand is very impressive right up next to it. Bursts way over your head and lots of steam and mist! It went off for about 15 minutes and then went quiet and caught us off guard with a second big burst as we were starting to walk off. Wow! Once it was done though we got out of there quickly; the skeeters had gotten enough blood and it was almost dark. In the room we thought about what we had done and felt very fortunate to have had a full day!
Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 3
Monday, the 4th of July! No man-made fireworks for us today. But Yellowstone had some surprises in store for us instead.
The day didn't start out very well, though. The air conditioner had frozen up around 2 a.m. so that the room was stifling, making it hard to sleep. It finally cooled off a little a couple of hours later but it was a bad night; we woke up feeling a lot more tired than normal. But then we drove back into the park and forgot about how tired we were!
First we went up to Mammoth and had a quick breakfast at the snack bar there. Last time we went through there 6 years ago the place had been crowded and noisy and the food not too good. This time it was quiet, relaxed, and since it was breakfast they couldn't cause too much damage. After that we headed for Tower towards our final destination of Canyon.
We saw multiple waterfalls and bison and elk all day! The elk were grazing in Mammoth; the bison were walking across the roads, and the waterfalls were flowing extra strong because of the heavy snowpack which is now melting. There is still large amounts of snow on the upper ridges of the park; some of the snow fields came right down to the road causing some people to stop and play in the snow. I wonder if they were from Florida?
Overall I would say it was not as crowded today; could that be cause it was the 4th and people were home celebrating? Still, this is Yellowstone in July so there were lots of people on the roads and in the parking lots but we managed to find spots to abandon the car for a few minutes where ever we went. We even got in some good hiking; the boys wanted to hike to the brink of Lower Falls so we did and managed to survive the climb back up. We walked the Mud Volcano trail as well as the West Thumb Geyser Basin walk, and saw both Upper and Lower Falls from their overlooks.
On the way in we stopped at Roosevelt to check out the lodge, and later we drove by Lake for the same reason. The Roosevelt Lodge is a gathering place with a dining room and is old and rustic, but just the type of place you'd expect to find and stay at in Yellowstone. When we were looking for lodging for the trip the website listed only double beds and shared baths and 2 logs for the fireplace per night. Sounds great! At Lake there was both a lodge and a hotel; the lodge was the old log-style place and looked cosy whereas the hotel was relatively newer but in yellow! But it was right on the lake and visible from the water. I would stay at either.
Canyon on the other hand is relatively modern; the cabins had queen beds and on-suite toilets but we didn't see the lodge; I hear there is a nice one nearby. It was also very busy; the dining room was mediocre and the cafeteria was crowded. And then it rained, with lightning and thunder, to celebrate the 4th. Nature's fireworks are much better, I'd say.
Since we were done anyway for the day we grabbed some groceries from the store and headed for our "Deluxe Cabin" with 2 queen beds and then relaxed and got ready for bed while the kids pestered us wanting to use the cartridge brewing system. So before hopping into bed we had Lemon Zinger tea (yuck).
The day didn't start out very well, though. The air conditioner had frozen up around 2 a.m. so that the room was stifling, making it hard to sleep. It finally cooled off a little a couple of hours later but it was a bad night; we woke up feeling a lot more tired than normal. But then we drove back into the park and forgot about how tired we were!
First we went up to Mammoth and had a quick breakfast at the snack bar there. Last time we went through there 6 years ago the place had been crowded and noisy and the food not too good. This time it was quiet, relaxed, and since it was breakfast they couldn't cause too much damage. After that we headed for Tower towards our final destination of Canyon.
We saw multiple waterfalls and bison and elk all day! The elk were grazing in Mammoth; the bison were walking across the roads, and the waterfalls were flowing extra strong because of the heavy snowpack which is now melting. There is still large amounts of snow on the upper ridges of the park; some of the snow fields came right down to the road causing some people to stop and play in the snow. I wonder if they were from Florida?
Overall I would say it was not as crowded today; could that be cause it was the 4th and people were home celebrating? Still, this is Yellowstone in July so there were lots of people on the roads and in the parking lots but we managed to find spots to abandon the car for a few minutes where ever we went. We even got in some good hiking; the boys wanted to hike to the brink of Lower Falls so we did and managed to survive the climb back up. We walked the Mud Volcano trail as well as the West Thumb Geyser Basin walk, and saw both Upper and Lower Falls from their overlooks.
On the way in we stopped at Roosevelt to check out the lodge, and later we drove by Lake for the same reason. The Roosevelt Lodge is a gathering place with a dining room and is old and rustic, but just the type of place you'd expect to find and stay at in Yellowstone. When we were looking for lodging for the trip the website listed only double beds and shared baths and 2 logs for the fireplace per night. Sounds great! At Lake there was both a lodge and a hotel; the lodge was the old log-style place and looked cosy whereas the hotel was relatively newer but in yellow! But it was right on the lake and visible from the water. I would stay at either.
Canyon on the other hand is relatively modern; the cabins had queen beds and on-suite toilets but we didn't see the lodge; I hear there is a nice one nearby. It was also very busy; the dining room was mediocre and the cafeteria was crowded. And then it rained, with lightning and thunder, to celebrate the 4th. Nature's fireworks are much better, I'd say.
Since we were done anyway for the day we grabbed some groceries from the store and headed for our "Deluxe Cabin" with 2 queen beds and then relaxed and got ready for bed while the kids pestered us wanting to use the cartridge brewing system. So before hopping into bed we had Lemon Zinger tea (yuck).
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 2
We're resting now in our hotel room (the Yellowstone River Inn in Gardiner) after a full day of activities. The kids are busy working on their Junior Ranger books, Leslie is reading her Kindle, and I shouldn't have to tell you what I am doing. Everyone is tired and ready for bed; we're going to get up early and start again tomorrow.
A big decision first thing this morning; go to a sit-down restaurant or through a drive through? The thought of McDonalds didn't really appeal to me so luckily we decided to eat at the Running Bear Pancake House. Leslie had asked the proprietress of the hotel where we should go eat and it came recommended. When we arrived it looked like most of the town was there; luckily we had slept in a little and missed the big rush (hah!). Anyway, we all had some of their plate-size buttermilk pancakes and feeling overfed we then headed for the west entrance. Again, as did everyone else in town (or so it seemed).
After surviving the lines at the entrance gate and at the meadows along the Madison river we made it to Madison and got the kids their Junior Ranger packets and a ranger discussion on birds. Oscar the osprey (Devyn named the bird) performed on cue and dove for a fresh fish! Good timing! And with one activity signed off we headed up the road towards Norris.
I tried to go to a few things that I haven't gone before so we saw Terrace spring, the Artist Paintpots, and before hiking we found a good place for a picnic at the Norris picnic grounds. And luckily Yogi didn't try to steal our picinic cooler! After lunch we headed to Norris where the kids agreed to go on the back basin hike. I was determined to see what happened to Pork Chop Geyser; 23 years ago it was going great guns and then in 1989 it blew up, a year after we were there. The kids were excited too.
After Norris we headed north for Mammoth and Gardiner. Afer checking in we returned to Mammoth and drove the Upper Terrace and visited Palette Spring. Palette Spring was gushing water, the sky was blue, and the light was perfect. But we were getting tired; the boys and Leslie were quite the troopers, though. After that last walk up the boardwalk it was time to leave the park for the night and back down the canyon to Gardiner we went.
Dinner was at Rosie's and now here we are. From the sounds coming from the boys they are no longer working on their booklets; sounds like the DSs are being used. I guess that means it is bedtime!
A big decision first thing this morning; go to a sit-down restaurant or through a drive through? The thought of McDonalds didn't really appeal to me so luckily we decided to eat at the Running Bear Pancake House. Leslie had asked the proprietress of the hotel where we should go eat and it came recommended. When we arrived it looked like most of the town was there; luckily we had slept in a little and missed the big rush (hah!). Anyway, we all had some of their plate-size buttermilk pancakes and feeling overfed we then headed for the west entrance. Again, as did everyone else in town (or so it seemed).
After surviving the lines at the entrance gate and at the meadows along the Madison river we made it to Madison and got the kids their Junior Ranger packets and a ranger discussion on birds. Oscar the osprey (Devyn named the bird) performed on cue and dove for a fresh fish! Good timing! And with one activity signed off we headed up the road towards Norris.
I tried to go to a few things that I haven't gone before so we saw Terrace spring, the Artist Paintpots, and before hiking we found a good place for a picnic at the Norris picnic grounds. And luckily Yogi didn't try to steal our picinic cooler! After lunch we headed to Norris where the kids agreed to go on the back basin hike. I was determined to see what happened to Pork Chop Geyser; 23 years ago it was going great guns and then in 1989 it blew up, a year after we were there. The kids were excited too.
After Norris we headed north for Mammoth and Gardiner. Afer checking in we returned to Mammoth and drove the Upper Terrace and visited Palette Spring. Palette Spring was gushing water, the sky was blue, and the light was perfect. But we were getting tired; the boys and Leslie were quite the troopers, though. After that last walk up the boardwalk it was time to leave the park for the night and back down the canyon to Gardiner we went.
Dinner was at Rosie's and now here we are. From the sounds coming from the boys they are no longer working on their booklets; sounds like the DSs are being used. I guess that means it is bedtime!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Summer Vacation 2011 - Part 1
Have you ever tried booking lodging in Yellowstone National Park for the 4th of July weekend? Have you ever tried to do it the week before the 4th of July weekend? That's what we had to do since deciding at the last minute to spend the short work week in the park. After several days of refreshing the Xanterra website looking for cancellations and calling the reservation people every hour or so we finally ended up with places to stay every night, although we would be moving every day.
Friday the 1st was spent getting ready for the trip and running all the errands so that we could leave. Today being Saturday the 2nd we set off from American Fork and drove the six plus hours up to West Yellowstone; well actually just a little farther as we had booked a place called the Hebgen Lake Mountain Inn, about 15 miles from the town. Turned out to be a good decision as the view was nice and it wasn't crowded at all. But with the lake right across the street the kids wanted to go fishing. That's okay; I can take them fishing; I just haven't fished in over 25 years! How do you thread and tie everything together? After a frustrating start I finally got the poles ready and off we went and fished, for about 45 minutes. That's all the time we had as we were going to the rodeo and needed to stop and buy sweatshirts (oops, left them at home). No, we didn't catch anything but we tried! Well, the kids tried anyway. I was too busy untangling lines and fetching hooks from the rocks they had gotten wedged behind and shooing off mosquitoes.
The rodeo was fun, especially watching the kids chase the calf trying to get the prize ribbon off of its tail. Now we're giving the kids baths and trying to get everyone to bed; tomorrow we're heading into the park and after doing part of the northwest loop we will end up in Gardiner (near Mammoth).
Friday the 1st was spent getting ready for the trip and running all the errands so that we could leave. Today being Saturday the 2nd we set off from American Fork and drove the six plus hours up to West Yellowstone; well actually just a little farther as we had booked a place called the Hebgen Lake Mountain Inn, about 15 miles from the town. Turned out to be a good decision as the view was nice and it wasn't crowded at all. But with the lake right across the street the kids wanted to go fishing. That's okay; I can take them fishing; I just haven't fished in over 25 years! How do you thread and tie everything together? After a frustrating start I finally got the poles ready and off we went and fished, for about 45 minutes. That's all the time we had as we were going to the rodeo and needed to stop and buy sweatshirts (oops, left them at home). No, we didn't catch anything but we tried! Well, the kids tried anyway. I was too busy untangling lines and fetching hooks from the rocks they had gotten wedged behind and shooing off mosquitoes.
The rodeo was fun, especially watching the kids chase the calf trying to get the prize ribbon off of its tail. Now we're giving the kids baths and trying to get everyone to bed; tomorrow we're heading into the park and after doing part of the northwest loop we will end up in Gardiner (near Mammoth).
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