road trip

Tuesday, June 4

We took a morning walk along Yellowstone Lake before breakfast. The day holds promise of not being as cold as Monday although one would certainly not call it warm.

Chris and I visited Yellowstone in January of 2009. It was a great trip with beautiful scenery but limited in its scope of viewing the whole park. That trip focused on the west and central part of the park.

This time we came in from the south and we have been viewing portions of the park not visited (or not remembered) from the previous trip. We never made it to West Thumb or the Lake Village area in 2009 so this is a new experience. It has been eye opening to realize that thermal features are not even present in numerous areas of the park, except underground.

Yellowstone has the world’s largest collection of thermal hotspots-geysers, mud pots, fumeroles (steam vents) and thermal springs. There are over 10,000. It sits on top of a volcano and magma is less than two miles beneath the surface here. Part of the park is within an ancient caldera, yes another caldera for us. We slept in a volcano last night! Earthquakes, of a minor nature, occur daily.

Bison on storm point walk

Storm point on Yellowstone Lake

Our first ranger hike was to Storm Point on Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake is the largest high elevation lake in the U.S. Yellowstone River is the longest free flowing river in the U.S. We are going to have to make a list of the longest, oldest, highest whatevers we have experienced during this trip.

The walk to Storm Point was more pleasant and an adventure in varying terrains. We came across bison and marmots but not much other wildlife. The day tried to warm up but was not very successful.

Lodgepole pines in the forest

We had a quick lunch at one of the park’s grills and met a couple from Buffalo, NY. He had been to many, many car shows at Carlisle and we exchanged remembrances. He also mentioned that Massey’s Ice Cream had been sold to Dickinson College and closed (site of the girls’ first summer job). The abandoned Masland Carpet plant burnt down also.
She had volunteered for numerous years at the Chautauqua in New York State, the inspiration of the program Chris initiated at St. Kates.

Our second ranger hike was to the Mud Volcano area. There were many non-geyser features here. One was called the Cooking Hillside. In the 1950s, a placid field suddenly had the temperature of the ground increase and the increased ground temperature started killing the trees. Soon after, a hot spring emerged. Now the spring is pleasant to observe and dead trees trunks remind you how nature can suddenly completely change an area.

Cooking Hillside

Thermal spring at Mud Volcano area

A second neat feature was called Dragon’s Breath. Out of a cavern, noisy steam erupts above a pool of water. Reminds one of the dragon (Smaug) in the Hobbit. We are seeing some people again on the hikes, it is almost old home week as we greet one another.

We traveled from the south central part of the park to the northwest corner for our lodging in the town of Gardiner, MT. Actually this B and B is outside of the town, along the banks of the Yellowstone River. The route takes us through Hayden Valley, a highly recommended site to view wildlife. We are finding that Grand Teton, so far, was a better place to observe wildlife. We did get our first close up shot of an elk.

mudpot

Dragon’s Breath at Mud Volcano area

After Hayden Valley we head further north into mountains, rivers, and high plains. Snow, while not prominent, is lying along many roadsides. Great vistas are all around without any steam features noticeable. Road construction slows us down on one portion, less so than slow drivers though. I tremble to think of driving here in July and August.

We arrive at the B and B without incident and started planning for Wednesday’s activities.

Ed and Chris June 5 10 pm

Sunday, June 2

We had devoted considerable energy to discussing a raft trip down a river on this western swing. Chris was a little hesitant. We discussed types of rafting excursions and which river would be best. In the end, we settled on a scenic float trip down the Snake River right through the heart of Grand Teton National Park. It was a great choice for us.

Teton Range and Snake RIver

Floating down the Snake River

The company we selected, Barker-Ewing, came highly recommended. However, it was not clear in anything we read that there are now two Barker-Ewing companies. Evidently, two families had been jointly running this company for a number of years. However, a few years ago they split although both use the name; one focuses (not exclusively) on scenic float trips and one (not exclusively) on whitewater rafting.

The websites for the two companies differ by one having a dash between the names and one not having a dash. After a few phone calls, we chose the non dash Barker Ewing that focuses on scenic, non rapids float trips. Their rafting permit allows them to be in the park itself and is of longer duration.

Snake RIver and the Tetons

Bald eagle

Our trip ran from 10 AM until 12:45; 20-30 minutes of that is orientation and being driven to the starting point. The river was running fast but no rapids. The temp was in the high 50s to mid 60s with a breeze so it was cool on the water.

We just sat back-not too far back or we would have been in the water-and let Jim (our guide) do all of the work that the river did not do. We looked at mountains and river, listened to bird songs, and enjoyed the breeze and swaying. Jim provided narrative along the way, highlighting vistas and explaining history of the river’s development.

Snake river

The six passengers, MN and TX and OH, peppered Jim with a variety of questions including his background: 20 some years on the river, now a Jackson city council member, former journalist, etc.

After the journey and the hard work we had to do, we had lunch in downtown Jackson. Then it was back to the hotel to do laundry and finish yesterday’s blog.

We spent the later afternoon and early evening driving up to Signal Mountain for the view and hoped for additional wildlife sighting-maybe a bear??? The drive and view were fine, no bear joined us however. The TX couple on the rafting trip had been telling stories about the multiple bears thay had seen in the last few days. We, okay me, are still looking.

Northeast valley view from Signal Mountain

Ed and Chris Sunday June 2 10 pm