Day 14, 15, and 16: Mesa Verde…still!

Our original itinerary included 1.5 days at Mesa Verde, but after 5 days we’re still here! We are both addicted to looking for cliff dwellings during hikes and drives and we wanted to make sure we saw all the ruins open to the public. So, we’ve spent the past 5 days exploring. We start our days at the pancake breakfast in the café, we tour/hike in the morning, we make sandwiches for lunch in the Sprinter, we tour/hike in the afternoon, and we make our way back to camp for dinner and a ranger talk before going to bed very exhausted, but excited about another day of touring. From the campground (a few miles inside the park), the mesas (3 main ones) that are home to the ruins are about a 30-minute drive up winding, hill-climbing roads that are under construction in several areas. We always head up the hill early to beat traffic and construction. On Thursday, we toured Long House, the second largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde, which is only accessible via tram and then a hike down into the alcove. We then toured all of the dwellings near Long House, which included taking 2 short hikes in the blazing hot sun! Because we’re mostly hiking over bumpy trails of sandstone, there are many crevices for critters to hide in. We are thankful we’ve only seen two snakes…mostly lizards and crazy grasshopper-like things that are all over the place (again…just like the Badlands!). We have become dwelling detectives in this park. We are constantly searching for dwellings and our binoculars are always ready (to look across the canyons)! After this many days in the park, we have learned so much from the literature, artifacts in the museum, ranger-guided hikes, ranger-guided dwelling tours, and nightly fireside ranger programs to know what to look for. We can easily determine if rooms were used for storage, ceremonies, food preparation, or sleeping and we can spot different periods of construction and hand and toe trails (how they went up and down the cliffs) from anywhere. The rangers even know us now! On Thursday night we took a Twilight Tour of Cliff Palace. These tours are the last tour of the day, led by a ranger in character, from the perspective of someone who was influential in Mesa Verde’s past. Our tour was told from the perspective of Al Wetherill, one of the brothers who discovered Cliff Palace while herding cattle. It was fascinating and so amazing to experience Cliff Palace at sunset. The next morning, we were back on the mesa tops for an early morning hike. On these early morning drives, we always see grazing deer and their fawns and some of the 100 wild horses that call this park their home. This hike was led by a ranger and toured a dwelling otherwise inaccessible by the public. It was another large dwelling, home to 80-100 people, and we enjoyed the adventurous hike up and down the mountain. This was a small group and we had the pleasure of meeting a member of a nearby Apache tribe. He was on the Mug House hike as a tourist, and he shared a lot of information with us. He has been a tribal lawyer/judge for the last 25 years and he was instrumental in writing/passing the legislation for NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act). It was very interesting to hear his perspective and he even showed us the beginning steps of weaving yucca fibers to make sandals, rope, etc. From here, we went to the museum (again) and watched the intro movie, looked at artifacts, and Deven went through the process to earn her Junior Ranger badge. This is a little bit of a challenging process, but a great way to educate kids about the park; recommended for ages 5-11, but Deven’s been dying to do it since our first park! She had to answer questions about the park, complete an information booklet, and be sworn in by an official ranger. The hardest part of the whole thing was when the ranger’s final question was, “and do you promise to keep your room clean?” I think she lied and said she would! Anyway, she finally earned her badge and is an official Mesa Verde Junior Park Ranger! To celebrate, we toured another mesa top covered in dwellings then headed back to camp for dinner and the ranger talk. This morning (Saturday), we had our final day at Mesa Verde. After our final pancake breakfast, we headed up the hill to tour the few sights we haven’t yet seen. We started on our self-guided tour of Spruce Tree House, the best-preserved dwelling in the park. We then headed out on a hike to see the largest collection of petroglyphs in the park. A few yards into our hike, it started pouring and thunder and lightning were quickly approaching the canyon. We both really wanted to go so we ran back to the car for our raingear and headed out on our 2-hour hike. It was pouring the entire time and we had to scramble over boulders, make our way in the slippery mud, squeeze between large slabs of sandstone, and remember to stay below timberline. Along the path, we saw a few other dwellings and many spectacular cross-canyon views. Eventually, we saw the petroglyphs and as we climbed back up to the mesa top, it finally stopped raining. We were soaked and tired, but had so much fun – and we both agreed that the hike would’ve been miserable in the hot days we’ve had for the past week. We made our way back to the campground, rode the scooter to do laundry, made a yummy dinner and sat by the campfire looking at the stars. We will miss this place – but we’re off to more park sprinting early tomorrow morning!

Day 13: Mesa Verde

This place is amazing! Mesa Verde (Spanish for “green table”) covers 52,000 acres and preserves and protects about 5,000 archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. 1400 years ago it was home to the Ancestral Puebloans for more than 750 years. The three largest cliff dwellings are accessible during ranger-guided tours. We had tickets for the 9 a.m. Cliff Palace tour and we were so excited we showed up an hour early! Cliff Palace is Mesa Verde’s largest cliff dwelling with 150 rooms and 23 kivas (circular rooms for ceremonies and social gatherings). It was constructed from 1190 – 1191 and again from 1260 – 1280 and inhabited about 110 people. We soon realized how lucky we were to have the first tour because our pictures are of an empty dwelling. For the rest of the day, this place is packed with ranger-guided tours leaving every 30 minutes. The construction is amazing. The sandstone is carved into blocks and they used a mortar made of sand, wood ash, and water to construct 3- and 4-story structures. Cliff Palace is 90% original, with only minor restorations done to reinforce and stabilize the main structures – it is unbelievable to see their work up close and to imagine what life was like for these people. We then went to our tour at Balcony House. This tour was so fun - we had to climb 32- and 60-foot ladders, crawl through 18’ tunnels and climb “stairs” that were nearly straight up a cliff. This dwelling had 28 rooms and 2 kivas and was constructed between 1180 and 1270. After our little work out, we had a picnic lunch, toured the visitors center and museum, and went to some overlooks to see dwellings across the canyon. We returned to camp early excited to have an early dinner and attend the fireside ranger program. Our plans changed when a crazy rain/thunderstorm rolled in. We scrambled to put everything back into the Sprinter, listened to the thunder and lightning that seemed to be striking right near us, and read up on some of the dwellings we’ll see tomorrow. After a long day in the sun, we ended up falling asleep early to the sound of huge raindrops pounding on the roof of the Sprinter.

Day 12: Aspen to Mesa Verde

We hoped to get an early start and head to Sand Dunes National Park (in the southeast corner of Colorado) and then on to Mesa Verde National Park (in the southwest corner of Colorado). After doing laundry and showering, I walked out to the Sprinter to find Deven building something! She was using some of Kipp’s wood scraps to build new shelves for all of our bins. I let her do what she wanted and went inside to work on the blog. Nearly 2 HOURS LATER our bins had a new, more convenient home and we were a little behind schedule. We decided to skip Sand Dunes and just head to Mesa Verde, a place we have both been very excited to see. We made our way through a bunch of small towns, a little wine country area, and after looking closely at the map realized we were near another national park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We decided to take the 10-mile detour and stop. This canyon became a national park in 1999 and its cliffs contain some of the oldest rocks in North America, dating to 1.7 billion years old. The cliff walls are 40 feet apart and rise 1750 feet. The Gunnison River falls 480 feet in a 2-mile section and the rapid water flow carves the canyon, making the walls very steep. The canyon is so deep and narrow that very little sunlight hits it, which is how it got its name. We drove around, took some pictures, had a little vertigo from looking over the cliffs, and got back on track. From here, we drove through Montrose and the small mining town of Ouvray. Right after Ouvray we drove through Red Mountain Pass, which was full of winding roads and stunning views of the red mountains. After the pass, we were in Durango – the biggest city we’ve seen in awhile. We stopped for Starbucks and firewood and headed out for the last 30 miles until Mesa Verde. We easily found a great campsite, made dinner, and went to the fireside ranger program about women’s involvement in establishing this park. We went to bed early because are both so excited for tomorrow!

Day 11: RMNP to Aspen

We woke up early to drive Trail Ridge Road without traffic. This road cuts across RMNP and is the highest major highway in North America, climbing to 12,183 feet. It is currently under construction and we were warned that traffic can be backed up 30-60 minutes this summer. Our early start paid off – there were very few cars on the road and we saw some wildlife eating breakfast (including the biggest elk we’ve seen – he was huge and right next to the car!). We made our way along Trail Ridge Road and left the park. We were excited for the day, as we were going through Boulder and Vail (2 places I’ve always wanted to see) and were eventually making our way to see Deven’s longtime friend, Katie, in Aspen. We drove through Boulder and stopped at Costco (had to re-stock the Sprinter with a few goodies), stopped in Vail, stopped at Starbucks (thank you Howard Schultz for putting Starbucks everywhere in Colorado!), and finally made our way to Aspen. Today was a big day for a few reasons. #1 – we passed 3,000 miles for our trip so far. #2 – we finally have music! We went nearly 3,000 miles without music, can you believe that?! We have radio reception, but the music is not exactly what you’d want on a road trip. Deven has a brand new stereo to hook up (one of the many projects she brought to complete on the trip!), but it hasn’t been installed yet. I have music on my computer, but it’s not quite loud enough while we’re driving. So, today at Costco, we bought a portable player for our iPods and we don’t even know what to do with ourselves. From Vail to Aspen I made Deven play Name That Tune, as I scanned the 10,000 songs on my iPod. She knew everything – from Earth, Wind, and Fire to Busta Rhymes…she even got Patsy Cline! That made our drive go quickly and soon we were in Aspen. Deven was excited to be returning after living here 14 years ago. We drove into downtown, walked around, and had a nice meal. #3 – we ate at a real restaurant! We had dinner and margaritas and it really felt like vacation! I loved Aspen – it’s one of my all-time favorites! We made our way out of Aspen to go to Katie and Kipp’s house in nearby Basalt. #4 – interaction with other adults! We visited with Katie, toured her amazing property and beautiful home (surrounded by red cliffs and hillsides on all sides), played with her dogs, and even tried her new slack line. #5 – we also had real showers and were able to sit on the couch and chat and relax. It was a great night and we had so much fun catching up with Katie. We looked at Katie and Kipp’s wedding photos and look forward to meeting him in the future! Thank you Katie for an evening of civilization, your kind hospitality, and a long overdue visit with Deven!

Day 10: Rocky Mountain National Park

We headed into Rocky Mountain National Park early to secure a campsite for the night. We made a quick stop at the nearest Visitor Center (a historical landmark, designed by the protégés of Frank Lloyd Wright) and learned that there were only 7 tent sites available in the park. We quickly made our way to the open campsite and found a great spot. Rocky Mountain National Park is the first park that looks similar to the Northwest – there are trees everywhere and it is very green. Only two differences: true to its name, there are rocks, boulders, etc. everywhere and there are large brown patches scattered throughout the forest due to the infestation of the pine beetle that is killing many of the trees. We settled into our campsite and decided to spend the day out of the car. We rode the bikes to a trailhead and set out on an 8-mile hike. We began by hiking the perimeter of a beautiful subalpine lake (Bear Lake), continued on to Alberta Falls and climbed 1000 feet on a rocky trail over boulders and rivers to Mills Lake. Some quick facts about this place: the chain of the Rocky Mountains is the world’s longest mountain barrier, stretching 2700 miles from Alaska to Mexico. This National Park was established in 1915, contains 72 named peaks above 12,000 feet, and is covered in granite rocks that are up to 1.3 billion years old. This hike was so pretty and we enjoyed the afternoon thunderstorm that rolled through. We had heard this was a daily occurrence and were warned to stay below timberline when the lightning hit. We followed these guidelines, enjoyed the exercise, and eventually made our way to this beautiful lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It was obvious we were from a rainy state because nearly everyone else we passed had on raingear and they looked at us like we were crazy in our tank tops and shorts. We stopped to eat a snack at the lake and were sure to hydrate…at nearly 12,000 feet, we were definitely adjusting to the altitude. We made our way back to camp and for the first time made dinner while the sun was still up. After some quinoa and vegetarian hobo stew, I taught Deven how to play cribbage and we went to bed early…worn out from our beautiful, yet tiring hike!

Day 9: South Dakota to Colorado

We were up early in Hot Springs, South Dakota and finally showered! We were off to Jewel Cave (not to be confused with Wind Cave, the National Park we visited yesterday) in northwest South Dakota. This National Monument is buried beneath the Black Hills; within 3.3 square miles, it covers 165+ miles of caves (they just discovered a few more miles last month) and is the second largest in the world, only smaller than Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. The passages are several layers deep and we were able to go about 250 feet below the surface to see some of the amazing crystals this cave is named for. It was so cold down there and even though Deven was afraid of bats, she quickly relaxed when our park ranger told us we were too deep for bats to survive (although this cave is home to 7 different types of bats). After learning a little bit about how the crystals formed and the exploration of this cave, we were back in the car and off on a 350 mile drive. We drove out of South Dakota and back into Wyoming, going hours without seeing anything other than open grasslands. The first town we came to had a sign that said Population 1! I was praying we didn’t have car trouble in this middle-of-nowhere highway and we finally made it to southern Wyoming where we started seeing signs of life again. We were in desperate need of Starbucks because we hadn’t seen one since Idaho more than a week ago! I found 5 Starbucks in Cheyenne thanks to bing.com and we eagerly awaited the lattes that were only about 100 miles away. We drove through downtown Cheyenne (which was very crowded due to a big rodeo that was going on) and stopped at Starbucks. Ahhh….we were rejuvenated and ready for the rest of our drive. We left Wyoming and entered Colorado en route to Rocky Mountain National Park. We made our way through the mountains as the sun was setting and we started realizing it was probably too late to get a site in the park on a Saturday night. We rolled into Estes Park (just east of RMNP) and it was packed! Estes Park is definitely a weekend destination for many people, as the streets were full of people coming and going to dinner, bars, and family-friendly areas. Every sign said NO VACANCY. We were tired after a long day of driving and pulled into a place just outside of the park that said no vacancy. Thankfully, one spot had just opened up and we had a place to sleep for the night. After a long, boring drive we called it a night just about a mile outside of Rocky Mountain National Park.

 

Day 8: A Day of Sprinting

Today was truly a day of park sprinting – I’m not even sure I can remember the details of all that we’ve done. We left Bear’s Lodge early and passed through more small towns in Wyoming. After looking up the state’s population (a stat I wish our GPS had!), I realized why it feels so different here. The state of Wyoming ranks 50^th in population and has significantly less people than the city of Seattle in the entire state. No wonder we still can’t find a Starbucks! We crossed the border into South Dakota and made a quick stop in Sturgis, a quaint little town that is very busy preparing for the 70^th annual motorcycle rally that spans the first two weeks of August. Everything in this town seems to cater to motorcyclists, but we cruised the streets in the Sprinter anyway and stopped at Harley-Davidson just to check it out. From there, we went to the Wounded Knee museum. My travel book said, “This modern facility interprets the history of the December 29, 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre through interactive exhibits with historical photos and documents.” So, that influenced our expectations and I was looking forward to seeing a modern tribute to this awful part of our country’s history. You can imagine our surprise when we pulled up to a tiny building that looked like it had just been converted from an Azteca restaurant. There were t-shirts hanging on a metal rack in front of the building, what looked like the start of a tipi in front of the door and it said Wounded Knee Museum. I read the description from the travel book again and we backed out, thinking this must be the cheesy tourist stop. As we were pulling away, I checked the address and we were appalled to realize we were in the correct place. On the inside, it was a little bit modern but the cheaply painted turkey “peace feather” that came with the cost of admission was our first clue that this was not going to be what we’d hoped. We read the typo-ridden displays and learned about the 300 Lakota, mostly women and children, who lost their lives. It was disheartening to learn the details about this day and the events leading up to what was the last major conflict between the U.S. military and the American Indians and the end of life as the American Indians knew it. We returned our turkey feathers and pulled away from “Azteca” feeling disgusted and ready to see something inspiring. Our next stop was Badlands National Park. I’d never heard of this place, but after watching the documentary I really wanted to stop here. As we pulled in, we were commenting on how this is probably called the Badlands because it looks so badass! We stopped to take pictures at the first outlook and it was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this. As we approached the boardwalk that led into the buttes and spires (I don’t really know what that means, but I can’t really describe this place in my own words!) I was shocked. The sign said – Beware of rattlesnakes on the path. From bears and bison to this crazy, HOT, odd-looking place full of snakes. Get me out of here! As we walked along the boardwalk, we tiptoed down the middle thinking that would keep us the furthest away from the snakes. We weren’t prepared for the enormous grasshopper-like things that were hopping all over the place and landing on our legs and feet. We ran to the end of the boardwalk, took a few pictures, sweat out all the water we’d drank and quickly returned to the car. We were so thankful we didn’t push on to spend the night here last night. I decided that this place is called the Badlands because everyone who visits has a bad time here, but Deven’s theory was a little bit funnier. She thinks parents bring their kids here so they can return home and threaten them when they’re bad by saying, “If you aren’t good, we’re sending you to the Badlands.” That pretty much sums it up. It was a fascinating place to see, but we were over the heat, flying bugs, and snake warnings pretty quickly. Described by Custer (before he marched right through to push the Indians out of the more desirable land) as “hell without fire” it is definitely unlike anyplace I’ve ever seen. The result of 3 million years of erosion and home to many interesting fossils (which we did not stop to see – that’s how miserable it was here!), this crazy place has frequent droughts and a winter that lasts half the year. After a 30-minute sprint through this park, we headed towards Mount Rushmore. We stopped in Interior, South Dakota just 2 miles outside of the Badlands. This place was also strange – the gas station, called Cowboy Corner (which had the pump hanging on a coat hanger), was also the only “restaurant in” town. I think the population was about 12! We drove through the driest land I’d ever seen and we had more bugs splatter on the windshield than any other part of the drive. Deven thinks it’s because they’re so miserable they’re committing suicide just to get out! Soon, we started seeing recognizable landscapes again and we drove through the dark green trees (the appearance from afar is the reason for the nickname the Black Hills, I’ve learned) to Rushmore. We drove through the little town of Keystone, South Dakota – which is basically like the Vegas for families heading to Rushmore. No, more like the Reno for families heading to Rushmore. It was a small town full of tourists! We stopped at Rushmore, toured the museum, and took some pictures. It was now about 2:00 and we realized we hadn’t eaten anything all day. We’d been park sprinting and lost track of time. So, we sat on the side of the road with the Sprinter door open eating yesterday’s grilled potatoes and corn. Then, we sprinted to our next place – the Crazy Horse Monument. This place is amazing and I hope I can return to see the ambitious plans completed someday. We learned a lot about the development of this project, the family’s determination to finish their father’s work, and Crazy Horse’s quote that drives it all: “My land is where my people are buried.” We sprinted out of the there and tried to make it to our next stop, Wind Cave National Park. Their cave tours had ended, but we toured the Visitor’s Center and made a plan to return in the morning. On the way to our campsite, we called the Mammoth Site and realized their last tour was in 20 minutes. So, we hurried through Hot Springs, South Dakota and literally ran to make the final tour. We learned that in the 70s a developer and his crew hit a bone while bulldozing. He called the local university, who called in experts and they determined these were mammoth bones. The developer sold the property back to the city for the exact price he paid and the non-profit organization that took over the dig decided to leave the bones as they were originally found for the public to view them in-situ. We were so relieved – finally some history of Americans who did the respectable thing! After this, we were so exhausted. We made our way to our nearby campsite for the night, made dinner, and ended our long day. We didn’t even shower and that tells you how tired we were because this was the first site with a shower in 5 days…gross! But, all 3 of us (Deven, myself and the Sprinter) survived hundreds of miles between Sturgis, Wounded Knee, The Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, and the Mammoth site in one day. We’re 2500 miles in, learning a lot, having fun, and still smiling!

Day 7: Little Bighorn Battlefield and Devil's Tower (a.k.a. Bear's Lodge)

We were up early and out of camp by 6:00 a.m. I’ll miss Slough Creek – it was a small, quiet, scenic place to stay for 3 nights. We headed out with uncertain plans for the day. Our ultimate destination was South Dakota (Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, etc.), but we were debating about going through Crow Nation or stopping at Devil’s Tower on our way. We decided to drive and figure it out as we went, as they were both about 300 miles away. We drove through Beartooth Pass, the only exit out of the northeast corner of Yellowstone; the views were stunning. We drove up to nearly 12,000 feet (a stat displayed on the GPS – something I’ve become even more obsessed with lately!) on a narrow road that weaved in and out of giant glacial boulders, creeks, and lakes. The Sprinter handled it beautifully and Deven imagined how fun this drive would be in her father’s racecar. I verified that she was going the speed limit (on the GPS – another favorite stat!) and reminded her that we are in a 6-wheeler that is nearly 25 feet long. After our descent, we went through a lot of little towns scattered throughout Montana and Wyoming. We often went several miles without seeing an exit or sign of any activity. There were a lot of non-descript little structures in the middle of nowhere and we’re pretty certain there’s some secret government projects going on around here! We made our way out of Wyoming, and looped back into southern Montana, stopping at the Little Bighorn Battlefield. This National Monument, which consists of a National Cemetery, the battlefield itself, and a small museum, memorializes one of the last armed efforts of five Plains Indian tribes to preserve their way of life. The battle lasted 2 days in June of 1876 and 260+ American soldiers were killed and less than 100 American Indians died (mostly Lakota and Cheyenne). We toured through the museum and stood on the spot where Custer’s Last Stand took place. This memorial was a little frustrating because it’s presented mostly from the American soldier’s point of view. There was one part designed by members of the Lakota, Cheyenne, and other tribes, which paid tribute to the fallen American Indians. There were very poignant quotes from tribal members past and present along with symbolic structures and art within the memorial. Also in tribute to the American Indian perspective, the name was recently changed from Custer’s Battlefield to Little Bighorn Battlefield (named after the adjacent river, Little Bighorn). From there, we drove back into Wyoming and made quick stops in both Sheridan and Gilette – two places I cannot even compare to any town I know near Seattle. They were both so small (even though they’re two of the bigger cities in the state), full of cowboys, and seemed like we went back in time about 25 years. There was a little bit of activity in Gilette, as they were in the middle of the National Rodeo High School Championships. I made Deven wear her cowboy hat into the grocery store (even though she was wearing workout shorts and tennis shoes and carrying my little coach purse)…needless to say, she was getting some very interesting looks and I couldn’t buy a thing because I was laughing so hard. We were back on the road and decided to stop at Devil’s Tower, our nation’s first national monument, located in the northeast corner of Wyoming. After driving about 460 miles for the day, we found a campsite in the park, and headed up the hill to tour the monument. Even if you know this structure from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, it would still surprise you to see it jutting up in what seems like the middle of nowhere. The geological story is basically another case of erosion; however, the American Indians have many different legends that tell the story of what most tribes call Bear’s Lodge – a place they hold very sacred and still come to pray near. It is a place of controversy for the American Indians because the common name has such negative connotations and nearly 5,000 rock climbers travel here each year from around the world to ascend their sacred place. We learned a little bit about the legends of what I insist on calling Bear’s Lodge, walked the 1.5-mile trail around the base and attended a ranger-led information session around the campfire later that night. Tomorrow, we’re heading into South Dakota and I’m so excited to see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.

 

Day 6: Grand Teton & Jackson Hole

We were up early to make our way to Grand Teton National Park for the day. There were a few things we still wanted to see in Yellowstone and we were hoping to beat the rush of the crowds. Along our early morning drive, we saw a black bear near the road, deer, and yellow-bellied marmots. We were also very lucky to see a Mama Grizzly and her two cubs. We watched through the binoculars as the cubs frolicked in the grass as their mom strolled nearby. The one thing I really wanted to see was a herd of bison and Deven really wanted to see baby bison…and today, we finally saw that! Hayden Valley (which we now call Jackpot Valley, as it is the jackpot for wildlife viewing!) had herds and herds of bison. They were lying down, playing, crossing the road, butting heads, rolling in the dirt – you name it, we saw it! After slowly making our way through Jackpot Valley, we stopped at a few waterfalls – Tower Fall, and the Upper and Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We stopped at a few different lookout spots along the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This picture of the Lower Falls was taken at a beautiful spot called Artist Point. A little less than 10 miles south of Yellowstone is the entrance to Grand Teton National Park. This park is much smaller than Yellowstone, covering about 300,000 acres. As we approached the park, I read about how stunning the sight of the Teton Range is due to the fact that there are no foothills impeding its 7,000 foot ascent. However, upon our arrival, it was raining so hard and the clouds were so thick we could hardly see anything. We stopped and took pictures anyway, toured an Indian Arts museum, looked around an amazing brand new, LEED-certified visitor center and eventually made our way across the park to Jackson, Wyoming. I always thought Jackson Hole was the city, but I learned that Jackson Hole is actually the valley and Jackson is the city…even though we refer to the city as Jackson Hole and there are many signs throughout the small, but bustling town referring to itself as Jackson Hole. Some interesting geological facts about this area: due to an active fault, Jackson Hole has been sinking for 9 million years, while the Tetons have been slowly rising; also, atop Mount Moran (12,605 feet – one of the taller of the range) sits a patch of sandstone that matches another layer of sandstone about 24,000 feet beneath the surface of the valley. It’s crazy to think about how fault lines, volcanoes, erosion, etc. have created some of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. Heading towards Jackson, we were scanning the valleys for moose and elk. All literature refers to the fact that tourists will see an abundance of both; however, we saw neither. Maybe because of the heavy rains and thunder – who knows, but we saw nothing. After eating lunch in Jackson Hole, taking pictures with the famed antler arches, and walking the streets, we headed back through the park – certain we would see some wildlife now that the rain had passed. We did see wildlife – one little coyote right by the road. I felt ripped off!  No moose? No elk? We eagerly awaited our return trip through Jackpot Valley so we could feed our newest addiction of seeing animals in the wild. The drive back through Yellowstone and along Yellowstone Lake was so pretty – the sun had been shining there all day. Jackpot Valley delivered and we photographed more herds of bison. It’s such an amazing sight and every time we spotted another herd, we pulled over and took pictures like we’d never seen them before. We saw another grizzly wandering near our campsite and only minutes after pulling into Slough Creek for the night, a thunderstorm passed through camp with heavy rains and lightning that lit up the sky – it was amazing! At this point, we were not leaving the Sprinter, so we called it a night. It was another late night and a long day of driving, but we are determined to get an early start tomorrow.

Day 5: Slough Creek

Hooray – we slept in until 7:30! The next site over, which is closer to the creek, opened and we upgraded for our second night in Yellowstone. I am currently sitting creekside (my view is the picture of the water, which I just took!), watching a group of fly fishermen, with my feet resting on a log. Ahhhh! I’m starting to relax. No organizing in the Sprinter, no traffic jams, no crowds of tourists, no scrambling for our next campsite. Blueberry pancakes for breakfast and no plans for the day – life is good. I sat by the water and read background info on upcoming parks, while Deven constructed bug screens to cover the windows at night. After a few hours of relaxing, Deven came up with a master plan for rearranging the Sprinter. We moved some of our “furniture” (bins, cooler, refrigerator, etc.) around, Deven built in a little counter, and I (of course) organized the contents of a few messy bins. I think this might be the final rearranging – everything has a convenient, secure place…for real this time! We were hoping to stay out of the car for the day so we headed out on the bikes, hoping to ride to a trailhead not too far down the dirt road. After riding down the road for a few minutes, we both started thinking this wasn’t a great idea. We had seen bears in this area several times and after playing the not-so-fun game of coming up with an exit strategy in case a 400 – 800 pound grizzly came at us running 30-40 mph from different directions, we decided to cut our ride short. As Deven put it, “a bicyclist in bear country is pretty much fast food!” On our ride back, Deven spotted a fire and called it into the Ranger Station. The wind was starting to pick up and the flames were visible from our campsite, but the helicopters came within minutes. We watched as the helicopter made several trips to the nearby lake to dip the bucket in and spray it on the fire. Soon, a ranger came around and said the fire was contained and that we weren’t in any danger. After earning her Smokey the Bear patch for the day, Deven went back to building things in the Sprinter, I sat with a glass of wine by the water and read. We made dinner, sat by the campfire, and called it a night.

 

Day 4: Yellowstone

We were up early to explore Yellowstone. We left the cabin to arrive at Slough Creek campground first thing in the morning. Along the way, we saw two bison right in the middle of the road, a baby fox playing in the meadow, and a grizzly wandering through the trees. Luckily, we found a campsite. Deven was being cautious driving up the 2 mile dirt road to the campground and I’d been urging her to speed up so the few cars behind us wouldn’t pass us and beat us to a spot. Thankfully, she refused because a nice woman pulled us aside as we were making multiple laps through the 27-site campground and said, “We’re leaving do you want our spot?...we picked you because you were driving slowly and courteously.” It was hilarious and Deven’s been reminding me of it ever since! Shortly after we arrived there was a lot of activity in the camp – a Grizzly just on the other side of the dirt road. A few ranger trucks pulled in and they were doing everything to get the bear to leave camp: yelling, clapping, even shooting to scare it away. The bear finally climbed up the hill behind our campground and went away (shown in the picture, taken from our campsite). When the excitement calmed down, we headed out for the day. A little information about our nation’s first national park: it was established in 1872 by President Grant; it has the world’s greatest concentration of geysers, mud pots, fumaroles, and hot springs; the largest number of free-roaming wildlife in the lower 48 live here, including bison, grizzlies, and gray wolves; at 2.2 million acres, it has more land than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. The main road in the park is the 142-mile Grand Loop Road (in the shape of a figure eight), along which you can see most of the major scenic attractions. During our drive we saw beautiful wildflowers, rolling hills, vast meadows, picturesque mountains, and a lot of wildlife. Elk, black bears, deer, and bison. The bison were all over the place (usually males traveling solo right up the middle of the road!). While making our way to Old Faithful, we stopped at many places along the way. At the Canyon Village Visitor’s Center, we learned about the volcanic activity that made Yellowstone what it is today. We learned about the volcanic eruptions 2 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago, and 640, 000 years ago. The last eruption spewed out nearly 240 cubic miles of debris, causing the central portion of the park to collapse and form the basin it is today. The magmatic heat that caused those eruptions is the reason for the park’s geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mudpots. The different cooling patterns of the lava are the reason behind the geological diversity you see here today. We’ve learned so much – can you tell? Although I’d love to go back and teach my 1^st graders all about geysers and hot springs, I’m settling for simplistic children’s books all about animals! After brain overload about what created this beautiful park, we stopped for ice cream and headed towards Old Faithful. En route to the famous geyser, we saw a large crowd of cars pulled over and several people along a riverbank near a grazing bison. We pulled to the side of the road and walked to the riverbank to get a close-up look. He was just across the narrow river and soon there was a ranger behind us [far behind us – like 100 yards] warning the crowd, “You are dangerously close right now and if he decides to charge, you’re in trouble.” She reminded us that we shouldn’t be any closer than she was and we all immediately back away. Thankfully, he didn’t charge – but we did get some good pictures! Upon arriving at Old Faithful, we missed the eruption by minutes and had 70 – 110 minutes (faithfully…making it the park’s most predictable geyser; however, it is not the largest nor the most regular) to wait for the next one. We explored the Old Faithful Inn (a Historical Landmark, built in 1903) and waited patiently. Within it’s predictable window, the geyser gushed water about 180 feet into the air. It’s an amazing sight, especially now that I’ve learned what’s happening underground; however, the experience detracted from the natural spectacle. There were rows and rows of benches and hundreds of tourists - the kind of people I’ve waited in line behind so many times at Disneyland…you know, the ones who make the long line not worth the wait! After the eruption, a dad turned to his little girl and said, “So, was it everything you expected?” Her reply, “Not really.” I laughed out loud and Deven turned to me and said, “I agree!” Along the 77-mile drive back to Slough Creek, we saw more interesting geology of the park, elk, and more bison in the middle of the road. We began to re-evaluate our plans for tomorrow because at this point, we were so worn out that we were bored and a little irritated with national icons (Old Faithful) and wildlife sightings. We thought maybe we should take a day out of the car to enjoy nature and avoid rushing around to see all the sights. I said, “At this point, I’m only going to be surprised and excited if we see a T-Rex walking down the road!” Isn’t that disgusting? Only one full day in the park and seeing bison stop traffic has become boring to us. Tomorrow, we’ll be slowing down the pace to recuperate so that we can fully enjoy our surroundings!

Day 3: Great Falls, Montana to Yellowstone

We woke up and continued taking advantage of our luxuries by washing clothes, showering and researching on the internet. We quickly stopped at Jo-Anns for some necessities (a few hanging organizers and velcro for bug netting on the windows at night), washed off the coated bugs on the window, and we were on the road again. The drive was very pretty and so hot! We stopped in Helena, Montana – the state’s capital and a funny little town. The town was small, but managed to have enough space for every fast food place you’ve ever heard of (except no Starbucks in sight…the one thing we desperately needed). We saw some interesting things here: deer eating grass within 5 feet of downtown’s busiest road, a tractor driving with traffic, and a young girl with a swastika tattoo! We grabbed a few groceries and continued on our way. The scenery between Helena and Yellowstone was amazing. Rolling hills and wheat fields full of round bales. We stopped to refuel in Gardiner (a quaint, busy town just outside of the Northern entrance to Yellowstone) and crossed our fingers about securing a campsite in the park for the night. We stopped for pictures at the entrance, a place I was excited to see after learning about some of the history behind it from my new favorite documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. We intended to stay at the first campsite inside the park, but it was full. Luckily, we were able to get a little rustic cabin just inside the park at the historic Mammoth Hot Springs Lodge. We went for a short bike ride to walk the boardwalks of Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces, where we braved a thunder and rainstorm. In the pictures are a few of the multicolor travertine terraces, formed by slowly escaping hot mineral water. That’s all for today – another long day in the car and anticipating about 5 hours of sleep before our early start to hopefully secure a campsite at what is called the best campground in Yellowstone!