Yellowstone Day 2

We planned an early start for the day. Our objective to get to Lamar Valley (probably the furthest point from where we were staying) by around 7:30am. We left the hotel at 6am, with the temp at around -7C. It took a bit to scrape the ice off the windscreen as we had no ice scraper and poor Mark had to use a plastic fork! But it did the trick in short time. Or maybe he was just so cold he went as fast as possible. Then as we pulled out the dashboard communication system displayed a message that the air was low in one of the rear tyres, so again Mark was out in the cold this time handling freezing metal in the dark, with no idea how much air was going in as the guage was frosted over. He just kept putting in air till the message went off the dash.... we headed through several deserted towns and eventually were near the final leg to see a sign saying the road was closed ahead. DARN! and no we didnt check with any ranger as it is quite clearly signed what dates everything closes. Roads, buildings, etc. So alas we didnt quite make it to Lamar Valley but we did see some amzing things anyway.

The biggest falls here on the Yellowstone River. This is the lower of 2 falls. Its quite an iconic image of the region and it is also their Grand Canyon.

Another view of the canyon.

These are the trees on the shade side of the canyon. All the mist off the falling water has frozen on the trees.

This is the Hayden Valley. It was spectacular. Note the ice starting to build up on the sides of this narrow stream.

Relaxing at lake Yellowstone. Is massive and the sunshine makes it deceptive. It was still freezing. I had moved to the vest only over my merino top but this didnt last long. I soon had beanie and full jacket back on. We enjoyed another picnic lunch here. This time we managed to stay outdoors.

We got back to our hotel around 4pm and wandered over to another lodge for a coffee. Ever hopeful that it would be better than we had been having. No luck Im afraid! They did however have this most amazing view over the Old Faithful Geyser. So we relaxed in the warmth for an hour watching the crowd build to watch outside. The portion you can see here of people is probably less than a 1/4 of the boardwalk.

Outside our hotel. Snapped one of the local tour buses.

This is inside the lobby of our hotel. Note the massive fireplace. The fire grills are approx 5' tall. The chimney... huge! If you look closely you will see people sitting around the upper level. On the other side there are another 2 levels you can sit at overlooking and listening to the pianist. Its a good spot for a glass or two. You can buy from the bar or bring your own. BARKERS - we had a Kendell Jackson, cab sav 2009, from Sonoma this evening, in your honour!

Some signs we have seen....

The Old Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance.

Official iconic Yellowstone sign.

Ok... we are getting the warning about bears. On the plane a guy we chatted to said 'you are going to be eaten by a bear' when I said we were going to do a couple of hikes in the park!

An interesting statistic!

Near the north entrance

On the opposite side of the one above...

These are everwhere. Note the pic of the kid falling into the hot ground. Apparently in many areas the ground is like a crust with scalding water just under the surface. There are many places you can see where it has cracked through... and it would NOT be nice. Most boardwalks have no railing so this is about managing your kids.

These rocks were just like at the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. The sign says it all about the original inhabitants.

Clearly she can't read!! This is where I took the pic of the boiling ground in our Day 1 blog post.

Note the temperature on our dash. It eventually got to 0F!! = freakin' cold!! Do your maths to work out the celsius equivalent....

Another bear warning...

We spotted this as we headed out for a short hike at Mt Washburn. I got quickly scared and managed about 100m before doing alot of hand clapping and chanting inane words to ward off any marauding bears who might be nearby with ideas of eating me to fatten up for hibernation.

At the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. After seeing this sign we headed back to the car, and noted there were quite fresh tracks in the dirt next to the path as well as very large poops on the ground in the carpark.

Another interesting statistic...

Bison Sighted !!!!!

Well many of you who had to hear me say “all I want is to see Bison in the wild”, will be happy to know we have. Several times actually! Each is very exciting. To know this animal was nearly hunted to extinction and to see them in the wild... is just amazing. Sighting #1 This was actually on our drive in to the park. Within 15 mins we VERY excitedly shouted “there’s a bison”!!! It turned out to be Dad, Mum and baby.

Sighting #2 Not from the hotel, we spotted this guy. Happily chomping and sitting there not 10m from the road.

Sighting #3 Often as we drive along we come across a few cars pulled over. This usually means an animal has been spotted. As we slowed to see if it was worth stopping, we spotted this herd of Bison. There were about 15 of them.

We watched for a while then as we considered moving on, one decided to cross the road. Soon most the others followed. We were excited.

I was envious as thee first lot went in front of the car ahead of us but then one came within 3m of my car window and started munching away on the grass.

Finally there was one grunting and it became clear he was the alpha male. He was massive and as he came onto the road he started walking straight at our car, with one of his girls next to him. At first I loved it and within seconds I was VERY nervous. He stopped in front of our bumper and it was amazing just how big he was. I am not afraid to say I was scared!

Eventually he ambled off the road, and grunted a few times before they munched their way into the sunset.

Sighting #4 Driving along the road near Yellowstone Lake, this guy appeared from between the trees and slowly strolled along the side of the road. We stayed next to him and he was not at all perturbed by the car. He must take this track often as you can see how worn it is. Others Sightings... there have been several in the distance and in many areas of the park.

We have also spotted many others in the distance. In trees, on plains, and around geysers to keep warm inthe steam. I believe my desire to spot bison in the wild has been satiated!

Yellowstone Day 1

We stopped in the town of West Yellowstone for alcohol supplies having forgotten to buy a couple of vinos in Utah. There was none to be seen in Wholefoods and possibly this was out of respect of the non-drinking, Latter Day Saints.

Just 5 mins from West Yellowstone we arrived at the park entrance. By now it was 6:30pm and the light was fading. It didnt take long though for us to be in awe of the untouched wilderness. We soon spotted this group of Elk by a river. Some were right at the road side too. It was very surreal how quickly the scenery changed. We had to drive through the main geyser basin to get to our hotel, The Old Faithful Inn. We finally arrived around 7:45 as you cant drive fast for fear an animal will walk onto the road.

The next morning we had b'fast in our room after glimpsing the poor fare of processed food available in the cafe downstairs.

After b'fast we headed out front of the hotel to watch the estimated 8:40am Old Faithful geyser go off. Apparently its faithfully spouting every 90 mins, +/- 10 mins. It was a very icy and slippery on the board walk and after my not so graceful slide at home, I was walking very carefully, remembering Kathy's advice of small slightly shuffled steps. It worked a treat. We ended up waiting until after 9am in the -10C temp. Thank goodness for the warm jackets we have. They worked a treat.FYI - Mark not shaving in preparation for Mo-vember. Reckons it will take him 2 months to grow a moustache!! Yes we are completely unglamorous but warm. I ended up having to pull my neck roll up over the bottom half of my face as I was literally turning blue. Having it over my nose only meant my breath fogged my glasses which then froze and took a bit to clear again so I could see!

We drove north through Madison & Norris to Mammoth Hot Springs. AS it turns out, this is the only town here that is still open. The buildings in the other towns are all completely boarded up. The only thing available is fuel via credit card only bowsers. We were surprised to see these elk happily grazing and dozing so close to town.

Having heard most places would be closed we planned for a picnic. Not quite the gorgeous experience I expected as it was just too cold to be outside for too long. Mark quickly climbed into the back of the car to have his 'picnic'.

This is a view of the Mammoth Hot Springs from the road. Each day, 2 tons of travertine are depostied by te relatively cool (179F) hot springs. From a boardwalk up top we saw that it was constantly bubbling up and overflowing down the side of the hill.

View from on top showing the flow having swallowed trees in its path.

All over the park, there is so much themal activity of differing varieties. It really feels like we are witnessing the birth and growth of earth in some way. We slowed to checked out a plume of steam coming from the side of the road. Here the earth was literally boiling. It sounded like food sizzling in a pan and there was a vague sulphur small here.

One of the pools at Norris Geyser Basin. It was quite deep and beautiful aqua in colour. Not always visible due to the amount of steam coming off it. It took 4 photos to get this shot.

This was taken in the Lower Geyser Basin. Note the water spirting from the ground. There was quite an extensive boradwalk here. Circling small pools then looking across a plain of steaming earth. Its amazing how there can be a clear bubbling pool like above and literally 10m away will be a pool of pink bubbling mud, then right next to that a brown watering mud pool, and next to that a dry hole that is pumpling out steam so rapidly that it sounds like a dragon breathing.

This is in yet another area called Firehole Lake drive.

SLC again

I forgot to mention, for those who know me well, I had looked online before hand for which places were getting great reviews. I wanted to be sure to find somewhere that wasn’t a chain restaurant. The dinner place I earmarked turned out to be a much bigger walk than expected but we were ok with that. We had a lovely dinner at Oasis Cafe. The setting was also good. They had a fair sized courtyard with planting, art etc to set the mood. The roof over the courtyard was cloth draped, similar to what we saw in Dubai. The food was predominantly organic, which is always a bonus.

We checked out of our hotel fairly early as we had a couple of things to do before heading off for the 5 hr drive to Yellowstone. First up was another internet find, Tulie Bakery. Such delicious pasties and the best coffee we have had so far. It was in a suburban street about 2km from our hotel and for me was like a little touch of Melbourne. They asked where we were from and seemed thrilled to know we had come from Australia to their cafe, because of the internet reviews. I had an almond croissant. So deadly rich I had to hand at least 1/3 to Mark.

From there it was off to Wholefoods (my fav USA supermarket). They have the most amazing and large range of food. Again the food is mostly organic and all is ethically produced. We bought up enough to take a few basics to Yellowstone as I don’t fancy being trapped somewhere with only cafeteria type food. They were so great at Wholefoods. Several times as we strolled and Mark was in retail heaven, different staff asked if they could help us find something! Now that doesn’t happen at Coles! Food bagged and packed in ice they kindly provided in bags for us we headed off to find an adventure sports store Mark had looked up as he wanted a particular pair of shoes. The address he had turned out to be their distribution centre for many brands. The shop was very small but it turned out they had a storage area the size of Bunnings, and several computers around the shop to look up and write down what you wanted. They would get someone at the storeroom to bring it up for you to try. The biggest range I have seen anywhere and Yes, Mark got shoes! Alas it took longer than we had hoped and we didn’t really get away from SLC until nearly 1pm.

A taste of the highway drive in northern Utah. Mountains impressive, highway NOT!! During our drive to Yellowstone, surprisingly we went to 4 different states. Starting in Utah, we went from sth to nth of East Idaho before skimming through the sth east corner of Montana to enter Yellowstone and finally into Wyoming.

Salt Lake City

Our flight from San Francisco took us via LA. It was a surprisingly easy trip. for the SF - LA leg we were on a large lear-jet style plane. Very nice! We got great views of LA as we were coming in. We circled over the Hollywood sign... so knew we were really there. We decided to stay in this cute little hotel. Built in 1910 it was very comfortable and well fitted out. Also a good central position.

So we popped in here for some reciprocal door knocking. However, the door we chose was of the brewery over the road. Im here to say, contrary to popular belief, you can buy alcohol here. We tried a couple of locally brewed beers and they were delicious. Marks a light Pilsner and mine was a darker ale with hints of pumpkin and spice. I was tempted to go another but figured we should at least see some of this city.

This city has very wide streets and not a particularly intimate feel. It was a very warm afternoon We were told there were only 2 things worth seeing in SLC. The Mormon temple/ tabernacle block and the salt lake itself. Well we made it to the Mormon centre yesterday.

The grounds of the buildings were really lovely.

There were no signs giving the names of the buildings, so Im not so informative here. We chose not to take a guide as it looked like we might have been trapped with them for longer than we wanted to spend there.

This is the main tabernacle. It was the only building not open for viewing. There were curtains on every possible window that you may have been able to see in.

This was such a beautiful tree in the garden. From a distance it looked like an old olive but it wasn't.

This is inside the 'beehive' where the choir sing and give concerts. A guide got up on stage and demonstrated the acoustics of the building. With no microphone she tore paper and then dropped a couple of pins. Amazing clarity in the sound heard from the back of the room!

This morning we head off to Yellowstone and I dont know if we can blog from there. Time will tell. We picked up a Chevy Traverse yesterday. Its huge and its only their standard sized SUV. Hope all are well. Really appreciate your comments. Love to all blog readers! xD&M