Yellowstone National Park

29 Jul 2013               Yellowstone National Park

            We scored a last minute deal on a campground in Yellowstone.  While in Bozeman, Katherine did a desperate search for a site in the park and came up with one place that had one sight left.  It must have been a cancellation.  Whatever it was, we took it.  This allowed us to leave at a normal time from Bozeman and not forced to rush into the park to score a site.  The drive from Bozeman to the Park was a wonderful twisting road up to higher elevation along the river.  We started to see less and less houses and the true beauty of the land came forth. 

            The line up to get into the park was smaller than expected, being that this is the most popular park in the USA.  Once we flashed out National Parks Pass, we headed to the site.  It was still early in the day, so we set out to tour a few sights.  We traveled through the large geyser basins stopping at numerous pullouts for brief hikes to the geothermal features.  This proved to be a little harsh on Katherine’s sprained ankle, so we shortened the walks each time, but were able to see dozens of bubbling  geysers, colorful hot springs and steaming fumaroles.  The fumarole steam vents are all visible from far away, and it was interesting to take in the big picture at a distance.  One of the craziest things are the mud pots.  These vents don’t really blast steam, but bubble up heated mud and clay, and make a neat plopping sound.  It’s like boiling chocolate on the stove and looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.

            Later in the day, we made it to Old Faithful.  This geyser is the site for a huge park encampment, you might say.  There is a lodge, hotel, educational center, food, stores, etc.  The immediate area around the geyser is quite nice with a large viewing area circling the geyser at  a long distance.  We showed up not knowing when the last eruption was, so we just chilled out on a downed tree.  We had no idea that we just missed the geyser show, so we sat for a about an hour people watching.  Once again, the international crew visiting the park make for quality entertainment. 

            After a long, but relaxing wait, Old Faithful boiled up and put on a show.  It blasted water and steam to the sky for a few minutes.  The wind blew the top of the water column away downwind.  It was awesome!  We found it funny that even before the geyser was done, people started turning around to get back to their cars.  Typical.  You make a pilgrimage all the way to Yellowstone and see one of the biggest sights, and leave early?  OK.  We sat still and took in the whole thing.  It was worth it.

            That first night in the park, I set everything up for a classic Dutch oven meal.  I wanted to try a meal that my pal Jeremy recommended, a yummy Mexican casserole dish.  Yummy it was. 

            The next day we hit a few more sights, saw our first bison, and then saw herds of bison!  Those things are HUGE!!! That morning we left the Madison Campground and got a place nice and early at Norris Campground.  Katherine had to work her magic with a European family to agree to give us their site before they left.  All we did was leave our chairs and put our payment stub on the post.  Then we were free to explore, instead of driving around the campsite over and over waiting for someone to depart.

We drove to the south and checked out Yellowstone Lake.  The drive took us through an ever changing landscape.  We went in and out of the caldera and were on the constant lookout for wildlife.  The speed limit in the park is set at a slow 45 Mph, which is nice so you can avoid driving into the animals.  You sure can’t get anywhere quick. 

One our second full day in the park, we drove around the north loop from Norris Campground.  Once again, the terrain was ever changing and wildlife was everywhere.  We saw pronghorn, elk, osprey with chicks, other birds we could not identify, mule deer, a marmot and hundreds of bison.  Katherine even spotted a grizzly bear!  Once she did, the passing cars saw us spying on the beast, and soon there was a wildlife viewing traffic jam.  Luckily, the beast was far away and minded his own business jumping and smashing the ground looking for dinner.  I guess he was eating grubs, mice, roots, or something under the earth.  It was entertaining, but so far away, I didn’t get any pictures.  Sorry.

The last day in the park, we headed out the NE entrance.  This took us through the Lamar Valley which is known for pronghorn and………  wolves.  But, we were not getting an early start, and we thought there would be no way we would see these beauties.  We were soon proven wrong.  The road has numerous pullouts overlooking the river.  We would stop, scan with the binoculars, and move on.  We kept doing this, scanning the tree line and looking closely.  Then, we saw a bunch of people at one pull out with spotting scopes on tripods and radios.  What the?  Yes, it was a wolf spotting class watching a black yearling taunting a bison.  Oh wow!  We pulled the H3 to the side, jumped out quietly, sat down, and spied the incident through the binoculars.  The wolf was much larger that I thought and it was quite a ways away.  He quickly figured out the bison was too big a match for him and wondered to our right into the forest.  Then....  another wolf!  This time it was the grey alpha female.  (We only knew this by talking to the class members after the viewing.)  She trotted along the river behind the black male, but stopping a few times to check out the fly fishermen in the river.  This kind of freaked me out.  The fishermen just looked at her and continued to fish.  The wolf was only 30 yards or so away from them.  I would have been a “little” scared.  I mean, this wolf was like a giant dog from a horror film.  It could easily rip the head off any human, but it just checked out the situation and moved on to follow the path of the black one.  (Once again, sorry no pictures of my own, too far away with my camera’s optics.)  Now, they were both in the forest conducting some sort of business about the bison, and we then heard them howling!  Holy geeze weeze!  Howling?  Not only did we just see two wolves, but now we can hear them.  How cool.  We sat around for another 20 minutes, but they never reappeared, so we moved on down the road.  Katherine was in awe about how we just happened to see one of the coolest animals in Yellowstone.  

           

            Yellowstone was much more than I thought.  I always knew that someday I would make it there, but after going, I am wondering why it took me so long.  I want to get back soon, and this time come prepared to do some serious wildlife viewing.  If you do some research on the animals, you can get an idea of where and when they will be somewhere and your chances will be really good to see them.  The wolf viewing is super popular I found out after the trip.  People track them with their radio collars and know all the info about the packs.  Sometimes they wonder out of the park and get shot by ranchers.  This is a common problem and is something we will face in the future even more as the population of wolves increase and step into private lands.  

            One more thing.  The last night in the park, we found out the Steamboat Geyser erupted while we were only 5 minutes away.  It was quiet for 8 years previous, and decided to “go off” while we were there.  I thought I heard something like a long roll of thunder, but there were clouds in the sky, so I didn’t think much of it.  Then, when we got to real WiFi land, and checked the news, we saw all about it.  Katherine did a little Youtube search and saw videos that had been posted.  WOW!  We missed out, but to view it would have been total luck.  This is a very strange land.

Glacier National Park

24 Jul 2013               Glacier National Park, Montana

            Our time in Spokane was over in a flash.  This far into a trip we tend to get tired and need some chill time.  Spokane was the place.  That basement was a great cave to find refuge. 

            On our way out of town we passed through Coeur d’Alene , Idaho, only 40 minutes to the east.  I was in touch with a good friend from work, Jaime.  We met at a local breakfast joint called the “Garnet,” and chatted for quite a while.  It was great to meet up! 

Katherine and Jaime

            From there, we had a long hike to Glacier.  Our plan was to get just short of the park and camp.  Then, the next day, push into the park and shoot for one of the coveted National Park Campsites.  We had heard that you can not just show up in the evening in the middle of busy season and expect to acquire one of these beauties.  So, we stopped west of the park at Hungry Horse Reservoir State Park.  This ended up being a great idea.  It put us close to the park, and we actually got a campsite!  We set up the hammocks and befriended the camp host as he came by to collect money.  I asked about bear activity and talked for a bit.  He said there is a grizzly bear the comes into camp from time to time, but it’s nothing to worry about as long as you keep a clean camp.  We had a quick meal and went to sleep.  We had to get up early to crank into the park and score a campsite.

Hungry Horse Reservoir

            That night, the deer struck Katherine again.  She woke up again to the sounds of the little monsters circling her hammock.  I had my earplugs in and didn’t hear a thing.  I just woke up and asked her the polite, “How did you sleep?”  She replied, “They got me again.  I barely slept.”  OK.  So it’s not bears to worry about so far on this trip, but the inquisitive deer population, and Katherine is a wonder for them.  I saw tracks all around the camp and surveyed the area.  Yup, there are game trails and track in every direction.  At least it wasn’t a killer grizzly, just a deer most likely wondering what those hanging beds were in their trees.  As I look back, if they are not used to weirdoes sleeping in something above the ground, of course they want to come up and see what it is.  We even read online about other hammock campers being struck by walking and running deer.   Oh well.

            That morning, we packed up camp quickly and headed into the park.  It was a little farther than I thought.  It took another hour to get to the campsite, Avalanche Creek.  It is a beautiful place!  The problem was people were just waking up from their camps and not leaving just yet.  So what do you do?  We “trolled” a little bit looking for a site and then came across one in the back section of camp.  It was perfect and backed right up to the forest.  We couldn’t ask for anything more. 

Camp at Avalanche Lake

            After we set up camp, we readied our gear for a trail run up to Avalanche Lake.  It started out fairly crowded, but then became less crowded that farther we went.  It followed the river on and off and then ended after 2.5 miles at a beautiful glacial lake.  We hung out for a little bit and ate some snacks and took in the views.  The run back was all downhill and quick.  We dodged people and at one point, I came upon a hiker unannounced.  This is a BAD idea in bear country.  The guy was with a woman and quickly readied his hand on his bear pepper spray.  I almost got peppered!  Not good.  It would have sent me to the ground crying for my momma.  I told him I was sorry for spooking him, commended him on his fast reaction, and made a note to never run up behind someone like that again.  From then on, I speak “Human Coming UP!”  If I get a chance to talk to those people I tell them this little story about spooking this guy in Glacier. 

Avalanche Lake

            Katherine was doing a great job on the way down.  It was shadowed trail, steep, and full of people.  I got ahead of her for a bit and realized that she was not behind me.  I stopped and looked up the trail.  Nothing.  OK, I get this sometimes.  Just wait a bit and she will be there.  Nope.  I walked back up a little bit and saw that she was on the ground.  She called out that she had twisted her ankle on a jump and landing.  Great….. She heard a “pop” and crunch as she landed too.  Here we went into “limp mode” as I call it.  We were almost back to the trailhead, which was our campsite.  There, we iced the lump and have concluded it is a sprain.  She gets kind of angry when stuff like this happens, not from the pain, but realizing that the next few days or weeks she has to lay off.  She was especially perturbed considering she had just recovered from another injury.

Moments before K sprained her ankle...  :(

            With Katherine injured, I went solo on a run the next day.  My route was from “The Loop” to Logan Pass.  Katherine had to drive the H3 and drop me off for this point to point run.  Operating the truck was not easy for her with the clutch and winding roads and a sprained foot.  The ham radio came in nicely for this jaunt.  She had the radio in the truck and I took a handheld on this 12 mile run.  We talked every half hour relaying info about my location and status.  No phones work in the park, well at least ours did not (Sprint/Virgin Mobile).  Every time, we were able to communicate on 146.520 MHz with mountains in the way! 

            I have to say, the beginning of the trail was no “run.”  It climbed over 2,000 feet in 2 miles.  I tried my best, but had to speed hike some sections.   I soon realized that I was in the middle of the forest and all alone, and in my haste forgot my bear spray.  My body quickly hurt and I contemplated returning to the beginning of the trail.  Once I commit to the rest of the trail, this could really hurt.  The elevation was already gained and the rest should not be that bad, right?  It was flatter and parts were downhill.  The only problem was I was at mile 4 of 12, and had 8 more to go.  I talked to some hikers and they told me about what lay ahead, that it should be easy going.  Boy, was I lucky.  The rest of the trail was some of the most beautiful trail running I have ever seen. 

            All my food was eaten and I was struggling at points, but the scenery kept me going.  I could recover at a later time.  Anyway, the next day, we would be on the road.  I could let my legs rest in the car.

            I met up with Katherine at Logan pass and was greeted by many mountain goats and bighorn sheep.  These guys were everywhere!  I think they get off on having their pictures taken and were practically posing for the tourists.  What a sight.  I grabbed some much needed food from the cooler and inspected the pass with Katherine.  We headed back to camp for dinner, but when we arrived, I crashed in the tent for a 30 minute nap.   I was in bad shape.  But after getting more fluids in me, I felt better. 

            The night was peaceful in our secluded camp.  We woke up and were quickly asked if we were leaving by another camper looking for a site.  Katherine understood her frustration in the dire need to obtain a location.  We put her paystub on the post and set her chairs in the site.  She then told us some inside info on camping in Yellowstone.  To get a “first come, first Served” site in the Summer is a chore.  You have to time it perfectly we learned. 

            On the way out of Glacier, we rounded the east side of Flathead Lake and made it to Bozeman, MT.  We opted for a hotel this night.  There was laundry to do, and Katherine needed a bed to rest her foot.  Later, we were glad we did this, even though I think of it as “wussing out” to get a hotel room.