Yellowstone and Grand Tetons Redux

Getting there

Redux is a good word to describe this trip. I went to the same place I had been three years ago, took the same route, stayed at the same lodge and visited the same places. The only different thing was that instead of taking Pedro with me, this time it was my girlfriend Katrina. That was the plan, at least, but plans seldom work out the way we expect.

I woke up very early Friday morning, and by 6 am was on my way to pick Katrina up. We loaded everything into the car and made our way to the airport. Last time I did this trip I took a club plane and the club forgot to leave the keys out so we ended up not being able to depart until after 8 am. This time we were taking Bianca, so I knew she was there waiting for us, and the key was in my pocket. One of the nice things about owning a plane, I guess.

So we loaded the plane, made the preflight check and by 7:30 took off and were on our way. Last time I stopped at Winnemuca for fuel, this time we decided to stop at Elko. After an uneventful landing the good folds at the airport took care of refueling the plane while we went to do a weather check and look for a sign with the airport name for the obligatory picture. Mission accomplished, we boarded the plane and took off on our second leg to West Yellowstone, knowing we were in for some turbulence and scattered  thunderstorms in our route.

I don't think scattered means the same thing to the weather people as it does to me, as we found ourselves having to first descend from 11500 ft to 9500 ft once we reached Idaho, and do some zig-zagging to avoid those thunderstorms. Still, things were progressing fine until, about 30 minutes away from our destination, we hit a cloud wall we could not go through or under. It was time for plan B, so we did a u-turn and made our way to Idaho Falls, our alternate airport. Apparently a huge thunderstorm decided it wanted to go to the airport too, but we beat it there by 15 minutes.

On the ground we debated waiting the storms out and then flying on to our original destination, but decided it made more sense to just drive the rest of the way, so we rented a car, struggled to load the destination into the GPS and a little over three hours later, with a stop at a McDonalds for a very late lunch we arrived at Grant Village. Unpacked, went down to the Lakehouse Restaurant for dinner, and, exhausted, went back to our room for a good night's sleep.

Exploring the North Part

Next morning we woke up with the intent of exploring the north part of the park. The goal was to start by visiting the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, go on to Mammoth Terrace and end the day at Morris Geyser Basin.  I missed a turn and before I realized it we were at the Norris Geyser Basin parking lot. I am nothing if not flexible, so inverted route it was. 

Unfortunately it was cloudy and raining which made the visit to the basin a little uncomfortable. But that didn't stop us from exploring the place. It was nice walking among those steaming, bubbling and spouting thermal pools, some of which were very impressive. The lack of sunlight hurt, though, as nothing like bright sunlight to bring out the vivid browns, yellows, greens and blues of the pools. 

Back in the car we drove to the Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace, the most alien-looking place in the whole park: a whole section of dead trees, white and gray, with these rivulets of hot water running through, covered in bacteria mats of a very rich brown. It's one of those places that you have to see yourself, pictures can't really capture the place. Well, my pictures can't capture it.

It was mid-day, and though we had had a good breakfast and were not planning on having another meal until dinner time, we still thought a small break would be a good thing, so we left the Springs and headed off to the eponymous town, a few minutes away. Happily, the town had changed from what I remembered and still had in its gift store an ice cream parlor. One root beer float later, we were ready to start heading back south.

We had two stops on the way back, both at waterfalls. The first stop was a the Tower Falls, amazing in and of itself, but I confess that what I found the most memorable was a tourist's choice of clothing: Hawaiian shirt, silk shorts, black socks and flip-flops. The second stop was at the Upper and Lower Falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. As spectacular as I remembered, and definitely a place I want to visit again.

We finished the day back at the lodge, exhausted and hungry. After going over the day at the bar while enjoying a couple of drinks, we had a dinner that included bison sausages, prime rib and a huckleberry creme brulee. Sated and tired, it was back to our room for a well-earned sleep.

Fitbit steps: 13,473

Geyser Day

The second day was dedicated to visiting the nearby geyser basins. We started at the Painted Pot, not the most impressive basin, but a place where we could see bubbling mud and experience hordes of Chinese tourists with umbrellas to protect them from the sun.

The next stop was at the Midway Basin, to visit my favorite place in the park, the Great Prismatic Spring. When the sun is shining the huge bacteria mat surrounding this spring creates a combination of browns, reds and yellows that are awe-inspiring. It is also home to the Excelsior Geyser, impressive in its size.

From there we kept going south and visited two smaller basins, Black Sand and Biscuit. The Emerald and Sapphire pools made both places worth the visit, despite the threatening signs warning us that that was bear territory.

Finally we made our way to the Disneyland section of the park (as Katrina described it), the Upper Geyser Basin. Our first stop was at the cafe inside one of the gift stores, for a lunch of hot dogs and huckleberry milkshakes. Only one thing to say about it: don't ever order huckleberry milkshakes. Ever.

We started the visit to the basin with the obligatory stop at Old Faithful, followed by the long (two hour or so walk) along the trails to visit the many other geysers and pools at the site. We did take a half hour break during the walk, to wait for the Riverside Geyser's eruption.  There was a sign saying that it would erupt between 1:30 pm and 2:15 pm. Of course it erupted closer to 2:15, but the spectacle was worth it.

After some souvenir shopping we went back to our lodge for dinner and to pack, since we were leaving the next day. Dinner this time was elk sliders and wild game meatloaf. There might have been a beer there somewhere, but I'm not sure.

Fitbit steps: 20,295.

Grand Tetons

We packed up, loaded the car and headed south the next morning, with a plan to visit the Grand Tetons National Park and end the day at Idaho Falls, where our plane was. I had been through the park before, but had never really stop to explore it, so our first stop was a the Colter Bay visitor center to decide what we wanted to see in the time we had. There were many options and our time was limited, so we decided to go visit Jenny Lake and its waterfalls. First, though, we decided to explore a little the area around the visitor center, as it was too pretty to pass.

We set out walking down a trail along the edge of the lake until we found a nice quiet spot with a view and, even better, a bench! So we sat quietly for a while, just taking in the lake, and the forest, with the Tetons in the background. Jenny Lake was beckoning, though, so eventually we made our way back to the car and headed south once more.

All I knew about Jenny Lake is that involved a boat ride and a walk up to a waterfall. So we got on a boat on a lake that had thawed just a few weeks before and rode it for about ten minutes until we got to the other side of the lake, there to be greeted by the sight of a stretcher and medics tending to it. Apparently some kid had managed to fall into the river, a first according to our boat captain. A first it might be, but it made me be much more careful and watch where we were going. A ten minute walk along a dirt part, climbing gently took us to the first waterfall. Not too big, but powerful, and a very nice view to be enjoyed from a bridge spanning the river.

There was a second waterfall to visit, our captain had warned us, conveniently called the Hidden Falls. That involved a longer trek and some climbing, but the 20 minute walk there was uneventful. The view, however, was anything but: a beautiful, tall waterfall with water roaring over the top. The best place to view the waterfall was in the shade, which made it a little hard to take a selfie showing both the person and the fall.

Katrina decided not to do the last part of the hike, a climb to the top of the rim to enjoy a view of the lake. Back down she went, while I kept walking up, up, and up, along rocky ledges that had me nervous until I reached Inspiration Point, a nice cozy area the promised lake view. A little bit of a rest to enjoy the view, along with several other people, and then I was ready for the next part.

The choices were simple: either go back down  to the boat and Katrina, or keep following the trail up and along the rim. I opted for the latter and walked for another 20 minutes until I found a sign indicating that the next attraction was still 3.5 miles away. That's when I decided it was time to head back. Down was definitely easier than up and some time later I was on the boat heading back towards the car and Katrina.

By the time we made it back to the car it was getting late. No more time for the Grand Tetons, we had a two hour drive to Idaho Falls ahead of us, where we were going to spend the night before heading out on the next leg of our trip.

Fitbit steps: 17,326.

Idaho Falls

Getting to Idaho Falls from Jackson involved a drive along US-26 over the Tetons. Once down on the other side we started seeing lots of farms with plants I didn't recognize. We figured it out when we got to our hotel, though. Asked the receptionist who informed us of what should have been obvious: the plants were potatoes.

When we arrived at Idaho Falls we started looking for a place to stay. In the end we decided on the Shiloh Inn based on three facts: it was by the river; I had stayed at the Shiloh Inn in Bend, OR and liked it; and they had vacancies.

By the time we got there we were tired, so no sight-seeing was planned. We unpacked, enjoying the swimming pool and spa, had a nice dinner in a terrace with a view of the Snake River. After the sun set I decided to go for a stroll along the river before retiring and ran into the falls that give the town its name. Apparently they used to be rapids, but with the erection a dam for the hydroelectric power plant, cutting diagonally across the river turned the rapids into actual falls and made the town worthy of its name.

I enjoyed the walk, the view of the river, and meeting a couple from Arizona who were there for the fishing. It was getting late, though, and it was time to go back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Southwest South Dakota

Flying to Casper and Rapid City

Our next destination on this vacation was Rapid City, South Dakota, a 3.5 hour trip as Bianca flies. Since my personal limit on the plane is 3 hours, we decided to stop at Casper, WY, to refuel and wait for the winds at our final destination to be manageable; the day had started with a prediction of winds at KRAP at 15 knots gusting to 30, but forecast to become 8 knots in the afternoon.

We took off from Idaho Falls Regional Airport and, after climbing to 11,500, leveled off and settled down to enjoy the ride.Our first waypoint was Jackson and Katrina was thrilled to be able to take pictures of both sides of the Tetons and get another look at Jenny Lake from the air. Once past Jackson, though, we ran into turbulence which stayed with us for the next hour and a half until we landed in Casper.

Stopping at Casper turned out to be a great idea. Not only did the weather check show that the winds had not died down, but the World Cup game between the U.S. and Belgium was about to start. We had to wait, the FBO had a high-definition TV, so we knew what we were doing for the next two hours.

Two hours later the U.S. was out of the World Cup, the winds had not died down sufficiently and we were hungry, so we borrowed the world's biggest pick-up truck and went into town looking for food. Not many choices, so we ended up having sandwiches at a laundromat/Subway/yogurt shop.

One more weather check showed that the winds were finally below 15 knots, so we got on the plane and a little bit over an hour later were landing in Rapid City. The flight was uneventful, other than the ubiquitous turbulence and five minutes during which the GPS was not able to get a signal. But we made it there, parked the plane, Miranda helped us get a car and a hotel room and off we went to explore the area.

After dumping our bags in the hotel room  we were off to downtown Rapid City, looking for the Firehouse Restaurant, which both Miranda and the receptionist at the hotel told us was the place to go for good beer.  We found the restaurant easily, had what was indeed good beer and wandered around the neighborhood, looking at the statues of presidents they had at every street corner. I was able to recognize enough of them to feel gratified.

 Day 1: Custer State Park,  Black Hills, Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore

Next day was a long one. It started with a drive to Custer State Park, where we had the opportunity to see lots and lots of bison, way more than we saw at Yellowstone. One of the herds we found must have had over 100 bison in it! We also saw people that did not understand the meaning of wildlife and thought it was a good idea to get really close to the animals, turn their backs to them and take selfies. Luckily no one was harmed.

We also saw groundhogs and wild donkeys, and more people who don't understand the meaning of wild. As usual in these parks, cars stop in the middle of the road when they spot something and I'm ok with that. What I wasn't ok with was the guy that couldn't be bothered to get out of the car but thought it was a good idea to use food to entice the donkeys to come closer. And come closer they did, as the picture below shows, but again luckily no one got hurt.

Leaving the park we were off to the Black Hills, driving up through narrow tunnels and windy roads that offered spectacular views of the rock formations, many of them decidedly phallic. We ended up at Sylvan Lake, where we got to join the crowds swimming, sunbathing and strolling around it. Without bathing suits we opted for the hike version and spent one very pleasant hour walking along its margins.I will say this about the Black Hills: half a day is not enough, I will have to come back to visit it again and hike along its trails.

Some more driving, including a stop in Custer for ice cream and we were at Crazy Horse, where they are chipping away at a mountain until it becomes a statue of Crazy Horse atop a horse and pointing to his lands. It's work of epic proportions with  Crazy Horse's head itself being bigger than the four heads at Mt. Rushmore put together. And the head is what we have so far, along with a vague idea of where his pointing arm will be. Given work started over 50 years ago, my guess is that it will not be done in my lifetime.

We finally made our way to Mt. Rushmore where I was disappointed to find out that they did not accept our annual national park and monument pass. We forked the cash, of course, parked the car, walked through an avenue with flags of all the U.S. states and went to take a look at the four presidents. They were indeed impressive. It amazes me that there are people who look at a mountain and think, "I will make a statue out of this piece of rock." 

We grabbed some dinner, including bison chili, and headed back to the amphitheater for the lighting ceremony. It was a touching patriotic ceremony, with a small movie about the monument, singing the national anthem and a homage to the veterans and members of the armed forces present, who were all invited to go up on stage and lower the American flag.

After that it was back to the hotel for some shuteye.

Day 2: Badlands National Park and Deadwood

Next morning we were off to the Badlands, an hour's drive away to the East. Nice straight road, but billboards for Wall Drug all over the place, promising us 5 cent coffee. That was not enticing enough for us to stop (actually the idea of what 5 cent coffee would taste like scares me) and we drove right past Wall until we found ourselves at the entrance to the park.

It's easy to see why it's called Badlands. It's huge, hot and large areas of it look inhospitable. Oh, and there are signs everywhere warning us about rattlesnakes. The place was beautiful, though, with the hills having bands of multiple colors, from browns to reds and yellows, apparently telling us the story of when this place was a sea and flood lands before becoming today's prairie. Fossils can be found everywhere and tourists are encouraged to hunt for them. This is another place I want to come back and visit again, in a more leisurely manner. But I will do it in autumn.

Our second and last stop for the day was Deadwood, an hour and a half drive to the West. A pleasant drive, and on the way there we started seeing more and more people riding Harley-Davidsons, an oddity until we realized we were going towards Sturgis, the site of what is touted as the world's biggest motorcycle rally. It was not rally season, but apparently the aura of the place is enough to attract bikers there all year long.

As for Deadwood, all I can say is this: we got to see the graves of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.

Going Back Home

We left early for our trip back home, hoping to avoid turbulence. Our goal was to make it to Ogden, Utah, with a stop at Casper to refuel. We took off around 8 am and made it Casper in mostly smooth air. But all good things must pass, and the two hours between Casper and Ogden were some of the worst turbulence we encountered during the whole trip. But Bianca behaved admirably, no parts fell off despite all the shaking and we landed safely in Ogden. where the nice people at the FBO gave us the royal treatment. Not only did they get us a car and hotel reservations, they also brought out a red carpet for Katrina to alight from the plane. She felt honored. It was hot.

By then we were touristed out and wanted to just spend some quality time in the hotel's swimming pool, get a good night's sleep and leave the next day. Unfortunately it turned out that the hotel was being remodeled and the pool was closed. We had to change to plan B and wandered around the downtown area, looking for a place to eat. It was the fourth of July and most places were closed, but we did find an open sports bar close to the hotel where I had a stuffed burger, definitely one of the great culinary inventions. We ended the day going to the movies, mostly to avoid the heat. Did I mention it was hot?

Not much to say about Ogden, other than the fact that it was hot and at most street corners in the downtown area had either a piano or statues of horses. 

Next day we woke early again and headed off for the airport, prepared the plane and took off, flying over the Great Salt Lake on the first of our last three legs of this vacation. We stopped at Battle Mountain to refuel and again in Auburn for lunch. By early afternoon we were back home, exhausted but happy we had done this trip.