(no subject)
Just got back from a lovely long weekend in Yellowstone National Park with a swoop through Grand Teton National Park on the way home (well, rather out of the way, but still…). Our school district had an extra long weekend (two teacher in-service days made it a 4-day weekend), so we decided to take advantage of it and take Katrin to Yellowstone. Joe couldn’t get time off work and David decided that since he’d been to Yellowstone twice in just over a year and one of his best buddies had a birthday party scheduled, he’d skip the trip, so it was just the girls and me. We got a late start since Catie had marching band practice, so we didn’t hit the road until almost noon. Drove like a bat out of hell (“Look out the window - that’s Malad Gorge” and “The Snake River Canyon is pretty cool here, we’ll stop and see it some day”), and made it to the Mammoth Hot Springs part of Yellowstone by shortly after 9:00. We stayed in a cabin in the park the first night, and awoke to the sound of elk bugling. Really cool! A rather large herd of elk were hanging around the Mammoth Hot Springs hotel/dining room area and we got to watch the bull elk do battle with a pine tree that was clearly really irritating him. We wandered around the hot springs terraces oohing and aaahing over the active areas (which are lovely shades of orange in really cool shapes), and then went on a 5-mile hike in the nearby hills to some beaver ponds. It’s very beautiful in Yellowstone this time of year with meadows a lovely amber and orange and the dark green pine trees splashed with vivid yellow aspen and cottonwoods. A badger ran across the trail in front of us at one point then hid behind a mound of earth, popping his head up to see if we’d gone yet and ducking back down when he spied us. Up, down, up, down. We found it quite amusing. After the hike, we headed down the road to West Yellowstone, since I’d decided one night in a “rustic cabin” at $115 was okay, but the other two nights needed to be somewhere a wee bit more reasonable. We checked out the sites and stopped and explored all of the interesting places between Mammoth and West Yellowstone and checked into our motel about an hour after dark.
On day two, we headed for Old Faithful, detouring again for all of the spots that looked interesting. If there’s a one-way side road off the main drive, I highly suggest always taking it as they inevitably lead to some of the more beautiful sights. Firehole Canyon, for instance, with its sheer cliffs down to the rushing Firehole River and the lovely Firehole Falls. Old Faithful was very cooperative, erupting mere minutes after our arrival. We walked the boardwalk back to Morning Glory Pool, which is stunning. Unfortunately, it’s not as stunning as older pictures show since idiots have thrown trash and debris into the pool, restricting some of its flow and causing the temperature to lower enough for the startling blue center of the pool to be smaller and ringed by deep green. Still a marvelous sight, but a sad commentary on human stupidity. We continued around the grand tour, with a stop at the West Thumb area of Lake Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge, and the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It’s a small world - two other exchange students (one from Catie and Katrin’s school and one from the program I volunteer with) were at the Canyon Village store.
On our last day in the area, we got up early and headed back through Yellowstone to the Tetons. On our way through Yellowstone, we saw four bald eagles (there was a carcass in a river and the birds were perched in the surrounding trees waiting for all of the camera-wielding tourists to leave so they could enjoy their breakfast in peace). We stopped and took pictures of a small herd of elk crossing the Gardiner River. When we originally drove over a bridge and noticed an elk in the river, we didn’t realize she was accompanied by about five of her buddies. We pulled off into a parking area to take a picture of the original elk and realized several others were grazing in the area. One by one, they entered the river and headed across until finally there was one young elk left munching grass. She appeared to suddenly realize she had been left behind and looked a wee bit startled. After flipping her ears back and forth and inching closer to the water, she finally plunged in and headed across. It was really fascinating to watch.
We saw no bears on this trip, but Yellowstone yielded one badger, three coyotes, four bald eagles, a crane, chipmunks, squirrels, many elk and lots of bison for our viewing (and photographing) pleasure. We really, really wanted to see moose so when we were down in Teton National Park, we asked if they could suggest a likely location for moose viewing. With hand-drawn map in hand, we headed for the Oxbow Bend area of the park. No moose at first glance (although a coyote dashed across the gravel road we were traveling on and promptly blended in with the vegetation in the field). We hiked around some trails in the area and saw lots of hoof prints and moose poop, but no moose. After driving the rest of the gravel road, we headed back to the main road. Imagine our surprise to see what is commonly referred to as an “animal jam” (lots of cars pulled over by the road so their inhabitants can view an animal) right in the area we had previously hiked around. The moose had emerged from wherever they had been lurking during our hike and were knee deep in the water eating. Oh, for a serious telephoto lens! My 200mm didn’t bring them nearly close enough - but it’ll have to do.
We jammed through the rest of Teton National Park and since the top two-thirds of the Tetons were unfortunately covered by clouds, didn’t even stop for pictures. After lunch and a stop to gas up in Jackson, we headed for home. A short, but wonderful little break from the normal world.
We’ll be heading out of town again next weekend as well. Catie has a marching band competition in Grant’s Pass, Oregon, and we are serving as equipment truck drivers (Joe and his dad, who has never seen Catie march before) and chaperones (me). The band director said Katrin could ride along as well. David will be spending the weekend with his buddy again, which does not break his heart! We’re looking forward to another fun competition - and one of the last of Catie’s high school marching career. Bittersweet!
On day two, we headed for Old Faithful, detouring again for all of the spots that looked interesting. If there’s a one-way side road off the main drive, I highly suggest always taking it as they inevitably lead to some of the more beautiful sights. Firehole Canyon, for instance, with its sheer cliffs down to the rushing Firehole River and the lovely Firehole Falls. Old Faithful was very cooperative, erupting mere minutes after our arrival. We walked the boardwalk back to Morning Glory Pool, which is stunning. Unfortunately, it’s not as stunning as older pictures show since idiots have thrown trash and debris into the pool, restricting some of its flow and causing the temperature to lower enough for the startling blue center of the pool to be smaller and ringed by deep green. Still a marvelous sight, but a sad commentary on human stupidity. We continued around the grand tour, with a stop at the West Thumb area of Lake Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge, and the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It’s a small world - two other exchange students (one from Catie and Katrin’s school and one from the program I volunteer with) were at the Canyon Village store.
On our last day in the area, we got up early and headed back through Yellowstone to the Tetons. On our way through Yellowstone, we saw four bald eagles (there was a carcass in a river and the birds were perched in the surrounding trees waiting for all of the camera-wielding tourists to leave so they could enjoy their breakfast in peace). We stopped and took pictures of a small herd of elk crossing the Gardiner River. When we originally drove over a bridge and noticed an elk in the river, we didn’t realize she was accompanied by about five of her buddies. We pulled off into a parking area to take a picture of the original elk and realized several others were grazing in the area. One by one, they entered the river and headed across until finally there was one young elk left munching grass. She appeared to suddenly realize she had been left behind and looked a wee bit startled. After flipping her ears back and forth and inching closer to the water, she finally plunged in and headed across. It was really fascinating to watch.
We saw no bears on this trip, but Yellowstone yielded one badger, three coyotes, four bald eagles, a crane, chipmunks, squirrels, many elk and lots of bison for our viewing (and photographing) pleasure. We really, really wanted to see moose so when we were down in Teton National Park, we asked if they could suggest a likely location for moose viewing. With hand-drawn map in hand, we headed for the Oxbow Bend area of the park. No moose at first glance (although a coyote dashed across the gravel road we were traveling on and promptly blended in with the vegetation in the field). We hiked around some trails in the area and saw lots of hoof prints and moose poop, but no moose. After driving the rest of the gravel road, we headed back to the main road. Imagine our surprise to see what is commonly referred to as an “animal jam” (lots of cars pulled over by the road so their inhabitants can view an animal) right in the area we had previously hiked around. The moose had emerged from wherever they had been lurking during our hike and were knee deep in the water eating. Oh, for a serious telephoto lens! My 200mm didn’t bring them nearly close enough - but it’ll have to do.
We jammed through the rest of Teton National Park and since the top two-thirds of the Tetons were unfortunately covered by clouds, didn’t even stop for pictures. After lunch and a stop to gas up in Jackson, we headed for home. A short, but wonderful little break from the normal world.
We’ll be heading out of town again next weekend as well. Catie has a marching band competition in Grant’s Pass, Oregon, and we are serving as equipment truck drivers (Joe and his dad, who has never seen Catie march before) and chaperones (me). The band director said Katrin could ride along as well. David will be spending the weekend with his buddy again, which does not break his heart! We’re looking forward to another fun competition - and one of the last of Catie’s high school marching career. Bittersweet!