Kayaking and beer - day 31

We spent a second night Sunday in Lake Wissota. Juliet’s goal for this part of the trip was to relax and enjoy camping rather than rushing from one stunning national park attraction to another. Indeed it’s a nice plan, but it doesn’t mean the days are exactly empty.

After salmon and eggs, we drove to Chippewa Falls. There we had a local tubing/canoe rental/bar shuttle us up the Chippewa River a few miles with our kayaks. The driver described the river as “low, flat, and slow” and he was right. No whitewater to speak of, except for the whitecaps made by the strong wind blowing upstream. It was a slog to paddle to the end, but it was a sunny day and the water was clear and warm. We saw lots of turtles sunning on the rocks.

Then we went on a brewery tour at Leinenkugel beer, a relatively small craft brewery. It’s a good deal - free tour and free samples. I enjoyed the tour (big machines) and Juliet enjoyed their dark beer. Dinner was grilled lamb and spring onions back at the campsite.

And now, second in an occasional series, a note to our campsite neighbors:

Dear campers,
Do you do anything other than sit at your campsite all day, drinking beer, playing the local crappy 70s rock channel (I’m sick of Steve Miller Band, thanks), and tending to a smoky, stinking fire? Don’t make me cheer for another brief surprise downpour (like the one last night) to drown you out like those kids back at the Minneapolis KOA. After all, you’re in a tent and we’re not.

Sincerely,
Tom

Going to Hell (and Lake Wissota) - day 30

We got up early from the KOA. I really hadn’t slept because a strong thunderstorm set in around midnight, pelting the trailer with rain. At least it broke the humidity and drowned out (not literally) the loud kids a few campsites down from us.

We’ve been carrying a food guidebook with us, written by Jane and Michael Stern. They write a column called Roadfood for Gourmet magazine and run a website devoted to unique, non-chain places to eat all across the country. A particular Minneapolis restaurant, Hell’s Kitchen, had been mentioned repeatedly, so we drove into the city (minus the trailer) to have breakfast there. (The restaurant has nothing to do with Gordon Ramsey, happy to say.)

It was great. We started with a lovely pecan and cinnamon roll, drenched in caramel sauce, and “sausage” bread, which combined bison sausage into the bread dough. (The bread was a bit weird.) Jules had lemon ricotta pancakes, which had a super-light texture and were delicious enough to eat without syrup. Well worth the trip.

From there it was a short drive into Wisconsin and to Eau Claire. We stopped at a farmers market there and loaded up on fresh mint, tiny zucchini, frozen ground lamb, strawberries, and spring onions. We also got some flowers, which decorated the van and trailer for a while.

Onward to Lake Wissota State Park in Wisconsin, our campground for two nights. Having changed our reservation late (we shifted our trip plans), we got a site without much shade and without electricity.

Neither proved to be much of a problem, although the tree-lined, big sites bordering the lake made me somewhat jealous. (Not enough to move there for the second night when they emptied Sunday afternoon)

We went swimming in the lake, which turned Juliet green (no pictures - it washed off) from lake slime. I enjoyed it more than she did, I think.

Into Minnesota (day 29)

Wanting to break up a planned long driving day, we cut our stay short in Fort Ransom. Friday we set off for Minnesota. But North Dakota wasn’t done with us yet. The GPS directions, as well as the directions from the campground, took us down 17 miles of dirt road to a paved road. Now, it was a decent dirt road, but there were ruts from recent floods, and I kicked up a giant dust cloud behind me. (That was nothing like the cloud behind the FedEx Sprinter van that I left pass me - he was going around 50 down the road, but then again, it isn’t his van.) The first chance we got to regain pavement, we took it.

After that we had a pretty short drive to our campground, a KOA outside of Minneapolis. It’s nothing special, and certainly not scenic (or cheap) like the campgrounds we prefer, but they have electric, useful for running the AC on this 87 degree day. It also has an effective laundry, a nice pool, and is close to places to shop and eat. (We visited our first Super Target, which we like more than Super Wal-Mart.)

Only one day here, then back to some state parks next to lakes for some relaxing.

Fort Ransom (day 28)

Between the nothingness/theme park hell of Medora, the long distances of driving around the park with very little services, and the crazy weather, I had had enough of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. So, we altered our planned schedule and set off early.

Thursday morning we took one last scenic drive through the park, this time going around the South Unit. Hate to say it, but after weeks of super scenery, this park somewhat paled in comparison, even though it had badlands and the buffalo.

We left the park, driving east on I-94 seemingly forever. Our campground for the night was Fort Ransom State Park, a very nice campground tucked in next to a river.

However, the park was 36 miles off the highway, and it took a lot of skirting around to avoid dirt roads when getting there. (This would catch up with us later.) The town of Fort Ransom, population 105 (or something like that) had one gas pump and a tiny store - and that was it.

Supposedly North Dakota has the least number of visitors of any state. I can understand this. Although there is a stark beauty to the miles of prairie, well, there is a lot of it to see and long distances to drive - and there isn’t much else to break up the monotony.

So, we grilled dinner, sat in the trailer, and reworked our plans.

The Big Storm (day 27)

Wednesday we got up early to go ride the Maah Dah Hey trail, our main goal in coming here. (I've gone on guided mountain bike trips from a company called Western Spirit, and admired the description for this trail in their catalog.) A bike shop in town recommended an out-and-back ride leaving from Magpie campground, so we drove to that trailhead. Things are far apart in North Dakota, and it took us 90 minutes from our campground to get to the ride, including 15 miles of dirt road.

It all feels somewhat desolate, yet they suggest if you have an emergency, just dial 911. (There is just enough cell service to do that.)

We rode for about eight miles. Even though we set off early, it got hot quick, climbing over 80 degrees. It was another fun ride through some neat and varied landscape.

After the ride was done, having driven all this way, we continued on to the north unit of the park. There is some fantastic scenery there, including rock formations that looked like cannonballs.

Even though we saw lightning off in the distance, we drove on, going further along the scenic road at the park. This was a mistake. We got caught in a horrible thunderstorm, complete with sideways-blowing rain, gusty winds that rocked the van, and hail. (At least we weren't riding the bikes.)

The road in the park flooded in places, and the van skittered in and out of the water-filled, truck-formed ruts on the highway. (I slowed down, especially as the stability control light kept flickering on the instrument panel, proof danger was being averted.)

The storm continued for 45 minutes. Since we left the windows open in the T@B, we were convinced the trailer was filled with water. Or worse, we feared the plastic windows would be ripped off of their hinges by the strong winds. We didn’t feel better when we stopped for gas by the highway and saw the almond-sized hail. (A tornado had touched down just a few miles south.) But when we got to the trailer, we discovered it hadn’t rained there at all. Maybe all the rainbows we saw were a positive sign after all.

We ate a meal out of the trailer’s pantry, and decided we’d set off the next day.

Into North Dakota (day 26)

(Sorry for the lapse in posting - weak cell service in our ND campground, and posting when riding in the car makes me feel sick.)

So, what can $6 buy you? Well, it gets you a night (we spent two) at Buffalo Gap Campground, a very nice campground tucked into a grove of cottonwood trees as part of the Little Missouri National Grasslands. You don’t get electrical hook-ups, but there were flush toilets, pay showers, and our site had lots of shade.

Shade is important because this part of North Dakota is a giant field, punctuated with colorful badlands rock formations. Unlike all of the rain and cold through most of our trip so far, here it was 75 degrees under a powerful sun, with a constant breeze across the plain.

This campground is near Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Medora is a spooky kind of town, not because its haunted, but rather because the whole town is populated as essentially a theme park. Almost everyone wears a name tag. You can go to the Medora cowboy steak dinner, with your steak cooked in a big vat of boiling oil (probably not like the cowboys did it.) You can go to the Medora Musical, a clean-scrubbed play celebrating the history of North Dakota, hard work, livestock, and patriotism. (A cowboy would likely go drinking instead.)

Forget about anything useful like a grocery store, laundry, or a gas pump that has anything better than regular fuel (Honda suggests premium when towing.) Instead, Medora has truly useful stores - like multiple fudge outlets. Good thing we (once again) had stocked up on food at Wal-Mart before leaving Miles City on Tuesday.

A big draw of this part of the trip was to ride the Maah Dah Hey trail. This 93 mile trail runs between the north and south parts of the National Park. You can ride your mountain bike on the trail between the park sections, but not in the park itself. (Stupid, given you can ride horses on the trails in the park - and bikes don’t leave piles of poop all over.)

Leaving from our campground, we rode the Buffalo Gap trail for six miles total, out and back. The singletrack is smooth, traveling over rolling grades, with some twisty bits - it’s a lot of fun. (It would have been more fun if we were in shape.) I didn’t see any prairie rattlesnakes, but I think I might have run over the tail of a green-colored snake, and I might have squashed a horny toad. Oops.

Montana Monotony (Day 25)

Ugh. Long day in the van today as we did nearly 500 miles crossing Montana. We had considered stopping earlier (going to Billings instead of Miles City) but figured it would be better to rack up more miles. (Neither town held that much interest to us, but both had decent hotels.) At least it was a mostly sunny day, once we left rain showers near Missoula.

All highway cruising, lots of it at 75-80* across the Montana prairie. Three fuel stops today too, partly due to distance, partly due to gluttonous fuel consumption at that speed, and partly because fuel stops are far apart.

Oddly, every fuel stop has a casino attached. Even the KFC here in Miles City has a casino. It's not that appealing.

Back to camping tomorrow.

Tom

* To any Montana law enforcement personnel reading this: speeds given in this blog are fictional and for entertainment purposes only.

Missoula again (Day 24)

After twenty-something days of camping, we decided to treat ourselves to a night in a hotel in Missoula. It would let us park downtown and walk to all of the shops and restaurants that we enjoyed earlier.

But I got a bit worried when we pulled into the hotel's parking lot and saw that two trucks had their tires slashed. With seven exposed tires, I didn't feel too good about that. Plus, a lot of places in town were closed on Sunday.

It all worked out though. We had a good lunch and an excellent dinner, again eating at Scotty's Table. Plus we survived the night with all tires intact.

One odd thing - we partly stayed in the hotel to get a better night's sleep. But the trailer's bed didn't have a rut in the middle (the king bed in the hotel did), and the campgrounds we've been staying at have been quieter at night. We've never been in a hotel that had so many dogs in the rooms, and some of those dogs seem to like to bark at 4:30 in the morning. Oddly enough, we missed staying in the trailer a bit....

Tom

Glaciers Make Waterfalls (Days 22 and 23)

We spent Friday and Saturday in Glacier National Park. Visiting this time of year emphasizes how much hinges on the status of one road in this park, the Going To The Sun Road. This windy, narrow, scary road connects the two halves (West Glacier and East Glacier) of the park.

Each year, it’s a major multi-million dollar ordeal to get the road reopened, and often rebuilt, for the summer season. (Missoula's free alternative weekly newsrag - you know, the ones mostly useful for listing where to eat in town - questioned spending all of this money on this treasure. Silly.)

It gets covered by feet of snow, and avalanches erase the road and cover it with fallen trees. As road crews work from either side to connect the reopened road, their progress is front page news in the local paper. Every park employee, from ranger to gift shop clerk, knows how far you can go on this vital road, because they‘re sure to be asked by visitors, especially those too dense to notice the road‘s status being posted at the entry gates.

Alas, the road wasn’t fully open when we were there. So, to see the east side of the park, we needed to take Route 2, the southern highway, around the peaks and to the other side. This takes about two hours, a long and scenic trip.

The east side of the park is much less populated and touristy than the west side (not like the west side is built up anything near the other parks we’ve visited.) So, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that the one food concession open in the east side of the park was closed for lunch when we got there, forcing us to drive eight miles back out of the park for lunch.

The effort was worth it though, as there are some great hikes on the far side. We hiked to St. Mary’s Falls, a short and popular hike that goes to the trail's eponymous falls

as well as Virginia Falls.

Both are spectacular even though, once again, we wound up hiking in the rain.

There are also lots and lots of wildflowers, blooming during the brief growing season:


Saturday was a particularly pleasant day in the park. We saw a lot of things, and even more impressive, it didn’t rain all day!

We started with a hike around St. John’s Lake, which then follows along MacDonald’s Creek. This creek shimmers in blue-green and seems to have a waterfall every half mile. (Kayaking is allowed most places in the park, except for this creek. Still, it was way over our heads (literally.)) As Yellowstone has geysers, Glacier has waterfalls. It makes sense, since the glaciers both formed the geology that causes waterfalls and feeds them as they melt.

We then drove to the terminus of the open section of Going To the Sun Road at Big Bend. This was a beautiful drive, despite people tailgating (once they passed, they didn’t go faster.) The drop off is very steep, making it scary. (They ban large vehicles on this road and trailers, and rightly so.) To add to the fun, parts of the road were covered in loose gravel, including the corners, and some of the stone wall railing was wiped away by the winter’s avalanches. Good stuff. (As someone with a very recent motorcycle endorsement on my driver’s license, I’m impressed by those who ride up the road. It has all the hazards we were warned against in training.)

Still, the view is worth it. Waterfalls come out of the rock face, and during the spring melt, dump water on your car as you drive by.

You can walk on the closed section of the road, allowing you to take in the sheer vastness of the topography. Mountain goats leaped across snow fields above. We spent a while there before driving back down.

We then took a lovely boat ride on an old wooden boat around Lake MacDonald:


The day ended with a great meal at Belton Chalet, a restored lodge across from the Amtrak train station in West Glacier. Given that this is a tourist area, and is in the middle of nowhere, we were impressed that the salmon and pork were cooked to pink (not hard) in the middle and that everything was highly flavored, bordering on spicy.

Off to Missoula (again) on the way back across Montana.

Tom

More Rain (Day 21)

Another rainy day. We got up early and went on a ranger-led hike to Avalanche Lake. (Going with a ranger meant going with a group, better to ward against grizzlies. Also, the rangers carry bear spray.)

Glacier is a lot like the Pacific Northwest and is distinctly different from the plains that dominate Montana.

Unfortunately, the glaciers are melting very quickly, and are expected to be gone completely by 2020. The rain and fog make it hard to see, but Surrey Glacier is on the right in this photo.

After a dearth of pie, we found some good stuff in West Glacier. Jules had strawberry rhubarb, while I had huckleberry, which is a more bitter blueberry. (I'm still not convinced it isn't a tourist-only fruit.)

Since both of us are feeling a bit under the weather, we headed back to the trailer for a nap. Of course, the sun came out then, rather then during the hike. We then drove to the next town over to a local farmers market. Not much growing yet, but we got some fresh salad greens, salsa, and homemade pitas.

Despite my protests, the screen room is quite a nice addition, giving us a lot more space. It's especially nice for hanging up wet clothes and setting up our folding table and chairs and it seals up around the contours of the trailer to keep out the big local mosquitos.

One last thought: what is it with Montana, campgrounds, and train tracks? We were awaken by the train passing through in Missoula, and the same is happening here in Glacier. A little less blowing of the train whistle would be just fine, thanks....

Tom

On to Glacier (Day 20)

Just past halfway in our trip and we’re at the furthest point west of our drive.

Not a very exciting day today. We ate again at Hob Nob, Juliet having vegetarian hash (what’s the point, I ask?), me having the pancakes. Yet another trip to Target (for a new pillow and odds and ends), a stop at the fantastic local bakery (right next to the Subaru-only indie repair shop), and a trip to Good Food, Missoula’s local answer to Whole Foods. There we bought the first arugula I’ve seen since crossing the Mississippi, all proof that Missoula is a bit of blue in a sea of red.

We then drove to Glacier National Park. Big time road construction slowed us down considerably. With Juliet having the sniffles, we basically drove straight through to get to our campground.

Glacier Campground is outside of the park but is rather nice. We got a big wooded site - yeah, we asked to move from the one we were assigned. (It’s becoming a habit.) This site required us to spin the trailer around to get it level enough so that we didn’t feel like we were sliding out of bed; one nice thing about the T@B is that you can roll it around by hand using the big grab handles on the front.

Even though I poked fun in our last post about all of the stuff we’ve brought but haven’t used, I’m eating those words now. With late afternoon thundershowers coming, we set up the big screen room. It’s larger than the trailer inside, giving us a roomy and dry place to have dinner. Too bad it’s a bit of a hassle to set up, and hogs a lot of space in the back of the van. We also grilled some steaks and asparagus, so the grill earned its keep.

Tomorrow we’ll wander around Glacier. Even though it’s rainy, we’re happy to see daytime highs hit 70.

Tom

Mostly Mellow in Missoula (day 19)

Today we got up and drove back into Missoula for breakfast at a place called Hob Nob. Jules had a delicious sourdough pancake (supposedly the starter is 75 years old!)

And I had lovely corned beef hash.

Even though our diet on this trip has been, well, substantial, big breakfasts have been a bit rare. But that’s OK - we were heading out to go kayaking on the Blackfoot River. Using a tip from a kayak shop in town, we drove out to “park and play” on a glassy wave. Only one problem: there was a boat-munchy hole (recirculating water) blocking access to the glassy part of the wave, the wave was high and hard to enter, and the river ran swift with cold spring melt run-off. (OK, that’s four problems.) Still, it was a good workout ferrying from one side of the river to the other. We practiced rolling, which gave me an ice cream headache, but without the sugar rush.

Since I didn't take a picture of us paddling (camera isn't waterproof), here's a picture of the surfing wave downtown. It's great to see a city do more than tolerate kayakers:

A brief update for those playing at home - here is how often we’ve used certain items we’ve brought with us:

Sleeping in T@B: Every night, except for first night at parents
Backpacks and boots: Every other day
Bikes: Once
Kayaks: Once
Weber Baby Q Grill: Once (if grilling asparagus counts)
Big expensive screen room attachment for trailer: None
Port-a-potty: None

After spending 20 minutes strapping the boats to the roof rack, we thought of ditching some stuff to fit the boats in the van, their rightful place. But there‘s still more than two weeks left of camping….

Back into town for lunch (undistinguished Asian food), a trip to Target (they sell wine in juice boxes here!), a visit to the Airstream dealer (not impressed with lousy fit and finish and stupid high prices on the new ones), and then some cake. We whiled away more time in an internet café on comfy chairs and then had a great dinner at Scotty’s Table, a hidden-away place with great food and ambiance.

We’ll probably stop again in Missoula on the way back, maybe staying at a hotel (!) downtown so we can walk around the city. Back to the woods tomorrow.

Tom

Missoula: Back in a City (Day 18)

We left Yellowstone fairly early for a 320 mile drive to Missoula Montana. Missoula offered not only shopping and eating opportunities that we’ve lacked for the last week, but it is also about 20 degrees warmer. Given all of the rain we’ve had, that was welcome. Driving out, we passed the 45th parallel, halfway between the equator and the North Pole. Maybe that’s why it’s so cold.

After winding our way out of the park, we got back on I90 for some more tedious but fast driving. Lunch was at Wheat Montana, a vertically integrated company that does “grow, sow, dough” with shops that sell not only big bags of wheat, but great sandwiches and baked goods. Juliet got a huge cream cheese and fruit cinnamon roll.

When we started the van this morning, it said it was time for an oil change. The warning got increasingly insistent as we drove today, nagging me as it counted the number of miles past the due mark. No big deal, as Missoula has a Honda dealer. Trying to get to the Honda dealer before they closed, we pushed on, arriving in Missoula around 3:30 at tonight’s campground. Jim and Mary’s Campground was recommended to us by several people as the best RV park in Missoula. It is immaculately manicured with mown grass and flower beds, and the bathrooms are more lavish than the late-50s pink and blue tiled relics we have at home. Too bad it’s right next to both a highway and a train track, but that’s better than the Missoula KOA that’s immediately behind the local mall. The campground is full - good thing we reserved last night (something I thought wasn’t necessary but Juliet insisted.)

We unhitched and sprinted off to the Honda dealer who changed the oil and looked over the van. Seeing the kayaks on the roof, the cashier mentioned that her friend owned a kayaking shop downtown, right by a surfing wave on Clarks Fork river which bisects town. This wave is relatively well known, so we headed off to see it. It’s a pretty high and wide wave, which looks too intimidating for us. So, we checked with the kayak shop suggested to us for local recommendations. We’ll try one out tomorrow.

Missoula is a pleasant college town that looks like it would be a fine place to live. It has:

- A walkable downtown with some old houses
- Lots of close-by kayaking and biking, including a bike path and bike lanes
- An airport
- Both Wal-Mart and Target
- An RV dealer (with a few Airstreams out back) and a Honda dealer
- Restaurants, many coffee shops, and several bakeries

We had dinner at Pizza Biga, which makes brick oven pizza. Juliet had a goats cheese pizza, me a bacon/fennel/5-spice pizza. Both were delicious; Jules liked hers more than the last New Haven pizza we had (heresy.)

Tom

Yellowstone: More Geysers, and Finally a Hamburger (Day 17)

Sunday we went to Mammoth Hot Springs to see, yep, more geysers. These created cliffs of travertine - you know, the stuff used for countertops and tiles. Neat stuff - too bad we got caught out in the rain.

Frankly, I thought I’d be eating a hamburger a day on this trip. Most of the Chowhound and Roadfood tips we found along our travel routes were for burger joints. But somehow we avoided getting burgers until today. They were worth the wait. We left the park and went to Helen’s Corral in Gardiner, Montana. We both ordered bison burgers and got sides of fried mushrooms and sweet potato fries. Good stuff. (A note to our parents: we didn’t finish eating the fried stuff. And mushrooms are a vegetable. And sweet potatoes have nutrients.)

After lunch, we went to Norris Basin for, yep, even more geysers. I’m convinced that if Yellowstone wasn’t a national park, it would be a Superfund site, what with all of the sulfur and colorful bacteria laying around.

Dinner was in the Canyon Lodge after an exciting round of laundry. Juliet had an OK pork tenderloin, but my buffalo pot roast was like rubber. Not good. Glad we didn’t wait 45 minutes to get in the other night.

Tom

Yellowstone: Lakes and Ponds (Day 16)

Saturday we set off for a hike around Trout Pond, after first checking with a ranger to make sure it wasn’t a bear condo. (It wasn’t.) Trout Pond is known for having otters there who feed off of the trout during spawning season. Since we were a bit early for that, we didn’t see any otters - but we did see a lot of cuthroat trout swimming in the very clear water near the shore. As we returned to the car, it started to downpour - good timing.

We weren’t as successful at avoiding the rain later that evening. At least we wiled away some of the time while sitting at Lake Yellowstone Inn, looking over the lake.

The combination of the 43-degree weather, the rain, us being tired, and a 45-minute wait for dinner at the lodge, made the evening’s prospects a bit grim. We ate some Trader Joe’s curry pouches at the trailer; warming them on the stove had the welcome side effect of heating the trailer.


And now, a note to one of our campground neighbors:

To the Texan with the big beat-up Jayco fifth-wheel trailer,

Yes, we know you have a generator. It’s big and loud and smelly. More importantly, why exactly are you running your generator all day? Turn off the TV or the deep fryer or the hair dryer and go out and see nature. After all, you’re parked in Yellowstone. Don’t ruin it for the nice family camping in a tent next to your oversized trailer that doesn’t fit into its 30-foot spot.

Thanks
Tom

(Evil glares from both Juliet and I did nothing to reduce the generator noise. Plus, they turned it on half an hour before “generator hours” started at 8am. At least they left Sunday morning, as did the nice tenting family. The wife spent a lot of time sitting in the front seat of their Odyssey as the husband did stuff. We‘re not sure they had a very good time. I don‘t care if the Texans had a good time or not.)

Geysers, geysers, everywhere! (day 15)

We left the trailer early to try and get a jump on the crowds at Old Faithful. Even though we’re staying in Yellowstone, and Old Faithful (obviously) is also in Yellowstone, they are separated by about an hour of driving., plus construction that can close the road for half an hour.

Old Faithful lived up to its namesake, blowing a plume of steam and water right on time. More interesting though are all of the other geysers in the area, some of which blow as you walk by them. I started calling the smaller ones “Little Belcher” geyser, although Juliet tells me they actually have proper names. There is so much gas being left off and sulfur smell in the air that you’d expect someone to be saying “Excuse me.”

There are lots of “Danger of Deadly Death” signs around to keep you on the path. Funny thing is though, there are piles of buffalo scat all over, often two feet from a big blue pool of boiling water. I wonder how they know where to step, since there isn’t boiled buffalo all over the place. I’d also think that a one ton buffalo would break through the thin crusty earth pretty easily.

It’s amazing how many geysers and mud pots there are in this section. We walked on about four miles of boardwalk and got “geysered-out.” So, we had (a mediocre buffet) lunch in Old Faithful Inn. This historic building is mostly built of timbers and is very atmospheric (some might say dark) inside.

We sat there for a while, Juliet reading, me using her cell phone (with a very good connection) to email and blog. It also turned out that we missed the day’s rain shower while sitting inside. Not bad timing at all.

We stopped by a few more mud pots and geysers on the way back to the campground. Juliet giggled as they plopped, spurted, and burped mud. I thought it was curious that a cold river (appropriately named the Hellfire) winds through this area.

Geysers right on the banks blow boiling water into the river and hot runoff pours into it from springs. On the one hand, I wish we could kayak it (it looks like a pretty easy Class II in most places) - but I fear it would dissolve the boats, or at least render them even more stinky than they already are.

More Yellowstone (but less geysers) tomorrow.

Tom

Boil and Bubble: Day 14

Today we left Grand Teton and drove to Yellowstone. The two parks are essentially connected, so you’d think it would be short drive. Maybe it is in distance, but not in time.

For one thing, the road is torn up: I thought I lost the T@B in one of the potholes. Second, Yellowstone is a big park. Even when you enter it, there is still a long way to go. Finally, everyone stops for any bison that is near the road. The number of cars that stop is, understandably, directly proportional to the number of bison there.

Yellowstone is essentially a very big active volcano. You see evidence of this from all of the geysers, pools of scalding water, otherworldly colors (some due to high-temperature-loving bacteria), and the varied landscape that has been shaped by earthquakes and glaciers as well as the eruptions.

We stopped on the way in at West Thumb, one of the concentrations of thermal features. You have to stay on the boardwalks near thermal features; if you don’t, you can step through the thin layer of crusty earth above and plunk your foot into boiling water.

So, to review, here is a partial list of things that can kill you in Yellowstone:

Scalding hot water
Hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide gas, given off in toxic concentrations
Meningitis, contracted by breathing in steam from thermal features
Grizzly bears
Irritated buffalo
Mountain lion
The typical assortment of snakes
Badly driving tourists, stopping in middle of road to view buffalo

Still, it’s a wonderful park. We’re camping in Canyon campground, a big campground. That’s good, because as the (former) New Yorkers that we are, it took us three campsites to find one that we liked. To be fair, the site we were assigned was on the main entry road (get to listen to diesel tow vehicles lug uphill all day), and the second one had a snow bank (!) where the trailer goes. Third time was the charm, next to the bathroom but secluded, and level enough that we didn’t need to crank out the leveler.

After parking, we hiked around Upper and Lower Falls, spectacular waterfalls that plunge through the canyon. Seeking to get away from the crowds, we went for a three mile hike around some of the smaller ponds near the canyon. Getting off of the paved paths pays dividends, as people thinned out. It’s strange to be hiking through woods one minute, and then cross something that looks like the lunar landscape (everything killed by thermals) the next. At one point, we thought we heard thunder, but it turned out to be a bubbling mud pot, spurting out hot stinky mud.

We ate out of the trailer all three meals (oatmeal, leftovers for lunch, pasta for dinner). Sadly, we are out of pie, with none in sight. (The campground grocery is quite a bit more limited than in Grand Teton, and it's a LONG drive out of the park to a normal grocery store.) Happily, the rain held off, and the sun even peaked out. But the night was pretty cold.

Tomorrow (well, today as I type this), more geysers and Old Faithful.

Tom

A Lazy Day (day 13)

After a pleasant dinner out last night, we spotted a restored vintage Airstream pulling into the campground. We parked at our trailer and went into the RV park to chat up the owners. Turns out there were two old Airstreams there: a 67 and a 68 26-foot Overlander. One had just been restored (bought for $500 but had $30k invested), while the other was clearly not.

Still, neat trailers both that were owned by interesting people. We gave a tour of the T@B which doesn't take very long.

Campground update: they fixed the leaking pipe in the closest bathroom and the ants didn't take over the trailer.

We woke up to rain. Again. So we stayed in bed until 8 and made a big breakfast of eggs, pancakes (with maple syrup from the Berkshires), and leftover elk and bison sausage. Tom cooked, Jules did the dishes.



We then drove into Jackson, a town full of upscale outdoor outfitter shops and T-shirt stores. (Our favorite: “Bears Like People: They Taste Like Chicken.”) We had a great lunch at a local organic café - no ribs or pie, but lots of good-for-us fiber.

On the way back to the park, we saw a bunch of people parked alongside the road. The attraction: a close-by moose.



The afternoon was spent lounging in the Jackson Lake Lodge, reading and using the wifi.

Off to Yellowstone tomorrow - the weather continues to look a bit crummy, but we're staying warm and dry at night.

Tom

Isn't It Grand? (day 12)

Well, the scenery in the Grand Tetons is, but the campground is wearing thin.

For the last few days of our trip, ever since Custer, the weather was best summed up this way: if you don’t like it, wait an hour and it will change. It’s veered from downpours to sunshine, from 35 degrees at night to 60 during the day. But today has been sunny far more than cloudy, a pleasant change. We could even see the peaks of the mountains.



We welcomed the good weather since we went for a four mile hike today. First we took a boat shuttle across Jenny Lake.



We then hiked up to see Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, before doubling back to the visitors center.



It was a lovely hike, but we’re glad we got out early. From Inspiration Point, we could see throngs of people getting off of the later boat shuttles, and the paths became packed with people. We can only imagine what it’s like in the summer (same goes for Custer during Sturgis.)

There were marmots all over the place.



We also finally saw a moose. (No bear yet though, although there are A LOT of warnings about grizzlies.) (The picture is fuzzy, because I’m overreaching the capabilities of our otherwise trusty Canon Sureshot.)



When we went back to the trailer for a rest, I discovered that the campground's bathroom had a burst pipe. One of the two toilets is already busted and the building isn‘t exactly spic and span. The adjacent campsite loop’s bathroom is closed while the one two loops over has its own plumbing problems. The showers are back at the main “drag”, a 15 minute walk (we took the car), and cost $3.75 a piece.

This is a let-down: we’ve been surprised by how uniformly nice the campground bathrooms have been so far on this trip. Maybe the fact that Grand Teton is a well-used national park who farms out maintenance to a resort management company is an issue. Regardless, it’s becoming evident that we’re going to shop for a trailer with a bathroom when we get back…

Today’s good thing: A tie between sunshine and naps.

Today’s bad thing: The mass of ants who emerged in our campsite’s parking spot and the two dozen or so that followed me into the van.

Tom