Black Hills, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone
Trip Start
Unknown
1
2
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Dakota Memories Bed & Breakfast
Holiday
Grand Tetons
Grant, Canyon & Mammoth Villages
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Mitchell to Wall, SD, via the Badlands N.P.
Spent another first half of the day on the Interstate. Didn't get to watch the corn grow - it was raining to hard to see. Stimulus package going over well in SD, too. Never spent so much time driving on 2 lane expressways! SD must have better drivers - they let them go faster in work zones than in IA.
Mile maker 264 on I-90 has a wonderful Lewis & Clark rest stop.
Rain let up as we got to Badlands N.P., but most trails were too wet to do extensive hiking. Badlands mud is very slippery. Watched the movie, hiked the boardwalks and looked over the overlooks! Wild life has picked up, as in deer, turkey vulture, prairie dogs and very tame baby bunnies..
Red Rock restaurant in Wall has good home-cooking, including pies. Made the obligatory visit to Wall Drug, all 10 minutes of it. Dakota Memories B & B al so very nice. Wonderful breakfast.
June 10, Day 4
Wall to Custer, SD
Another rainy day, this time with no let up. Diluted a lot of beautiful scenery. Turned into a museum day. Wounded Knee Museum was closed. The Journey in Rapid City was interesting, interactive for younger ones. Stavkirke, a Norwegian chapel, made for a ahort stop. Gutzon Borglum Museum in Keystone kept us out of the rain for a couple hours. HIs history and works before Rushmore are quite impressive. Too socked in to view the 4 old men or the crazy horse. Had my first Moosedrool - as in brown ale - very good on draft! Summer comes late here - will be in the 30's this evening.
June 11 - Day 5
Black Hills
Another wet one, but perservere we will. More driving, less hiking. First stop - Custer State Park. Very slow going on Wild Life Loop - road cluttered with animals blatantantly disregarding common jaywalking courtesy. Lovely area to drive through. Took Iron Mountain Highway with its one way tunnels to Mt. Rushmore. Famed tunnel framing Mt. Rushmore gave us a great view of the fog surrounding the mountain. Once on site, were able to see the 4 gentlemen. still none of them smiling. Been 50 years since I was here. My countenance has changed a lot more than theirs.
Rain finally let up around 3:00 to allow for a wonderful hike around Sylvan Lake. Cut short plan to drive Needles Highway as fog enveloped everything again. Settled for a Black Dog Amber at the Sage Creek Grille. Black Dog not as good as Moosedrool, but the food was better.
June 12 - Day 6
Black Hils (south)
Sun! Wonderous sun! Great time for the Needles Highway. Even allowed for some short hikes on the route. Well worth doing on a good weather day. Drove through Custer State Park again on way to Wind Cave Park. Plenty of buffalo - especially near the border between the two parks - on both sides. Little red calves are fun to watch. Skipped the spelunking to check out the above ground wildlife and take a short hike.
Enjoying the red granite buildings in Hot Springs and an almost outdoor lunch at the Flat Iron. After ordering, the rain found us. Took scenic 385 north to Crazy Horse monument. The vision and scope of the project is impressive. May be done next century. Broad based Indian museum and tour of sculptur's home and studio included.
June 13 - Day 7
Custer to Gillette, WY
Beautiful drive through Spearfish canyon on a beautiful day. Finally getting more hiking in - to Little Spearfish Falls and Roughlock Falls in Savoy & able to have nice picnic lunch along Spearfish River. A stop at D.C. Booth Trout Hatchery in Spearfish was more interesting than expected and in a very lovely setting. Little ones really enjoying it. Took 111 & 24 to Devil's tower and scenery was again magnificent. Persistent rains have greened up everything. Karen was excited about going out of our way to see a big rock (867 feef from base), but after up close viewing and scenic 1.3 mil walk around the base was very glad we did.
Next week in National parks - uncertain of internet connection.
June 14 - Day 8
Gilllette to Colter Bay, Grand Tetons
A long, but very picturesque drive from Gillette to east entrance to Grand Tetons. No good way to get there (as the crow flies). The drive from Thermopolis to Shoshone was particularly beautiful. Still snow at the Contintel Divide. Arrived around 6 PM in time to see the majestic Tetons looming in the distance. Ranch House restaurant in Colter Bay was quite good. Local organic ale this evening!
June 15 - Day 9
Grand Tetons
Time to experience the Tetons. Just did a couple hikes (@6 miles total) in the Colter Bay area, with the Teton range providing background and Jackson Lake or Heron Pond in between.
June 16 - Day 10
Grand Tetons
Bonanza! We hit the giant kielbasa motherlode today. One osprey, one beaver, one grizzley, one moose and her calf, 6 large pelicans and several herds of elk and bison! Didn't pet a one! Grizzley was asleep or resting at a distance which was fine with us. Hike along String and Leigh lakes were wonderful once the rain stopped. Ate our lunch on "one of the top 10 secluded beaches in America." Pix of view enclosed. Visited the site of the 1925 Gros Vente rock slide. Several milliion tons of fallen rock dammed up the Gros Vente River, until 1927 when it gave way and wiped out the town of Kelly 3 1/2 miles downstream, killing 6. Chuckwagon dinner outdoors at Doornan's in very alpine setting.
June 17 - Day 11
Grand Tetons to Jacson and back
Signal Mountain Hike nice, but not like the lake treks. Took the afternoon off to dine at Jenny Lake Lodge and drive to Jackson. Mural Room at Jackson Lake Lodge has much better views thatn Jenny Lake Lodge, albeit the latter is touted as one of the best restaurants in the National Parks. The National Museum of Wildlife Art 3 miles north of Jackson has a an impressive display of wildlife paintings and sculpture. The daily shoot-out at the square in Jackson is much less impressive!
June 18 - Day 12
Grand Tetons to Yellowstone
Hoping to hike Cascade Canyon, but alas more rain. Have not had a completely rainfree day yet, but at least the last 4 days have been more dry than wet. Took short Jenny Lake boat ride (cold and windy) to the Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point, Cascade Canyon trail head. All uphill the first mile to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. Hidden Falls at halfway point is well worth the effort. View from Inspiration Point is over Jenny Lake - grand view, but is less striking as the impressive Tetons are behind the viewer, not the lake. If you're making the trek to I. Point, might as well head into the canyon for awhile. Fairly level, compared to the climb to get there and very interesting and changing views and terrains with the mountains rising on both sides of the canyon. Half the hike was in the rain, half in sun and half in clouds (some long hikes add to more than one!) Others saw moose and a calf on the trail, but they eluded me. Probably the best of our Teton hikes, even with parts of the trail snow or mud covered. Put on close to 7 miles, but you can walk in and out of the canyon as far as you like. Try if for a mile. Boat ride back across the lake was sunny and warm!
Time to wrap up The Tetons with dinner at Jackon Lodge Grille and move on to Yellowstone. Contruction near south entrance slows things considerably. Barely in the park when a roadside elk almost became scavenger fodder. Once inside the south door, its still 22 miles to the closest lodging - Grant Village, where we had clean but spartan motel style rooms
June 19-24 Days 13-18
Yellowstone
Got off to a "traditional" start by heading off to Old Faithful Stayed around to see her spout off twice. Our first really beautiful day in 2 weeks making the hike around upper geyser basin very enjoyable and interesting, including seeing Daisy Geyser gush. Complimentary guided tour of Old Faithful Inn also worth the time. Drove to Black Sand and Biscuit Basins to see the other major geysers/pools/springs in the Upper Geyser Basin. Trail at Biscuit Basin makes for a nice stream side hike back to Mystic Falls. Lakeside grille at Grant Village offers very limited choice of food and libations.
On our second morning stopped at West Thumb Basin and glad we did as selection of thermal activities were different than day before including some in Yellowstone Lake. Ran across one buffalo on Storm Point hike. Destination was nice, but to and fro offered less views than scenery than previous treks. Several park trails still closed in late June due to bear activity. Mt. Washburn trail, one of the premier day hikes had only one trailhead open and it was discouraged due to heavy snow cover and grizzly presence.
Yellowstone Lake seems huge - at 14 miles wide by 20 miles long and up to 430 feet deep - its the largest mountain lake in North America. Since the lake is only a small part, that makes Yellowstone one big park! Most villages (i.e. food and lodging) are 20-30 miles apart. Therefore to "green" up our stay we moved from village to village after 2 nights. Canyon Village was next and like Grant Village covers ones needs, but in nondescript settings. We stayed in cabins whose curb appeal make FEMA trailers look good, but were clean and liveable inside. One buffalo grazing a block from our cabin.
Anxious to see the grand canyon of the Yellowstone, but another day of heavy rain. Slowly worked our way to Upper Falls overlook and skies started to clear. Hiked to Artist Point with rain again giving way to sun. Found its good to carry rain gear and sunscreen simultaneously in both Tetons and Yellowstone! Preferred not to return on the same trail to parking lot, so stuck out our thumb and hitch-hiked. Roman and Olga from Philadelphia, and 1979 immigrants from the Ukraine, picked us up. After dropping us at our car, we kept running into each other at canyon overlooks, so decided it was time to have a drink and learn more of their fascinating history.
Got in our car Monday amid swirling snow flurries. A tad chilly! Another not so great outdoors day, so made our way to Lower, Midway and Norris Geyser Basins. More construction shuts down part of Norris/Madison road for up to a half hour at a time and completely at night. Firehole Canyon Road well worth the side trip. Just before getting to the waterfall, were able to see a mother elk and 2 babies by the Firehole River below. Porcelain basis loops at Norris worth the short hike, but 1.5 mile Back Basin loop less interesting unless one of the geysers is active. Firehole Lake Drive also a worthwhile venture.
Spent 5th & 6th nights at very nice cabin in Mammoth Hot Springs village - in a very appealing setting. Two elk families were waiting for us in the lawn outside Mammoth Springs lodge. Cabins are much more attractive than those in Canyon Village. Using National Park housing is much like getting back to the good old days - No TV, radio or internet and sleeping in a double bed. Works best if you're with someone you like to be close to! We were glad to have indoor plumbing! And none of this comes cheap. Anything with private bath is likely to start around $100. We found dinners in Xanterra's upscale restaurants to offer very good quality as well as friendly capable servers. Stepping down a notch or two puts one in dining experiences designed for the masses.
Alert - Xanterra, which runs the lodging and most of the restaurants in the Yellowstone, adds a 4% "utility charge" to all food and drink as well as a utility fee on lodgng. Grand Teton Lodges (owned by Vail Resorts) controls most of dining and lodges in Grand Tetons. We found their restaurant personnel to be very accomodating (e.g. sharing an entree) and thier fine dining food to be very good. Had two experiences where Xanterra website indicated Yellowstone lodging was fully booked, but calling their reservation system got us reservations.
After 2 weeks of at least some rain, we were thrilled with a couple days of sunshine. North end of Yellowstone is drier and warmer than the south end. Downside was that fresh water was not flowing across the terraces at Mammoth Springs, reducing the color show. Beaver Ponds hike was enjoyable and according to hikers behind us we missed a black bear and 2 cubs not far off the trail. We returned around 5 to a elk grazing in front of our cabin.
For our last day we headed towards Roosevelt/Tower area - a pretty drive with our first "full-antlered" elk. Unpaved 6-7 mile Blacktail Plateau Drive wasn't as scenic as main road, but car ahead of us did see a grizzly chasing a black bear. When you see cars stopped along roadside in Yellowstone, you stop. This time it was Big Horn Sheep resting under a nearby tree. A little later we barely missed 2 grizzly sightings, but did catch a black bear. A few miles either side of Mt. Washburn on the Tower-Canyon Road offers best chance to see grizzlies this time of year.
Yellowstone River trail runs along canyon rim with great views of river and canyon below, mountain goat ledges and an osprey nest. A loop trail is offered but return loop via the meadow pales in comparison to the rim route. Go back the way you came.
The Lamar and Hayden Valleys provide ample opportunities for elk, bison and pronghorn viewing. Elk and bison have no qualms about stopping traffic as they leisurely stroll across or alongside the highways. Six days and we still didn't see it all.
Saying goodbye, we drove to Cody, WY - as a gateway to Yellowstone eastern entrance, its not an inexpensive summer destination ($160/night for a basic Comfort Inn!)
June 25 - Day 19
Cody - Casper
Buffalo Bill Historical Museum in Cody is really 5 perod museums under one admission. All very interesting and worth a half day or more. Live entertainment also offered while we were there.
June 26-28
Casper - Sioux City - Marion (IA) - Quincy
Lots of driving - little action. Home at last.
Comments
comments from Texas
I was last there in about 1984 with Trevor. That first view of mt rushmore thru one of the tunnels was quite spectacular. Is the Cosmos still there - where things roll up hill,etc. The a/c wnet out on my truck last week with the temp around 100. It brought back memories of some of our family trips to SD without a/c. no wonder we were always fighting in the back seat. I think on the next trip Dad got one of those portable a/c's where it just blew air over a tray of ice cubes. Don't think that was much better though.