sunset

Day 249 – Charlie Russell Country

Day 249 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Livingston, Montana

We returned to Livingston this morning to visit an old train depot, to see world famous Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop, and to find a geocache in Montana. The old depot displayed a variety of old train paraphernalia and some fantastic western paintings and black and white frontier photographs. I just window shopped at Dan Bailey’s. It
was full of flies and rods and a variety of other fly fishing gear. The visitor’s center was a nice place for a geocache. I have now found a cache in 46 of the lower 48 states. Two more to go…then I’ll have to make a trip to Hawaii and Alaska.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
chromatic pool in yellowstone

Day 248 – Yellowstone’s Grand Loop (Part 2)

Day 248 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Upper Geyser Basin

I started out today visiting Old Faithful.  The geyser is well known because of its consistency.  It erupts every 40 to 126 minutes for a few minutes.  While it doesn’t spew as high as Grand Geyser, the world’s tallest predictable geyser, it still puts on a good show.  Old Faithful is located in Upper Geyser Basin along with 125 other active geysers.  In fact, Yellowstone is home to 200 of the 500 active geysers found in the world!

While waiting on Old Faithful to work its magic, I wandered along the boardwalk past a variety of springs, pools, and geysers including Chromatic Pool, which I found to be the one of the prettiest as I breathed the rotten egg smell of sulphur.  Chromatic Pool’s colors are created by microscopic lifeforms.  Incredibly, these organisms can survive conditions that would be lethal to most other living creatures, including humans.

ON THE ROAD Again!
yellowstone lake

Day 246 – Yellowstone’s Grand Loop

Day 246 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

We entered Yellowstone National Park via the northeast entrance and bison peppered the valley while spectators peppered the road.  I’ve seen so many bison lately, I wondered if the visitors were waiting on a bear to run through the herd. It didn’t seem like a very spectacular event to me especially since they were generally far away.  Then I saw a line of them cross the river.  I guess people were waiting for them to cross the water like people wait for wildebeest to cross the river in Africa.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
devils tower

Day 210 – Devils Tower Loop

Day 210 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Devils Tower National Monument

After a slow start to the morning, VANilla, Petey, and I drove past miles of prairies and pasture lands before eventually arriving at Devils Tower National Monument.  The towering rock formation stands 1,265 feet above the river level and dwarfs everything around it including ponderosa pines that surround its base.

According to scientists, the tower was formed when a mass of molten rock welled up within the earth’s crust, then cooled, and was later exposed by erosion.  The mass looks as though it is made up of several columns.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
grizzly cub standing

Day 209 – Cody Country: Shoshone National Forest and Beyond

Day 209 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways
Grizzlies in Grand Teton National Park

For a rainy day spent mostly in VANilla, I couldn’t have wished for anything better.  There had been reports of a mama grizzly bear with two cubs roaming around the Jackson Lake Lodge area.  On our way to our hike yesterday, a handful of cars and rangers were camped out alongside the road, so this morning around 7:45 I ventured to the same general area along with several others.  I was willing to wait up to an hour, but much to my pleasant surprise, I only had to wait about five minutes.  During the next 15 minutes, I think I took 83 shots.  Every now and then, I just set the camera down and watched both the bears and the spectacle of photographers.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
sunset over jackson lake

Day 208 – North to Jackson – Part 5

Day 208 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Another lovely day in Grand Teton National Park!  We beat the crowds to the Spring Lake Trailhead which we followed through burned forest, ferns, around a lake, and up Cascade Creek to Hidden Falls.  The falls were ferocious, splashing down the rocks and spraying us from fifty yards away.  With the shade and the spray, there had to be a twenty degree temperature difference from the direct sun.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
oxbow bend

Day 207 – North to Jackson-Part 4

Day 207 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

I had a very quiet day today.  I had been attempting to fight off a migraine the last two days which wasn’t working well, so I simply slept in this morning and Max took the day to go to Yellowstone. She had never been there and being so close, she wanted to swing by Old Faithful with or without me.  Given I felt bad, had already been there, and plan on going again sometime next week, it seemed like a perfect solution.  It sounded like her day was more eventful than mine.  She saw bison, a black bear and a bull moose in velvet.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
views in grand teton np

Day 206 – North to Jackson Hole – Part 3

Day 206 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Granite Canyon Trail

With Sunday morning, came another hike in Grand Teton National Park.  This time Max and I took the Granite Canyon Trail where we followed the Snake River, raging with whitewater, through meadows of wildflowers and forests of pines and aspens.  I found the hike intriguing simply due to the different greenery found here compared to most mountainous areas.  It feels unusual to pass by ferns beneath a pine tree.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
moose drinking water from lake

Day 205 – North to Jackson Hole, Part 2: Death Canyon Trail

Day 205 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Death Canyon Trailhead

After coffee with Carrie this morning, Max and I headed into the park and took Steven’s suggestion to hike Death Canyon Trail in Grand Teton National Park.  The first 1.5 miles of the trail led us through meadows of wildflowers with views of the Tetons to the west, across several narrow streams which required leaping ability, and up to a shaded overlook of beautiful Phelps Lake.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
grand tetons

Day 204 – North to Jackson Hole

Day 204 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Logan Canyon

This morning I reversed yesterday’s drive through Logan Canyon, this time heading North to Jackson Hole. VANilla weaved along the Logan River beneath limestone cliffs where I made a handful of stops. Two stops were at campgrounds that my Reader’s Digest book suggested to see a slab of quartz tunneled by tiny seaworms and to see a Jardine Juniper that is believed to be over 1,500 years old. Both campgrounds were closed. I’m presuming the river was up too high.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!