West Trip - Day 9 - Desert Travel Day

    Today was a big travel day. The Holiday Inn Express near the airport in Salt Lake City was pleasant, but we woke early and were on the road by 8am. We continued along route 80 West,  and the landscape yet again took another shape. Gone were the hills to the north, replaced with sage-brush flat-lands with mountains in the distance on either side of the road. We passed by the Great Salt Lake and it was quite a sight, the shores of which were completely white with salt. Soon we reached the Bonneville Salt Flats. This area is a completely flat remnant of an ancient salt lake, with a stark white "salt" surface. It almost felt like we were driving across a snow field. The flats are famous for hosting land speed attempts, many world records were broken here, and continue to be.

     We pulled off to a rest-stop and were immediately hit with a wave of heat. The desert environment was in full swing, completely arid, and probably nearing 95-100 degrees, even in the morning. We walked out onto the salt flats themselves, and actually tasted the ground, not fully believing that this entire landscape was made of salt. It certainly was, the thick salt crystals were very potent.

     Continuing along Interstate 80 we passed into Nevada. Right after the border, probably 100 feet past it, was the first Casino/Hotel. Nevada wasted no time exploiting the weak, tortured souls that seek gambling to get away from their daily stress ( only to find more stress when they inevitably lose all of their money). The

wind was causing quite a ruckus as we continued through the desert and mountain terrain along 80. It was a fight to keep the Xterra in the lane at times and quite nerve-wracking. We were very focused, and in our driving "groove". Before we knew it, we were 3/4 of the way across Nevada, and turned south along route 95 heading towards Fallon, NV. The chaos of Interstate 80 was behind us now, and we were headed into serious desert desolation. There was nothing but sage-brush flats, juniper trees, and rocky outcrops, with a backdrop of mountain terrain. Sometimes in the distance we could see the vortex of sand kicked up by the wind, the dust devils. Small mini-tornadoes that seemed menacing, and as we actually passed through one, realized they were not.

      We passed near Walker Lake to the south and in Hawthorne( near the site of a military base), took route

359 south-west heading towards the California border. The drive was peaceful and relaxing. There was hardly any traffic at all on this route, and an unmistakable feeling of isolation. Along the route there were numerous cattle crossing signs, and it would seem that the entire area was free-range for them. It did keep me alert as the driver, extremely "rare" steak was not on the menu yet.

     Driving over a hilly range, we were now heading due west, and passing over a rise, we could see the magnificent Sierra Nevada mountain range in the distance. The peaks were seemingly jutting right out of the desert floor. Route 359 took us due west now and there we passed the California border. It was becoming very late in the day, and the sun was settling behind the mountain range. We were tired and ready to settle down. Passing into California though, was a big relief. At the California border, the route number changed to 167, and took us to the foot of the Sierra Range. At that point we took a left, heading towards the Tioga Pass road, which would bring us into Yosemite National Park in the morning. There is a small town at the end of the Pass called Lee Vining.

     We drove through the town and weighed our lodging options. They were slim, as every small hotel had NO VACANCY. Heather remembered a small Inn that we drove past on our way into Lee Vining. We turned around and made our way back. They had one cabin left, that a couple passed on ( fools), and we even got a discount since the cabin slept 6, and we of course are only 2. The cabin turned out to be rather nice, though antiquated, but had a bed, and that is all we needed.

     Of course we were really hungry at this point( around 8pm), we checked out the restaurant that was within the hotel, but were not too interested in the expensive items on the menu.  Heather had been craving pizza since Yellowstone, since that was one item that was not served there.  Therefore, we decided to drive back up into town to a small pizza shop that we passed earlier.

We ordered a cheese pizza that turned out to be a mistake. It was covered with what seemed like 5 extra bags of cheese and was a grease haven, with no sauce. We had a piece, and hoped for the best with pepto within our reach. Basically we decided it was an epic fail, and made a note to never eat pizza in Lee Vining again, and possibly California. Although dinner was a flop, we went to bed excited, eagerly awaiting our adventures in Yosemite the next day...

West Trip Day 8 - Leaving Yellowstone

     We awoke rather early on our last day in Yellowstone. Packed up the rest of our belongings, and decided to get a proper breakfast at one of the restaurants on our way out. I of course had the full stack of pancakes, despite the waiter's warning that I would not be able to finish it. He was right of course, and I did not. With our bellies full, we waved goodbye to Canyon Village and started our journey south.
     The particular road we were on, we had not traveled thus far. This road cut through the Hayden Valley, which is another great area for wildlife viewing. Since it was still rather early, ( around 9ish ) the roadways were fairly clear and we pulled over to an empty pull-off, with a view overlooking the valley below. I pulled out the binoculars, and started glassing the rolling hills, scanning for movement. With my naked eye I could see a black dot moving up the hillside to the right. The binoculars revealed a large grizzly foraging along the hill. My heart raced, and I excitedly pointed it out to Heather, who was equally excited. Some people pulled up near us, no doubt as a result of our pointing and gawking. Soon the pull-off was full of people looking at the bear, and watching it disappear momentarily, and appear again on the other side of a hill.

      Most of the people we have met so far in the journey have been wonderful. However, one particular guy rubbed me the wrong way while viewing the bear. He was a tall stern-looking older man with gray hair. "What are you all looking at?", he said. "There is a grizzly down there amongst the hills". "Ahh we played this game with him yesterday", he replied snidely, as if this was the same bear? Then I stated "He was just passing down that hill, but he's gone from sight now". "Well he's still there, he didn't disappear", he stated in a rather condescending tone. "Uhhh thanks, I know he's still there". And I left it at that. Having pursued the conversation, I should have said, "Ohhh thank you for the information, I was sure that the bear exited at the bottom of the hill through a dimensional portal to the planet Ursuin Cygnus-9". I'm not sure why this guy bothered me so much, I am generally a very laid back person. This guy just burned my biscuits though.
     We left the pull-off and continued south, pulling into a couple of smaller pull-outs, until Hayden valley was left in our rear-view mirror. We made it to Fishing Village, and stopped for a little bit of shopping. Before long, we were leaving with a couple of brand new t-shirts and a recharge of our supplies. Then we continued to the south entrance of the park with the immediate goal of checking out Grand Teton National Park.

      Grand Teton is a park situated just outside of YellowStone's south entrance. In fact, as soon as you leave Yellowstone, you enter Grand Teton, and there is no entrance station. However, there was a visitor center, and we stopped in for information about the park. The park ranger was an older woman, with a very kind face and a bright smile. She asked if we were staying in the park, or just driving through. I stated our plan was to drive through and continue on out of the park today. She took a map out and marked the best spots along the main road and one lake loop that we just had to see.

      With map in-hand, we continued driving along the main route south. The Teton's revealed themselves in all their glory as we drove down a hill towards the foot of Jackson Lake. The park is named after the tallest mountain in the Teton range, the Grand Teton ( yes Teton is actually French for "breast" ). Standing at 13,770 feet, it towers above the other mountains in the range. The amazing thing about this mountain range, is the fact that there are no foothills like most ranges. The mountains seemingly jut out from the ground. Jackson Lake sits at the base of the range, completing the picturesque view. After gaping at the view for a bit, we continued down the road, stopping at a few view-points and reading the informational plaques.

      At the south end of the park is the bustling town of Jackson Hole. On most modern maps, the name simply says Jackson, a name change that was the result of some uptight politicians, as we were told. Jackson was a blur to us, as we only stopped for gas and continued west. The goal was to hit the main interstate, I-15 and continue south for as long as we could, hopefully making it to Salt Lake City. We took a number of backcountry roads going west to get to I-15, over rolling hills and forests, and then crossed into Idaho. After a few hours we were finally near the entrance to I-15, when we saw a number of cars pulled along the side of the road, and people staring and pointing down the embankment. We got out to join the gallery, and as I suspected, there was a young bull moose grazing in the wetlands below the road. Moose spend most of their time eating aquatic vegetation, and this was a perfect area for him to be in. This was our first time seeing a moose in the wild, and it was quite the thrill.

     In Idaho Falls, we picked up interstate I-15 and made very good time traveling south. The landscape started to change as we drove further south. Deciduous forest changed to sage-brush prairies and mountains. We passed into Utah and were near Salt Lake City, when we saw a very dark gray sky ahead. Heather pulled out the Droid and we saw red and orange all over the doppler map, which means trouble. The wind picked up intensely and the Xterra was fighting it. Normally I would try to drive through this type of weather, but having spent almost 11 hours on the road at the time, we decided to pull over to a rest stop and ride it out. The storm was magnificent, and it revealed an amazing rainbow as it passed. The landscape is so open, that you could clearly see the beginning and the end of the rainbow. In fact, there was a double rainbow at one point.

      After the storm, it was starting to get late in the day. We continued on through Salt Lake City and planned to pick up Interstate 80, and continue West. On the west side of Salt Lake City, near the airport, we found a hotel and spent the night. The next day we would travel through some serious desert territory and enter into California, we needed a good nights sleep......

Rush! ( Rash )

    My history with the band Rush is sort of vague, and I have just recently become a big fan. Back in 1989-90, I bought my first cd-player. It was one of those stand-alone players, that had external hookups for a stereo. I had two cd's to start with, Metallica - And Justice for All, and Rush - A Show of Hands. Metallica, of course got the most cd time from me, and Rush was what I used too fall asleep to at the time. Since the Show of Hands album, I bought a couple other albums, but the band sort of fell off my musical radar. Rush has played many times near Auburn, but I could just never get myself motivated to go. Being a big fan of Dream Theater, who are heavily influenced by Rush, I should, by default, be a fan of Rush. But something always turned me off about them, and that something was Geddy Lee's voice.
   It was announced in April that they were playing at the New York State Fair grandstand. Chris and I talked, and decided to get tickets, though we decided for some reason to just get separate tickets. The day the tickets went on sale, we were right there at 10am, online, clicking away furiously. Though for some reason there was a slight delay before the tickets were available( around 3 minutes after 10am ), which seemed odd. We both ended up with seats in the front elevated section, which was fine, though a bit strange that we were so far back. It turns out that there was a fan-club pre-sale that we totally missed out on. We will know next time.
      A couple weeks prior to last nights show, I  decided to check out the bands setlist online. I had most of the albums on mp3, and what I didn't have, I bought and put them in a playlist, in order of the bands set. I listened to all the songs over and over and I noticed something amazing happening. The annoyance I had with Geddy's voice was completely gone, replaced with complete admiration for the lyrics and his delivery. I started to "get Rush". Admittedly before this, I have been a fan of Neil Peart's books. He is a traveler amongst many other things, and rides to all of the Rush concerts via motorcycle. He is the primary lyricist for the band, so this in-turn peaked my interest in them.
     Chris and I arrived at the fair around 3:30 pm, both quite excited to see the band. After taking part in the most "important" parts of the fair; butter sculpture, cup of milk, and eating the same food that everyone eats every year, we made our way around to the grandstand. It was around 4:30 and we walked into the back of the in-field behind the stage. There was a fence, and you could easily see the tour buses. I spotted Neil Peart's bus immediately, as that is the bus with the attached motorcycle trailer. Under a small extended canopy on the bus, sat two motorcycles.  We stood there for a bit and the bus door opened. Out walked the man himself, wearing a red ball cap. He stood talking with a couple of guys and then made his way to the stage. I knew we would see him later, while he was "working", but it was very cool to see him in a relaxed state like that. We didn't dare say anything to him, as he is fiercely private, and is uncomfortable with fan adoration. He eludes to this in his books, and one of their songs , Limelight, deals directly with this subject.

      We left, and went in a big loop around the midway area of the fair. I am not a fan of the midway by any means. As we were walking, two large state troopers were standing around scanning the area, one of them yelled "JOHNNY BENDER!". I turned around and half-waved, not sure what to do. I thought of Neil Peart when this happened, though it was very cool being recognized, it was sort of uncomfortable. We arrived back at the main gates just as they were about to open at 6pm. We walked through, showed our tickets, and were not checked at all. This never ceases to amaze me. In this day and age everyone should be frisked, they were only checking people with bags. I made my way right over to the merchandise and purchased a shirt, then we found our seats. Well I found mine, Chris was a different story. His seat did not exist. He was supposed to be in the same row as myself, but ultimately his seat number would have placed him inside the sound-booth. He was "upgraded" to the floor area on the right. I was happy for him, but was very pleased with my seat.

       The band started around 7:45 with a hilarious intro video. It was called "The History of Rash", and was a pseudo version of the band playing in a tiny German Pub. The video quality was just amazing, crystal clear hi-definition, the likes of which I have never seen on such a large platform. The on-screen band was playing many versions of the song, The Spirit of Radio; polka, disco, country, etc. Then the covers that were hiding the band equipment were removed, and the band walked out and played The Spirit of Radio. I can only describe it as pure electricity. The mix of the music sounded very clear, loud and powerful. The setlist continued on pretty much exactly as I had found online.
       The band's playing was ridiculously tight. The video screen, behind the band, showed various video clips relating to the song they were playing. The videos were funny at times and serious in others. For example the song Red Barchetta, which is about a sports car. On the video screen they showed cars made of sausages zipping around, but then followed that with a real-life sequence of a car racing through the desert. The song Working Them Angels, off the snakes and arrows album, had imagery of people working menial jobs, but they all had angel wings on their backs. 

       For the bands second set they played the entire Moving Pictures album, among a few other staple songs. Again they opened with a hilarious intro video, showing a video shoot for the band "Rash". This time the song was Tom Sawyer and when the time machine button was hit in the video, the band members were replaced, with children, or monkeys, or swapping instruments. Neil Peart looked hilarious playing the guitar. Then the band came out, performing the first song from the album, Tom Sawyer. During the song, the screen showed real monkey's playing behind them, in time with the music. It was hilarious. They continued with the entire album, and played it flawlessly. I absolutely fell in love with the band last night. The fact that they are not afraid to make fun of themselves. They are the tightest live band I have ever seen. Their production is well and beyond any other tour out there at the moment.


Here was the setlist....
1. The Spirit Of Radio
2. Time Stand Still
3. Presto
4. Stick It Out
5. Workin' Them Angels
6. Leave That Thing Alone
7. Faithless
8. BU2B
9. Freewill
10. Marathon
11. Subdivisions
12. Tom Sawyer
13. Red Barchetta
14. YYZ
15. Limelight
16. The Camera Eye
17. Witch Hunt
18. Vital Signs
19. Caravan
20. Drum Solo
21. Love 4 Sale
22. Closer To The Heart
23. 2112 Overture
24. The Temples of Syrinx
25. Far Cry
26. Encore:
26. La Villa Strangiato
27. Working Man

Adirondacks Weekend - Mt. Colden

NOTE: The west trip days will continue ( there are 20 days total )... keep checking back for additional days.

      Ahh the Adirondacks.We wanted to make a point of continuing our push to becoming 46'ers slowly but surely. We also just missed the Adirondacks, as it feels like "home" to us after being in such unfamiliar territory out west. Heather was determined to climb Mt. Colden, as this is the mountain that eluded us last summer. Since I unfortunately did not deem fit ( read: lazy ) to blog about our travels last summer, a little back-story is in order.
      The summer of '09 was another watershed summer for me, as we began our foray into backpacking. We went on three trips, a "shake-out" trip to Fingerlakes Forest ( fun if you like horse manure and country roads), and two trips to the Adirondack High Peaks. The first backpacking trip in the High Peaks was part of a more extensive 4 day trip in July. It included a stay at the Northwoods Inn in Lake Placid, a night car-camping at the Adirondack Loj, and then a backpacking trip to an unknown destination for the night, with a climb up Mt. Colden the next day. On our first night, we did a short 2 mile hike around Mirror Lake to get our legs warmed up for the next couple days. We thought nothing of it, though Heather made a big mistake, she wore flip-flops. Flip-flops are fine for casual, relaxed walking for a short distance, but their lack of proper support can wreak havoc on the knees during any serious walking. The next day we camped at the lodge and finally bagged Wright Peak. If you read the entries from '08 you can see that Wright Peak eluded us due to destroying our knees on the Mt. Algonquin climb. The Mirror Lake walk, and the strenuous climb up Wright Peak, weakened Heathers legs and knees to the point where she needed a recovery day or 2, but we had no time for it. The backpack led us through Avalanche pass, passing Lake Colden, and continuing around to Feldspar Brook. It was 8 miles of very strenuous hiking, coupled with the fact that we both had heavy backpacking packs. On top of the stress we put on ourselves, it rained and drizzled the entire night, and was very cold. We spent the night with 2 other couples in a lean-to, not able to find a dry, available spot for our tent. Inevitably the knees were shot and our spirits were broken. We hiked out, passing only 1.5 miles to the summit of Colden. There was simply no way we could have made it up, and especially down, with Heathers knees being in such pain.
     Fast forward to two weeks ago and our return from The West Trip. Heather told me she wanted to hit the high peaks, and really wanted to conquer Mt. Colden. We picked this weekend, since it was the only weekend free for both of us, she went about organizing and planning the trip. Since it was only 2 weeks out, she luckily was able to secure two nights, though they were at different sites, requiring a move.
     I took one of my few remaining vacation days on Friday and we left around 9:30 am. The drive up north was a lesson in familiarity. It was hard not to help comparing this drive to our trip out west. It just felt comforting and relaxing knowing what was around the next bend, and how much farther there was to go based off of landmarks or small towns. We hit the ADK Loj around 2:00 pm, and got into our camp setup routine. The cool mountain air was a stark reminder of where we were, and we had to change accordingly. The winter hats and sweatshirts replacing shorts and t-shirts. After setup, we decided to drive into Lake Placid for a meal, rather than eat a freeze dried bag of spaghetti and meat sauce.
     Driving back through Lake Placid, we went into a few shops to get ourselves a t-shirt, settling at a place called "There and Back Again....". Anyone who has seen or read the Lord of the Rings should get the reference. We made our way up into the village area and went to Bazzi's, a small pizza shop adjacent to the Northwoods Inn. I told Heather we were loading up on calories and carbs, so we ate voraciously. After eating, we did some more shopping at EMS down the street, and went back to the t-shirt store to actually buy what we picked out previously. Arriving back at camp we settled in for the night, and as the light faded, we made a great fire. The night-sky was incredibly clear and cool, and the stars were shining brightly. The site had quite a bit of open sky viewable, so we grabbed our newbie stargazers book, and tried to identify any constellations we could find.  The alarm was set for 6:15am, so we hit the sleeping bags early, sleeping with winter hats on for the night.
      I awoke before the alarm, and made breakfast and hot cocoa for us. We spent the next hour getting our gear ready and temporarily packing up our site, so we could later move to site number 29. We thought we could get lucky and quickly setup at site 29 if it was unoccupied, but it was not, so we had to park in the main parking lot for the day. We parked, and quickly gathered our hiking gear and set out on the trail, after signing the trail register. Heather noted that none of the trails out west had a register. We chatted about this as we continued briskly along the well trodden trail between the Loj and Marcy dam.
     Arriving at Marcy dam, it was just as spectacular as I had remembered. The mountain view surrounding the small lake is wonderful, and we could see the goal for the day, Mt. Colden in the distance. The temperature was rising, and the sunny sky allowed us to shed a top layer of clothing. We continued on the trail in the direction of Lake Arnold which was about a mile away.We were making incredible time, both very focused, but relaxed and into a great hiking rhythm. Very quickly we realized that hiking in the Adirondacks is a completely different animal than hiking out West. Here in the Adirondacks, the trails are much more rugged. They usually consist of large and small boulders and many tree roots to watch out for. The mud, or "Adirondack Soup" as its called, is also an element that you just need to accept. A mechanical injury just seems prevalent with every step, requiring your utmost attention.  
     We arrived at Lake Arnold, and remembered it well from last years backpack. It is the highest mountain lake in the Adirondack region, nestled between Mt. Colden and Mt. Marcy. We took a well deserved break at this point, since we had already traveled 4 1/2 miles. Setting our packs down, Heather unknowingly set her's on her bite-valve. The contents of her hydration bladder on her pack spilled over the ground. When we picked up the pack as we were leaving, I noted the puddle and gave her all sorts of crap about setting her pack in a puddle. Later we found out where the puddle came from. She probably lost 1 1/2 liters of water, which was not a huge problem, since we could filter water if we needed to. However, had we been out west, in the Grand Canyon for example, it could have been disastrous.
     From Lake Arnold, there was 1.4 miles to the summit of Mt. Colden. This is where the physical nature of the climb took hold. At one point, there was a downed tree blocking the entire path. There was no way around it, except to climb right over it. Its the price we had to pay for ascending Colden, which pales in popularity compared to Algonquin or Marcy. Hopefully a trail maintenance crew can remove it before someone injures themselves. We made it to the false summit of Colden, and the views were phenomenal. To the South we could see the actual summit. Descending the col we went back up a small hill between the two and made our way up the steep section of trail to the top. At one point we had to traverse through and under  some large boulders, which was quite different. We made it to the top around 12:30 and removed packs and rested for a while. The top of Colden was actually quite small and the views were not quite open as the false-summit, but alas we made it, and were very proud of ourselves. This was our 8th high peak, only 38 left.
       We started descending around 1pm or so and were ready for the mental aspect of the climb. It is said that 80% of falls and injuries occur on the way down a mountain. Climbing up a granite slope is much easier than going down the same slope, where footing and momentum can cause a significant slip. I had such a slip occur. At a section with an 8 foot or so ledge, I decided to remove some of the loose stones, possibly helping another hiker. I slid them with my foot, but my foot kept going, off the ledge, and my body turned to save itself, falling backwards into a stand of trees. Heather kept saying "CAREFUL, CAREFUL, CAREFUL!!" which was encouraging, but I was already falling. Luckily I wasn't injured, but it most likely effected me mentally. For the rest of the descent, we made good time and Im happy to say that our knees held up fine. The last couple of miles, really tested our endurance. We finished hiking around 4:30, very tired and relieved to be done. The entire length of the hike was 12 miles, which is the most we have ever done in one day.

      We finished off the night setting up our camp at site 29. Again, we didn't feel like eating the bagged freeze-dried meal, and were tempted once again to head back into Lake Placid for a proper post-hike meal. Anyone who has hiked for a long distance knows that the human body craves greasy food afterwards. We didn't disappoint ourselves, and had burgers and fries at a small bar on Mirror Lake called Players sports bar. Not a very original name, but the Russian staff was great, and the food was fantastic. We made our way back to the site late, and tried cheating to start a fire, using chemical means. It didn't work. I spent a good 1/2 hour trying to get it going, before we spread out and searched by headlamp for kindling and re-made it using traditional means. The fire turned out fantastic and was the perfect and relaxing way to end such a great day.

West Trip Day 7 - Yellowstone National Park

     On our last full day at Yellowstone, we planned to visit and explore the Lamar Valley, and take a couple of shorter hikes in the vicinity. The Lamar Valley is often described as the North American Serengeti. It is a place where bison, pronghorn, elk, wolves, coyotes, grizzly and black bears can be seen right from the road. During our trip research,  in the winter months, we watched documentaries on the valley and its inhabitants. I found the wolves particularly fascinating, especially The Druid Pack, a wolf pack that was a great success story for the park. In 1995 wolves were reintroduced to the Yellowstone ecosystem, setting off a small storm of controversy from local ranchers, but garnering support from naturalists and the general public. The wolves brought a balance back to the Yellowstone ecosystem that was lost for years. I really hoped to spot a wolf today.
     We awoke quite early ( 6ish ) to make sure we were ready for the day. The animals are most active in the cooler morning hours, tend to lie low during the hot afternoon, and become active again at dusk. After a quick  oatmeal breakfast, we made our way North to the valley.  We passed by the Mt. Washburn trail-head of yesterday's adventure, and continued north into new territory for us. The road immediately started to become more complicated, sharp curves and climbing in elevation. We continued on and made it to Tower junction, although we did not stop to look around, we were intent on making it up to the valley as fast as we could. Turning right we were heading east, and noted a considerable change in the landscape. Gone was the mountainous terrain, replaced with rolling hills filled with sage-brush meadows and scattered stands of trees.
      One of the planned hikes we had for the day was to a group of petrified trees, on the top of a Specimen ridge, not far from the valley itself. There was an unmarked trail to the top, and I wanted to take a quick look and survey the scene before continuing on. We pulled into a pull-off where a sign simply said "trail", and there was a faint outline of a trail continuing off to the south. I could make out the ridge in the distance and it didn't seem that far away. Suddenly to our right we heard a snort and looking in that direction, not 30 yards away, was a gigantic bull bison. At this point we were sitting in the car, about to leave, and just stayed put. We watched the bison continue on and cross the trail moving east near the road, walking across the same trail we intended to hike on later in the day! The animal was immense and powerful looking, and not something to be trifled with, as a woman found out last week, when she was gored and thrown. These are not slow, weak animals like a cow. This is an animal that is incredibly lean and muscular and has an ornery disposition. We were both amazed, yet slightly concerned about hiking amongst mega-fauna such as this.

      We continued along the park road and saw a simple sign along the road that said "Lamar Valley". Pulling  down a hill, to another pulloff, that had a few cars and some excited people viewing something in the distance. There was a small tour bus, with Japanese tourists all speaking excitedly and pointing across the road to a hill. I got the binoculars out and scanned but could not see anything. Then one of the men came over and said "Prong...horn" and pointed. I thanked him but could not see what he was talking about. In broken English he tried explaining where it was and I said "OHH I see"... when I had absolutely no clue. He was very excited and I didnt want to insult him. Heather and I walked back over to the car and scanned, and we finally spotted the Pronghorn sitting on the hill. Pronghorn are interesting animals because they are the fastest land animal in North America. They can reach speeds of 60 mph at a sprint. They evolved to evade a particular predator that has long become extinct, the American Cheetah.

      Moving down the road, heading east we noticed that to our right was a river and a wide open valley along it, nestled between the road and the hills. This is what we came for. We pulled over to a large pull-out with around 10 cars and lots of people gathered gazing at the valley below. A few of them were using spotting scopes, mounted on tripods, and others were using binoculars. "There's a grizzly down there right near the river and another across the river in the distance!". I was filled with excitement, got the binoculars out, and started scanning. Sure enough, there was a large grizzly right near the bank of the river foraging for food. We were quite a distance away, and had a chance to use one of the spotting scopes to get a closer look. He was fascinating to watch. Along the river bed we spotted many bison, some solo and others in small groups. Looking further off to the east we then spotted large clouds of dust. There was a very large herd of bison in the fields below. It was amazing to watch them kick up clouds of dust, chase each other and do what bison do, graze.

       After viewing the drama unfold for a while we got in the vehicle and made our way to a small hike I had picked out, called Trout Lake. As we drove near the top of a hill we had to stop as a large herd of bison decided to cross the road. At this point we were stuck. They moved slow and sometimes just stood in the road, motionless, bellowing out calls to the rest of the herd. As the herd moved among us we were able to get a very close-up look at them as they surrounded our vehicle and the subsequent line behind us. In this situation you dont want to agitate them by beeping or trying to move forward. You'll end up with a smashed up vehicle. This time of year the males are getting ready to mate. They are aggressive and want to hit things. We didnt need to give them an excuse.

      After about a 1/2 an hour, the herd moved off the road and traffic began moving again. We pulled into the parking lot for the trail-head to Trout Lake. This was a short 2 mile round trip hike to a small lake. The lake is famous for its large number of cutthroat trout. Its a fly fisherman's dream. This lake was actually a large source of food for a small town outside of the park in the early 1900's. The hike was about 1 mile straight up a large hill and a ridge and was strenuous. We made it to the lake and watched a couple of fly fisherman casting in the cold water. The lake was surrounded by a beautiful meadow and a mountain behind it. Very picturesque setting, as most of the park is anyways.

    We continued west, passing by the Lamar valley, and making our way back to the trailhead for the petrified trees. The hike was described as having a section that was "inhumanly steep" and we had a laugh at this. Setting out on the trail we slowly climbed in elevation and could see the ridge off in the distance and the steep section. Along the way we passed the remains of possibly an elk right near the trail. This put us slightly on edge. We passed by a family on their way down, I asked whether the hike was worth it and the father said "arrhhgggg not the way down".   We soon found out what he meant. The "inhumanly steep" section was quite steep but the biggest problem was the lack of traction. The "trail" was so traversed that it was a smoothed down slope of loose dirt. We had a very tough time getting up it and I knew getting down would be tricky. After making it to the first petrified tree-stump we were spent. We could not truly appreciate the fact that the tree before us was millions of years old and frozen in time. Looking to the west the sky looked dark and was coming in quickly. All of a sudden it started sprinkling and we were in a very bad position. If it down-poured the steep section would have turned into a muddy mess

and we would have to scout another way down.  We made our way gingerly, but as fast as we could back down without any problems.

         It was around 5pm and we were spent. Heading back to the Canyon village we grabbed a good meal and enjoyed a celebratory beer. We then packed our gear and prepared to leave the next day. Later in the night we attended a campfire chat with a ranger. The topic of his presentation was on the park wildlife. We learned a number of things we didn't know, and had many questions answered. Its to bad this presentation wasn't available when we arrived. However, it was Friday, and many were arriving for their first day in the park.After the talk we settled in for the night and were eager to move on to the next phase of our trip. But we weren't completely finished with Yellowstone yet. There was still a bit to see on our way out...

West Trip Day 6 - Yellowstone National Park

    We awoke around 7am to a rather fog-filled morning. The weather up to this point has been completely clear, warm during the day, but dropping to almost freezing at night. During the night we were hit with some rain and as a result, a thick blanket of fog enveloped us. Today we planned to do a big 6 mile hike up Mt. Washburn. We decided that rather than rush out the door, and do our hike in the fog, we would take our time and let the sun burn off the haze around us.
    Leaving the cabin around 9:30am, we made our way north along the main park road to Dunraven Pass (Click for MAP).  The road was steadily rising in elevation at this point and the views to the south were amazing. At the top of the pass, 8,859 ft., we saw the parking lot for the Mt. Washburn trailhead. The parking lot was quite busy with groups getting ready for their hike up the mountain. We wasted no time preparing ourselves for a great hike.

     Mt. Washburn is and has been a very popular tourist attraction in the park since its inception. In 1870, during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition, Henry Washburn did a solo climb of the mountain to find Yellowstone lake to the south. When the rest of the expedition eventually joined Washburn the view from the top was described as "beyond all adequate description". The mountain became so popular in the coming years that a road was built to take cars to the top. Model-T Fords ascended the mountain in reverse, since it was the only way to keep gasoline pumping to the carburetor. Eventually the road stopped being used, but what remained, was a great trail to the summit.

       During the summer there are a couple of weeks that the wildflowers are in full bloom in Yellowstone, and apparently we were there at the perfect time. The Washburn range is famous for having fields of wildflowers at lower elevations and it did not disappoint. The beginning of the hike had us traversing along the trail, slowly climbing in elevation amongst brilliant fields of wildflowers. We saw yellow violets, blue lupines, yellow balsamroots, indian paintbrush, cow parsnips, bluebells and many others. The flowers simply pop-out against the dark green of the surrounding hills and along the edges of the trail up the mountain.
      The hike itself was a bit strenuous but very enjoyable. There were a number of long switchbacks ascending up the mountain, which helped alleviate the slope. We stopped at just about each turn of the switchback to catch our breath. We were slowly rising in elevation which naturally reduces the oxygen in the air. Since we eventually would cap out at 10,200 feet, this would be a good test to see how our bodies react to such elevations. Some individuals can develop Acute Mountain Syndrome ( AMS ) when they get in the 10k range, which can manifest itself with a host of symptoms: headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, etc. The only cure is to get back down in elevation.

        After 3 miles of steady uphill hiking we made it to the fire-tower at the summit of Mt. Washburn. The view was a panorama of the entire park, and was breathtaking. To the south we could see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone river and further down, the Teton range, to the north, the Absaroka mountain range. Just prior to the summit we saw a rare sight, a female mountain goat. In fact this particular mountain goat was standing right on the trail. She did not move, and was not phased at all by our presence. She was staring down the cliff. We got to within a couple feet of her and she still did not move. I was amazed she could live in such a barren and harsh environment. Gone were the lush meadows and wildflowers of the lower elevation, replaced with rocky, craggy slopes. We even saw a patch of snow.

        The fire-tower at the top was a multi-level building, with a level for hikers to view the surrounding area via scope and an observation deck. The top level was off limits, and is actually manned for the season by a ranger. Yellowstone is one of the few parks that still have live-in firetowers. This person spends from June till October living up in the tower and is sent supplies every 2 weeks. They spend their time scanning for any signs of a forest fire and have a rather meager and I assume lonely existence.
         The hike back down the mountain was naturally much faster, and

easier than the hike up. We passed by quite a few groups making their way to the top. The views on the descent were quite amazing. A few times we could actually see Old Faithful going off to the south. The perspective on the way down  made it feel like a completely different hike, though it was the same trail. When we made it to the trail-head, it was very packed and bustling with groups getting ready to hike. I think our timing was impeccable once again since we had the trail mostly to ourselves on the ascent.
        After leaving Mt. Washburn, we made our way south and decided to visit the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This was a short distance away from our cabin at Canyon village and is possibly the 2nd most visited area of the park. There are two waterfalls( upper and lower ) in a massive canyon carved out by the

mighty Yellowstone river. The canyon walls are a shade of yellow. The falls are probably one of the most photographed features in the park, from a viewpoint at the end of the canyon, called Artists Point. There are two trails on either side of the canyon, the north and south trails. We decided to take the south trail, since it brings you close to the river and has a side-trail that brings you to the base of the upper falls.
       Heading out on the trail we were amazed at the enormity and power of the Yellowstone river. The trail edged its way precariously along the river bank and in certain sections became quite steep. There

were multiple rapids and one in particular really caught our attention for its depth and power. Along the trail we hit a clearing with a few trees that played host to 2 very large bull elk. They were both laying low in the grass beneath the shade of the trees, aware of our gawking presence, but unaffected. Continuing on up the trail we arrived at the side-trail that would take us to the base of the lower falls. The trail was called Uncle Tom's Trail. In 1900 a man named Tom Richardson took groups down the "trail" which was a mixture of 528 steps and rope ladders. Today it is a set of 328 metal steps and it brings you 3/4 of the way down the canyon.

       We descended down the stairs and Ill admit it was quite nerve-wracking. The steps were basically metal grates and some were bent in. Below you could see 500 feet to the canyon floor. A bent stair was all that prevented you from plunging to the bottom and the stairs did not seem like they were standard width, slightly thinner. Going down was a slow process of holding onto the railing and watching your feet carefully. We were told that a 1/3rd of the way down was an incredible view of a rainbow and the person was right on target. The rainbow was beautiful. We made it down to the bottom and started climbing back up. We had to stop at a few landings to catch our breath, and our leg muscles were absolutely burning partly from the climbing and partly from the adrenaline and anxiety. We hit the top very tired but happy we actually did it. The 2 mile hike back was tough, our legs had endured quite a workout today.
       We returned back to Canyon village and had a meal at the buffet. The bizzare thing about this particular buffet was that you could only make one trip to fill your plate. The plates they sold were in various sizes and prices. We piled up everything we possibly could on each plate, it was quite the sight. On the table the food seemed like a mountain range of its own. We needed all the calories we could get, tomorrow would be a big day. The day I have waited for since arriving in the park. The Lamar Valley!

West Trip Day 5 - Yellowstone National Park

     Our reservations had us spending one night in Grant Village, and then three nights at a "cabin" in the Canyon Lodge area. The Canyon section was North of us. ( Click on this to get an idea of the park layout ) 
We planned on taking the long way around, heading west to Madison and Norris, and ending at the Canyon area. With this in mind, we could visit many park features and make it to our next location before dark.

       After quickly packing the vehicle, and checking out, we set out northwest along the park loop road. We started climbing in elevation until we reached 8262 feet. Here, there was a small lake and we noticed a sign for "The Continental Divide". We pulled over and checked the area out. The lake was called Isa Lake, and had a plaque explaining exactly what the continental divide was. From Isa Lake the lake drains in two directions straddling the divide. The east outlet of the lake drains into the Snake and Columbia rivers and eventually to the Pacific. The west outlet feeds the Firehole river on its way to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic. Thinking of this as the peaked roof of the country, and you get the idea of how it works. Water falls to either side in separate directions. I have read about the Continental Divide trail itself but did not fully understand it until we reached this spot.

      Continuing northwest we came upon a pull-off for Keplar Cascades. This was a designated viewpoint for a beautiful waterfall courtesy of the Firehole river. This also happened to be the trail head of one of the many hikes we had picked, Lonestar Geyser. After gawking at the waterfall and the power of the river for a bit, we started prepping for our hike. We have a mental checklist of things that we do at each trail head to ensure that we are totally prepared. Sunscreen, bug spray, fill water, get snacks, verify pack contents, camera, set way point on the gps, tie up the boots and trekking poles, re-read any trail descriptions and survey the maps, etc.etc. . It takes some time to do this but it works for us and we help each other in the process. The trail started in another dedicated trail-head parking lot that we somehow missed on the way in. It was just a short walk away. At the foot of the trail there was a sign stating "WARNING: BEAR FREQUENTING AREA . There is no guarantee of your safety while hiking or camping in bear country". We were already aware of the dangers of being out in the wild here, but seeing a sign like this has the tendency to put you on edge.
      The hike itself was easy. It meanders along the Firehole river on an old logging road. The sound of the river was soothing, but we also had to keep in mind the wild-life that could possibly be lurking around. We still were talking loud around bends in the trail where we could not see, although the river was pretty much drowning our voices out. We became relaxed a couple of miles in and could truly enjoy our surroundings. We passed a family walking towards us on the trail and we asked if we missed the eruption. They said it was supposed to go off in about a 1/2 hour, no idea why they didnt stick around for it. Lonestar geyser is slightly predictable and erupts every 3 to 4 hours and is supposed to be magnificent when it does. The great thing is that you get to share the experience with only a few other people as opposed to the throngs of people that will view Old Faithful.

       The trail ended and a sign was there with a warning about thermal features, and burns that can result if you get to close. There in a clearing sat the geyser, an odd looking rock structure jutting from the earth. As soon as we started walking near it, as if a switch had been turned on, it started erupting. It was amazing to see and hear so much water and steam come out of the top. At times im sure it reached over 50 feet and it lasted for a good 15 to 20 minutes. There were 3 or 4 small groups gathered around and we all took moments to chat and to offer picture taking services.
      When the geyser stopped erupting we all gathered ourselves, and made our way back as a large group. Safety in numbers I suppose. There was a man, who was with one of the groups, that I had a conversation with the whole 2.5 mile hike back. He was from northern Utah, and led a boyscout troop up to Yellowstone for an outing. We chatted about home, and where he was from, and what we could expect for the remainder of the trip. Its great to learn from someone with experience.

      We arrived back to the trail head in one piece and were feeling great about the hike. We continued along the park loop road and decided that we had to see Old Faithful, the famous geyser. It was right on our way north, so why not. Pulling into the crowded parking lot the scene was completely different. Throngs of people and buses were everywhere. People were fighting for parking spots and it was quite chaotic. We found a parking spot and made our way to find a viewpoint of the famous geyser. The place was absolutely packed with people, at least a few thousand. When the geyser did go off ( right on time I might add ) it was magnificent for sure. But it was not an earned experience like we had at Lonestar Geyser.

       After the eruption and a quick PBJ sandwich we went into the Old Faithful Inn. The Inn is an amazing lodge built around the time that the park first opened, and rebuilt after it was destroyed by fire a few years later. The great hall of the Inn was magnificent, made from lodgepole pines, you could see 5 floors up. In the middle sat a massive stone fireplace. We went outside on the second floor and sat on the big open deck looking out at Old Faithful.

       Continuing on the park loop road we came to a one-way road called "Firehole Lake Drive". We took the road and viewed quite a few thermal features at small pullouts along the road. Near the end of the drive was FireHole lake and we got out and walked along the wooden walkway. In this area, and in a few areas of the park, there was the familiar sulfur smell that we got used to. Viewing the lake and the small geysers and pools boiling around was wild. The earth just feels like a living, breathing organism here. Its very hard to describe without actually being there. From here we drove to the Lower Geyser Basin. This was another walking boardwalk loop where we viewed a number of thermal features, including the famous Fountain Paint Pots. The paint pots are basically boiling mud pits, and if you have any sense of humor at all, you cant help but laugh. The mud makes some very funny fart type noises and gurgles. The mud also spits out in drops that fly 10 feet or more in the air. We were transfixed for a while at this section.

        We then drove further north and were getting close to Madison when we saw a possible "bear-jam". A bear-jam is lingo in the park when there are a number of cars just stopped and pulled over on the side of the road. You see people running with cameras in hand, sometimes haphazardly in the direction of the animal. Tourons indeed. In this instance it was not a bear, but a big bull bison and a female( cow )  across a river on the plain. It was our first time seeing a bison in the wild and it was quite a sight. We used my binoculars to get a closer view and the big male began rolling and throwing dust over himself. We learned that this time of year is the time of year when the males are getting ready to mate. During this time they basically want to hit things, each other, and try to create big clouds of dust to attract females.
      Feeling happy that we finally saw some mega-fauna we continued north. We arrived in the Canyon area of the park around 6:30 pm and the place was bustling with activity. Canyon is another small village near the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone river. We checked in and found our small cabin. The cabins are one room cabins with a small bathroom and stand-up shower. There are 4 rooms per building and it should work out great for the 3 nights that we are here. We went back to the village area and had a nice dinner at the Canyon Lodge Dining room. We really started to love this place and the services that they offered. Next to the restaurant there was a good sized grocery store and a camping supply store. Everything we could need was here. We hit the sack early and got ready for our planned adventure in the morning, Mt. Washburn!