From Mountains to Canyons
Grand Tetons and the Snake River.
One of the many islands growing at the edge of Yellowstone Lake as the Geysers continue to bubble up.
Old Faithful now erupts at + or - 90 minute intervals
Yellowstone nights were at the KOA 6 miles west of the ultimate tourist trap of West Yellowstone, WY. It does not seem to have changed any in the almost 20 years since we were last there and even some of the T-shirts may be that old. On the other hand the KOA which had received some fairly nasty reviews was a surprise with its clean spacious sites and well maintained bathrooms and grounds. We enjoyed sitting on the porch swing at the site and watching the almost full moon slip into the star laden western sky.
Last trip to Yellowstone was while visiting John as he did his commercial white water training on the Gallatin River just after the big fire in the Park. The regrowth of the timbers is impressive and the density of the lodge pole pine is something I need to learn more about. I do know that the seeds do not germinate without fire and I suspect the density is what makes them grow so tall and straight. This leaves me with more on my list of things to “look into”.
Since we were sure the Yellowstone River was still flowing and the falls were still falling we concentrated on the Geyser fields this trip. Good geology lesson , and follow up on the recent Nation Geographic article on the Super Volcano which lies under the park. Makes one do a lot of thinking, and changes our childhood notions about digging all the way to china.
Neither Carl nor I had been to Jackson Lake since our early teens so we really enjoyed staying at the Colter Bay RV camp right on the lake. We found a wonderful late afternoon hike and enjoyed watching a dry squall as it ran across the lake. The following day as we drove south progress was slow as there were constant stops always trying to capture a better angle on the Tetons and the numerous peaks and glaciers. We finally made it into Jackson Hole for fuel, but never found a truck wash. (The coach was covered in mud from all of the road construction, funded by stimulus dollars, in both Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs. ) We found Jackson Hole to be all grown up and like Aspen and Telluride has adopted the rustic façade, in a very upscale style, for the rich pseudo outdoorsy types.
On we drove through some beautiful country in the Star Valley of WY and Bear Lake in the Logan Valley of UT. Even the dry camp in the Wal-mart lot in Logan was attractive with a large freshly mowed park right outside the coach stairs, as we managed to park under two real shade trees.
Saturday we arrived in Moab, just in time to join the thousands of others here for four wheeling and raising hell over the Labor day weekend. You can only imagine a 1960’s RV Park filled to the gills with large coaches and toy haulers and all the extra vehicles needed to have fun in the dessert. This was combined with an equal number of SUVs topped with a minimum of two bicycles each and a load of tents. The showers were busy and the Music Festival was well attended.
We headed out to the more remote ends on Canyon Lands NP to do some hiking, but more on that later.
O
Last trip to Yellowstone was while visiting John as he did his commercial white water training on the Gallatin River just after the big fire in the Park. The regrowth of the timbers is impressive and the density of the lodge pole pine is something I need to learn more about. I do know that the seeds do not germinate without fire and I suspect the density is what makes them grow so tall and straight. This leaves me with more on my list of things to “look into”.
Since we were sure the Yellowstone River was still flowing and the falls were still falling we concentrated on the Geyser fields this trip. Good geology lesson , and follow up on the recent Nation Geographic article on the Super Volcano which lies under the park. Makes one do a lot of thinking, and changes our childhood notions about digging all the way to china.
Neither Carl nor I had been to Jackson Lake since our early teens so we really enjoyed staying at the Colter Bay RV camp right on the lake. We found a wonderful late afternoon hike and enjoyed watching a dry squall as it ran across the lake. The following day as we drove south progress was slow as there were constant stops always trying to capture a better angle on the Tetons and the numerous peaks and glaciers. We finally made it into Jackson Hole for fuel, but never found a truck wash. (The coach was covered in mud from all of the road construction, funded by stimulus dollars, in both Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs. ) We found Jackson Hole to be all grown up and like Aspen and Telluride has adopted the rustic façade, in a very upscale style, for the rich pseudo outdoorsy types.
On we drove through some beautiful country in the Star Valley of WY and Bear Lake in the Logan Valley of UT. Even the dry camp in the Wal-mart lot in Logan was attractive with a large freshly mowed park right outside the coach stairs, as we managed to park under two real shade trees.
Saturday we arrived in Moab, just in time to join the thousands of others here for four wheeling and raising hell over the Labor day weekend. You can only imagine a 1960’s RV Park filled to the gills with large coaches and toy haulers and all the extra vehicles needed to have fun in the dessert. This was combined with an equal number of SUVs topped with a minimum of two bicycles each and a load of tents. The showers were busy and the Music Festival was well attended.
We headed out to the more remote ends on Canyon Lands NP to do some hiking, but more on that later.
O
posted by Weins on the Road @ 7:49 PM
1 Comments:
great pics and storytelling.... maybe you oughta start a more public blog- this is quite the adventure, after all, and you are quite the adventure writer.
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