EagleMoon.net Journals

Journals: Week 18 (August 13-19, 2007)

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DAY 120: Monday, August 13, 2007 (West Yellowstone, MT)

Today was our first full day at Yellowstone National Park. After our long travel day yesterday, we took our time getting ready, going for a morning jog, having an oatmeal breakfast, and showering for the day ahead. (Note for future reference: The best time to shower at a crowded campsite with shower facilities is between 11am and 3pm. Anytime before or after these times is usually packed with campers leaving the campgrounds [even as early as 6am!] or just arriving. Said campers include many screaming, crying, and irritated people of the toddler persuasion!)

It actually takes about 14 miles to get to The "Grand Loop" in Yellowstone from the West Yellowstone entrance (there are five entrances into the park). The Grand Loop is in the shape of a figure-eight, with a southern loop and a northern loop. During the initial 14-mile drive into the park, Elena was fascinated with the many baby pine trees that line the road, evidence of the natural regeneration that has occurred (and is occurring) after the major fire that devastated the park in 1988. These baby pines, many between 3-6 feet high, are the result of the seeds that nature planted from those original pines that were burned, many of which still stand charred and toasted among the new growth. We eventually came to the Grand Loop and decided that our first stop would be Old Faithful, which is south along the southern loop, stopping at various touristy stops along the way.

The first stop was the Fountain Paint Pot area (about 8 miles north of Old Faithful). This area features all four of the major natural hydrothermal phenomena that are found in Yellowstone - geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, and mudpots. We took the short hike on the man-made boardwalk through the area, an area lined with the odorous smell of sulfur (which, as some of you might know, often resembles that lovely smell of rotten eggs!). The various areas along the walk displayed many colors, from deep blue to bright orange to dull grey (some of which had all of these colors at once), most of which had steam rising from them. It turns out that Yellowstone is considered one giant "supervolcano," one that blew many hundreds of thousands of years ago, spreading its ash across much of the country! (An interactive map in one of the new Canyon Visitor Education Center - a photo in the photo-gallery shows this devastation as it compares to other volcano eruptions in the country, Yellowstone's being the eruption that affected more of the country than any of the others.)

After leaving this area, we had our first elk sighting. Our second one would come after lunch. We eventually found our way to Old Faithful, the "world's most famous geyser" (as opposed to all of the other famous geysers I can think of by name!). We arrived at around 3:15, and the sign on the visitor center said the next eruption would be within 10 minutes of 4:16. So we walked on the path around geyser, found our way to the ice cream stand (sharing a tall, cool one!), and sat in the front row of the two-row benches that surround about half of the Old Faithful area where we could watch it do its thing. Which it did, around 4:20. After a few false starts, it eventually blew high and fast, if not for very long; the whole thing lasted about 3-4 minutes, after which there was a mass exodus from the Faithful area and parking lot (us included). Some notes on Old Faithful taken from the park's brochure: its height ranges from 106 feet to more than 180 feet, averaging about 130 feet; the average time between eruptions is 92 minutes; changes in its height, length, and interval are often caused by local earthquakes; 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of water are expelled per eruption, depending on the length of the eruption; just prior to eruption, the water temperature at the vent is 204F degrees; Old Faithful is one of more than 300 geysers in Yellowstone!

By the time Old Faithful had finished erupting, we decided to head back to our campsite rather than complete the rest of the southern part of the Grand Loop. Along the road on our drive back, we had our third and final elk sighting of the day. (You can always almost always tell when there are wildlife to be seen along the drive; the side of the road is usually jam packed with cars and people walking into the woods, cameras at the ready. It would be nice to be the first person to see something wild on the side of the road since the crowds of tourists, including ourselves, generally take away from the magic of the moment.) We took it easy for the rest of the night, preparing for tomorrow's journey along the northern part of the southern Grand Loop, hoping to see more wildlife and natural wonders along the way. We may even get up early since more wildlife tend to be visible just after sunrise and before sunset. Until then... ~J

DAY 121: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 (West Yellowstone, MT)

Last night, Jonathan suggested we get an early start to our day today, so that perhaps we might see some wildlife. It seems most animals come out at dawn and/or dusk to feed and browse in the park. I agreed to this, even though I love to sleep in and take my time in the morning, because even more than this I would love to see something wild and natural. So we woke up around 6am and were on the road by 7. On our way south we spotted a large bird perched in a tree we have passed by many times along our drive into the park. There was a very large nest just above the bird. Whenever we have passed this tree before, we have not seen a bird there. As we approached it, I could see the bird's white head. I screamed to Jonathan, "IT'S AN EAGLE, IT'S AN EAGLE!!! YOU HAVE TO PULL OVER!!!!!!". So he did, quite calmly, and we got out with our binoculars, camera, and camcorder. Very quietly, we approached the tree from the side of the road, and watched the bald eagle guarding it's nest. Fortunately, we were the only ones on the side of the road gawking at this bird. It squawked at us a few times, but we kept our distance and tried to stay still and quiet so as not to distress it. (We have noticed that people, especially in crowds, tend to encircle and overwhelm animals in the park when they come across them. We have done our best to be very respectful of wildlife when we see it, trying not to get too close to it or to scare it.)

We watched the eagle for about 15 minutes and a few other people in cars pulled over to get pictures as well. I was hoping the eagle would fly out of the tree so that we could get a picture of it in flight, but it had no intention of cooperating with my touristy desires. So we left it in peace and continued on our drive. Shortly thereafter, Jonathan pulled into a turnout so as to get a picture of the smoking hydrothermal gasses rising up from the ground in the distance, when a spry little coyote crossed the road right in front of us as it headed left into the meadow looking for something to eat for breakfast. We watched until he was out of sight and couldn't believe our luck!

We saw some more beautiful wildlife this morning, including elk and an osprey, which flew alongside our car over the river while it looked for some fish. (Don't you love it when birds fly parallel to your car at approximately the same speed you are driving so that you can watch them in flight right next to you? This is SO cool!!)

We stopped for breakfast at the visitor center and then continued our drive. Shortly after we started driving, we came upon an entire herd of buffalo grazing off the side of the road. One buffalo was separated from the herd on the other side of the street, causing quite a traffic jam as it attempted to cross over and join its family. Rangers had to come out and stop traffic so that it could cross safely, which it eventually did. We watched the other buffalo from about 50-100 feet away as they rolled in the dirt, charged at each other, lay in the grass with their young, and even mated! This buffalo herd was very wild and full of life. We were very entertained and could have watched them all day, but alas, we had to move on.

We headed to another "Mud Pots" area and took the mile-long walk on the boardwalk through some very interesting boiling mud holes and caverns. We also saw more hot springs and hydrothermal gasses rising from holes deep in the ground. It really is amazing to think that this whole park is one giant active volcano. Jonathan likes to say this whole place is one big powder keg!) The ground seems to be pulsing and breathing- it is fascinating!

Jonathan sure was right about getting up early to catch the wildlife. We were both pretty tired by 3pm from our early start, so we headed back to the campsite to have a late lunch, take showers, do laundry, check our email, and get some rest. It was an early night for us, as we got into the tent before it was even dark out. But it was a great and memorable day in Yellowstone for sure! ~E

DAY 122: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 (Moran, WY)

Today we left Yellowstone. Two-and-a-half days are not nearly enough time to spend here, let alone most national parks in the country, but the Tetons were calling! So we headed south into Wyoming to the Grand Teton National Park. Upon the recommendation of Ed and Jane (our camping neighbors for one night at Crater Lake), we were hoping to get a tent site at Jenny Lake. Unfortunately, upon entering the park, two of the seven-or-so campgrounds in the park were full, and Jenny Lake was one of them. The campgrounds at Jenny Lake is one of the first-come-first-served campgrounds, and we found out at the Colter Bay Visitor Center that the it filled up the day before at about 8:30am! So we opted to stay at the nearby (like right around the corner!) Colter Bay Village campgrounds. We got a nice tent site in the back - N307 to be exact. Despite being a campground for RVs, campers, and tents, our tent site is in a very wooded area reserved for tenters only. And even though it's a very large campground, the individual sites themselves are pretty large, so we don't feel like we're tenting on top of our neighbors!

We set up our tent and relaxed for a bit after a veggie-sandwich lunch. We took a short bike ride around the campgrounds and to the Colter Bay Marina area, where people can bring their boats and take them from Colter Bay to the much larger Jackson Lake. We had a nice spaghetti dinner at or campsite and got our spiritual on as we listened to Ram Dass do his thing from a speech he gave in 1995. Quite an interesting fellow. Much of what he has to say is way over my head as he is on a much different spiritual plane than I, but it's fascinating stuff to listen to. He's the one who came up with the notion that all of the suffering on earth is part of the universe's perfection (a hard-to-swallow idea for most of us, myself included), but so is our desire to end it. Anyway, tomorrow we plan to wake up early to take a ranger-led hike around Swan Lake. It starts at 8am and goes to 11, encompassing a 3-mile easy hike around the lake. (Note: if at all possible, take advantage of these free, ranger-led talks and/or hikes. If you get a good guide, they're definitely worth getting up early for!) Until then... ~J

DAY 123: Thursday, August 16, 2007 (Moran, WY)

We arose early today, yet again (this time it was my idea!) to take a guided walk around the Swan Lake area, exploring the valley floor of the Grand Teton range. This trail leads through the sage brush valley, the wetlands, and the lodgepole pine forest. This was considered an "easy" hike because it is mostly flat and loops around three miles of beautiful scenery.

Our tour guide was Rachel, and she was fabulous! She has been a Ranger Naturalist (doesn't that sound like an awesome job!?!?) here at Grand Teton Nat'l Park for the past seven years. She works in the park May through October. On the "off season" (working in the park is her real off season), she works as a Wilderness Therapist (also a very cool-sounding job!) in Utah, counseling "troubled" teenagers and working with their families through a program called Second Nature. Rachel's interesting lifestyle had us quite intrigued from the very start. She seemed intrigued with our story as well, especially since we were therapists who worked at agencies, and left our jobs to explore the great outdoors. She, on the other hand, is considering leaving her job in the great outdoors to give working indoors at an agency a try! Rachel says she feels much more comfortable de-escalating a conflict outdoors, that she is not sure how therapists actually do this in a room confined by four walls! She likes having the option of being outside with her clients, since it is more open and can be safer for the client (they don't feel as trapped). I thought this was a very interesting point of view. However, after many years of a highly irregular schedule, she is ready (she thinks) to find a regular 9-5 type job. But I think wilderness therapy sounds very interesting!

Rachel took us around the varying landscape of the valley, pointing out sage brush and other plants dwelling in the dryer soil. She showed us trees that have bear markings on them, too. Apparently, when bears come out of hibernation, they are very hungry and need some quick sugar. So they peel the bark of trees like a banana and eat the sap and insects underneath. This leaves the base of many trees exposed and yellow- this is usually not harmful to the trees. Then Rachel took us to the Swan Lake area where we actually saw two nesting swans! This was quite the exciting event since swans have not been seen in the lake for the past 2-3 years! Rachel was really fascinated and happy that the swans have returned as this was her first sighting of them in years. The swans were nesting between two beaver lodges and seemed quite happy there.

As we made our way to the wetlands to hear Rachel explain more about this habitat, we saw an osprey diving for fish in the lake. We watched in amazement as it circled above the water, then dove in for its breakfast. Unfortunately, it did not succeed in catching anything, not while we were watching anyway, but it was really incredible for us hikers to get a front row seat!

We headed back to the trailhead through the lodgepole pine forest where Rachel explained more about how forest fires have come through this area, and how most forests in this area have regular "fire cycles" that should be allowed to burn (as long as they do not threaten people). A note here about mother nature: I have been so impressed with the re-growth of the vegetation of this region. Jonathan mentioned a few entries earlier about my fascination with the "baby" pine trees we have seen throughout the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. What has really inspired me has been the bravery and courage of these little trees. Even though the area has burned thousands of times before throughout history, and even though it will burn a thousand more times, nature continues to recreate itself. Even if no one sees it, nature can't help creating beauty. And even though these trees will surely be destroyed by fire again someday, they continue to push up from the ground and reach toward the sun. It is really a beautiful metaphor for life, I think. Even though the world can be so hostile and so violent, the wildness and beauty of nature, and of life, will continue to be re-born and to grow.

We completed our hike and decided to drive 30 miles south to Spring Lake for a picnic lunch. This spot has a better view of the mountains than our campsite, so we thought we'd enjoy a little scenery with our left over pasta. After lunch, Jonathan did some exploring and photographing while I gabbed on the phone with my friend, Bean. We were both pretty tired from another early morning and hiking (even though it was an "easy" hike, it was still a pretty long hike- 3 hours) so we decided it was time for a nice long cat nap. Ah, vacation is so great!

We headed out to Jackson Lake Lodge after resting to have a bite to eat and hopefully see some wildlife at dusk (as well as catch the sunset over the mountains). We ate at a retro-style diner called Pioneer Grill where I had a fried fish sandwich and Jonathan had a grilled salmon sandwich. Both were DELICIOUS!! Unfortunately, we really didn't plan our meals very well, because we also ordered the Dusty Glacier, a brownie sundae which could easily feed our entire families. We made it almost halfway through the sundae before we had to call it quits.

We headed out to the Oxbow Bend Overlook, the preferred site for moose, heron, and sunsets (so we heard) just before a huge thunder and lightening storm rolled in. We spotted a beaver swimming in the river, an osprey flying overhead, and a bull moose wading in the water (about 500 yards away- I could see it pretty well through the binoculars). But the real display was the storm around the mountains. It completely masked the sunset but provided a spectacular view nonetheless. Huge grey clouds seemed to melt into the mountain (really though, it was the rain pouring out of them in huge sheets). Magnificent thunder rumbled overhead, and gorgeous streaks of white and pink lightening spread throughout the sky all around us. Jonathan attempted to get the perfect shot of the lightening, but it remained most elusive (though he may have gotten one shot of a bolt!).

We followed the storm home, and listened to it rumble and roar all around us throughout the entire night. The thunder was so loud, it actually shook the ground in the way that thunder sometimes can- the kind that makes you realize just how tiny you and your tent actually are. But we survived it, even though we were a little wet! The view was definitely worth it. ~E

DAY 124: Friday, August 17, 2007 (Moran, WY)

The rain and thunder remained steady all night last night. And we're not talking soft, dainty sounds of light thunder. We're talking loud, deep, rolling thunder that lasted for as long as up to a minute and a half at a time! The persistent clicking sound of the raindrops falling on our tent ranged from light and soft to hard and loud, enough to have us both waking up many times in the night wondering if the rain wasn't actually INSIDE the tent! As we were getting up, we also noticed that, despite the roof of our tent being completely dry and protected by our tent's rain guard, the bottom of the tent was wet wherever there lay an object (like our shoes, clothes, air mattress, keys, etc.). Somehow, the water had seeped between the tarp and the tent, ultimately getting through to the inside. Such is the tenting experience. We haven't gone through a major rain storm like this one in a while (not since Alma, AR, if I remember correctly).

Getting soaked aside, we decided to go for a jog in the rain (as it was still raining in the morning). As we were getting out of the tent, a ranger about ten feet in front of our tent came walking toward us. As he saw us coming out of our ten, he said, "Don't move, there's a bear behind you!" Um, excuse me? A bear?! Here?! Where?! What?! Elena's first response was to freeze, as she thought the ranger was being quite literal, that the bear was indeed right behind her! I just looked around for the bear, wishing I had slept with my camera around my neck so I could be ready for the shot! ("He was a fearless photographer," my early gravestone will read!) However, there was no bear to be seen as the ranger, along with another camper with his camera followed closely behind, walked past our tent site and down the road, calling to the bear, "Hey bear, hey bear!" The ranger was also blowing his small bull horn (we've heard that a surprised bear is more likely to be an attacking bear, so better to announce one's presence than be silent in the shadows!). We did not follow the ranger down the road. He came back up to our campsite (where he had left his car) and told us that he simply shooed the bear off into the woods, but that it would likely be back and roaming the area (searching for tasty tenters, no doubt!). So though we had no bear sighting ourselves, it was still an exciting bear experience nonetheless. As Elena likes to say, "We bear-ly got out with our lives!!!" (Okay, it's really me who likes to say it, but Elena likes to oblige me with a small smile when I say it. She's so nice!)

We took a walk in the rain (the jog was now not to be done) around our camping area, this time with camera in hand, but still no bear. Since it was still raining, we decided to hop in the van, drive to the community shower building ($3.50 per shower, and totally worth it!), then go to the Jackson Lake Lodge (about a 10-minute drive south) for breakfast and to update our website (they have a free wi-fi connection), hoping the rain would end a bit later so we can explore more of the park. We met a nice couple, Todd and Mary, at the diner-style restaurant, Pioneer Grill (same one we ate at yesterday, but this time for breakfast), who, coincidentally, happen to be tenting about 7 sites away from us (anyone want to calculate the odds on that?!). They are both teachers and are here with their kayak until Sunday, when they have to return to school for the start of the new year. They live just over the mountains in Idaho and we talked throughout breakfast about our stories, our trip, careers, future places to live, etc. They were very nice and made our breakfast that much more enjoyable than it otherwise might have been.

On the home front, I wanted to mention that Elena's grandmother's health has been rapidly declining, especially these past few weeks. Elena has been in regular contact with her mother who has been keeping her up to date about any changes. In the case that her grandmother's health worsens, we will likely be heading home sooner than we anticipated to be with her family.

As for right now, it looks like the rain has subsided for a bit, so we'll probably be off to explore some more of the park now that we've updated most of our journals, even if not any of the new pictures. Barring any additional news from Elena's family, we're planning on leaving the Tetons tomorrow, heading east towards South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. Until then... ~J

DAY 125: Saturday, August 18, 2007 (Custer, SD)

Today was another very long travel day. We packed up our soaking wet camping gear, stuck it in the car still wet (what else could we do?), and headed out to South Dakota. Finally the sky is clearing up, and it is turning out to be a pretty beautiful day. It turns out we missed another bear sighting in the campsite last night. Although we are glad we didn't have any close encounters, it would have been really exciting to see one a bit closer than the one we saw at Glacier Nat'l Park. Oh well, we're leaving bear country for the time being. We'll have to come back another day to search for grizzlies!

The drive out to Custer, SD was a very rural one. Most of the drive was along the northern routes in Wyoming. Except for the Big Horn mountain range in the north central area of the state, the view from most of our highway driving consisted of barren, expansive fields that stretched for miles in all directions. When the earth spreads out like this (so flat, and far and wide, with no buildings or trees), it makes the sky look enormous. We passed through some very small farm towns (one of them, called Emblem, has a population of 10!), and stopped at Granny's, a local diner, for lunch in Cody, Wyoming.

We continued east and then southeast through the rest of Wyoming until finally arriving in Custer, South Dakota, where we decided we would stay for the next two nights. This will be our home base from which we will explore Mount Rushmore and the surrounding area. Looking forward to seeing that famous mountain sculpture! ~E

DAY 126: Sunday, August 19, 2007 (Custer, SD)

Today we spent the morning relaxing and updating some pictures on the website. We then headed out for Mt. Rushmore, something I have been intrigued with for a long time - creating a sculpture in the face of a mountain just seems like an impossible task to me. Obviously not! Staying in Custer, SD, we decided to take the scenic route (Route 16A) which took us on a very curvy and roundabout road through the Black Hills and Custer State Park. This took about an hour, while the return trip back from the mountain to Custer took about 20 minutes on the more direct Route 16. As we got closer to Mt. Rushmore, the road became insanely curvy, going under one-lane tunnels, going this way and that way and every which way until, finally, we reached our destination, Mt. Rushmore National Memorial.

We stopped by the visitor center where they showed two different movies about the park, one about the sculpting of the mountain itself and the significance of the presidents chosen to be sculpted there (Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt, and Lincoln), and the other about the park itself, how it's much more than just a mountain (with its vegetation, animal life, etc.). I found the making of the mountain film far more interesting. Gutzon Borglum, of Danish heritage, was the sculptor. He started the project in 1927 when he was 56 years old and already an established sculptor. He and his investors (and other planners) thought it would take five years and $500,000 to finish the whole project. Well, five years came and went, as did the original budget, which came to just under $1 million when all was said and done. (Considering delays from weather and interrupted funding, the actual time spent working on the sculpture was a total of 6 1/2 years.) In 1941, after blasting and drilling and sculpting the mountain into what we see today, Gutzon died. (The original sculpture actually had each of the four presidents from the waist up in their army or presidential jackets [you can just make out the collar of Washington's jacket]. I'm not sure if they just changed their minds after the project began, or it was left unfinished because Gutzon died; either way, it's an amazing feat.) Also, despite all of the now-outdated devices and tools used, like harnesses, blasting devices, etc., no one ever died on the site as a result of the work being done. (However, it is said that some workers may have contracted a lung disease from breathing in the fine, granite particles.) We stayed for several hours, walking the Presidential pathway that takes you right under the presidents' faces (all of the rubble under their faces are results of the dynamite blasting). Though there are many natural wonders we've been seeing on this trip, I am very impressed with this man-made wonder and the gumption it took to undertake such a task.

We headed back to Custer and planned our trip to the Badlands National Park, not too far from Custer, just heading east on Interstate 90. We've heard some things about Wall Drug, a place along the way that some have called the "South of the Border" of the west (which basically means something very schlocky and hokey and that we just can't miss!). So we will likely check that out along the way. Until then... ~J

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