2 days in Yellowstone, day plan to finish our Montana summer vacation in the Grand Tetons.
Checked out of our Ennis MT digs & started the journey south, ‘cross the Continental Divide, thru Idaho – in particular: Ashton, Idaho. Trip wouldn’t have been complete without visiting our country’s Seed Potato capitol. HA! True dat – but Ashton visiting Ashton [Idaho] was more the prime motive 🙂
Ashton ID: population 1127. Photo shot ‘round every local sign – then plotted east. Dropped off any/all major roads & unexpectedly trekked 32 miles on dirt. Stopped 7 miles in; wide expanse of lily pads & pine. Quiet, peaceful. Just dragonflies & forest.
2 hours in Targhee National Forest, popped up on Flagg Ranch, inside Grand Teton Nat’l Park. Never saw a ranger, never passed a booth. Score! (reality is: I carry an annual park pass anyway)
Scrapped plans to hike Jenny Lake & travelled south & east another hour to Moran Junction (the Park’s East entrance), past Jackson Lake Lodge, up Pacific Creek Road & 5 miles of gravel.
Destination: Teton Horseback Adventures
Ash mentioned 2 days earlier…wouldn’t it be great to horseback ride in the mountains? Heck yeah. Multiple water crossings, spectacular high peak backdrop. GREAT idea!
Gazed ‘cross Jenny Lake – all vacations come to an end – then dined BIG, 20 minutes south in Jackson [Wyoming]. Air bnb fail in Driggs [Idaho] but luckily Ash secured a last-minute room locally. [The digs in Driggs, a youth hostel bunk bed share – wee bit old to share a room with teens.]
Long ride home across Wyoming on I-80, 10 hour drive (thanks Tom). Back to work in the a.m.
Summer time fun – 2nd family trip of July. FAAANNNTASTIC!
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- hearty Montana breakfast
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- Ash in Ashton [Idaho]
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- 32 mile trek over dirt road
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- lily pads & pine
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- Teton Horseback Adventures
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- 2-hour trail ride
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- today’s WOW pic — whatta view!
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- Jenny Lake
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- goodbye Tetons, last day vacation
Yellowstone: Part 3 – the Tetons
I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, and even some affection. But with Montana, it is love. — John Steinbeck
Original plan was to run not one – but TWO marathons back-to-back in Montana. Roped Ash & Tom into helping with the long drive north & scheduled a family vacation ’round Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks. Unfortunately an unexpected health issue caused me to drop from both events – but didn’t deter us from enjoying a couple days in the Rockies. LOVE LOVE this place!
After yesterday’s late check-in, slept ‘til 8 before heading west to Virginia City — Montana’s first territorial capital. Grabbed breakfast & toured a few historical Old West landmarks – but oddly, no Bonanza memorabilia…wrong state. Who knew?
Bonanza was a NBC television western series that ran from 1959 to 1973. The show is set around the 1860s and it centers on the wealthy Cartwright family, who live in the area of Virginia City, Nevada.
Boot Hill — fave day stop. Hilltop cemetery where 4 guys hung in Jan 1864. Not a vacation without a local cemetery stroll. LOL>
last Montana tourist destination before Day 2 park hopping? the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. Safest way to see a bear, a wolf, a couple of bald eagles too 🙂 LOVED watching these massive lumbering giants scavenge under rocks & trees for food hidden by rangers. Whenever in Yellowstone, gotta add this [stop] to your itinerary. Highly recommended.
Quick lunch, second day of geyser trekking – then headed to the falls, Yellowstone Falls.
Lower Yellowstone Falls is the largest volume waterfall in the Rocky Mountains of the United States…308 feet (94 m) high, or nearly twice as high as Niagara Falls.
Hiked both upper & lower falls – a true butt buster, so pace yourself. Jogged back from Lower Yellowstone to retrieve our car (parked at Upper, a mile away), then drive-returned to our digs in Ennis. Watched a family of deer ford a local river. FAAANNNTASTIC!
Gorgeous pink sunset, followed by late nite nachos & live music at the Gravel Bar. Livin’ B-I-G in Big Sky Country 🙂
Day 3 plans? Grand Teton Nat’l Park – seeing these peaks on horseback. #noregretlife
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- a little Old West history
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- fave stop of the morning
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- these boys swung in Jan 1864
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- bald eagles too!
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- Gibbons Falls
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- Artist Paint Pots
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- Emerald Spring (stinkiest geyser in the Park)
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- Steamboat Geyser
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- Upper Yellowstone Falls
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- the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
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- Lower Yellowstone Falls
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- ‘Big Sky’ Montana sunset — SPECTACULAR!
Yellowstone: Part 2 – Yellowstone Falls
Work day done, on the road by 6pm. Thursday night in Casper, up early Friday & another 4 hours to Yellowstone – Ash & Tom’s first Park visit. geysers, Rocky Mtn peaks, travel ‘cross 4 U.S. states – Colorado, Wyoming, Montana & Idaho – what’s not to love?
Could’ve travelled the traditional 8-hour route [I-80 West to Rock Springs, 2 hours north to Jackson] – but added an extra hour crisscrossing Wyoming, in search for Sacajawea’s grave site. No regrets 🙂
- traditional story: in 1805, the 15-year-old Shoshone travelled with Lewis & Clark and her French fur-trapper husband & an infant son. She died in 1825. Her son, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, lived among Anglos, travelled Europe, led a group of Mormons to California & later settled in Montana.
- the myth: after the Lewis & Clark expedition, Sacajawea resettled to the Dakotas with two children, no husband – remarried & lived out her life with the Comanche. After her husband’s death [in 1860], she returned to her people, the Mountain Shoshone, and died near Fort Washakie, Wyoming.
Fuel fill-up & another bag of pork rinds later, back on the road. Drove thru a forest fire just outside of Dubois, before entering Grand Teton National Park – 45 minutes later, Yellowstone. Tagged front-row benches at Old Faithful & experienced a first rate show – hot water sprayed from the Earth a full 5 minutes. Sharing the moment with Ash & Tom, even better. GREAT memory.
Walked the Upper Geyser Basin, passing named geysers along a wooden boardwalk — like visiting a ‘geyser’ zoo. Morning Glory Pool, Castle Geyser, Rocket Geyser…each unique, each its own story – some erupt, others shake, simmer & boil. Caught a 2nd viewing of Old Faithful before car hopping further.
Fave place of the Park – Midway Geyser Basin – in particular, Grand Prismatic Spring. Reds, yellows, blues, greens & oranges – minerals rainbow-coloured the landscape. Steam from these geysers created a hot humid mist – like walking thru a steamy billowing fog.
No place else on Earth – gotta/hafta/MUST see.
Spent our remaining daylight exploring a family of geysers – Artists Paintpots – before exiting west into Montana & another hour north to Ennis, where our 2-day cabin digs awaited (lotta driving, thanks Tom).
No marathon tomorrow. historic Virginia City, Grizzly Discovery Center & a 2nd half-day in Yellowstone – still must see the Falls!
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- ever get that feeling someone’s looking over your shoulder?
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- Sacajawea Grave Site
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- 15-year-old Shoshone guided Lewis & Clark westward to the Pacific
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- fire on Hwy 26 – just east of the Tetons
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- road closed remainder of July
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- the Tetons
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- Old Faithful
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- never miss: erupts every 75-90 minutes
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- Morning Glory Pool
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- Grotto Geyser
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- Upper Geyser Basin
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- Castle Geyser
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- stayed long enough to catch a 2nd eruption — FAAANNNTASTIC!
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- Midway Geyser Basin
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- two of the largest hot springs in the world
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- Excelsior Geyser
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- vents boil & churn water within the crater, creating a dense layer of steam
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- Grand Prismatic Spring
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- WOW, WOW, WOW!
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- rainbow-coloured landscape
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- my favourite place in the Park
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- geyser basin sunset
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- an hour north of Yellowstone, our sleep digs for the next 2 days
Yellowstone: Part 1 – Great Geysers
