An unforgettable road trip

I have been on three great road trips in my life. First, in early 1970, we drove a small British MG convertible car from Toronto, through much of North and Central America. That was an adventuresome and exciting six-week trek that had us even having to stop to work for a couple weeksin Califonia when we ran out of money. But guess what, in those days they had no blogs, so most of what happened remains deeply hidden in my subconscious. Boohoo. Well, it was such a remarkable trip that I was able to retrieve and relate some aspects of the trip in my autobiography entitled, "Looking back...the struggle to preserve our freedoms." This is still available at Amazon.com but the real tragedy of tragedies is, I have no photos to share.

The second road trip was in 2015 when we explored much of Colorado and New Mexico over a four day period. There is a blog right here about it.

The third was in October 2020 which saw us visiting sections of Wyoming, Idaho, Montano and finally spending a few days at Yellowstone National Park.  (Yellowstone falls mainly in Wyoming with a small section at the northern end in Montana.)

A grizzly sighting

This was a really spectacular and unforgettable trip, partially due to the absolute beauty all around during the fall months when leaves are changing. And of course, the company of my daughter (the driver) and granddaughter, made it heavenly. 

If there was any disappointment, it was because I never saw as many animals as I would have hoped and no bears close. 

You see, I am crazy about animals and especially fascinated with bears which are so cuddly.

Momma grizzly bear and her cubs 

Unfortunately,  the only place that I can seem to get a close look at them is at the zoo, and that's no fun. It is frustrating how absent they are in the wild when I am nearby. Last year we were in Alaska where I was almost guaranteed that I would see at least one black bear. But not even a tail. On the other hand, others on the same trip reported how they had seen some. Boohoo.

But I stray.

Jackson Lake dam

I was therefore excited when we met some people at a lake in Grand Teton Park and they directed us to Jackson Lake dam where a grizzly mom and her two cubs had been sighted. We rushed over and joined a crowd of enthusiastic tourists already there with binoculars and zoom lenses!

Oh yes, we did see the grizzly mom and her two cubs but they were just too far to get a good picture. For the idiot that I am, I had traveled without my decent camera with its zoom lens. So the poor picture I have was taken from across the lake, a far distance which a stupid cell phone just can't manage.

Oh well, I guess I must say thank God for small merceries, as we just never saw another bear anywhere!

Actually, the only other dangerous animals we saw (despite the numerous signs all around warning us to stay away from them) on the entire trip was a group of militia-looking white people all dressed in camouflage. They were at the dam also and piled into a van with Kentucky plates. I couldn't but wonder what mischief they were up to!

Anyway, back to bears. Can you believe we actually considered buying bear spray! 😁 This spray does not harm the bear but it allows the user to build a protective shield around himself/herself with the spray, and apparently, the smell or something chases away the bear. Luckily we were saved from wasting our limited funds on this quite expensive product by the clerk in a store, who told us we would not need it as we wouldn't see any unless we came off the beaten track. This of course something we had no plan to do, as getting lost in the cold thick forests was not part of the plan.

But I am ahead of myself so let's start from the beginning.

Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the USA, noted for its outstanding coloration

This trip was my daughter's idea. She lives in Colorado and the southern entrance to Yellowstone is around 600 miles away.

That park is really the creme de la creme. It is the world's first national park, having been established in 1872 and also the largest. 

While the flora and fauna on the over 2.2 million acres are simply astounding, that park is best known for its geothermal activities.

However, we did not undertake the journey in one fell swoop.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Instead, we decided to spend a few days at Jackson Hole in Wyoming, so we could also take in Grand Teton National Park and its environs, before heading on to Yellowstone, just over a hundred miles away.

That was indeed a brilliant idea. My only complaint is we should have stayed longer than the two days in Yellowstone as that area has so much to see.

Jackson Hole is surrounded by glorious snow-capped mountains

To get to Jackson Hole, which is so named as it appears to be in a hole surrounded by glorious mountains, we headed to Fort Collins in Colorado, which is a popular and attractive university town near Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming. Around that area, we could not miss the smoke and smell of the wildfires which are raging in sections of the Rocky Mountain Park.  However, we bypassed Cheyenne so there is nothing to report about that segment of the trip which included Laramie which would probably be totally unknown, had there not been that horrific murder there which shocked the world.

This was the torture and killing of a young gay student at the University of Wyoming named Matthew Shepard in 1998. He was kidnapped, beaten half to death and tied up on a wire fence, and left to die because he was gay.

Black Lives Matter sticker prominently displayed

We remembered the incident as soon as we saw the sign with the name of the town, but of course, we did not tarry.

One mistake we made was leaving Colorado too late and with stopping for gas and food and generally not hurrying, dusk descended on us shortly after we left Laramie.

We were traveling through Trump country in my daughter's car which declared its political leanings loudly, so all we could think of is having an incident (like an animal running across the road and crashing into us! There were signs all along to way to watch out for those animals), which would cause us to have to stop. For we had to drive on long, dark, lonely stretches where we saw no signs of lights or life. Running into a member of the violent white militias that follow Trump around like puppies, seemed like a real possibility, therefore. 

Thank god we didn't and arrived in Jackson Hole close to 10 pm.

When we got to the hotel there, we were pleasantly surprised and happy to be checked in by a black man.

Lady's western-style boots on display at Jackson Hole

Interestingly, for the four days, we were there, we never ran into another black person as this is definitely a lilly- white tourist town. When we asked the clerk who had checked us in how come he was the only colored person in the town, he laughed and informed us that he was on an exchange program from Atlanta. That solved the mystery!

Jackson Hole is very beautiful, especially now that the leaves are changing color and the snow has started to cover sections of the mountains that hover over the town.  It appears to be a popular skiing area in the region, though by no means as popular as Vail or Aspen in Colorado. It maintains traditional western architecture all over town and the stores are full of cowboy paraphernalia. 

This ski run already partially covered with snow

We spent lots of time browsing and were quite upset when we saw an arch in the main park made from stag horns. We thought they killed the poor animals to get the horns. We quickly forgave them when someone explained to us that every spring, stags shed their horns. Boy's Scouts we were informed, then go into the hills and gather them so this is what made the arch.

Arch made from stag horns

Jackson is very central for sightseeing as the magnificent Grand Teton Park is just outside town.

This park, established in 1929 is approximately 310,000 acres and rises 7000 feet above Jackson Hole. It includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley. 

It is absolutely beautiful.

 Its human history dates back at least 11,000  years when the first nomadic hunter-gatherer Paleo-Indians began migrating into the region during warmer months pursuing food and supplies. It has numerous lakes, including 15-mile-long Jackson Lake (referred to above) as well as streams of varying lengths and the upper section of the Snake River.

One interesting trek we had was hiking almost three miles uphill to Hidden Falls. As usual, I was unprepared, for although I had a knapsack with water when we headed out from Jenny Lake, I forget to carry it, so spent a lot of time walking uphill, dying for a drink. Also, the entire area is situated in the continental divide, so my oxygen kept running out as I am not accustomed to strenuous activity in those over 7000 feet altitudes. Before the virus, adventurers could visit the falls by taking a ferry from the entrance to the foot of the falls, but this luxury had disappeared.

It was worth the effort getting there though as, apart from the spectacular flora, the falls and surroundings are really pretty and we saw whitetail deer and chipmunks scampering all along the way and even a lone, fully-grown stag when we were making our way back.                                                                                                                               My granddaughter also had a ball climbing rocks and exploring.                                                                                                                                                                                      We didn't see any bears or other dangerous animals but found it interesting seeing a white woman taking a photo of our license plate on our return!

We could only conclude that she was fascinated by the stickers!                                                                                                       The Idaho Falls con job                                                                                                                                                                      Our biggest disappointment was driving 88 miles to Idaho Falls. I was the one who suggested to the others to check it out since with "falls" in the name, I had visions of beautiful waterfalls ala Niagra.                                                                                                            The name is a grand con job for when we got there and headed to the visitor center, the lady there admitted that lots of tourists are fooled by the name. The only falls there are man-made spill-offs from the pipes in the dammed up Snake River where hydroelectricity is generated! Well, the journey was not a total loss as we were able to get a bathing suit for my granddaughter who had forgotten to pack one.

While the landscape on the journey to Idaho Falls, where the rolling hills and billowing valleys are to die for, there was no doubt where we were politically, as Trump posters were all around, blitzing the natural beauty.

One of the 'falls" at Idaho Falls!

   It was there too that we could literally feel the most animosity as people scrutinized the stickers on the car.😁                         

                                                                    Yellowstone                                                                                                                           

We found it curious though to see quite a few windmills on the way there, considering how the president has told his followers and all who will listen, that they cause cancer!                                                                                                                                               

The next day, it was time for the one hundred mile trip to Yellowstone, or so we thought. For the hundred miles, only took us to the southern entrance! From the entrance, we had to drive another two hours to get our hotel in the park.                                                                                                                                  Almost as soon as we entered and started to drive along the winding but spectacular route inside the park, we came upon Moose Falls and stopped to take a look.

The next stopper to greet our eyes was a huge herd of bison, serenely feeding beside a lake. That's when I was educated about the difference between bison and buffalo for as I declared that they were the latter, I was reprimanded by my granddaughter who informed me that although they look alike, those were bison as they are found mostly in North America whereas buffalo are found mostly in Africa and Asia.                                                                                                                                                                          We never arrived at our hotel until nightfall. It was the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel which is operated by the Park Services. This is a rustic, historic building that was erected in 1938. Clearly, since they expected that their visitors are there for outdoor adventures. they did not bother to have any televisions sets in either the rooms or elsewhere, although the Park does operate a radio station.   They, however, had excellent internet service so we weren't entirely cut off from civilization and there is a large restaurant at a large building close by, although they only had takeout service.

Well, the next morning we were up bright and early and were rearing to head south to explore, but guess what? It had snowed the night before and was 25 degrees. But then again we were in the continental divide where we were told the weather there changes every 15 minutes. We were however fully equipped to handle the snow and quite delighted to see a large herd of elk lolling close by.  However as we headed to the car,  we saw a long line of traffic, none moving, all parked on the sole road out. That's when another driver told us that two vehicles had fallen over a cliff, apparently something that happens regularly there.                                                                                                                          Since we would have nothing to do inside, we decided to head to the northern gate, to the town called Gardner, which is five miles away and the only town in the park. That town is in Montana.  

                                                                                                            To get there we drove down a deep, scenic valley and the traffic caused by the accidents above us stretched almost the entire five miles into that town. The first thing we saw on arrival was an impressive arch, but would you believe it's meaningless! According to Wikipedia, it is named the Roosevelt arch. "Constructed under the supervision of the US Army at Fort Yellowstone, its cornerstone was laid down by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. The top of the arch is inscribed with a quote from the Organic Act of 1872, the legislation which created Yellowstone, which reads: "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People". The idea of the arch is attributed to Hiram Martin Chittenden, who felt that the area surrounding Gardiner was not sufficiently impressive and required an emphatic statement of arrival at the famous park."

So it just stands there, leading nowhere!

Gardner is a small touristy/souvenir town that maintains a western look. It is divided by the Gardner River which is a spill off of the Yellowstone River.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     With nowhere to go fast because of the accident and ensuing traffic jam, we decided to have coffee and hang around town. We finally found a shop that had everything, from a pin to an anchor and a very chatty/informative manager, so we hung around there. That's where I met a white 'rasta, 'clearly very happy to be under nuff ganja. 😆

Gardner River

                                                                                             Being the ever-helpful one, I told him that I was from the land where rasta originated but he seemed surprised and so high that I suspect he still thinks that Rastafarianism had been invented in America! But he admitted that it was the hairstyle that attracted him, not at all admitting that it was the ganja which he appeared to never have enough of!                                                                                                                                                                                                   We eventually decided that the traffic must have been eased by then and headed south. And what a day we had visiting numerous geysers and colorful hot springs. 

While most emitted steam, the Dragon's Mouth geyser had actual hot lava boiling in the pools and it

was far stronger smelling than all the rest combined. All carried a strong sulfur smell.                                                                                

Boiling lava at Dragon's Breath

                            Old Faithful is of course worth its weight in gold. It is so named as it faithfully erupts every hour. Sometimes it goes up ten minutes before the hour or  ten minutes after.                                                                                                                         Jamaica time surely is not as reliable as this geyser!                                                                                                                                                     When we arrived there about twenty minutes before it was due to explode, a grand crowd had already gathered, taking most of the benches supplied. It was extremely cold, but no one was leaving without seeing the spectacle, and it was surely worth waiting for. For some minutes there were false alarms as gusts of smoke would go off into the air then diminish. When the real thing happened, it lasted probably ten minutes. It sure was worth every minute of waiting and even freezing for.

I found it curious that two crows that had been playing together close to Old Faithful while we waited for it to erupt, actually stayed around when it did. I had thought the sound of the eruption and the heat of the steam would have driven them away. No such thing. I guess they are accustomed to it!                                                                                                                                                                                 

 Well, we certainly saw and enjoyed the main thing we had journeyed there for, but as time waits on no one and as we were leaving the next day and dusk was fast approaching, we decided that we had to drive the hour to get a glimpse of the magnificent Yellowstone Grand Canyon before we left. That canyon is 24 miles long and 1200 feet deep.

We barely made it before dark, but still decided to hike down to the falls.

It was quite a long hike on a slippery well-defined path.  But when we got there we were happy we took the chance for it was really breathtaking even better than the grand canyon in Arizona, I thought. There were several "Inspirational points" but we just couldn't see anything by the time we made it back up to the car, after a very slow and tedious ascent.

I have never seen time fly so quickly, but that's what they say happens when you are having fun. For the next day, we had to go back to Colorado. 

Holiday done!

                                                                                                Goodbye Yellowstone

On the way home, we headed southwest and this took us through another humungous set of canyons nestled between the Beartooth and Absaroka Mountains before we arrived at the bottom where you find Shoshone National Park. From there the Shoshone River accompanied us through scenic valleys with huge rock formations on the other side and it is through the rocks that they built a tunnel to take you to the city of Cody.

The tunnel in the rocks leading to Cody

Cody was built to honor the famous cowboy, Buffalo Bill Cody and everything about it represents the 'glorious' cowboy era.                                                      

                                                                                                                     After that, it was miles and miles of lonely road and tiny towns with huge ranches. We were not in any doubt about where the political leanings were, as lots of  "Cheyney"  signs were around. These were no doubt in support of Dick Cheyney's daughter who now sits in the house of representatives.

The next significant area was the Sand Creek Trail named to remind all of the Sand Creek massacres.

According to Wikipedia "The Sand Creek massacre (also known as the Chivington massacre, the battle of Sand Creek or the massacre of Cheyenne Indians) was a massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army in the American Indian Wars that occurred on November 29, 1864, when a 675-man force of the Third Colorado Cavalry under the command of U.S. Army Colonel John Chivington attacked and destroyed a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho people in southeastern Colorado Territory, killing and mutilating an estimated 70–500 Native Americans, about two-thirds of whom were women and children. The location has been designated the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site and is administered by the National Park Service. This was part of a series of events known as the Colorado War and was preceded by the Hungate massacre."

What an absolutely memorable road trip!

UNFORGETTABLE SCENERY

                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

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