Sunday September 27: The Old Faithful Inn

After 3 nights at the cute cabin at the Lakefront Lodge, we moved to the other side of the park.

The lodge itself was again one of the amazing things about this park. It looks just like you would think it should! Built in 1920.

On the way to our next stop -  the Old Faithful Inn - we found the Yellowstone Falls. Steve was feeling energetic and decided to walk down the trail near the lower falls.


The sign was accurate :-)

Keep in mind that the altitude here is about 8,000 feet.

He said it was worth the climb .....






There are quite a few waterfalls in the park - I believe we stopped and looked at each and every one :-)

We also crossed the continental divide three times as we drove from one part of the park to another. The neat thing was a lake right on the divide that flows both east and west when it overflows!

After another lunch in a picnic area, we arrived at the Old Faithful Inn. This one was built in the early 1900's.

Like stepping back in time ... once again!

No TV, no phones, no air conditioning, no hair dryer - again :-) - and this time, no bathroom!

Hence the supplied bathrobes! It was just like being back in college with the bathrooms with showers down the hallway.

Again a unique experience - although one night of it was enough for me!

And of course the main draw in this area of the park is Old Faithful!!

We managed to see the geyser erupt 3 or 4 times from various viewpoints. My favorite was from the second floor porch of the Inn.

The rest of our time in the park was spent checking out the thousands of thermal features (you can be just driving around and along the road is a hole with steam coming out!) in the park.

Sometime quiet pools of steaming water were alongside areas of geysers that would erupt at varying intervals.

Just an incredible landscape.

One of the most interesting areas of the park were those that were burned in the wildfires of 1988.

The doomsday folks were out as well as very vocal critics of the National Park Service and it's change in fire control policy in the early 70's: basically it was changed to monitor but not necessarily try to suppress the natural fires started by lightning.

Almost 800,000 acres were affected by the fires and it was so evident in areas where so many dead trees are still standing 25 years later. But also in the areas affected by the fires are new stands of pines that are now growing. It's quite interesting. Check it out by clicking here.

And FINALLY - we found the elk!!! We were within 15 miles of leaving the park. It was late in the day and a bit overcast.

In the last meadow, there was a group of 15 elk just hanging out and eating.

Such beautiful animals ....

And that was Yellowstone! Time to head back to the farm for a couple of weeks ......

Will start the blog back mid-October as we head to California for six weeks ... watch out Becky - here we come!!!

Thursday September 24: Yellowstone National Park

First goal of the morning - find the buffalo, elk, bear and any other wildlife hanging around!

Up at 6 am to drive to where we were told we would likely see at least buffalo on the open fields of the valley nearby.

The fog was so thick that we almost missed the herd that was right along the road!!

Spotted a male elk (the antlers are hard to miss) in the fog but really didn't see it very clearly until it crossed the road in front of us! Slow camera ....

The buffalo it seems are EVERYWHERE!! From a herd reduced to less than 50 (due to poaching when the park first opened) there are now between 2,500 and 4,000 that roam the park.

We discovered buffalo on the roadway to actually be a pretty common thing. Who knew? We could have slept in .....





We even encountered a lone male buffalo as he calmly walked down the middle of the road on a highway sided by rock cliffs and guard rails for miles. Just minding his own business!

And of course the cars were quick to avoid him :-)

There is so much to see in this park it's crazy. And I thought the claim of a "grand canyon" of Yellowstone must be a bit of a stretch given that we've seen the REAL Grand Canyon.

I had to take back my thoughts when rounding the bend and seeing this canyon!

It is amazing. But then one or the other of us uses that descriptive word many time throughout the day it seems.

The weather has been perfect. I thought it would be too cold but with the sun out, jeans and short sleeve shirt works great.

Except when the wind is blowing and then a jacket is in order. Lots of picnic area throughout the park for an enjoyable picnic lunch.

The historical aspect of the park is one of it's draws as well. With it being the first ever National Park of any kind, it seems the Park Service has worked hard to keep this history intact.

Steve is standing in front of the same structure that was built here in 1931!

Next stop was Mammoth Hot Springs and it's structures that look like they belong in a cave (my opinion).

All due to the continued volcanic activity that is relatively close to the surface under the park.

This is what I imagine the landscape of Mars to look like!!

The trees just die as the soil becomes too hot for the roots or the sulfur and mineral laden water overcomes the area.








Last stop of the day was at one of the several waterfalls in the area. This one was interesting because of the towers it formed over the years.








The original plan was to continue driving to the Larmar Valley in hopes of seeing more wildlife at dusk - until we figured out that sunset wasn't until 7:15 and we would be an hour and a half from our little cabin.

Change of plans was in order!!! Skip the Lamar Valley and head back.

It was a good decision - and a great first day at Yellowstone :-)

Wednesday September 23: Finishing Up Grand Teton National Park

Yesterday's goal was basically to GET to the park. Today was the day to really explore what it had to offer.

The room at Heart Six Ranch was what you might have expected from a ranch. Log cabin and all. But fun :-)



First stop (after breakfast at the Buffalo Cafe of course) was the visitor center back at Jackson Hole. There was a 3-D relief of the park which really made it easy to see how this mountain range is unique.

There are no foothills at all on the Eastern edge of the range due to the manner in which the forces that formed the mountain interacted - one plate sliding completely under the second one.

So the Grand Tetons seem to just rise right out of the valley floor (which is called a 'hole' - hence Jackson Hole).

Downtown are the visible results of all of the elk that come south from Yellowstone to winter in Jackson Hole on the National Elk Refuge.

Thousand of elk escape the high ground (and 12 feet of snow of their Yellowstone home) and spend the winter here.

Come spring, the males all shed their antlers (which will regrow quickly). The boy scouts scour the refuge to pick up the shed antlers and auction them off as a fund raiser. And what else would you do with them but make an arch?!

 There are still glaciers on the highest peaks but nothing like years past of course.

And nothing like what was around thousands of years ago as the glaciers were forming the landscape of this area. It's amazing how much we have learned today!!

Steve with a life sized moose near the visitor center. We really don't expect to see one of these but you never know, right?

Mt. Moran was one of the highlights today as we traveled north to south with the morning sun providing a very different view than yesterday traveling south to north with an afternoon sun.

Crystal clear waters of Jenny Lake

The changing colors of the aspen trees were even more pronounced with the morning sunshine.


And we made great use of the planning guide provided at the entrance to the park (which by the way for seniors is $10 for a LIFETIME pass to any national park!!! What a bargain).

For some interesting background on how Jackson Hole became a part of the the original Grand Teton National Park, click here.

Bottom line was the congress couldn't agree (and you thought to only happened under Obama :-) ) so President Roosevelt simply created the Grand Teton Monument (which didn't require congressional approval)! Quite interesting though and a great thank you to John D. Rockefeller for spending $1.3 million to purchase lands in Jackson Hole which he then donated to the federal government.

Done with Grand Teton - time to head another hour or so north to Yellowstone.



We were staying in a cabin near Yellowstone Lake that was built in the 1920's. Maybe it's the same one my Grandma Drouhard stayed in when she came out this direction!

Not sure what this cabin was going to look like - I mean really - almost 100 years old???

No TV, no phone, no hair dryer - but a keurig coffee maker - go figure :-) Just a bed, a small table with 2 wood chairs. Shower, no tub. Sink in the main room. What's not to like!

Perfect by our standards (actually a lot nicer than some places we've stayed :-))






Tomorrow: off to look for wildlife - we have very high expectations of seeing buffalo, elk, wolves, bear, deer. You name it, we expect to see it!!

Tuesday September 22: Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

It was a great celebration of my 66th birthday Sunday with a great cheesecake! Of course we had already celebrated when Becky was with us last weekend but nothing wrong with 2 celebrations, right?

And my present from everyone was a complete set of minions!! We had managed to find two of them when they came with McDonald's Happy Meals but it was fun having the whole gang in for the party :-) Becky took 3 with her to LA and one joined John (a friend of Matt's that is a Raven's fan - but a good guy regardless). The rest are headed to the trawler!

The flight to Salt Lake City and drive part way to the Teton's yesterday went well.

Another area of our country that just can't be captured in pictures. It's such a beautiful mountain range.

The ash trees are all changing colors and stand out in contrast to the evergreens. This is overlooking the plains north of Jackson.

We stopped at several visitor's centers (most have a movie - my favorite!!) but always lots of information about the area.

Tonight we're staying at Heart Six Ranch about 30 miles south of Yellowstone. The views are crazy.

And it really is a dude ranch although we aren't taking in any of the activities.

The lodge seems to have an abundance of "carnage" on the walls as our friend Miriam would say.

Kind of reminded us of the farm ......

Yellowstone tomorrow -