Saying goodbye to Yellowstone and the Grand Teton Parks

Saturday, June 6, 2015

This morning is our last day in Yellowstone.  We will drive south of out Yellowstone, through the Grand Tetons and to Jackson Hole where we'll spend the night.

I got up early today and took this photo around 6 am from our window.

Later I took a last morning walk along the lake.  I surprised a family of geese who honked really loudly--I guess they were worried about their goslings!

Another last look at Yellowstone Lake and the mountains around it.

After breakfast, Chuck and I headed south to leave Yellowstone.  I caught this view through the trees.

We went a bit further and saw a lot of people who had stopped their cars and were standing about looking intently.  And so we got our only look (a good one) at two full grown male elk.  They had a lot of points on their antlers!

We stopped at Lewis Falls, not hardly the biggest falls in the park, but still wonderful to see.

Just before we left the park, we stopped at the main gate.  I walked across the lawn and saw this part of the Snake River, which flows south.  It is on the other side of the Continental Divide from the Yellowstone River, which flows north but ends up flowing into the MIssissippi, while the Snake flows into the Pacific.

Here's the sign that terminated our visit to Yellowstone National Park.

And then we drove into Rockefeller National Highway (which is also a park) and then into the Grand Teton park on our way to Jackson Hole.

Chuck had to stop several times so I could take more flower pictures.  These photos of lupine and larkspur were especially clear.

We ate lunch at the restaurant of the lodge at Signal Mountain.  It was warm so we sat outside and saw across Jackson Lake.

I had to take a few more photos of the Grand Tetons as they are so remarkable.

Look closely in this photo and you can see a wall of snow in the middle of the glacer field on the mountain.

We stopped for me to take flower photos, and a fellow traveller took our picture.

Out of curiousity, we decided to visit the National Museum of Wildlife Art.  I think we should have realized what we would see with this at the entrance.

But we parked and Chuck posed before this larger-than-life sculpture of a moose.

Mostly Chuck and I thought that a lot of the work in this museum was not really art. Much of it was paintings by people who were just depicting animals.  Plus a lot of bronze animals like the ones above.  I had hoped for something a bit more original. But there was one totem and a few paintings that were intriguing and unique. 

There was also a special exhibit of the photos of Rachel Sussman called "Oldest Living Things in the World."  You can see the photos at RachelSussman.com.  They are beautiful and astonishing because she has photographed trees and plants that are between 2K and 18K years old.  If you think that's not possible, google her work.  That exhibit was worth the trip!

I caught this little fellow as we walked to our car from the museum.  I think he's a unita squirrel.

We had dinner in Jackson Hole, a place that didn't seem real to me.  Most of the town is shops, saloons and galleries.  Street after street looks like this.  Sort of a Disney version of a town as a shopping mall.

In the center of town is the town square.  Each of the corners has an arch like this (it's made of antlers).  Quite a statement about wildlife.

When we left this morning, the mist was clearing off the hills as we drove to the airport.

Our adventure is over.  It was more than a wonderful journey.  Hopefully these writings, and especially the photos, convey something of the experience.

Our last full day in Yellowstone

Friday, June 5, 2015

Today is our last full day in Yellowstone.  We decided to take a walk near Fishing Bridge, a bridge and village close to Lake Hotel.  We first started on this trail which looks out over this marsh at the north end of the lake.

However, the marsh lands were quite wet and deep, so we decided to try a different walk.  The second walk was a Howard Eaton trail along the Yellowstone river at the head waters at Yellowstone Lake.  There are several Howard Eaton trails in Yellowstone because he was the first person to cut trails in Yellowstone and he cut a lot of them!  Here's the river just below the headwaters.

I can't identify these ducks.  We also saw a great blue heron, a Barrow's Goldeneye with chicks, Canadian Geese with goslings, and mallards. 

Common flax were all along the trail.  Shooting Stars and violets made a nice contrast.

Most of the 2 mile hike we did went along the river, but where it turned into this meadow, we turned around to go the way we came.  Here I am in the meadow.  See the profusion of shooting stars behind me.

Here's two more photos along the river as we headed back.

In the late afternoon, we took our only Park Ranger guided walk of our trip (guided walks just started this week).  We met at the Storm Point trail head with the guide and about 20 other people, mostly adults but a few kids too.

The trail starts at an inlet near the north park of Yellowstone Lake.

As we walked along, we saw many wild flowers, learned about the geology of the land (even there, the ground is really thin crusted and sometimes animals break through and get burned!), and about the difference in forest trees.  

This photo shows how erosion occurs at the end of the lake due to the prevailing winds.

We went out to this point

before heading into the forest.

In the forest we saw this Mule Deer not far away.  Mule Deer are distinguished by their very large ears.

Our biggest surprise was when our Park Ranger guide told us to get off the trail and climb up a hill!  That was after telling us at the beginning not to leave the trails.  So why?  Because of this fellow who was less than 2 feet from the trail!

Here's another photo I took after we detoured around him.  No small critter, is he?

This photo shows a design I think I'll put on some pottery.  It was made by insects burrowing under the bark of the tree. 

After we had dinner, we were sitting in the hotel lobby and enjoying the piano playing.  Families were hanging out together (there's NO TV anywhere in the hotels and cabins in Yellowstone).  I took this photo of the sunset.

The People of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

I don't take photos of other people because it invades their privacy.  However, I have to leave some last comments about the people of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.  Of course, there are the travellers.  We met many very kind and interested fellow travellers, mostly from the US, but a few people from Europe and many Chinese coming from China.  Everyone was, like us, astonished by all they saw.  I didn't hear complaints about the speed limit (45 mph in the park), the need to protect wildlife nor the request that people stay on the board walks and trails.  It's pretty easy to appreciate all the requirements in order to enjoy a very special part of American heritage.

One group of people is no longer present at these parks.  The native Americans roamed the parks for thousands of years.  In the Yellowstone Lake area, anthropologists have found evidence of native people back 11, 000 years!  But they are not part of the park today, largely because the US government moved them out of the parks to reservations in the 1800s.

The most important people in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons today are the rangers and volunteer staff.  They make decisions on the park management, guide visitors on tours, man the various visitor centers, cut down trees that fall on the road (which happens plenty in the summer), clear trails (of trees and other problems), and do a hundred other things that we visitors don't know about.  Without them Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons as parks would cease to exist.  I feel like they should get a weekly thank you from all the park visitors.

The final large group of people are the service staff.  These people, largely young adults, but with a sprinkling of people from 35-70, serve meals, clean rooms, wait at luncheon counters, play music in the hotel-lodge lounges, ring up sales for groceries and souvenirs in the park shops and visitor centers and work at the self-service laundries.  I met a good number of the service people and talked with them.  Everyone was friendly, loves Yellowstone, and was happy to talk as they did their work.  Most of these people spend May to mid-October at Yellowstone, and they work elsewhere for the winter (or if retired, spend winter someplace warm!).  A few live year round at the park (which is only possible at Mammoth Hot Springs).  They are certainly not paid big salaries, and their job benefits are few.  They are essential to the existence and comfort of visitors to Yellowstone.  I thanked everyone I could, but we cannot thank them enough. 

So Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks are wonderful people places as well as home to amazing beauty, unique geology and fascinating wildlife and plants.

A day around Yellowstone Lake Hotel

Thursday, June 4, 2015

We are now at Yellowstone Lake Hotel, which sits right on Yellowstone Lake.  Built in 1891, it is the oldest of the 3 historic hotels we have stayed in within the park.  It is enormous and very recently renovated.  It's lovely and grand.  Here's a view of the hotel front (which shows only about 1/4 of the length of the hotel).

The view from the hotel to the lake is also the view out our hotel room (we got lucky and asked for a lakeside view when we arrived!)

Hotels of this age retain a few old fixtures, such as this lovely water fountain and this fireplace, both from the early 1900s.

 By contrast, here's all the choices for what to do with your coffee cup, water bottle, etc.

This hotel also has a lovely lounge area with views to the lake.

 This morning I did my morning walk along the lake.  Here's the Lake Ranger's station (with a lake view of course).

This meadow opens onto the northeast edge of the lake.

 I found more blue flax as I walked along.

Chuck and I wanted to do a walk today, but the easy one, a 3 mile trek on flat ground called Natural Bridge was just opened and still had the possibility of encountering bears.  So we opted for a real hike:  Elephant Back Trail, which was 4 miles long and up 800 feet to the top of Elephant Back mountain.  Since the trail begins at 8700 feet, it was tough slogging up.  But the woods were delightful.  I found these Globeflowers along the way.

Here's Chuck on the trail. At the trailhead there were hiking sticks to borrow, which we were really glad to have!

Here's the view at about the point that I wondered if I would make the top (our hotel is just at the water's edge at the bottom in this photo).

Here are the rewarding views for our efforts!

On the way down, I took this shot of the forest.  It's hard to see, but the side of the trail was covered in Glacier lilies.

I discovered this lovely native orchid (the Fairyslipper, also called Calyso Orchid) on my way down, right along the path.  I think I was working too hard on the way up to notice it!

After our hike, we headed to Fishing Bridge Junction for lunch, and then to the hotel for a nap.  Just before dinner, Chuck took this photo of me,

and I took this photo of these American wigeons.