Day 2 in Yellowstone
It rained again through part of the night but this time there was no wind, lightning, or thunder so the baby didn't wake up screaming. The rain stopped by 6:00 but the temperature this morning was in the high 30s. Very cold.
When I got up, Mike (Rex's oldest brother) was trying to light the fire, but the lighter wasn't working.
I pulled my striker and char cloth out of the trunk of the bike and made some fire with a couple of quick strikes. The striker throws sparks onto the char cloth. The char cloth catches the spark and begins to smolder without actually bursting into flame. Then put the char cloth on your kindling and gently blow until it gets so hot that fire erupts. It took about 20 seconds from strike to good fire and I think it's cool to be able to do that.
We got the fire going about the time Koren and Rex came out of the tent with Gideon. Or maybe they came out because the fire was going. Koren huddles next to the fire with Foxy trying to stay warm.
This morning we had breakfast burritos and they were warm and nice. Most people huddled over their burrito until it started to cool down before finally eating it, then getting another one and warming themselves all over again.
We left camp at 9:30 with plans to do Old Faithful and all the southern geyser valleys. Our tour guide app (Phil) recommended that we take the Firehole Canyon Road. It's a 2 mile loop along the Firehole river with a stop at some pretty falls where we caught up with one of Rex's sisters and her family. We also took the Firehole Lake drive and saw one of the geysers erupting. I wish they had more of these side roads because it's nice to slow down and cruise around such scenic spots.
We got to Old Faithful by 10:30 and easily found a parking spot. In fact we passed about 10 spots before finding one that we thought was close enough.
Koren and Rex put together their bike trailer stroller. It's a big wide baby trailer with a plastic cover which would keep Gideon warm. The outside temperature felt like it had dropped even lower than when we first got up. It felt like it was near freezing out with a strong wind blowing. So we tucked Gideon into his bubble of warmth. We all wanted to climb in with him.
We headed towards Old Faithful and the visitor's center, but as we got near, a flood of people came walking back toward us. We had just missed the geyser erupting. The next eruption would be nearly 90 minutes from now. So we walked around the visitor's center for a bit. We decided not to sit with the crowds waiting for Old Faithful to spew. Phil had suggested watching from Geyser Hill to get a wider view of the eruption.
We followed the path out past Old Faithful and across a small stream to the Upper Geyser Basin. The crowds that passed us from the last eruption must have headed into the buildings because there were only about 30 other people out in the basin with us. Just small groups wandered the walkways with us.
We followed the path clockwise past the different geysers and steam vents. We picked a bench with a good view to watch Old Faithful, but we still had nearly an hour, so we kept walking and taking pictures.
We started joking that poor Gideon wasn't visible in any of our photos because he was hidden in his little bubble of warmth stroller, so I took a closeup photo of him through the plastic cover.
As the predicted eruption time approached, we worked our way to our bench. We watched the crowds leave the buildings and fight over the benches surrounding the geyser. Even though it was very cold, the benches and walkways filled with people.
I setup my small tripod with my big cannon rebel camera on top and took a few pictures to make sure everything was ready. I wanted a good family with Old Faithful erupting behind us. It was about this time that I realized my camera was actually set to macro mode so my pictures probably weren't coming out right. Oh well, live and learn.
Old Faithful went off about 10 minutes ahead of the predicted time and I got my picture. It's hard to see the geyser stream because of all the steam billowing off of it, but I got what I wanted. We kept watching until the eruption finished, then headed for the cafeteria to warm up.
Sydnee and Beckham had made sandwiches back at camp so we weren't going to buy lunch at the cafeteria, but I did go in and buy hot chocolate for everyone. We grabbed a table to eat our lunch and warm back up. I love the beautiful rough log pillars throughout the lunch room and the windows with views of Old Faithful.
I remember back in the mid 1980s Nannette and I brought our kids to Yellowstone and had some similar weather. It was very cold and we came to the lunch room to warm up. We were sitting here eating when the geyser erupted and had to rush out to watch it.
When we finished eating we left and went to check out Old Faithful Lodge. Phil had told us we had to see it . . . really . . . you gotta go . . . I'm not kidding . . . It's great.
The lobby is so cool with all the rough log structure, massive fire place, railings, and chandeliers.
I was reminded of another memory. Back in the early 1970s, my family came to Idaho in the middle of the winter when Yellowstone is normally closed. But it's actually open to Snowmobiles. Another veterinarian friend of my father came with us bringing their Snowmobiles, borrowed and rented ones as well. We rode in from West Yellowstone and stayed the night in Old Faithful Lodge.
I remember that I stayed in a room on an upper floor with a view of Old Faithful. The first time it went off it was really cool. The second time it was neat. But after 18 hours of eruptions it became old hat. The second day of that trip we rode the lower portion of the grand loop and visited the Upper Falls, then exited back out West Yellowstone. Maybe I'll have to write a more detailed blog about that trip sometime.
Back to the current trip.
I took charge of Gideon and the stroller while the others went into the gift shop. The stroller is so big that it was a challenge crossing the lobby with all of the people but a little time and patience let me cross the lobby several times as I tried to keep Fox entertained. We worked our way around the lobby and down to the fireplace, then down several of the hallways. Any time I stopped for longer than about 30 seconds, Gideon let me know he was displeased so I'd start moving again.
Once they came out of the gift shop I told them I was going to take Gideon back to the car and get him ready to go. He was getting tired and grumpy, and so was I. Sydnee was also done shopping so she came with me.
On our way to the car I noticed that the parking lot was much more full than when we got here, and there were cars moving slowly up and down all of the aisles looking for parking spots. As soon as we got to the explorer, a car stopped and put on their turn signal indicating that they wanted our spot. I walked over and told them we weren't leaving right away and they gave me a very grumpy frown and moved on.
Sydnee buckled Gideon in and I started taking the stroller apart. I'd never done this stroller so it took a while, and every few seconds another car would pull up wanting our spot. I got tired of waving them off and just concentrated on the stroller. Finally I got it loaded in the back, then walked over to the current waiting car. It was a japenese family and I told them we weren't going to be leaving for 20 minutes or more. To my surprise they said that was OK with them and they'd wait for us.
They were blocking all the other cars in the aisle and people were starting to get really mad, so I suggested that they at least pull over to one side so cars could pass. The guy was hesitant to move because he said people had already cut him off from 2 other parking spots when he left too much room, but he eventually pulled over and cars started to pass him.
I went back to the car and radioed Koren to ask how long they were going to be. They were slowly moving through all of the giftshops and had 2 more to go. I stood by the car playing with Gideon while we waited. After 10 minutes one of the guys from the waiting car came by to see how long it would be and I told him another 10 minutes. He just stood there watching us.
When Koren and Rex returned we piled into the car. Rex pulled us out and the japanese guys got our parking spot.
Getting out of the parking lot took 10 minutes with the crush of cars, but eventually we turned north toward the other geyser basins. Koren really wanted to see the fountain paint pots, so we headed for the lower geyser basin. This parking lot was also packed with cars, but we got lucky and pulled right in behind a car as it pulled out.
Phil told us that we could see the 4 primary thermal features of Yellowstone all in this one area. Fumaroles, Geysers, Hot Springs, and Mudpots. Several of the Fumaroles were roaring so loud it was hard to talk. I loved this walk.
When we got back to the car, Rex said he wanted the back seat in the middle with his feet on the hump, and he wasn't kidding. He wanted to take a nap so he climbed in the back seat and I climbed in the driver's seat. We buckled Gideon back in and I think he was asleep before we pulled out of the parking lot.
It was close to 3:30 and dinner was going to be at 6:30. We looked over the map and decided that we could finish the whole of the southern loop in the 3 hours we had left, so we turned south.
Phil repeated allot of his information yet again, but I didn't mind because I kept hearing things that I hadn't understood the last time.
We turned toward West Thumb and saw Yellowstone Lake for the first time.
When we got to the Yellowstone Lake Lodge I asked Koren if she wanted to see where we stayed when she was a little girl, so I turned off toward the lodge. It's a beautiful lodge but we didn't stay there. Back behind the lodge is a series of small cabins and that's where we stayed.
We did have dinner at the Lodge one night. It's probably the fanciest place in the park. We were in the middle of our meal and needed extra butter, but the waiter seemed to be avoiding us. He could probably tell we were lowlife's. Little Koren stood up and snapped her fingers two times and yelled for the waiter to come over. He did, and we got our butter.
We stopped at a couple of other thermal features, but the adults in the car were all tired, so we booted Sydnee and Beckham out of the car with a camera and told them to go see the geysers. Beckham especially loved the Mud Volcano and the Black Dragon's Cauldron.
Not far past the mud volcano we hit a traffic jam. We stopped in our lane and tried peering around the car ahead of us trying to figure out what everyone was looking at but no one seemed to be out of their cars. After a minute or so I noticed that the oncoming traffic was actually moving slowly towards us, but weren't accelerating. They were moving very slowly.
I rolled my window down and stuck my head out to see what was going on and saw the cause of the jam walking down the oncoming lane right toward me. It was a big bull bison and he was just meandering down the road with a bunch of cars behind him. I grabbed Koren's cell phone and started videoing the bison.
We have watched several videos recently about just how dangerous the bison can be, so I felt no desire to jump out of the car to take a picture. But I did see the van ahead of us open their sliding door to take pictures. They kept the door open while the bison walked past them. Koren swears that the bison looked straight at us as it walked past, but I didn't see that because I was holding the camera.
Once the bison passed, the traffic jam (in our direction) cleared right up.
We gassed up at the Canyon Village then continued toward Norris and our campsite at Madison.
We made it back to camp in time for dinner which was a good thing, because dinner was Fry Bread and chili. It was a great meal.
I was heading home in the morning, so I packed up most of my gear.
Koren and Gideon huddled by the fire
Firehole Falls
Hot Springs
Heading toward Upper Geyser Basin (Gideon in his warmth bubble)
That's really Gideon in there
Upper Geyser Basin
Yellowstone Lodge
Beckham contemplating
Waiting for Old Faithful to erupt
All of us with Old Faithful erupting behind us
It just keeps going
Getting ready for lunch
Another hot spring
Md paint pots
A roaring fumarole
Morning Geyser erupting
Walking as a family
First day in Yellowstone
So last night I went to bed under a partly cloudy sky, but with the occasional lightning flash out on the horizon. It was a cool 60 degrees at 10:30 but felt really good.
At 2:00 in the morning, all heck broke loose. A major wind preceded a storm front and was followed by massive lightning and thunder. I thought it was pretty cool until poor little Gideon Fox woke up screaming and scared to death. They might have been able to settle him down but the wind and noise just kept coming and coming.
Even when the storm settled down a bit after 30 minutes, he just kept crying. Koren said he was shivering from fright. They've taught him a bit of sign language like more, and finished, and he kept making the sign for finished over and over.
The rain was coming down very hard but Rex got up and went out in it. He moved everything from the back of their Explorer into the trailer, then got the baby and lay down in the car to block out some of the wind noise. It also muffled Foxy's cries so everyone could go back to sleep. Rex said he settled back down pretty quick once he felt a more secure environment, but he was so full of adrenaline that he just wanted to play and squirm. I don't think Rex got a very good sleep.
It rained off and on throughout the night, but broke for a good long spell at 6:00 which allowed several of us to get up and work on the campsite. We moved all of the chairs under one awning. Then we took the awning that was over the kitchen and moved it over the campfire so people could get warm without getting wet if it rained again. And it did. And the temperature dropped to the high 40s.
The plan for today was to have a simple breakfast to let people eat quick and get out to tour the park. So we sat around eating cold cereal while the rain drizzled on us. Koren got out her supply of hot chocolate and we boiled a pot of water to help everyone warm up.
It was funny and a little sad to see so many people trying to huddle under 2 awnings, one with a fire in the middle, and one with a picnic table in the middle.
It worked because many decided to sleep in, waiting for the rain to stop. It didn't stop.
By 9:30, Rex and his brothers Mike and Burt were ready to go. They all wanted to hike the trails down into Yellowstone Canyon and see the water falls. We figured it would be a good day with less people because of the rain and if we got there early.
We loaded up 2 cars and headed north up the grand loop. We stopped at a few little pullouts, but mostly we headed straight toward the falls.
I had purchased an app for my iPhone called "Gypsy Guides". It's an audio tour that is triggered by the phone's GPS and will tell you about the things you're passing and the things that are coming up. The narrator told us about the history of the park, both geological and political. He told us about the little hidden treasures and the big must see items.
We took one scenic drive that he suggested. A few miles after we turned East on Norris Canyon Road, we turned off onto Virginia Cascades Road. It is a part of the original one lane road that was originally built to cross the park. It is now one way, but it used to carry 2 way traffic. I bet it was quite a challenge sometimes to find a place to pass the oncoming traffic with a canyon and river on one side and a sheer cliff rising up on the other side.
We stopped at the cascades for pictures. The bypass was just as good as the narrator promised us and it boded well for following his advice in the future.
We arrived at the bring of the lower falls trail head and saw the car with the others in it was just unpacking. We pulled into a parking spot right by the trail and started to unload ourselves. In years past, I've taken up to 30 minutes to find a parking spot here, and often well away from the trail head and had to walk back. So the plan is working, rain and early in the day gave us good parking and a relatively empty trail.
I was a bit nervous about this hike. It's about 1/2 mile and 450 vertical feet. I usually come here on a motorcycle with big boots on and wind up with blisters and exhaustion. But this time I was riding in my daughter's car and wearing Asics sneakers given to me by my nephew. This shoes feel like walking barefoot on a plush carpet with a thick pad underneath. I almost feel like I bounce as I walk.
It was sprinkling when we began the hike but the trail wasn't slippery at all. The trail was paved with asphalt and kept the traction all the way down and back.
Rex used a baby sling to carry Gideon down the trail on his stomach. Gideon has a habit of throwing his pacifier and we worried that we were going to see a pacifier go flying over the falls, but he didnt do it. He didn't seem to care much about the falls, he was just happy to be with everyone and kept giggling and playing with everyone.
I started back up the trail before everyone else because I knew I'd be slower than them. I kept myself to an even pace and took a break at every switchback. Half way up the trail, Sydnee caught up with me by running, then she walked with me the rest of the way up. I was passed by everyone else on the last switchback but I didn't make everyone wait for 30 minutes like I'd feared.
We piled back into cars and drove up to Lookout Point. This time I waited in the car with the baby because it was raining. We wanted to go on to Inspiration Point but it was closed so we went to the Canyon Village instead.
We visited the gift shops, museum, and then got some warm lunch. Hot dogs, chili, and backed potato soup. It wasn't great but it was warm and filling.
By the time we got back to the car the baby was very grumpy and tired. Rex was also getting tired after his poor night's sleep so I offered to drive.
This part of the park is know more for it's wildlife than it's thermal features so we were hoping to see a herd of buffalo or elk. It's also a very beautiful part of the park.
Our narrator, who we've nicknamed Phil, kept telling us about the park and pointing out scenic places to stop. But Koren was worried about the baby waking up so we just kept driving. At the north east corner I turned off toward the exit and toward the Lamar Valley. Every time I've been here in the past, it's been full of buffalo but not this time. It was completely empty of wildlife so we turned around and headed to Mammoth Hotsprings.
More narration and more skipped views as the baby stayed asleep. But when we got to Mammoth, the baby woke up in time for us to go to the park's museum. Then it was back into the car to head back to camp. The baby was awake but he was very tired of being in the car and we were late for dinner.
Dinner was pulled pork sandwiches with cobbler for desert. Yummy.
The kids were kind of dominating the fire, so the adults started another fire at one of the other camps, then the kids started coming over and the parents had to send them back. It was funny hearing all the excuses why the kids needed to come over to the adult fire.
To heck with the kitchen, we moved the awning over the fire
Cold and wet
Cold cereal and fruit for breakfast. And rain
More people and more rain. It started to puddle around the fire
Stack all the stuff around the sides and turned the tent into a giant playpen for Foxy
The problem with the awning over the fire is that it traps the smoke if there's no wind
Thanks heaven those chairs are nice and dry
Rex, Gideon Fox, Koren, Sydnee and Beckham at Virginia Cascades
Me and my baby at Virginia Cascades
Starting down the trail to the brink of the lower falls
Looking down the canyon
On the trail
Rex and Gideon with pacifier still in place
Brink of the falls
Sydnee photo bombed by her mom
Sydnee reluctantly posing with her mother
Scenic overlook. Every puff of steam is another thermal feature
The one buffalo we saw all day
Beckham loved having his own personal personal binoculars
More crowding around the fire
Bubbles!! Foxy loves bubbles
These girls love making giant bubbles
More Bubbles
Haven't had much chance to use the hammock. That's my small tent in the background
Ride to Yellowstone with Beckham
My daughter sent a message at 4:30 in the morning telling me they were just leaving Colorado Springs to meet us in Yellowstone. I woke up enough to read the message, then happily went back to sleep
When I woke up again it was 6:30 and I felt rested and ready to go but Beckham was still sound asleep. He really didn't want to wake up. So I fiddled on the computer for a while trying to figure out what we were going to do for the day.
I often do my motorcycle trips this way. Get to one spot, then figure out where and how to get to the next spot depending on the weather and how I'm feeling. I also like to give myself the chance to discover new points of interest along the way.
The big decision was whether to ride hard and try to get to Yellowstone as fast as possible, or take the time to look for fun places to stop and visit. After a bit of route planning, I discovered that we could swing by Martin's Cove with only a minor change to our route, so that became the plan.
I opened the windows and woke Beckham up at 8:00 so we could get ready to go. I started packing my things up and when I turned back around, Beckham was fully dressed in his riding gear, including his helmet. I didn't want to laugh at him or make him feel bad because he looked so eager to get back on the bike. I reminded him we still need to eat breakfast so he had to take helmet, gloves, and jacket back off.
After breakfast we loaded our gear on the bike and got dressed for real. Beckham is really proud of the fact that he can buckle his helmet on all by himself now, even with his gloves on.
We gassed up on the way out of town, then followed the GPS to highway 220 out of Casper.
It was a nice cool morning with temps in the mid 60s. I was concerned that Beckham might be chilly because he gets more wind than I do, but he kept insisting that he felt fine.
We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks along the road for pictures. We passed Independence Rock historical site, and I should have stopped, but I'd received a message from Koren that they were already near the Wyoming border, so I thought we needed to keep going. Later I learned that "Independence Rock" was given it's name because anyone travelling the trial needed to be at the rock by July 4th, or they'd run the risk of hitting snow storms before clearing the Rocky Mountains.
Not far past Independence Rock we arrived at the entrance to the Martin's Cove visitor's center.
If you're not Mormon, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. During the mid 1800s, many Mormons were leaving Europe due to persecution and a call from Brigham Young to come to Utah. Many of these church members were very poor and couldn't afford to outfit a full horse and wagon for the journey, so the church encouraged them to build inexpensive carts that they could load their belongings to pull across the plains.
In 1856 a company of handcarts left late in the season and were caught out on the plains during an early blizzard. A relief company of wagons was sent out an met the handcarts, but the blizzard was still raging and the wind was killing people and animals. The leader of the company led the people off the trail and up into the hills where a depression in the hills provided a barrier to protect them from the wind.
We took pictures at the front entrance, then rode into the visitor's center and took the tour. I would have liked to hike over to cove, or better yet, pulled a handcart over but we were out of time and had to get going.
At 1:30 we were near the town of Lander. We needed to eat lunch, so I asked Beckham "What do you want to eat?". But we were listening to an audio book on my phone and he couldn't hear me. As we came around the corner I saw a McDonald's ahead, so I pushed the button that stops the audio book to make it easier to talk. The music stopped and I asked "Do you want to eat at McDonalds?" and a female voice answered me and said "Not for me thanks".
I freaked out! Was my CB transmitting or something? Who the heck was hearing my private intercom chat with Beckham and how were they talking to me?
Then the same voice said "Dad? What's going on?". I finally recognized the voice as my daughter Koren, Beckham's Mother. What had happened was that she'd just dialed my phone and I'd pushed the button to answer the phone before it even rang. So I was on the phone with her when I'd asked my questions.
I asked Koren where they were but she didn't know. I told her we were just entering Lander and were going to find something to eat. I told her we'd arrive in Yellowstone at about 6:00 because we weren't going to rush. She said the GPS said they'd arrive at 5:00 and were about to stop themselves since they were just approaching a town as well.
Then she said "Wait, did you say you were in Lander?" and I said "Yes". She said "We're just entering Lander".
It turns out they were about 1 mile behind us and probably would have caught us shortly anyway.
I pulled over to let them catch up with us, then followed them through town as we looked for someplace to eat. We found a pizza place that looked pretty good. It violated one of my basic rules because the parking lot was empty, but we figured we'd give it a try.
It turned out to be a great choice. We got cheesey bread sticks and 2 big pizzas. There was nothing left of either one when we got done.
Beckham and I got on the road faster than they did, but I knew they'd pass us pretty quick. I'd told Rex to pass and keep going because I was riding slow and taking it easy with Beckham on the bike.
As we passed through the town of Dubois I saw a huge Jackalope out in front of a gas station. Normally I'd have just passed by, but I decided to flip around and go check it out. I got a picture of Beckham beside the giant Bunny, then noticed a sign saying that the big jackalope was inside. So we went in, and sure enough, there was an even bigger one inside with a saddle on it and a sign saying it was ok to ride and take pictures.
Back on the bike we pushed on toward our goal. We crossed a pass in the mountains and as we came down, we could see the Tetons in the distance. It was the beginning of the national parks.
I pulled up to the gate house and told the guy I was going to Yellowstone. He said I still had to pay for the Tetons as well, so I handed over 40 dollars for a week long motorcycle dual pass. That was a bit steeper than I'd expected.
The speed limits max at 45 through the parks, and there is so much traffic that you're limited to that speed or less. So the last 80 miles took us nearly 2 hours to get into Yellowstone and up to the Madison Campground.
We didn't know where our group was, so I started riding up and down the loops looking for anyone I might recognize. I told Beckham to look as well because they're his relatives, not mine.
We finally found them on the 2nd to last loop back in the "Tents Only" camping area. They had 5 spots all grouped together. Koren and Rex were already well into unpacking. Beckham and I parked, then joined in setting up camp.
Koren was doing "Pintrest Camping", meaning she'd found a bunch of useful tips to make a camping trip better on pintrest. For example, once their tent was up, she laid down some interlocking play mats to give their tent a nice spongy floor rather than having to discover that pinecone or sharp rock in bare feet. It was pretty cool.
I setup my small tent in the official camp spot that was about 10x10 with thumb size rocks. It gave me a fairly smooth surface and great drainage.
Once things were unpacked and camp was setup we gathered around the kitchen for dinner. We were having deep dish dutch oven pizza. At about this same time the rain began to fall. We huddled under the 3 popup awnings to eat but the rain didn't last long, only 20 minutes.
I think there were 15 adults (including me) and about 18 kids. It was a good size group and Koren and Rex's little boy, Gideon Fox, was the youngest. So he got passed around from cousin to cousin like a little prize package.
At 9:30 we went to a campground presentation by 2 of the people that work on the Hubble Telescope. They talked about the discoveries the Hubble has made and how many of the pictures were taken and colored. They also talked about the future of space astronomy.
There were 3 big telescopes setup in an open field, but half way through the presentation the clouds began to pour into the valley and lightning started to strike around us. They cancelled the star viewing and everyone headed back to their campsites.
It was dark by the time we got back to camp, but a nice big fire was burning. We sat around the fire and joked while parents started getting kids in bed. I packed it in at about 10:30.
I'll save the night's events for the next blog.
Beckham ready to roll, except we need to eat breakfast
Pretty little lake, scenic overlook
Beckham at the overlook
Construction traffic, this was our view for 40 minutes
Devil's Gate on the pioneer trail
Martin's Cove
Beckham pulling a hand cart
This is what most of central Wyoming looks like
Tony's Pizza in Lander
More wide open Wyoming
Beckham by a Jackalope
Beckham ON a Jackalope
Beautiful mounts, finally
Grand Teton
Yellowstone
Beckham, nearly done riding but ready for more
Camp kitchen, making pizza
Beckham's cool new walking stick
Rex and Sydnee setting up their tent
More tent setup
