Years ago one of my hobbies was photographing, identifying and cataloging wildflowers. I still love photographing them and it’s a lot of fun seeing the differences and similarities between Eastern and Western Wildflowers. We are out west at the right time for viewing. The meadows, hillsides, roadsides and yards are loaded. I hope you enjoy the sideshow.
Category Archives: Update
Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks Wildlife Photos
Yellowstone Photos
You can only imagine the number of photos I took at Yellowstone. The uniqueness of the area is beyond belief. The photos don’t do the reality justice. Here is just a sampling of some of the amazing phenomena and scenery in Yellowstone.
Seattle, Washington
Last stop on the “Grand” Tour. They leave for home tomorrow. David played taxi driver and drove Rowan, Ricky and I into the city. He dropped us off at the corner of Pine St and 5th Ave, Monorail Station. David is a “country guy”. Walking around a big city for hours is not his idea of fun. He stayed with E T.
Ricky and I have been up to the top of the Toronto Space Needle and really wanted to go to the top of the Seattle Space Needle, so we made it work. It almost didn’t, reservations should be made on line or purchased early, if you’re looking for a specific time. We only had a few hours to spend in the city and the only, on site tickets, available were for the last possible time slot on our agenda, but we made it!
It was fun and the view of Mt Rainier is very cool, but you can get some great ones just driving on the highway. Toronto VS Seattle, both Space Needle and City, Ricky and I agree Toronto any day. The elevator ride views are awesome, but the ride is too quick.
We enjoyed a walked down Broad St. to Sculpture Park and along the waterfront.
It was a good way to wind down an amazing 3 weeks of “Grand” Time!
Enjoy the Slideshow!
The Hiawatha Trail – Taft, Montana – Pearson, Idaho
It was an excellent choice to leave Glacier a day early and bicycle The Hiawatha Trail. One of my goals is to ride a bicycle trail in every state. Today I knocked off two states on one trail. The Hiawatha Trail starts in Taft, Montana and 15 miles later in Pearson, Idaho is the shuttle trailhead. We were shuttled back to Roland, Idaho and rode back through the 1.7 mile Taft Tunnel to the East Portal Trailhead in Taft, Montana. We really crossed the line this time 🙂 Was this fun??? Yes!!!
Ten tunnels and 7 sky high steel trestles with a gentle 1.6% average grade that drops 1,000 ft over it’s 15 miles length was fun, thrilling and loaded with fantastic scenery. This is a mountain bike trail. Most of the trail is rough gravel and the tunnels hard packed dirt. It was challenging, but the gentle down hill slope made it VERY enjoyable.
We are spending the night in Pinehurst, Idaho at the By The Way Campground. It’s directly across the road from one of the Trailheads for the 73 mile Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes recreational trail. We did not bike it, but walked E T for a few miles to a doggie dipping creek. If I were 20 years younger I would add this trail to my list of to do’s. I would never have imagined Idaho would be the biking meca that it is.
The Grands are having an awesome time traveling in the RV. We are so glad that they are enjoying the views. Just another plus to RV traveling 🙂
Yes, they are seat belted!
Leaving Glacier National Park, Montana
We are all just about hiked out and have learned about a bike trail in Idaho that sounds interesting, The Hiawatha Trail. The fires have put a damper on what you can see and where you can go, easily. It is possible to get to the East side of Glacier, but it’s at least a two and a half hour (one way) ride and the visibility could be limited. The smoke from the fires here are blowing east, but now we are getting smoke from the fires in Washington, Oregon and California.
Surreal!
Ricky and David rode the shuttle back up to Logan Pass. I think David could ride The Going to the Sun Road all day and never tire of the views. We have to come back when the entire road is open.
There is also a hike we would love to do, The Highline Trail. This is an 11 mile, mostly downhill trail that goes along the mountainside from Logan Pass to The Loop, where you can get a shuttle back to Logan Pass and then back down the mountain. I would love to come back in the Spring or Fall, when there is no smoke and it’s cooler, to hike this trail. It is a mountainside trail with very little shade. It is HOT here with no breeze. Not what I expected for Montana weather. We met a “local” that told us this is NOT unusual weather, nor are the fires. They happen every year. Her suggestion was, late July and August are not the time to visit the area, unless you like hot and smoky.
Rowan and I hiked two GREAT trails, The Trail of the Cedars and Avalanche Lake. Trail of the Cedars is a paved, 0.7 mile, handicapped accessible trail. It has an awesome waterfall that for the life of me, I could not get a good photo. I could sit on a bench here for hours and wallow in the scents, sounds and sights.
Next we hiked the 2.0 mile (one way) Avalanche Lake Trail. This was our kind of hiking. nice and shady with gorgeous scenery. It took us 3 times longer to get to the lake than to get back, but it was worth it. We are hiking in mountains 🙂
After dinner we took a night cruise on Lake McDonald. This was the deal of the day. A one hour narrated cruise around the lake for $17 an adult, children 12 and under half price.
Glacier National Park, Montana
I’m going to sound like a broken record, AGAIN, but there is no country more beautiful and diverse than the United States of America. Driving through Montana was yet another visual treat.
We almost changed our plans to not visit Glacier National Park, because of the fires on the northeast side of the park. Our reservations were for Fish Creek Campground in the Apgar Village section of the park (Dry camping, $11.50 a night). Fish Creek is a just a few miles south of the West Entrance to the park. To give a perspective, Glacier National Park is approximately the size of Connecticut. If there is a fire in the Northeast, unless it’s on the news the people in 3/4 of the state wouldn’t even know it.
So here we are and glad we came. The big draw is that there are only 25 Glaciers left in the Park (down from well over a hundred). It is expected that within the next 5 – 15 years the Glaciers will be gone due to warming. Seeing a Glacier was actually anti-climatic for me. I had somehow gotten Icebergs and Glaciers mixed up. It was just O.K. looking up at a mountain top miles away and seeing dirty snow.
Going to the Sun Road is a thrilling ride. Overlooks, overhangs, switchbacks and steep inclines and declines treat you to spectacular views.
Only about 2/3 of the road is open, because of the fire. We rode the FREE (30 person) shuttle bus from the Apgar Visitor center to Avalanche Trailhead and then transferred to a smaller (10 person) shuttle van up to Logan Pass (Continental Divide). There are narrated tours (Red Bus is one of the most well known and popular) that you can take. We decided to do the FREE shuttle first and then decide if we wanted to pay for a tour. I’ve commented before in many of my blogs that the National Park Service does an amazing job of presenting there parks. The Visitor Centers are full of information. There are FREE Ranger led talks and hikes available. One of the Rangers that I had talked to had recommended several hikes. The Hidden Lake Trail at Logan Pass was not a disappointment.
Here’s a short Ricky, story. The Hidden Lake Trail is 1.4 mile UP mountain hike. There are boardwalks, bridges, steps, rock and hard packed dirt sections. Ricky and Rowan are a LOT quicker going UP than David and I. This trail is packed with hikers. Ricky and Rowan were allowed to go ahead of us and stop and wait at “rest stops” along the trail. At what I thought was almost the top of the trail, Ricky came walking back to me and said “Gramma, you going to be disappointed with the Lake, it doesn’t look good.” Oh Man! I walk up and over the ridge and … it’s a little dinky stream more than a lake.
Ricky started smiling. Up and over yet another ridge is not only an emerald green lake, but a spectacular view. He’s funny 🙂
Our site is a short distance from Lake McDonald and E T has been able to enjoy a few dips.
Ricky and David are just about hiked out. This morning Rowan and I are going to shuttle up to the Avalanche Trailhead and hike two trails that a Ranger recommended. David and Ricky are going to ride the shuttle up and down Going to the Sun Road. In the afternoon we are going to take a tour boat ride around Lake McDonald. Good Times 🙂
Note: Our Hot Spot is working here, but very slow, that’s why there are so few photo. This is a photographers paradise.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho
July 26 – 31, 2015. This was mine and David’s second trip to Yellowstone. The first time we drove in the East entrance. This time we drove in through the South entrance via Wyoming Highway 26 and Grand Teton National Park. David and I have traveled MANY scenic highways. Highway 26 was our most breathtaking drive to date. Some of our elevations reached 10,000 ft. From just north of Lander, Wyoming, where we picked up highway 26 to Yellowstone was about 100 miles of absolutely amazing views. The most spectacular moment was when the Grand Tetons came into view and we were almost nose to nose with them. I almost jumped out of my seat. We were all giddy with excitement.
The Grands have been GREAT! That’s both the children and the mountains 🙂 Rowan and Ricky did start to get a bit perturbed with my picture taking of them. At the beginning of our trip when I asked them to pose the response was “sure”. Now it’s “Thanks Gram, I’m Good.” When the photo op came along at the Grand Tetons they stepped up to the base.
We had reservations inside Yellowstone, at Madison Campground (Senior pass price $7.50 a night), for 6 nights. Our site, Loop C #773 is shady, level and very spacious. We had enough room to play frisbee with E T in “our yard”. This is middle of nowhere camping. Flush toilets and a cold water, dish washing sink are the only “modern” amenities. Ricky had no shot at WiFi. We had no cell service. The Ranger at check in showed us where the phone booth was if we needed to call 911. Remember phone booths???
The main road through Yellowstone is a 142 mile figure eight. Madison Campground is on the west side of the park. From Madison heading south to Old Faithful is 16 miles. Madison heading north to Norris Geyser Basin it’s 14 miles. Madison heading north to Norris than east to Canyon, 34 miles. Getting around the park takes time. Speed limits vary in the park from 15 to 45 mph. Maximum speed limit of 45 mph is strictly enforced. Many areas of the roadway are what I call “thrilling”, no guard rails with cliff and canyon drop offs. Most of the time traffic is going slower than the posted speed limits. The scenery and wildlife on the roadways seem to have that effect.
Our goal was to cover the seven main areas; Old Faithful, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Norris Geyser Basin, West Thumb, Mammoth Hot Springs, Fountain Paint Pots, Mud Volcano and as many side areas as possibly. With 6 days to do it, our goal was easily accomplished. We spent an early evening and an early morning in Hayden Valley hoping to see a bear or wolf. No luck with them, but Bison herds were very entertaining at both Hayden and Mud Volcano. At Hayden they were walking down the road, crossing the road, rolling in dirt along the side of the road and best of all, they gave a “grunt” concert worthy of a standing ovation. Mud Volcano is a 1/2 mile, hillside, loop trail. It’s part boardwalk, stairs and hard packed dirt through a forest of geothermal features (Mud Volcanos, Hot Springs, Caldrons, Fumarole’s). I huffed and puffed my way to the top, really looking forward to the downhill. We no sooner get 3/4 of the way downhill and turn the curve and here’s a herd of Bison. They were on the path, hillside and even on part of the boardwalk! They were blocking the exit. There was no way to get around them safely. So back UP and around and down we go. Finally, we get to the bottom and I needed to use the rest room. There were no Bison near the restrooms. I come out and look to my left and here are 3 BIG BISON BUTTS. I back myself away to safety and this lady tells me that if I had tried to open the door a minute sooner I would have hit one. Oh my God! I would have totally freaked out! Being in a “Earth Friendly” aka “Stink to High Heaven” rest room was bad enough. Being trapped in one by a bison would have been a nightmare. When I get back to the car, David says he was serenaded with grunts when he was in the men’s room. Only in Yellowstone can something like this happen!
Yellowstone is a true phenomena. It has 50% of all the geothermal features on this planet. Rowan and Ricky were not fond of the “rotten egg smells” aka sulfur odor. As soon as you start getting close to one of these areas the stink prevails. They also weren’t as in awe of the visual beauty, as I thought they would be. Knowing about all the bacteria, poison gasses, eruptions, earthquakes, aka, scientific “stuff” made them much more serious. I’m sticking with beautiful. All the scientific stuff scares me.
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (including Upper and Lower Falls) is one of my favorite areas. The hiking is fabulous and the scenery awesome. The best way I can describe the views are picture postcard perfect. All four of us hiked the South Rim Trail. Rowan and I hiked the North Rim Trail as well. The South Rim is longer, rugged terrain, very steep at times, but more picturesque. The North Rim Trail is a little rocky, but has less steep inclines. It also takes you away from the canyon edge into more secluded forest for a mile or so and then back to the spectacular canyon. I have no photos from this visit. I left my camera back in the RV 🙁
The wildlife is absolutely amazing. Our list of sightings include; River Otter, Bison, Fox, Elk, Yellow Bellied Marmut, Pronghorn, Martin, an Osprey in her nest with three babies, a very cute rabbit and many very creepy squirrels. The squirrels make this startling screech, it’s worse than fingernails on a chalk board.
When David and I were here the first time we had “Old Bessie” our 20 year old RV. It was Sept and some of the roads in the park were only accessible by car. We could not get to Mammoth Hot Springs or the Tower – Roosevelt areas. Mammoth Hot Springs is a phenomena in it’s self. The features here are like no other in the park. The cascading terraces are absolutely beautiful. It is a must see area of the park. The Tower – Roosevelt area is mostly a scenic ride with access points to many hiking trails. Megan missed not having her Dad there to hike Mount Washburn. It’s a three mile hike, UP to the top of the mountain.
Two side trips that turned out to be very nice were the Fire Hole River and Fire Hole River Canyon Drives. They were only a few miles from Madison. The Canyon has a swimming hole. Try as he did, David could not get the kids to go swimming with him. After learning about all the “scientific stuff” flowing in the area, I wasn’t going in that water either. Fire Hole River Drive has White Dome Geyser that goes off every 5 to 45 minutes. I thought it was more spectacular than Old Faithful. Funny thing about Geysers is you really never know when, where, how high or for how long one will go off. They are totally amazing to watch.
As fate would have it, the first Geyser the kids saw go off, just happened to be “My First Geyser”, Spasm!
With some of our evening downtime we went to Ranger talks on topics about Bear and other wildlife in the park. We played Scrabble and Racko, two of my favorite games. One night Ricky and Rowan sat around listening to a Podcast that Rowan had downloaded on his I-Pod, Welcome to Night Vale. David got a big kick out of remembering how he used to sit around at night listening to radio shows. Things haven’t really changed that much.
At one of the gift shops I bought a CD/DVD package about Yellowstone ($18.95). We were doing so much driving around that I thought it would be interesting to listen to the CD as we drove. That is how we learned about Fire Hole River and Canyon Drives. It is also how Ricky became obsessed with seeing Obsidian. This is a black volcanic glass that is a Doctor preferred material for scalpels. We found it at Black Sand Basin 🙂
Last but not least, our weather. This is unbelievable, it’s July … We had snow three nights ago. No accumulation, but it was snowing. Three out of the six nights we had to use heat at night. We had gorgeous 70 degree weather in the afternoons. We are having an amazing adventure.
Current location, The Jelly Stone RV Park in Missoula, Montana. Full Hook Up, Looooong Hot Showers and Crappy Internet! We are all using David’s hot spot. He has taken pity on us 🙂
No Photos this post, but when we get to civilization, I have some awesome shots. One in particular of a bison rolling in dust and another of E T standing next to a geyser. There might be a couple of candid photos of the Grands 🙂
Next Stop Glacier National Park, Montana. Our camp site is in West Glacier at Fish Creek Campground.
Wyoming
I warned the kids, today was going to be a looooong travel day, 336 miles according to the GPS. We are headed Northwest to Grand Teton National Park and then Yellowstone. We took I 80 to Scenic Hwy 287. The scenery has been pretty awesome. Enjoy the slideshow 🙂
We stopped for the night at Twin Pines Campground in Landers, WY ($38.26 full hook up). This is a surprisingly nice campground in the middle of no where. There are pine trees and a small pond. There’s only about 20 sites, reservations are recommended. There is nothing else around for miles.
Gas Update … We left Colorado almost empty so we had two gas stops in one day. First Stop we took 43 gallons $3.14 per gallon, $135.22 . Next stop David decided to run 91 octane, the RV was dogging it a little on the hills. He thought we might have gotten some bad gas at the last stop. We took 52 gallons $2.89, $148.45. The RV is now running smooth 🙂
Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colorado and Golden, Colorado
We’re back in Morrison and switching gears. Last weekend we were here to watch Richie run a Marathon. This weekend we are here to watch some drag racing.
Back to Bear Creek Lake Park, Indian Paintbrush Campground.
The Thursday before the Mile High Nationals the National Hot Rod Association and Bandimere Speedway host a Block Party in Downtown, Golden, CO. This is a very funky Western town.
Back to Red Pocks … Rowan
wanted to get a penny pressed at the Museum.
I haven’t been giving many E T updates. She is doing amazing. Having Richie and the kids here has been wonderful. We were worried about her not getting enough exercise at Rocky Mountain National Park, because the ONLY place dogs are allowed is in the campgrounds on a 6 foot leash. Not a problem, even after all the hiking we did, as soon as we got back to the campground the kids were out walking her. Here in Morrison she is allowed on many of the trails.
In the morning, before heading to Bandimere Speedway, Rowan and I took E T hiking at Dinosaur Ridge. This is a fabulous place for people of all ages. If you’re not a hiker, the Friends of Dinosaur Ridge have a shuttle up the mountain. We stopped briefly at the Dinosaur Ridge Discovery Center, a small museum and gift shop and picked up a trail map. E T was welcome in the Center, but she would have been afraid of the dinosaur exhibits. There is no admission fee.
UP the trail we went. Along the ridge were placards showing you where things were and how they looked. Then you knew how to find them yourselves.
The one and a half mile, UPHILL trail is more road then trail. It has lanes marked for bicyclists and walkers. At the top you can pick up the Dakota Ridge Trail. It’s a very long mountain ridge trail, kind of like the Appalachian Mountain Trail. We decided to hike a portion. Rowan has this thing about hiking up and up and up. This is not only a hiking trail, but a mountain biking trail as well.
At the top a hiker warned us about a rattlesnake they had seen further up the trail. Yes, there are rattlesnakes in this area. We are in hot, dry conditions and our elevation is only in the 5,000 ft range. Anyone ever heard of Denver, being called “The Mile High City”? So we turned around 🙂
At the top of the ridge we got a sneak peak at Bandimere Speedway.
The racing was AWESOME. Track records were being set in all classes. The weather forecast of zero percent rain was correct, but it didn’t mention “spritzing”. The slightest sprinkle and racing is suspended. It turned out to be a very loooooong day, but quite the experience. Ricky LOVED it. Rowan did not. It was too loud and too smelly. The Grand Stands are built into the side of the mountain . When the Top Fuel-ers went down the track the earth shook.
Next Stop Wyoming