Yellowstone and Grand Teton - Wyoming, Idaho, Montana - 9/4-7/10

Yellowstone/GrandTeton – Wyoming, Idaho, Montana – 9/4-7/10


Magnificence and awe.

Tears welcomed me to Yellowstone. Tears of gratitude that we can experience this expanse of untouched land and wildlife, with natural wonders. Our first grand vista was Tower Falls, just past our rustic cabin at Roosevelt Lodge. (We received a warm free-chocolate birthday cake welcome at the lodge on our arrival at 10 PM the night before!)

The weather changes are as wild as the landscape. We could barely stay standing on Mt. Washburn!

It’s clear how Artist Point got its name at Canyon. The Falls are spectacular, and the colors of the cliffs add to the splendor. Sitting atop at Upper Falls and feeling the power of the water reminded me of my visit to Iguazu Falls with Jason and my sister Mariana 4 years ago; I feel Jason’s presence so strongly at times like this.

We got a respite from the crowds sitting (carefully) on top of a landslide cliff, the perfect meditation spot.

And yes, we did spot a grizzly. And yes, we were in the car along with a traffic jam, all trying to get a camera shot of the cute “little” bear. I guess we were one of the lucky ones!

We also saw several bison, elk, bald eagle, osprey, and some large prehistoric-looking waterfowl. One buffalo was so close to the car as we droveslowly by, I got nervous (as in Badlands). As I took the video, the non-agitated and presumably very relaxed buffalo proceeded to defecate. I would have had a priceless video but it didn’t take – got one last photo out of it (you can imagine the rest!)

And of course there are geysers galore. Our favorite spot was Norris. The geysers were more active than usual; a chemical phenomenon of mixing an acidic layer with neutral water added extra heat to the geysers and we got to see usually calm geysers acting up. This photo on the left was taken during a snow storm in Mammoth hot springs.

The next morning, Yellowstone was clad in white. We were appreciating the wood stove in our cabin, the “buffalo chip” wood, and extra sleeping bag that night!

Our new friends Ric and Richard (R&R) from Georgia let us know the Canyon pass was closed due to the snowstorm, saving us an hour backtracking on the way to Old Faithful. Last night we shared a wonderful meal, wine, and great conversation about community in their small town.

We will remember this next image as the river where we lost our car key. It was found again after a long search (it was in the car, nothing too exciting), but we swear we lost our thinking faculty walking through this wonderland. Another great meditation spot!

The river of the lost key

Old Faithful is the icon of Yellowstone, and it is truly amazing how it is so predictable; we got to see two eruptions 90 minutes apart, before and after our fully-satisfying meal at the Yellowstone Inn.

The Inn got more camera shots than the geysers; a man-made wonder of natural timbers.

Leaving Yellowstone would have been sadder if we didn’t have the Grand Teton National Park awaiting us across the border. So much beauty everywhere, and a more peaceful energy than Yellowstone.

We received a wonderful farewell from a family of moose in Moose (don’t they know how to name their towns). A row of camera-eyed humans and park ranger lined up across the stream gave us the tip. We hit the jackpot with a buck, his cow and calf. The park ranger warned us to get ready to leave if they got agitated; they were much closer than I could have imagined being.

After a wonderful organic dinner and "happy tea" at the Lotus Café, a night’s stay in Jackson Village’s hostel and a morning welcome from hot air balloons and mountain-launched parasailers, we headed across Idaho and Montana toward Washington. We celebrated Kule's now having been in all of the lower 48 states! We had to take a classic photo from each state – guess which is which. Yes, we did pass many potato fields in Idaho! We even stopped at an opal mining town (Spencer) and ate at a former one-room schoolhouse turned restaurant in Dell called the Calf-A!

As we left the wilderness, we got some nice shots of the Snake River… Later on, Kule was also excited to pass the exit to Glacier National Park, reminiscing about a high school wilderness trip he did with his brothers and friends.

To get to Washington we passed Idaho twice, with a stretch of Montana in-between, giving us the chance to briefly visit the hip town of Missoula. We enjoyed the huge whole foods store there. Since it is so cold there in the winter, we didn’t take more time to explore it, but it seems like a great town. We stayed in another hip artsy lake-resort town, Coeur d’Elain, Idaho, where we spent the night. We woke up to drive over the border into our last state, Washington, where we are now visiting Kule’s brother Joel and his wife Karen. It’s so nice to be welcomed into a home again! Next blog - Seattle....