West Trip Day 16: Mammoth Springs loop

Tuesday, June 29

The plan for today was to take the northern loop of Yellowstone Park. We began by driving west to Norris and then north to Mammoth Springs. As we approached Mammoth (so named for the giant hot springs there, traffic slowed down. We soon saw why. Elk were roaming aimlessly across the road and were hanging out in shady spots all over town.

The Mammoth Springs were lined with boardwalks that took you to each of its features. Today was extremely hot, even though the thermometer only read about 86º. There were many people walking around with umbrellas to keep the sun off of them. At altitude it is much easier to get a sunburn so we had to slather with lotion ourselves to prevent this. This wasn't something we were looking forward to do since taking showers were a luxury in Yellowstone.

The springs in Mammoth were large, but not particularly interesting. The water seemed to be flowing less than usual so it looked more like unusual rock structures. Because of that and the heat, we decided to take a lunch break and continue on the loop.

All of the picnic tables in Mammoth were taken so we decided to drive on until we found a picnic spot. On the drive we saw a lot of huge elk, some very close to the road.

On the way we discovered a petrified tree. I didn't know this, but this particular tree is a redwood tree that turned to stone during the last eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano 640,000 years ago. Redwood, of course, is native to California, not Wyoming. After being covered in volcanic ash, the ash minerals filled all of the pores of the tree and fossilized it, making it hard as a rock. At one point there had been three trees like this here, but souvenir hunters had chipped down the other two.

We continued on and stopped at the campground and restaurant at Tower, but it was packed so we just decided to head back home and eat. We ate lunch and then Greg watched the kids while Jen, Beth and I did laundry. While we were gone, Greg "watched" the kids. By this, I mean he took a nap on the picnic table. The boys played a lot of Pokemon on their DS while the girls did Stoga (Yoga on a stone) and see-sawed on a large fallen tree.

That evening we drove the road through Lamar Valley which many had told us was thick with wildlife. We saw bison, elk, fox, and a black bear and a grizzly through binoculars.

Try not to drop the camera out the window!

On the way back we were caught in a “bison jam” for about 15 minutes. As we finally made it through some people who had pulled off ahead of us clapped and cheered for us.

Because of the delay, we were leaving a little later than we had hoped to. I was concerned about driving home through some very curvy mountain road in the dark. In the twilight, we spotted a bear in the woods to the right of the road. We stopped to get a picture, but it was a little too dark. This was the best we could do.

As the sun began to set, a storm moved in and provided us with a spectacular lightning show. We arrived at the campground around 10:00 just before the rain came. We went to sleep that night to the sound of rain once again.

West Trip Day 15: Hike to Mt. Washburn

Monday, June 28

We woke to a very chilly morning. Each morning we camped we'd fire up the propane stove to heat some water for coffee, oatmeal, tea, and hot chocolate. This morning it tasted especially great. Our plan today was to hike to the ranger's station at the top of Mount Washburn. Mount Washburn is notable because it allows you to view the entire Yellowstone valley that was created by the last eruption 640,00o years ago. We had heard that it was a long and challenging hike, but was one of the best in the park. At the parking lot, the kids were immediately drawn to the piles of snow. The elevation of this area was around 8,900 ft. above sea level.

The hike began by taking you up some moderately sloped switchback trails. I had read in a book that in the early 1900's, they had driven Model T cars up this hill to the top backwards. They did this because cars at this time did not have fuel pumps and would run out of gas to the engine at this steepness. From time to time you could still see remnants of the old road that was used.

The views all the way up were spectacular. At one point we could begin to see the ranger station on top of the mountain. It looked a long way off.

We paused at a few point to catch our breath and capture some pictures.

The higher we hiked, the fewer trees we would see and the more snow. We were surprised to find that we had to hike through, over, and around a lot of snow. The tempatation was just too great - we each took turns pelting each other with snowballs. A lot of the snow piles were melting in the afternoon heat making it a slippery and sometimes muddy hike.

At one point, Jen and Rogan (who were leading) went down a wrong path. Instead of retracing their step along the trail, they decided to take a "shortcut" over a huge mound of snow. It appeared solid at first, but eventually gave way under their feet and they both went waist deep into the snow. Both had trouble getting out, but eventually did after getting a little cold and wet. Since Rogan was upset I didn't snap any pictures, but Jen was game enough to reenact the incident on the way back.

Hurry up and take the picture!

By the time we reached the top of the mountain, we were all pretty tired but excited that we had accomplished the feat. We sat down at the top and had some drinks and snack and took in the view a little bit.

We then gathered for some pictures by the sign at the top.

Greg and I called our dads on top of the mountain, too. We both had a full cell signal. I told my dad that I beat our hiking record by 43 feet. As I looked back though, my previous hike was actually higher than this. My previous best was 10,700 feet. Even though this hike was challenging, it does not even compare to the "Hike from Hell".

We explored the ranger station for a bit. We signed the log book. "We came. We saw. We conquered." It was really neat as you could look out in almost any direction for almost 100 miles. We could see the Teton Mountains 75 miles away clearly. I could see Mount Sheridan 38 miles away.

Mount Sheridan is significant because it was the other side of the valley where a super volcano erupted. I tried to visualize an eruption this large, one that was a hundred thousand times greater than Mount St. Helens. One that left 8 feet of ash over all of Nebraska. An eruption that changed the world's climate for centuries. The 3 eruptions in the area have been happening about every 600,000 to 700,000 years. So far it has been 640,000 years since the last eruption. They are due for another any time. Weird thought.

On our way out, we talked to the ranger that lives at the top of this mountain during the summer months. He was a very pleasant guy. He said he has supplies brought up every week or so. He does have electricity, but has no running water. He gets all kinds of "company" in the form of hikers during the day, but spends a good bit of the rest of the his time in isolation -reading, listening to the radio, and importantly, watching the horizons for fires.

All in all, the hike took about 4-1/2 hours. We rewarded our tough work today by going to the visitor's center for ice cream again. Then we went to the campsite where most of us read and relaxed. I blogged and Rogan played his DS.

That night we decided to go see two scenic overlooks of the Yellowstone River.

One of the overlooks was of the Upper Falls and one was of the Lower Falls. We were pretty tired from the long hike earlier in the day, so we didn't want to walk too far. Fortunately, the Upper Falls was only 1/8 mile and the Lower Falls was 3/8 mile but with a 600 foot descent.

The view of this powerful waterfall was amazing!

The kids climbed on some of the rocks for some pictures.

They even found a small cave to hide in.

The hike up was harder than we thought. The switchbacks kept climbing and climbing, but we made it.

It was another awesome day!

West Trip Day 14: Move to Canyon campground

Sunday, June 27

Today we stopped at a geyser area called Artist Paint Pots. This area is so named because the hot springs are filled with many colors like the pallet of a painter.

While there we watched a mud pot that gurgled as gases flowed up through it. Luke was hit with mud as some of the mud spewed a bit farther than normal.

Today we moved to our new campsite at Canyon campground. As we approached the campground we ran in to a line of cars caused by a "bison jam."

One of the perks of Canyon Campground was that they had pay showers. It had been since Wednesday (4 days) since we’d showered and everyone was really looking forward to getting clean. Believe it or not, I didn't feel that gross not showering. The air is so dry out there that your skin stays very dry and you don't sweat very much. In addition, most days were very cool. Still, I warned the person I paid for the shower that it was possible that we would clog up the drains from all of our grease and dirt. We all took a double shower and felt much better.

Hot showers! Hallelujah!

Freshly cleaned, we visited Canyon ‘s Visitor’s center. While there, the power went out so we decided to do some shopping for some food. By the time we had gathered everything we wanted to buy, the cash registers stopped working because of the power outage. One of the people there had to write down the upc code for each item and look up the price. At the register, a girl used a solar calculator to figure our total. It took forever, but we got it done.

That night we drove to Hayden Valley and saw elk, bison, even a grizzly bear. As we came to one area, there was a big slow down of cars and a park ranger with her lights on. The park ranger was controlling and monitoring a crowd of people trying to get a look at the grizzly bear. I climbed up on a hill to get a better look.

These weren't the bear we saw, but aren't they cute?

Right after we saw the grizzly, we stopped at a spot called Mud Volcano. It was a boardwalk trail through some hot springs and mud pots. At the end, we came upon a spot where 3 bison where grazing. We were nearly boxed in as they moved toward us. At one point a bison scratched itself on a lodge pole pine. We could see the tree swaying back and forth.

The were no vehicles or guard rails to protect us here.

That night we cooked pizza pies over the campfires. It was another great day.

West Trip Day 13: Ferry Falls Hike and Geysers

Saturday, June 26

Today was our first full day in Yellowstone Park. We decided that after breakfast we would go for a hike. The girls had picked out a hike to Ferry Falls. It was about a 6 mile hike that ended in the fourth highest waterfall in Yellowstone. The hike was through a section of forest that had been badly burned in 1988 and was now in the process of regrowing. The new growth was usually around 6-8 feet high and the old dead trees are mixed in both standing and on the ground. All together it makes for an odd look.

The hike was a nice and easy with just a slight incline. We hiked to Ferry Falls in no time an enjoyed the view.

The falls were very tall and reminded me a lot the waterfalls we had seen in Hawaii.

The water cascading down was quite loud which meant you could hear it for a good distance as you hiked up to it. This made a nice incentive to keep going.

Still feeling good, we decided to continue on to a spot called Imperial Geyser. As we walked we followed a hot spring fed stream. The stream looked harmless enough until you noticed all of the dead plant life around it. The water is often above 200º and is nearly as acidic as a car battery. I snapped this picture of a dandelion growing on a dead log in the stream. It shows that dandelions are like cockroaches - they can survive anywhere.

As we walked through a flower-filled pasture, thousands of bees buzzed loudly all around us. It was a really creepy feeling. Rogan was especially freaked out because he really hates bees as they seem to like to sting him. We power walked quickly through the area with no problems though.

As we approached the Imperial Geyser we could smell the distinctive sulphur odor that all of the geysers and hot springs in the area seem to have. We took turns blaming each other for a raunchy farts as we hiked through the steam created by the geyser. We discovered a perfect seat for all of us on a downed tree just a few feet from the geyser. We shared some snacks and drank some water as we watched Imperial Geyser bubble up and occasionally burst about 6 feet out of the water.

Apparently, Imperial Geyser exploded higher and more grandly than even Old Faithful in the 1800 and 1900’s. Mysteriously, the geyser stopped erupting totally in the 1929 and then sprang back to life in 1966.

Rogan wandered off and discovered a nearby mud pot that blurped and gurgled in funny ways. As we sat there eating and joking around, we took pleasure in the fact that there wasn’t another hiker around. We felt like we were the first people to discover this spot.

On the hike back, we essentially retraced our steps back past the Ferry Falls again. On the way, Greg laid claim to discovering what he called “Wolf Cave” which was on the rock wall of the waterfall.

Greg spotted a dirt path up the mountain which led to a good lookout point for seeing Grand Prismatic Point, a very large and colorful hot spot that we hiked by but couldn’t really see well from the trail. The climb up was steep and challenging. By the time I got up to the top, I was out of breath and my heart was really beating. Like so many hikes we’ve done, the effort was worth the reward. Greg and I took pictures of each other at the top as well as of the hot spot itself and then climbed back down and caught up with the group.

Greg by Grand Prismatic

To reward our hiking effort, we went to Old Faithful village and got some ice cream. On the way back, we stopped at the Midway Geyser basin. Grand Prismatic Spring was the feature of this area, and we walked the boardwalk around it and other giant springs. We learned that the interesting colors of the hot springs are actually a living thing called thermophiles, microorganisms that are adapted to the extreme temperature (over 200º) and acidity of the springs. The springs are incredibly clear and are tempting to touch. (Kind of like a "Do Not Touch: Wet Paint Sign) Obviously, that’s not a safe idea.

On the way out we stopped to watch an osprey hunting for fish by dive bombing headfirst into the river.

We went back to our campsite and relaxed for a bit. We really liked our campsite there. It was close to the bathrooms and had a nice space where the kids could play.

Later we started cooking dinner. It was a chilly evening so we decided to cook up some soups. We had Spaghetti-O’s, chicken noodle soup, chili, and beef stew. We enjoyed watching the ground squirrels scurry around the campground.

After dinner, we decided to explore the area a bit. By the Madison campground, two rivers converge, the Gibbon and Firehole, to form the Madison River. We walked a short trail that followed along the Madison and watched people fly fishing.

Later that evening we listened to talk a naturalist about wolves. This naturalist was an excellent speaker. We learned about the impact of the re-introduction of wolves to the area in 1996. The theme of the talk was really to break down myths about wolves and to focus on how they are similar to us as humans. By the end, you really gained an appreciation for the intelligence and adaptability of this animal.

It was another fun filled day!

West Trip Day 12: Off to Yellowstone National Park

Friday, June 25

On our last morning in Gros Ventre, we ate a quick breakfast and then started packing up all of our gear. We got on the road at about 10:30 and started toward Yellowstone. While the mileage to the entrance of Yellowstone was only about 50 miles, we knew that driving would take a lot longer, probably about 2 - 3 hours. However, one wrong turn later, the 3 hour drive became a 5 hour drive.

Since we had gotten far behind schedule with our diversion, we decided to stop at Colter Bay for lunch. We enjoyed a beautiful view of Jackson Lake as we ate some sandwiches and then got back on the road.

On the way in to Madison campground at Yellowstone we decided to stop in Old Faithful. At about 4:00, we spotted Old Faithful erupting as we pulled in the exit. Jen knew that it erupted every 90 minutes or so, so we knew we had a little time to kill. We stopped in the visitor’s center and asked the naturalists some questions about the area, picked up some maps, and shopped for souvenirs.

The naturalists had predicted that it would erupt again at 5:24. We sat around Old Faithful a little early and at around 5:29 it blew its top, just as expected. Afterward, we beat the crowd into the lodge cafeteria. The food was freshly cooked, reasonably priced, and very tasty.

After the meal, we walked the short boardwalk of the Old Faithful trail and saw several interesting hot springs.

We then drove the 16 miles we had left to Madison campground. As we approached the campground, we began seeing some buffalo milling around. Apparently, these buffalo were also the cause of a traffic jam of sorts as a line of cars came to a standstill in front of us. We eventually made our way to the campground and registered. We set up the camper and tent and then the kids started exploring their surroundings a bit. They made friends with some nearby camper kids, Seth and Micah, and played some ladder toss with them. Luke and Rogan played catch while Lilly and Mikah danced on logs and hunted the ground squirrels.

In the evening we went to a free naturalist program at the amphitheater in the park. We walked down to the amphitheater and enjoyed the view of the full moon over the river. The focus of the program was forest fires. In particular, the discussion focused on the fires of 1988 in which over 30% of the 2.2 million acres of the park were burned. I recalled my visit to the park in 1988. In July when I visited, certain areas of the park were burning and were restricted. I did remember some areas of the park were smoking or smoldering as we passed in my dad’s van. But, in August of that year, the fire really grew out of control.

It was interesting to see areas of the park that still show evidence of this major fire and how in the 22 years since then it has rejuvenated. In the presentation we learned that the lodgepole pines that make up 80% of the tree in the forest are “ecological tricksters.” They have adapted to fires by having three different kinds of pine cones. One kind, the serotinous, actually needs a fire to open. So, after the fires, the pines began growing in the ashes of the burned forest.