Land of Fire and Ice...Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park

 Yellowstone National Park: 1st National Park, March 1, 1872 by an act of Congress and President Grant.  

Not only was it the first National Park in the United States, it was also the first National Park in the world. At over 2 million acres, the land was set aside for the "enjoyment of the people" but it was decades before funding, staff, and services were put into place.  This meant roads needed to be built, Rangers hired to combat poachers, trappers and squatters, and camp grounds and lodging needed to be created.    It lead the way for the other 58 national parks to be established.  Yellowstone currently receives more visitors than any other park reaching on average 4-6 million a year.  

North Entrance and Roosevelt Arch:

Roosevelt Arch is named for President Roosevelt who laid the corner stone in 1903.  We got to stand and drive through the arch via the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. 

Loki wanted his picture taken too! 

If you think of Yellowstone as a large square, then divide that square into for more squares, that is the best way to explore Yellowstone.  We stayed almost directly in the middle at Fishing Bridge RV park, the only full hook up sight for campers in the park.  We were in the middle of bear country but didn't see any bear in our camp ground.  

This wasn't our favorite camp ground so far.  They had us packed in here.  Our camper is the one on the left, there was a camper on our right, left and behind us, just as close.  But we did have full hookups and it was quiet.  I could, however, hear my neighbors sneeze (literally).   

Touring the upper right quadrant of the park:  Hayden Valley,  Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Tower Roosevelt, and Lamar Valley.

The landscapes of Yellowstone changes so greatly with each turn you go around.  Most of Yellowstone was formed from a series of volcanic eruptions millions of years ago.   

Yellowstone sits on top of a super volcano, which causes it's geyser activity, bubbling mud pots, and steaming hot pools.  

No wonder it is called Dragon's Mouth, the sound it made had me think there was a dragon in that cave!! 

Wonder if this mud would do my pores any good?  If I could only get past the smell! 

Water erosion by the Yellowstone River, lead to the formation of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

This is the Lower Falls, the highest falls at 308 feet and the most famous in the park. 

We were fortunate enough to get to see amazing wildlife while on our way to Tower Falls.  This time we saw bison and a black bear! 

Tower Falls is not only a hub for lodging, shopping and dinning, it gets its name for the waterfall there.  No hiking involved to this water fall, just a short stroll to the over look. 

Calcite Springs was named for its milky white calcite crystals that cover the area. Inside the hot springs are smelly yellow sulfur crystals...believe me when I say that they stink!  Hours later and the smell was still stuck in my nose! 

These odd shaped cliffs are a result of a collapsing river of lava. This area is also the beginning of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. 

Another result of the volcanic activity is this Petrified Tree.  The eruption caused landslides covering large redwood trees that were once found in the area.  On this road we found another black bear in the distance.  The ranger in the area said this female is not a nice bear and for everyone to stay away from her. 

Lamar Valley is home to Antelope and herds of Bison 

Hayden Valley is home to this baby black bear and more herds of Bison. 

Touring the lower left quadrant of the park. Continental Divide, Old Faithful, Lower Geyser Basin, Upper Geyser Basin. 

I was excited to see this sign on our way to Old Faithful.  Yellowstone is home to part of the Continental Divide, which splits the watersheds of the US between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.  (I guess you can say, I geeked out a little at this stop. My boys didn't even get out of the car.)

We made our way to the most popular part of the park, iconic Old Faithful.  We got there early and was able to view it 3 times.  Once from the visitor viewing area, once from observation point, and once on our walk back from a short distance away.  All 3 gave us an impressive image of the most predictable geyser.  It goes off around every 90 min, give or take 10 min, and lasts 3-5 min.  Here are the best images we captured...

Old Faithful is part of the Upper Geyser Basin. We spent a few hours just walking the trails and taking in all these amazing geological features.  Here is a sampling of what we got to see, including a visit from a coyote and an elk. 

Rainbow Pool

The Lower Geyser Basin is filled with more geysers, mud pots and hot springs.  We had to go back a second day to take in all that it had to offer. 

Fairy Falls Hike: 9 miles round trip but so worth it!

Fairy Falls, 4th highest falls in the park

Where's Brodey...can you find him?? 

There he is! Climbing again!

This is one of those moments when Doug told me, "Just let them do it." I held my breath the whole time! 

On the drive back to our camp ground, which was about 1 1/2 hours from Old Faithful, we also stopped to see Gibbons Falls.  

Summery of Yellowstone National Park: 

This park is huge!!  It is set up to do a lot of drive by touring, especially for tour buses.  Even though what we were seeing was beautiful, we felt like we never got to really appreciate it.  I think this park is probably better explored in the off season when the parking lots aren't full and you aren't fighting for a view.  Also, because it is so large and we wanted to see all the highlights, we spent so much time in our truck and not enough time just hiking and exploring.  

We also didn't explore the upper left quadrant because the road construction in that area was so bad when we came through we decide not to attempt it again.  The lower left quadrant is all back country hiking and exploring.  

We were suppose to stay here for a week but cut our stay short by 2 days to spend some time in the Grand Tetons instead.   We also found that after 2 solid weeks of traveling, hiking, and sight seeing, we were in desperate need of a day off. So, we slept, ate, played cards, and relaxed for a day while we were here.  

Grand Teton National Park: 1950

The history of this park is spread out over 3 decades.  In 1929, Congress created Grand Teton National Park but it only consisted of the mountains of the Teton Range and a few lakes.  In the 1940's, land in Jackson Hole was acquired by the federal government and President F.D. Roosevelt created Jackson Hole National Monument and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated all the land he owned in the area to the National Park Service.  In the 1950's, all 3 areas were combined to form Grand Teton National Park.  

We fell in love with this park with its peaked mountains and vast flat lands.  We only got to spend a day driving and taking pictures in the park.  I think this is on my 'must go back someday' list!

Colter Bay: With a storm rolling in! Quick pictures and a sprint back to the car before the heavens opened up!

Reminded me of the Lake District in England

Wind, rain, and hail made for an interesting arrival at the camp ground! 

Oxbow Bend Turnout gave some beautiful views of the Tetons in the background along with the snake river.

Doug got to see a Pica...he didn't know this was a Pica but a rare find! 

Jackson Lake Dam

Sugar T Mountain Road: 5 mile drive up the mountain for some awesome views! 

Cathedral Group Turnout and Jenny Lake: 

We met a very nice park ranger at Jenny Lake that talked about how the glaciers formed the Tetons and Jackson Hole.  He said that the Teton Range is only about 10 millions year old and that is why it has such sharp peaks.  In comparison, the Rocky Mountains are 65 million years old and the Appalachian Mountains are 300 million, that is why they are so rounded.  

The Teton Range is also home to 12 glaciers.  

Glacier right in the middle of this mountain. 

Jenny Lake, formed from a glacier carving out a deep valley and then melting, took millions of years to form.

Grand Teton:  The highest peak in the park is Grand Teton, which gives the park its name and stands at 13,776 feet.

Grand Teton in cloud cover on the left.  Grand Teton Glacier in the middle. 

Grand Teton Glacier in snow cover with a peak of uncovered glacier. 

Jackson, Wyoming:  Had a nice quick visit for dinner and a little shopping.

Traffic Jam in Jackson

Grand Teton after the storm:

Grand Teton in the morning:

Grand Teton peak in the center. 

Grand Teton National Park is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  We are half way through our trip and just amazed at all our country has to offer.

Off to Moab, UT for some time at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks...