Jellystone

Thursday Septmber 22
Distance traveled: 382 km
Maximum speed 135 kph.

Tetons, just outside of Jackson, Wyoming.

Jackson Lake inside Grand Teton National Park.

Waterfalls on Lewis River in Yellowstone National Park.

Buffalo walking between us and Old Faithful.

The crowd gathering in anticipation of Old Faithful's next eruption.

Everybody cheered when Old Faithful blew because of course, it was a big surprise.

Close up of the sulfur cone.

Old Faithful is not the only vent in the area; there are quite a few square kilometres of geysers, mud pools and vents.

Fishing is very popular in and around the park. Fishing is limited to fly fishing.

Vents draining into the Yellowstone River, being fished by a fly fisherman.

Since we had the kitchen cabin, we had a home cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs, green onions, fried potatoes, fresh fruit, yogurt and "wheat" toast (what we call "whole wheat". One of the hardest things about the trip has been the constant eating of restaurant food, especially as a lot of restaurant food is fried. I had to suffer the indignity of ordering a "Girlie Chicken". It was explained to me, basically, that real men eat fried food, coated with batter or crumbs and that only "girls" east broiled or grilled chicken. At least I didn't have to ask for my salad dressing to come on the side since pretty much every place we ate served the dressing on the side.

In typical fashion, we slept past when we expected so left later than we expected. Even though it was a beautiful day, the temperatures in the low to mid 20s, there has definintely been a change in the air. It is the crispness that we associate with autumn air: that certain freshness that lets you know the end of the summer is as hand, that leaves are turning and are soon to fall. I can't help but be a little sad about it but I have been lucky in the my summer season has stretched to September 23 based on our being down here. I think it is an awesome time to visit the States and I would definitely choose this time of year again to come down here.

The road out of Pinedale is pretty straightforward and there is not a whole bunch to see before Jackson, Wyoming. Jackson, of course, is famous as a winter destination because of the amount of snow they get (for skiing) and it has the look and feel of a tourist town, not unlike Banff. It is busy, the streets crowded with people walking around and a lot of shops including the true, tourist-trap kinds of places, like "Ripley's Believe It or Not" something. Probably not the destination I would choose but it is o.k. to pass through and it is in a pretty setting.

The route from Jackson takes us through a lot of road construction and we are stopping and starting but finally make Grand Tetons National Park. By Les falling on his sword (or his duff) I have not had to pay park entry fees since he flew home so I am practicallly making money by being on this trip. Les bought a one year
pass, which is good for two motorcycles. The Grand Tetons Park is foothillls- type mountains and the trees are mostly conifers. There are many streams and rivers that we cross and we see lots of people stopped, though the traffic is not obnoxious or excessive. It is very beautiful and a nice diversion from what we have been seeing the last two days.

Tetons butts up against Yellowstone and even though we have gone through a gate to get into Tetons, we go through another gate to get into Yellowstone. Thanks Les, I just made $15. Yellowstone has to be one of the most famous national parks in the world. This would be in part because it is one of the oldest, if not the oldest but also, it is the home of Old Faithful and Yogi Bear. Now, if you are an American reading this, skip the remainder of this paragraph an go straight to the following paragraph as you may find the next sentences offensive. As beautiful as Yellowstone is to see, and it is beautiful, it doesn't hold a candle to the National Parks in Alberta. It has lovely rivers, some deep canyons, lakes but they are not as breathtaking as what we have seen in our own back yard. I try to keep in mind that I haven't really given it a fair shake because I am only on the road through the park and not getting into the back country but comparing it to the Jasper-Banff Parkway, 93 has it beat hands down.

Welcome back, Americans! Yellowstone's most famous feature is Old Faithful and it represents a huge attraction. The geyser builds up pressure for about an hour and a half before letting it all off in one fell swoop. Little spurts start about 10 minutes before the Big Blow Out and when it goes, it lasts anywhere from one minute to five. Water shoots up about 130 feet  and the billowing steam clouds out rise even higher. It is all quite dramatic and fun and the anticipation is fun to experience as hundreds and hundreds of people are waiting for it to go. Except for the couple from New York sitting behind us, who left part way through the Big Blow Out.

In the Old Faithful area, there are lots of little geysers, steam vents and water vents. The area is formerly a volcano and has had three known eruptions, the last one being 640 million years ago when it blew out an estimated 240 cubic miles of debris. Take that, Mount St. Helens. There are many trails in the area and maybe people find their own mud baths, but we didn't see it. We did see lots of people fly fishing though, and there was an elk on the side of the road on the way out of the park and therer were about a hundred cars parked along the side of the road. I have never seen so many 2000 mm camera lenses in one place.

We go through West Yellowstone, which is a little town just outside the park. I have checked hotel prices in the morning and I know that the prices are about double to trip what we have been paying, so we have no intent to stop there. We travel about 60 km and stop at the Park Lodge, which is in Island Park, one third of the way to Idaho Falls. The sign says it has just been renovated and though we are out in the middle of nowhere, there is a restaurant, a bar and a pizzeria so we decide to check it out. It is $125, which puts in at the top of the range of prices paid for the trip. However, the room is in a cabin and it is HUGE. It gives us the distinct impression of a place that has been built on spec to sell to snow mobilers but hasn't sold, so they are renting it out. We don't know if that is the case or not so I am just making that up. It has shag carpet, which I find a bit odd, but a beautiful kitchen, nice tiles in the kitchen and bathroom, huge overstuffed leather furniture and big huge beds. On the other hand, the landscaping leaves a lot to be desired. They have planted trees but everything else is just clay or gravel. Very industrial.

The cabin at the Park Lodge, Island Park, Idaho.

Kitchen at the Park Lodge. Not too much cooking done here.