Yellowstone National Park
Like Glacier, you've heard many of my thoughts on Yellowstone. And like Glacier, they were in the off-season, compared to now, the height of tourist season. I returned to Yellowstone for two reasons: 1) I wanted to go back to Glacier and it was on the way, and 2) I wanted to give Grand Teton National Park a fair chance (I had driven through twice but never stopped). My purpose in Yellowstone this time was to get down to the Geyser Basin (which I missed earlier this summer) and try to get some good photos.
I arrived early to fight for a campsite. I was twice recommended Tower Falls, and when I got there I couldn't believe it - it competes with the worst sites I've stayed at so far. I still have no idea why it was recommended. It was wide open - no privacy - small, hilly and without a view. But it was a site in the park.
So I set up camp and headed for the geyser basin. I don't have any one photo to pull out for you. I liked many of those I took here.As far as tourism goes, it was packed; but at least this time I expected it. I called it A Wednesday Wal-Mart Crowd (band name?). Here's my favorite person. Oh, and probably my favorite photo from one of the boardwalks.
Where I distinguish visitors from tourists is mostly in the concept of following rules, be it stopping next to a Don't Stop For The Next 1/2 Mile sign, approaching wildlife, driving 20 mph in a 45 mph zone and not pulling off at a turnout. Those are the obvious ones, but my favorite was the woman at my campsite. She used the toilet (i.e. four stone walls, a door and a pit) and walked outside. Now, I fault Yellowstone for putting a water pump near the bathroom, but here's her story.
A woman leaves the toilet room at Tower Falls campground. She noticed the hand sanitizer on the wall, but purposefully bypassed it because of the funny way the alcohol feels on her dry hands. She sees a faucet! Wow, she thinks. She approaches the faucet and reads the sign. The sign reads, Please do not use faucet for dish washing, bathing or brushing teeth. Thank You. She thinks, Hmmm, I'm not sure washing hands is technically "bathing." She looks around. She washes her hands. She leaves. Five minutes later she returns with a spoon and washes it under the faucet
On the drive back to camp that day, I saw a grizzly bear running around in a field. He was far away, but I liked the photo and enjoyed watching him for a bit. I also saw a bunch of buffalo, both in the Hayden Valley and the Lamar Valley. But while these herds dwarfed those in Theodore Roosevelt NP, there was no way I'd beat the backdrop of the bad lands (unless the buffalo were to be hanging around the hot springs, which they weren't), so I didn't take many photos. On the other hand, people would stop in the middle of the road to view one buffalo. I would think to myself, I bet if once you make this turn up ahead, you'll see hundreds more. It was always the case.
Again I skipped Old Faithful. You've got to see it one day. But once you've seen it once, you've seen it. And once you've taken a photo of it with your $10 camera, you've got your photo (unless some wildlife happen to be hanging around).Grand Teton National Park
The plan for Day 13 was to drive back through Yellowstone and visit Grand Teton NP. Since I was in the northeast corner of the gigantic park, I knew I had a healthy drive in front of me. I got going around 9 a.m. This turned out to be a good time to leave.
I turned out of the campground and was immediately slowed by a van going 20 mph below the speed limit. Already frustrated, I passed the van. The stretch of road between Tower and Canyon are beautiful, and this week they displayed a vast landscape of wildflowers - gorgeous! I wasn't going to stop, but decided I should simply to be able to supplement my telling of the beauty to you with a photo (a photo that really doesn't do it justice). For some reason I decided to take out my zoom lens and take a few more photos. I didn't need it and I don't know why I took it out. When I got back in the car, I thought, I should put the regular lens back on for my photos of the lake on the way out. Well, maybe I'll see some wildlife, so I'll leave it on for now.
A few miles later I see a ranger's truck up ahead with its lights on. Immediately thought, Why am I going to get stopped this t-
My thought was interrupted by a grizzly bear passing in front of the ranger's truck (I like the 100 feet measurement), not 100 feet from my car. The bear then went up the hill, and turned and walked on the hill in the direction of my car. I rolled my window down and shot some photos, all the while thinking, Please don't smell my food and come running in here. Here he is. That made my day! Had I done anything different, I would have missed him. Fortunately, I didn't notice this earlier, but when I was reviewing my photos last night I noticed the grizzly was wearing something around its neck. This shows up in every photo except that first one, and I'm glad I have one good one! I'm guessing the rangers had captured the bear and put this device on him to track him, letting him go just before I approached. In any respect, wildlife is wildlife and I saw a grizzly up close!I continued on the road, intuition working subconsciously in my favor. I passed hundreds of buffalo and thought I should at least get one good photo for my wonderful girlfriend, who loves buffalo second only to penguins. As I was turning to get back into my car I saw something move on a far off hill. Deer? Maybe. Zoom lens was still ready so I took a look. Coyote! But he disappeared. So I moved onto the next pullout.
Several people were at this pullout off to the right photographing ducks or something (that's cool). I kept looking to the left, hoping I'd see him. Sure enough, I found him sitting on the hillside. Then he began to move down the hill and in front of a lake, where he would stick his nose in the ground, looking for something, and then come up chewing.
What great timing on all of this. In other wildlife news, I spotted a hippie circle.
Finally, I entered Grand Teton NP. I feel bad (maybe not the right emotion) that GTNP is located where it is. It is figuratively dwarfed by Yellowstone and therefore really only serves as a drive-through park. If it were located anywhere else (not bordering a major park or city), it would certainly be a destination park and would probably also be much less crowded. It's truly fascinating. It's similar to Glacier except much taller. There is a huge valley through which the main road runs around 6,000 feet in elevation and then BOOM, mountains 13,000+ feet tall out of nowhere! But it somehow doesn't compare to Glacier. Maybe it's the valley is too large and without much vegetation, maybe it's the limitation of really only one viewpoint of the mountain, maybe it's that the road doesn't go through the mountain, or maybe it's that the hikes are on the mountains instead of in between the mountains. Whatever it is, it doesn't compare.
I set up camp and did a hike to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. This hike is 6 miles total and it too was filled with tourists! Most people set out for this six mile hike with their 1) tennis shoes, 2) plastic, disposable, 20-ounce Dasani water bottle and 3) handheld camera. One 8-year-old boy actually started the walk and said, "Mom, mom, mom, I forgot my phone in the car."Me? I was ready to go again. Five liters of water, some food, tripod and bag that disguises me as a real photographer. Oh yes, bear bell and bear spray.In this book I've talked about (10 Best), there is a section on Best Places To Say "I Do" Or "I Will." One of these was Inspiration Point in GTNP.
Inspiration Point sucks. Hey, look how high I am and that really flat land and those foothills. I bet the mountain behind me is beautiful, though. Hidden Falls was cool, but the extra mile to climb up to that point is worthless. Aside from the hundred other people standing around you, who in their right mind would propose there (clarification to one reader)? It was great to get out and get the legs moving for three hours, but hiking in the Tetons isn't that great because you're hiking where you want to be looking while you're hiking.
On my walk back I saw a 14-year-old girl by herself. I said, "Hi." Oh, this reminds me. Saying "Hi" to people on the trail is funny. When you're in the backcountry, everyone greets everyone else excitedly. In these tourist spots, hardly anyone talks to people outside their group. I passed two teenage boys on the trail. I said "Hey guys." One of them responded, "Grmph" (or however you spell a grunt).
So I greet this girl and she responds with a smile. Then I see this guy jogging up my way. He says, "Have you seen a little girl up here?" I said, "Sure, she's back there sitting on a rock." He then explains to me (after yelling at the girl) that he just saw a black bear about four feet tall (when on all fours). He said the bear came out of the woods and turned on the trail in my direction. I never saw this bear because it was beyond a blind corner for me, but I am convinced the bear moved back into the woods because he heard my bell! I just think what would have happened it someone else would have been walking that corner and not making noise.
I reported the sighting to the ranger later. He said, "Yeah, we've had reports of a bear in that area earlier this morning," nonchalantly.
Day 14
The next day I drove to Jenny Lake to get a good panoramic with the sun in its right spot. Just as I was pulling over, this guy, out of his truck, says, "There's a bear right here!" I look over and there is a black bear literally on the other side of his truck! Why he was out of his truck, I have no idea. This time, though, I didn't have the zoom lens ready and never got a photo of him before he went back into the woods.
8 Bears in Leg 2.
I left the park that day and headed to where I am now. US-287 was a beautiful drive and will surely compete for the Top 10 list. Another short post and then I'll see you all in a couple weeks. I am planning to stay at a KOA in the Las Vegas area at that time.
Wyoming Album
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