Mountains & Whitewater!

Post for August 13th

We left Yellowstone and headed back to Jackson for my last day on the trip.  I had decided

to end my part of the trip with whitewater rafting down the Snake River.  But first we had a

drive back through Grand Teton NP.  This time the weather was nicer and we had some

great views of the mountains from the turnouts as we made our way to Jackson.  These

were the views we had been hoping for!

Much better view of Mt. Moran

Kelly & Jane in front of Mt. Moran

We took a 8 person raft with another family (parents, grandparents and 2 kids).  It got

cloudy part way through the trip and became a bit chilly, but was a lot of fun.  As we went

through "The Big Kahuna" all I could see was a wall of water in front of me at one point.

The kids weren't that excited, so it was sort of a low-key group.  We did add to our

wildlife sightings with more Osprey, Merganser ducks, a mule deer, a beaver and a bald

eagle.   A cool way to end my part of the trip!

A farewell dinner at the Gun Barrel Steak and Game restaurant and huckleberry ice cream from Moose's on the town square ended the day.  Back to the East Coast tomorrow for me as Kelly continues west.

More Yellowstone and Aussie Bikers!

Post for August 11th

Waking up a little stiff from sleeping on the ground and rocks (hmmm...didn't seem to bother me in my Boy Scouts days), I fired up the camp stove for some chocolate chip pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  You can't beat that smell when you're cooking out!

After breaking camp we headed south to Hayden Valley to look for more wildlife.

Bison everywhere!  Many standing on the road creating traffic jams.  But no complaints, how else do you get to be so close to these huge, fast and dangerous animals?

Not your normal beltline traffic jam

What was this guy thinking?

Nice Bison portrait

We spent quite a while at one turnout just watching a large herd interact.  This mother & calf came down the hill to join the rest

Seeing this herd, it was hard to imagine what it must have looked like when millions of bison roamed the U.S.

Part of the herd

Continuing south, we stopped at the sulphur cauldrons and mud volcanoes.  Once again
Jane proved to be equally as interesting as one of the most fascinating spots on earth!

Almost as strong as battery acid!

Dragon's Mouth Spring - you could hear it breathing

Checking out the Pony

Farther down Yellowstone Lake was the West Thumb Geyser Basin.  This area was next to
and actually extended into the lake.  This made for a great setting for these thermal
features.

Interesting green color in this one

Flow towards the lake

Our stay for the night was back at the Old Faithful area.  After checking in to our cabin at
the Lodge, we headed out to see the rest of the geyser trail that we had skipped a few days
ago.  Even though we were looking at geysers, we also managed to see some Marmots and
even a few more bison.

Marmot eating grass

.

Grand Geyser and Bleached Trees

Punch Bowl Spring

Luck was on our side as we came back down the trail right when Daisy Geyser was due
to erupt.  We didn't have long to wait before we got see the show!

Daisy Geyser erupting

After grabbing some dinner at the lodge cafeteria, we walked back to the cabin to find the
previously mentioned Aussie bikers admiring Jane.  They had flown into Vegas and rented
Harley's to go to Sturgis and were on their way back.  We had a great time talking with
them as Kelly showed them the car and tried to understand what they were saying.  Seems
we exposed a bit of Ford ("blue oval") vs. Holden (GM) rivalry between them!  They left
us to get dinner and we laughed about the experience as we tried to figure out what they 
had said.

Another day full of great sights and interesting experiences!

You Really Can't Beat This!

Post for August 12th

Monday dawned nice and sunny with blue skies.  Walking to the lodge, I could see Grand
Geyser erupting up the hill.  While standing in line for coffee I saw Old Faithful erupt once
again, this time without hundreds ofpeople seated around it.  So far an outstanding start to
the day.  

Kelly and I went back to the lodge to grab a quick breakfast at the bakery before heading
out for our last day in Yellowstone.  If you've read Kelly's blog then you already know what
happened next :-)  Returning to the cabin, all of the Aussie bikers were standing around.
One of them said they'd been looking for us and did we have any boosters?  Apparently
they couldn't get their large support truck started (it was a Dodge, so no logo arguments
were being had).  Kelly pulled them out as we tried to figure out how to give them a jump

because the truck was pulled in with the front away from the road.

After assessing the situation, we thought that Jane could be threaded between 3 cabins to
the front of the truck.  Several of the bikers manned key points to help Kelly avoid hitting
stumps and large rocks.  She expertly maneuvered Jane through the maze and we got the

cables hooked up.  Well, that battery was really dead and it didn't look like Jane was going
to be able to start it.  Kelly suggested we check the battery with ameter.  Several of the
bikers said "you have a meter???" as we rummaged through the tool kit to retrieve it.  One
of the women yelled (in slightly paraphrased Australian) "That's our girl, I knew we found
the right one!"

7.8 volts - that's a dead battery.  Although we didn't get the truck started, we at least
identified the issue.  They were all very appreciative of the effort.  One of them went
down to the service station and they arrived shortly to get the truck started with a heavy
duty charge pack.  The truck drove off to the service station to get checked out and the

bikers rounded up and headed out to Jackson.  Many of them stopped by to thank us again
as we waved goodbye.

Lots of bikers!

Jane giving a boost to the support truck

Rounding up to leave

Now that's what a roadtrip is all about!  It's not so much the getting from point A to point B,
but the experiences along the way and the people you meet.  l think this is what Kelly had in
mind when she dreamed up this trip.  She'll be telling this story the rest of her life!

Time for us to pack up and get on with the rest of our day also.  We elected to start with a
5 mile round trip hike to Lonestar geyser.  It was a nice hike along the river with lots of
wildflowers and a few deer along the way.  We think we missed the eruption by an hour or
so based on previous entries in the log book and the quiet state of the geyser.  Still a nice

hike away from the boardwalk crowds and besides, how many times do you get to hike to a
geyser?

Lonestar Geyser looking pretty quiet

We made lunch and ate overlooking Keppler Cascade at the trail head as we considered
what to do next.  Fairy Falls, another 5 mile hike seemed like a good bet so we headed
north again.

Lunchtime view of the cascades

This turned out to be a great decision as the trail runs behind the Midway geyser basin and Grand Prismatic Spring.  We could hear people up on the hill so we started to climb also.
The view was getting better, but when we followed some kids voices exclaiming they had
found the best spot it truly was outstanding.  There was much less steam than when we
had seen it previously and the view from above showed off all the vibrant colors.  It's hard
to believe all this coloring is caused by organisms living in such a hostile (to us, anyway)
environment.

She's really not taller than me - standing on a rock

Look at that color!

After coming down the hill we continued on to Fairy Falls.  At 197 feet, it's the fourth
highest waterfall in the park.  We snacked on wild raspberries as we took in the sight
and enjoyed the cool mist.

Fairy Falls

We still had time for one more short hike, this one 2 miles to Mystic Falls.  Although it
wasn't described as such in any of the guides we read, this one proved unique because
it had lots of thermal vents flowing in at the base of the falls.  Of course we struck up a
conversation with another biker couple coming from Sturgis along the way.

The waterfall itself was quite beautiful, but it was really strange to walk by hot streams
of water and steam as we made our way toward the base.  Definitely the most interesting
waterfall we had seen!

Mystic Falls

Hope those were huckleberries!

Our last night in Yellowstone was at the Lake Lodge on the shore of Yellowstone Lake.  We drove back around to the other side of the park.  If you're mapping this or at all familiar
with the park you'll see that we put a lot of miles on even though we hadn't left the park in
days.  The wind really picked up and the temp dropped so we elected to eat in the cafeteria
instead of cooking out.

Kelly looking out over the lake

All in all, despite the summer crowds, a great visit to America's first national park!

Yellowstone - More Amazing Sights and People

Post for August 10th

After breakfast we met the guy in the cabin next door who was driving a Ford Raptor truck.  Turns out they had seen us first in Jackson, then in Grand Teton at Jenny Lake, then in Yellowstone and finally parked next to them at the cabin.  You guessed it, it was his wife and daughter (she made the "cool Mustang people" comment)  that we had run into the night before!

He, like many of the others that we had met on the the trip, said how happy he was to see an old muscle car actually on the road touring around.  It was inspiring him to do the same once he finished the '74 Torino that he was restoring.

Kelly gave him the full run-down on Jane.  Just like the many times before, it was great seeing the enthusiasm and pride Kelly has in sharing what she's done with others.

Off for another day of touring this amazing park.  We stopped at Midway Geyser basin to see Grand Prismatic Spring.  Because we were early, we were able to get a parking spot, but there was a lot of steam coming off the spring so it was sort of hard to see.  Still very colorful though.

Jane wasn't the only vintage vehicle in the park

Grand Prismatic Spring

Are these shorebirds?

Lots of steam

Next stop was the other side of the park in Canyon Village.  On the way, we noticed the brakes seemed a little soft, so we pulled into the service station there.  After all the now familiar drooling over Jane, the guys put her on the lift and checked out the brakes.  Kelly took the opportunity to do a few adjustments and tighten up some loose bolts.  Brakes seemed better afterwards, but she'll need to get the rotors turned soon.

With the brakes checked out and another offer to buy the pony shouted from across the service station parking lot, we got back to our intended touring on this side of the park.  Next stop was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  Taking the rim roads and some side trails, we had amazing views of both the lower and upper falls.  It was really spectacular when you could see the rainbows in the mist!

Lunchtime Lower Falls view

View from Artist Point

Have to see it to believe it!

We also had the opportunity to look down at an Osprey nest that was built on a large spire in the canyon.  Acccording to some local photographers, the 3 Osprey in the nest were just about ready to fly.  In fact, we got to see one of them take off for the first time!

First flight!

After taking all this in, it was time to set up camp for the night.  Jane definitely stood out from the rest of the vehicles at the campground!

Kelly setting up the tent with camper Jane

After setting up camp, one of our neighbors came over with his son.  They had seen Jane all over the park the last few days (just like thousands of other people!) and were surprised to see her at the campground.  He turned out to be an Aston Martin mechanic from the UK who happened to own a '64 Ford Falcon Sprint and a '64 Falcon station wagon!  We had a great chat with them.

Overall, camping with Jane went well.  Only hitch was that my sleeping pad apparently has a leak as I ended up flat on the ground sometime during the night :-( 

Another great day meeting people and seeing beautiful sights!

Headed Home

This post will be slightly out of order since we've had little internet access over the last week.  I'll catch up on some of the in-between ones as the day goes on as I make my way back to North Carolina.

Kelly dropped me off at the Jackson Hole airport this morning in the rain, sort of fitting weather as it has been part of the theme of our trip.  On the runway now, the skies are clearing as the captain warns that they'll be using more thrust than usual on take-off due to the short runway and mountains.  Looks like it will turn out to be a nice day for the start of the second leg of Kelly's adventure.

I am so thankful to have had the chance to join Kelly and for her inviting me along.  We've shared some great experiences and made some lasting memories.  The two and a half weeks and around 4000 miles have gone by quickly.  I'm proud of all that she has accomplished and confident that the rest of the trip will go well for her.  She and Jane make quite a pair and we've seen that there are still lots of people around who are willing to lend a helping hand when needed.

We do intend to meet back up with Kelly for part of her tour through Utah, so there will be more to come later.

You can continue to follow Kelly's trip on her blog: calamityjaneroadtrip.blogspot.com

We just took off with a great view of the Tetons - with that I'll wish Kelly safe journeys and lots more adventures as she continues her trip westward!

Grand Teton!

Latest update from the road.  Not much internet service available here, which is probably a good thing.

Coming up from Kemmerer to Jackson was a great drive.  We saw lots of Pronghorn Antelope in the fields along the way. Sometimes it's easy to forget that we have antelope here in the U.S. and not just in Africa.  From what we read, even though they can run really fast they aren't good jumpers, so the fences kept them off the road for the most part.

As you may have seen from Kelly's blog, we spent 2 very enjoyable days in Grand Teton National Park.  Although the weather started out not the greatest we found out that we were lucky, since most people hadn't even seen the mountains the previous 3 days with all the rain.  We did a few of the scenic drives, but the rain returned and hid the mountains from view.  We took a wet hike before dinner and photographed some nice wildflowers, but no grand mountain shots with the lake as we had hoped for.  After a quick dinner it was back to the cabin where we watched another rain and hailstorm (thankfully small) come through.

What are you doing out in this weather?

The next morning looked like more of the same, but we pressed on, hoping for some clearing.  Our plan was to do the Jenny Lake to North Fork in Cascade Canyon hike.  After a cold ride across the lake in the shuttle boat, we hiked to Hidden Falls.  There were no mountains in sight due to all the mist and cloud cover.  We took our time and photographed yet more wildflowers as we hoped for conditions to improve.  Heading up the trail toward Inspiration Point we came across some chipmunks that were quite amusing.  The first was happily munching away on flowers and didn't seem at all concerned with us watching.  The second looked like he had already eaten waaay too much.  I've never seen such a round chipmunk before.  Obviously it's been a good year for food for them!

"Normal" looking chippie enjoying a flower

Looks like a few too many flowers!

Farther up the trail we saw and heard Pikas.  There were quite a few around the rocks.. I've seen a few from a distance before but this was the first time I've had a close look at them.

Pika up close

Next stop up was Inspiration Point, which didn't look so inspiring at first.  We did get some glimmer of clearing though, which was encouraging.

Inspiring?

Finally further up the canyon the skies cleared and we could see the magnificent montain range.  We had a great hike up the canyon to North Fork.  Given the forecast we opted to turn around there rather than continue further.

Now that's more like it!

Kelly on the trail

That turned out to be a great decision as we came upon a mother and baby moose grazing across the river on the way back.  Even better though was when a bull which we hadn't seen below us charged up the creek!  It was amazing how fast he moved.

That wasn't the last of the excitement though as someone up the trail yelled and down came a large fox from the hill.  It passed right in front of Kelly, detouring around her and then proceeded down the trail.  At first I thought it was a coyote, but it was mainly black and had yellow eyes.  We showed the picture to the Park Naturalist later and she confrmed that it was a red fox.  She hadn't seen this one before but said it must be one of the pups of a black female that they were familiar with. All in all a great day of hiking and seeing wild creatures!

Sort of spooky looking and way too close

After a nice dinner at the Signal Mountain Lodge we returned to the cabin where it promptly began raining and hailing again.  Not a bit surprising given our record so far :-) 

The morning dawned mostly sunny and I managed to get a few shots of Mt. Moran shortly after sunrise.  We had a nice conversation with our neighbor who had been admiring Jane.  He was from one of the areas that Kelly had planned on visiting later in the trip. By now the clouds and haze had rolled in, so we scuttled our plans to view more of Grand Teton and headed north.

Finally a view of Mt. Moran!

We had a great treat in getting to see a Grizzly Bear by the road on our way out.  The rangers were already there directing traffic, but we were able to get a good look at him and be much closer than normally allowed.  First time for either of us to see a Grizzly!

Close to a Grizzly (protected by Jane)

More to come...

Yellowstone, America's First National Park

Post for August 11th

Next stop was Yellowstone.  We took a family trip here 12 years ago.  It was interesting what Kelly remembered from that trip.  She didn't remember a lot of it, so for the most part this was like her first visit, which was exciting.

After a brief stop at Lewis Falls we headed to Old Faithful.  We arrived just before a predicted eruption and joined the thousands of people waiting to see Yellowstone's most famous attraction.  As we waited, we kept our eye on the darkening sky behind us which was soon followed by thunder.  Yes, we had brought the bad weather with us!  Old Faithful erupted and then everyone made a dash for the visitors center.  The rangers warned everyone to stay indoors until the storm had passed.

Old Faithful

After the ranger told us that the bigger storm was coming from the south and dropping half-inch hail we decied it was time to head north toward Mammoth Springs where we were staying for the night to try and avoid the hail.  On the way up we could see the lightning towards Mammoth so we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin to check out the geysers there.  Lots of interesting thermal features to see and we weren't getting rained on too much.

We finished the run up to Mammoth where it promptly started pouring.  The desk clerk told Kelly that she could pull Jane in under the overhang if it started hailing - now that's an understanding staff!  Fortunately there wasn't any hail with this storm, so Jane just got a good washing instead.

Not looking good coming into Mammoth Springs

One of the great things about this trip is the number of people we've met who have been interested enough in Jane to strike up a conversation.  As I'm typing this post up there's a biker group from Australia on their way back from Sturgis talking outside.  We had a great time talking to them earlier as they were admiring Jane and Kelly was showing them all the mods.  Kelly later admitted that she didn't understand half of what they said!

Our second day in Yellowstone had much better weather.  There was still some haze from the fires farther west, but otherwise mostly sunny.  If you've ever been to Mammoth you know there afre lots of elk hanging around the hotel.  Often it's hard to avoid them.  How's this for yard maintenance?

Keeping the grass nice & tidy

We checked out the travertine terraces at Mammoth and then headed back south for more geyser viewing.

On the wayway south we came across a black bear by the road.  Here's my "artistic" shot of him.  Keep in mind that the Mustang is moving in one direction, the bear is moving in the opposite direction and the photographer is trying to change settings from shooting something that's been around for hundreds of thousands of years to something on the move in trees.  Unintentional or not, I like it!

Black bear on the move

Back to the thermal features, we checked out several areas on the way back to Old Faithful, our destination for the evening.  The areas were very crowded but well worth the stops.  That's Yellowstone in summer though.

As we toured the geyser basin we heard a loud roar and appropriately named Lion geyser erupted right next to us!  The mist and water dropping on us was surprisingly cold.

Lion Geyser

We even saw some wildlife on the geyser trail, including an Osprey eating a trout it had caught.

Osprey

As we were walking from our cabin to the lodge to get some ice, we heard the best quote of the trip so far.  A girl and her mother were walking toward us and the girl exclaimed "Hey Mom, it's the cool Mustang people!".  Mom, who was on her cell,  looked slightly embarrassed, but we loved it!

More to come the next day on this story...