Yellowstone. Part 1

Monday:

The drive from Townsend MT to Yellowstone was a smooth one. I got an early start, snapping a picture of the dawn before I left, and made the trip to Yellowstone in about 4 hours. On the way I went through the Tobacco Root mountains, saw a herd of antelope (no place to pull over and take a picture), watched some real cowboys and cowgirls herding cattle across the road and chatted with a couple from South Carolina at a rest stop. We were trading places as they had just left Yellowstone and were headed for Glacier. I decided to stop in West Yellowstone for gas as I wasn’t sure what the cost would be in the park.

I knew Yellowstone was big, but gosh. It took me another hour and forty five minutes to reach Fishing Bridge campground after I crossed into the park at the west gate. But it was a pleasant drive, crossing the Continental Divide twice and seeing bison and elk. These animals cause some bad traffic jams as people just act nuts when they see one. I almost hit one guy who ran across the road in front of me to get a picture of a bison that was about 5 feet off the shoulder of the road. I was surprised that the people were getting so close to the huge animal. They pretty much had him surrounded.

I checked in at Fishing Bridge around 130pm and set up camp. Only hard sided campers allowed here due to bear activity. The girl in front of me had a pop-up and the campground attendant was trying to help her find a place to camp elsewhere in the park. Guess she didn’t know about the hard sided camper only rule at Fishing Bridge.

No fire pits or picnic tables at the sites because of bear activity. But the sites do have full hook ups so I will be able to spend more time exploring the park instead of loading up the camper and driving to the dump and then taking on fresh water before returning it to my site.

 After setting up I headed over to the visitor’s center and spoke with a park ranger. He informed me the best place to photograph wildlife is in the Lamar and Hayden Valleys. Both of these are in the northeast section of the park which sees fewer visitors. He also suggested the Elk Creek area for moose, but added that the Tetons are much better for finding moose than in Yellowstone. I got some maps and current trail information; two trails closed due to grizzlies feeding on some kind of carcasses, Howard Eaton trail and Pelican Valley trail, both close to Fishing Bridge and ones I had planned on hiking. Cross those off! Then it was off to the Yellowstone General Store for some supplies and to grab a bite for lunch.

The cell phone reception is quite good at the campground and my Verizon hot spot is working well for internet use.  I will spend the evening planning tomorrow’s activities and then get a good night’s sleep.

 

Tonight’s movie is Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo (1937)

 

Tuesday:

 

Yellowstone, the first of the national parks and home of Old Faithful; over 2 million acres of wilderness, more than 230 miles of roads, thousands of bison and elk and over a hundred grizzly bears, wolves and bighorn sheep. A park on a volcano where geysers, hot springs and fumaroles can be found and where earthquakes happen at a rate of thousands each year. While most of the park is in Wyoming, it does cross into Idaho and Montana as well.

I woke up to 34 degrees this morning, outside that is. Inside was a comfortable 71. Looks like it’s going to be in the mid 60’s for the rest of the week with nighttime temps around 40. There is a 20-40% chance of rain most every day.

After a shave and breakfast I headed to the Hayden Valley, arriving around 8. The morning fog was so thick I couldn’t see a darn thing, but I could hear an elk bugling in the distance. By the time the fog lifted, around 9:30, the elk was nowhere to be seen. I hung around till noon, seeing a few bison and a bald eagle but both were too far off to get a decent picture. I did get a good shot of the two ravens who decided to join my vigil and posed nicely 10 feet away. At noon I headed back to the camper for lunch and planned on returning to the valley around 4 to see if I had better luck.

Well, the trip back was worth it. I got some nice shots of a coyote hunting. The elk wandered out of the woods across the valley around 7pm but were too far to get any good pictures. On the drive back I passed a bison so close that I could have rolled down the window and grabbed his horns.

I was told that a grizzly came through the valley around 130 PM, while I was eating lunch of course.

Too late for a movie tonight.

 

 

 

Wednesday was full day for me.

 

I decided to try my luck in Lamar Valley and headed out at 0630. I figured an hour’s drive but it took over 2 hours to get there. There is big time road construction between Tower Falls and Tower Junction, and of course the usual Bison backups to contend with. But on the way I did get a shot of a Pronghorn.

Not much doing in Lamar Valley except for the people with spotter scopes watching the wolves from a bluff at the entrance to Slough Creek; the wolves were way too far off to photograph. So I drove into Slough Creek Campground and did some hiking. I saw a group on horseback headed out for some backcountry camping and got a picture of Slough Creek.

Made another stop at Pebble Creek campground where a buffalo was roaming between the campsites. Took a snap shot of that one and chatted a bit with the campground host.  Both Slough Creek and Pebble Creek have some sites in full sun and one could do well there with solar and the right site (just a hand pump for water and vault toilets in these more remote campgrounds). I then backtracked to Tower Junction, seeing a lot of bison in Lamar Valley.

Wanting to avoid the road construction between Canyon and Tower Junction I decided to continue west to Mammoth and on to Gardiner, just outside the north entrance. Filled up with gas in Gardiner and grabbed a bite to eat. On way back I tried to keep an eye on the cliffs between Gardiner and Mammoth, hoping to spot a bighorn sheep but no luck. I did hit it lucky when crossing Gardiner Creek and got some shots of a bull Elk. I thought about returning to those cliffs before I leave the park.

Drove from Mammoth to Norris and then east to Canyon Village, completing the 70 mile north loop. On the way back to Fishing Bridge I stopped at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and took some landscape shots. After leaving there I pulled over on the banks of the Yellowstone to take a break and photographed a fly fisherman.

Didn’t get back to Fishing Bridge till almost 430 PM and was beat. So I treated myself to a pulled pork sandwich at the Yellowstone General Store and headed back to the camper for a hot shower and an early bedtime. Think I’ll take tomorrow off, sleep in and catch up on emails and photo editing.

Tonight’s movie is Charlie Chan’s Secret (1936)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday:

 

Woke up to a rainy, cold day so I guess it was a good decision to take the day off. But the dawn sky was just beautiful and I couldn’t resist taking a quick shot between the raindrops.

I spent the morning and afternoon tidying up the camper, editing photos and catching up on emails. The rain stopped around 430 so I decided to take a drive through Hayden Valley. Happened on some bison swimming across the Yellowstone River and snapped some pics. On the way home I was driving along the Yellowstone River and got some sunset landscapes.

 Tonight’s movie is Charlie Chan and the Black Camel (1931) with Bela Lugosi and, making his film debut, Robert Young.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday: Another try for bighorn sheep.

I was up at 0520 and drove the 1 hour 45 minutes to Mammoth, arriving around 0730. The place was loaded with elk, eating the grass on the lawns and strolling through the town. But I want bighorns not elk.

I drove out of town, headed toward the north entrance of the park and found a pullover that gave me a good view of the high cliffs. I waited 4 hours; nothing, nada, zilch.

Decided to go into Gardner for lunch and a bit of grocery shopping and returned to the cliff area around 130 pm. This time I parked at the pullover just south of where I parked the first time. I waited another hour and a half and my patience paid off.  A small group of bighorn ran along the top ridge of the cliff, then across the face, up over the top and were gone. They couldn’t have been in sight for more than 3 or 4 minutes. I rattled off around 70 frames, hoping for at least one good picture. The sheep were way up there and I was using my 100-400 with a 1.4 extender, which means no auto focus and shooting freehand with a very heavy lens. I call it spray and pray shooting. LOL

The ram was younger, no big, fully curved horns, but hey, bighorns are bighorns right?

Tonight’s movie is Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937).

 

 

 

Part 2 of Yellowstone will be coming soon. Hope this update finds everyone happy and healthy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glacier NP

The 1520 mile trip through 5 states to Glacier National Park went well. Stops were made for gas or lunch or overnight at Wisconsin Dells, Menominee WI, Avon MN, Moorhead MN, Fargo ND, Dickinson ND, Malta MT, Chester MT, Shelby MT and Hungry Horse MT among others. We crossed countless rivers, including the Mississippi, Saint Croix, Red, Missouri and Yellowstone. The only tough day was Saturday as we crossed ND and fought a 25 mph head wind; had to stop twice for gas as the truck was only giving us 8 mpg under those wind conditions and the AC running.

 

We did make a quick stop at Theodore Roosevelt NP in ND and snapped a shot of Painted Canyon. And the hotel we stayed at in Malta, MT had a sign from the 1960's that we couldn't resist photographing. Dickinson had a great dinosaur museum which we toured. Ronna took some pictures there but I don't have copies of those yet to post.

 

Arriving at Glacier Campground on Labor Day we set up camp, had a great dinner at the Glacier Grill in Hungry Horse and hit the hay.

On Tuesday we did the Red Bus Crown of the Continent tour. This 9 hour drive in a vintage, 17 passenger bus, started at Apgar Transit Center at the west end of the park and followed Going to the Sun Road to Many Glacier Hotel at the east end of the park and back. Stops were made at various points along the way including McDonald Lake Lodge, Logan Pass Visitor Center and Many Glacier Hotel where we had lunch. These convertible coaches were built by the White Motor Company between 1936 and 1939 and the canvas roof can be rolled back to allow a great view during the ride. Heavy wool blankets are available if the weather chills, which it did for us. We had an overcast day with intermittent rain, so the top was on, then off, then on, then off ……. But I did manage a few pictures when the driver stopped for a photo opportunity and we did get a quick look at a black bear feeding on berries near the road. He didn’t stick around long and I couldn’t get a photo. 

If you haven’t traveled the 52 mile Going to the Sun Road you might want to consider putting it on your bucket list. The experience of being on the side of a mountain with high and wide vistas is dizzying and exhilarating. Check out Youtube for clips of this famous roadway.

We got back to Apgar Transit Center at 530pm, ate dinner at the West Glacier Café and called it a day. Below are some pics from our trip to Glacier and from the Red Bus tour.

 

 

 

Wednesday turned out to be a beautiful day, sunny and warm. We wanted to hike Hidden Lake tail and that meant driving up to Logan Pass. The vehicle size limit on Going to the Sun Road is 10 feet high, 8 feet wide, and 21 feet long. My truck is 8 feet wide, and 20 feet 10 inches long. I have to admit there was some “white knuckle” driving. Scattered here and there were the plastic remnants of tail lights and side view mirrors.  I even removed my tie-downs to gain an extra inch or two. But we made it up and back without a scratch.

 

Before we started out we stopped at Glacier Café and picked up sack lunches to take with us. Of course there were stops along the way for picture taking and we didn’t get to Logan pass till almost 1pm. Hiking the Hidden Lake trail we caught a glimpse of 2 Mountain Goats and a female Bighorn sheep. The overview at Hidden Lake is just beautiful as is the alpine meadows. Everywhere you turn is another beautiful picture. 

On our return to the west side of the park we stopped at Eddies in Apgar Village for dinner, sorry to say I can’t recommend the place. Wednesday's movie was Charlie Chan at the Circus.

 

Here are Wednesday's pics:

 

 

Thursday we decided to take the Camas Road to the Outside North Fork Road up to Polebridge and then on to Bowman Lake. The road to Polebridge isn’t all that bad as it’s paved for more than half the way and because we had rain early in the morning there wasn’t any dust. But the truck had a half inch of mud on the runners by the time we arrived. The drive also allowed us to photograph 2 Mule Deer bucks along the way.

We thought we would have lunch at the Northern Lights Saloon but found they didn’t open till 4pm. Lucky that Polebridge Mercantile is well known for its baked goods and we dined on a turkey, cranberry and cream cheese pasty, with a huckleberry fruit fritter for desert.

Now the road to Bowman Lake is another story; 6 miles of pot holed, gravel, narrow, winding, steep road. It’s only about 1 and a half lanes wide and passing oncoming vehicles is a challenge. Lucky that every time we met we were at, or near, a spot we could pull over a bit. But I have to say that all the drivers we met on this road were very courteous and tried their best to make room for us. As you can see from the picture, Bowman Lake is just beautiful. But that 6 miles took almost 45 minutes to drive.

Back at West Glacier we dined at Belton Chalet. Not someplace I would eat on a regular basis due to its expensive menu, but the food and the service is top notch. I couldn’t resist ordering the Elk. Thursday's movie was To Have and Have Not, with Bogie and Bacall.

Here are Thursday's pics:

 

 

Friday was a hike on the Trail of Cedars and to Avalanche Lake. Again, wonderful scenery; you just can’t take a bad picture at this park! We had an early dinner at West Glacier Café and then drove along Camas Road at dusk, hoping for a few more wildlife shots. Saw a few Mule Deer but not the bears we were looking for. Friday's movie was Bogie and Bacall with Edward G in Key Largo.

 

Friday's pics:

 

 

On Saturday I took Ronna to Glacier International for her flight back to Chicago and I spent the rest of the day getting ready for my morning departure to the KOA in Townsend MT. I should be in Yellowstone on Monday morning. Saturday's movie was Bogie and Bacall again in Dark Passage. 

 

Have to say that Verizon is paying off. My hot spot has worked at everyplace we stayed!

Hope this update finds everyone happy and healthy!