Another taste of Jackson mountainbiking, Max, Otie & I biked from the top of the Teton pass on a 7km singletrack down Black Canyon spending 2000 vertical feet down thru fir & aspen trees and across grassy meadows (7.5 0n the LX scale) which was very enjoyable. The next day we headed north, camped the night in the Teton park and got up early driving into Yellowstone at 7-30. This park is the most popular national park in the States & this summer is its biggest year ever with 2 million visitors since this spring. There is real pressure on the campgrounds & to get a site at one of the 5 "first come first served " camps you need to be early. There are also camps run by the cocessionaire & we got 2 nights at Grant, a reservable camp by being there by 8am.The park is big, approx 1 million hectares with a road network of 2 connected circles like a figure 8. It was the worlds first national park created in 1872.
It is on a plateau at 2000 meters high & lies on an active geothermic area and boasts half the worlds active geysers. Huge eruptions occured here 1.3 million and 640,000 years ago and the central portion of the park lies in a huge caldera 30 by 45 miles in diameter. The heat powering those eruptions still powers the geysers, hot springs, fumaroles (steam vents) and mudpools. Bit like Rotorua really.We spent the first day jostling the crowds at the main geyser area being treated to wonderfull geyser displays. Old Faithfull belts out steam every 90 minutes to huge crowds.
We saw the Beehive geyser do a 50 meter high display which was lucky cos it only erupts once a day.
The reason they erupt is that ground water seeps into the thermal areas, boil into super hot steam untill enough pressure is built up for the steam to be ejected through all other water up the geyser opening.
We waited 1 and half hours under a hot sun, napping on the boardwalk at the big guy, the Grand geyser and were rewarded with a fantastic 10 minute display.
During our long wait we were etertained by a marmot & a golden mantle squirrel.
Then we walked thru the basin checking out the colourfull hot springs, vents and dormant geysers. The colours in the hot springs are caused by microorganisisms & bacteria which are symbiotic, the hottest being blue, then green, orange and brown. So the colours show where the hottest water is. We had a look thru the Old Faithful Inn a beautifull historical lodge built with 10,000 logs.
We checked a couple of other areas which were all different to each other including the Grand Prismatic Spring where the wind wafted big cushions of hot steam onto us which felt great as the day had cooled off. Then back to our camp seeing lots of elk just by our camp. The animals are not afraid of people and wander on the roads without being spooked. These are big animals and their Indian name is Wapiti.
That night we went to talks at the ranger station on wolves (a kids talk) and then on grizzlys. There is alot of advice & instructions given on bears because there was a fatal grizzly attack on a camper in his tent near Yellowstone a couple of weeks ago and 10 days earlier a male grizzly had been in the Grant campground.
The next day we headed towards the grand canyon of theYellowstone river. On the way we travelled thru a large herd of bison and were very close to them on a walk around a thermal area, as the males snorted and rolled around taking dust baths.
Down the road there were alot of cars stopped & we got out and saw a grizzly sow & 3 cubs in the sage away in the distance across the valley, too far to really see much.
The canyon area was unexpectedly pretty, a deep rugged gorge with a 100 meter waterfall and a rainbow of colours on the gorge walls as the river had incised down through layers of thermally active ground leaving mineralized stains. We walked to Artists Point, hiked the south rim trail, walked down to the upper falls (a bigger version of Huka) & then Max & I hiked down to the top of the larger lower falls.
Whitewater kayaking is illegal in this park which is a pity because the Yellowstone is a stunning looking river. We then drove back to Grant via Norris & Grant thus completing the lower road circuit getting back to the big elk herd & our camp at dark.
One feature of our travels has been the hordes of middle-aged Harley Davidson riders on the roads as they have been congregating at the 70th Harley rally at Sturgis South Dakota running over a 2 week period.
The average age of these "rebels with a cause (mortgage)" would be 50 and they will be keeping the leather garment industry very bouyant. They say there are 300,000 riders making this motorised Hadj this year.
Up early and off to get our next camp further north. A treat again to see the bison herd early in the cool morning with steam rising off their shaggy coats. A little further on a number of cars were parked with people looking thru telescopes.
We stopped & asked the nearest guy what was going on. We jackpotted because the guy was a zoologist employed by the park monitoring wolves. So we got the full run down on the canyon pack, 2 adult males, 1 female & 3 cubs & watched them thru the telescope. Absolutely fantastic and beautifull creatures.
The wolves were reintroduced into Wyoming, Idaho & Montana from Canada 20 years ago (with a release of about 45 animals I think) & the present population is in excess of 1300 in those areas with 7 packs in Yellowstone. They are killing some stock in Montana & there is a hot debate there whether there should be a cull, which would be terrible if it were allowed.
I think there is a much greater value in having wolves than the loss of a few dozen sheep. Tourists love seeing them & it restores a degree of ecolgical balance to the wilderness.
We travelled on & up thru a mountainous area where we came accross another traffic jam & another jackpot. A mother grizzly & 2 cubs about 100 meters away moving up the hill scratching in the ground for roots & unfazed by the hundreds of onlookers.
Awesome to watch these majestic beasts, all from the comfort of our van. The kids got up on the roof to watch, safari style. Although our wildlife encounters had slowed us down and it was later in the morning we eventually drove into the small camping area at Tower & talked to a very nice Lithuanian couple who were packing up & they handed their campsite to us.
Easy. After a period of schoolwork we went up to the Mammoth thermal area at the north end of the park, seeing 2 coyotes crossing the road on the way. The park HQ is here & the army managed the park in the ealy days building stone administrative buildings with big green lawns. Well the local elk herd soon learned that green grass was easy pickings compared to dry coarse scrub & they roamed all over the admin area looking well fed & contented.
Park rangers were scurrying everywhere with flashing lights & road cones keeping cars & people back from the animals. We then completed the top loop road back to our camp arriving back at dark just as the bats were flying around.
Another early start. Mary & I are in the tent which we pack up while the kids stay sleeping in the van. We drove out the Lamar valley the only part of the park we hadn't visited. Along that that road we came across another crowd of people looking thru telescopes & this time knew what they were looking at.
We quickly & politely made the acquaintance of the nearest group & weretreated to views of the Lamar wolf pack about 1 km away. This pack also had 3 cubs but was not as active as the pack we saw the day before. We continued down the valley seeing lots of buffallo & 2 bald eagles. We turned around disappointed we hadn't seen pronghorn antelope or black bear in Yellowstone.
I was showing the kids a picture of a pronghorn from the park brochure, when I looked out the window & there one was. Great.
A pretty animal which I had
never heard of before this trip and apparently one of the fastest running animals on earth.
We accidently went on a 6 mile one way side road which bought us back on the main road we had already driven down. A short distance down the road there was a group of stopped cars watching a black bear right by the road feeding on flowers & then breaking open a rotten log to get at insects. Another wonderfull show of nature by a beautifull animal oblivious to the crowd watching.
That show completed out Yellowstone visit nicely & we exited the park & headed up to Bozeman Montana for a motel with clean beds, showers and laundrymat.
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