Tetons and Yellowstone

Wed July 4- Happy Independence Day! Fortunately DD Camera's Corral in Jackson Hole had a replacement lens in stock for our camera... back in business! We immediately put it to good use at the 4th of July parade making pictures of locals throwing corn from the farmers market float. After the parade we went for a drive through the Grand Tetons national park, had lunch, got our backcountry permit and had a hot shower. Back at camp we got organized for our first backpacking trip; breakfast, lunch and dinner all had to fit in the bear-proof-cannister!

Lunch in the Grand Tetons

 

 

Thu July 5- Day 1 Grand Teton Trek. Woke up to a cloudy morning.... what a nice change! To start our 3-day trek, we took the boat across Jenny Lake. The hike first went up Cascade Canyon (following a river up-stream) and then took a left to get to the back-side of the Grand Tetons. Shortly after we had set-up camp at a beautiful site along a river- it started to rain. Nice after the hot first week, but cooking a meal in the rain does get old very fast! The night is best described as cold and damp, sounds great huh! Distance 8 miles, +2100 ft

 

Hiking up Hurricane Pass

 

Fri July 6- Day 2 Grand Teton Trek. Clear skies!! Like every morning on a trek, our breakfeast consisted of oatmeal (sometimes known as porridge) with brown sugar and dried fruit. Big hiking day today, with lots of going up and going down. Thanks to the great weather we had spectacular views of the Tetons and the Alaska Basin. It was a long day, sometimes a little hairy crossing the slippery steep snow fields, but very worth it! LB even brought her ice axe- but luckily did not need to use it! Found a cool campsite on top of a ridge overlooking 'Death Valley.' What a great day! Distance 10 miles, +1900 ft, -1300 ft

The Alaska Basin

 

Sat July 7- Day 3 Grand Teton Trek. With sore legs, hips and shoulders we hiked back to civilization- our last backpacking trip was 1 year ago- have to get used to carrying a heavy pack! It was a long day, all downhill, and we were very happy to be back at Rockefeller's visitor center! Small detail... our car was 12 miles up the road. Next task: find a ride! LB's natural charm convinced Grizzly Man to drive us back to our car (retired neuro-surgeon now researching bear-brain-anatomy). Shower, beer, pizza... life's good! Distance 12 miles, -2900 ft

Great views!

 

Sun July 8- Rest day!! Finished our first blog, did much needed laundry, ate ice-cream and drove to Southern Yellowstone where we camped at Lewis Lake. Sleeping bag in stuff-sack fell from car... Maurits drove over it...sleeping bag survived.

 

Mon July 9- Like good tourists we visited Old Faithful and the surrounding geysers in Yellowstone national park. What an amazing sight! In the afternoon we prepared for our backcountry trek back at our campsite at Colter Bay - a dusty sandpitt that triggered a sandstorm with each step. Although we looked pretty silly preparing and cooking on the asphalt beside our car, it was better than coating all our food and belongings with dust. At 930pm we heard a very interesting ranger talk about the big bad wolves of Yellowstone. The wolf was wiped out of Yellowstone by hunting in the 1930's and reintroduced in the 90's. Amazing how such an animal can have such a big impact on the eco-system. Go wolf!

Geyser

 

Tue July 10- Day 1 Yellowstone Trek. The start of our second trek! We hiked to Heart Lake in southern Yellowstone through a landscape of burned Lodge Pole pines. Picture thousands of fallen or about to fall dead white thin tree trunks in every direction (caused by the great fires of 1988). New trees and plants have developed, but are still short compared to the dead trees. We passed many smoking smaller geysers and hot pools on the way to our camp on the far side of the lake. Our first camp was next to a warm river-the river receives hot spring water and was therefore very suited for a dip. Distance 12 miles

Mount Sheridan

Wed July 11- Day 2 Yellowstone Trek. In the morning we back-tracked to the other side of the lake and set-up camp right on the water. After lunch we set out (without our big packs!) to the top of Mount Sheridan - a very pretty hike through unburned areas. On the summit it was a little hazy - but still great views of Heart Lake, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Back at camp we were ATTACKED by mosquitos. Our defenses of deet, permethrin and a head-net barely held the line. We were finally rescued by a freak thunderstorm that produced 60 mph wind gusts that the mozzies could not stand. From the comfort of our tent, we could see our backpacks flying in wind and rain on the food-pole (the backpacks are hung by rope in a tree to prevent bears from stealing our food). We survived! Distance 14 miles, + & - 3000 ft

Headnet for protection

Thu July 12- Day 3 Yellowstone Trek. The morning can be best described as: "if you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven't spent the morning with a mosquito" (stolen from Bear Grylls). Very buggy hike back to the car. Had a long hot shower to rid off the Chanel No. 3 (sweat, bug-spray and sun-screen), did laundry and drove through the northern part of Yellowstone. We did not see any big wild life on our 3 days in the back country, but within three hours in the car we had seen a coyote, four elks, a grizzly bear, 100+ buffalo/bison and a black bear! We also saw Yellowstone Falls and a lot of yellow stone in the Yellowstone grand canyon... spectacular! All the Yellowstone campgrounds were full - so after a road-side dinner (nice view!), we left the park and camped at a primitive campsite located 5 miles down a dirt-road, at the top of the hill, without potable water, on a slightly slanted sight- but it was a great view!

Summit of Mt Sheridan with Heart Lake below

 

Fri July 13- Back in the car! Northbound to Canada. We stocked up on goods in Bozeman Montana; groceries and especially more bug-spray! After a beautiful ride through big sky country we camped at a KOA near the east entrance of Glacier National Park (three years ago we spent a week in Glacier). After dark sitting at our campsite, LB almost had a heart attack when two black dogs wandered into our campsite. She quickly backed away and exclaimed "hey bear" as the dogs promptly walked right towards her- with the fright it took a while for her to believe they were only harmless dogs!

Grizzly

 

Elk

 

Wildlife watching the Yellowstone way...

 

Coyote

 

Buffalo

 

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