Home Again - Final Thoughts

It has been four days since we have returned from our trip, and at no other time have we had a destination so persistent in clinging to our minds and hearts. We long to return.

Over the last week, we have seen literally hundreds, if not thousands of cameras ranging from the cheapest disposable to the most elaborate professional models. All of them have been attached to people who are attempting to do the impossible; to capture the overwhelming beauty and utter magnificence of this place onto a piece of film or a digital sensor. It simply can’t be done. Even the eyes strain to take it in, with a thirst that one didn’t know they had.

Publishing a blog on a trip like this can be quite frustrating for several reasons, one of which is the realization that, instead of staring at a keyboard and monitor, you could step through your back door and be out amongst what you are writing about. Another significant challenge is the sheer lack of energy one has after spending each day attempting to wring out the most of what that day has to offer. The biggest obstacle, however, is the difficulty in finding the words to communicate, because so much of what one takes from this place is based on what one feels as they see, hear, smell…with the unfortunate result being an account that reads as a dry play-by-play.

How many times have we described a restaurant or a movie to a friend, using words like “fantastic”, “great”, “awesome”, etc.? These words no longer have the same meaning after visiting these areas.

During our visit, I spoke with a gentleman who was visiting the area with his family from Illinois. We were admiring one of the other-worldly features at Mammoth, and he said something that sums things up very well - “If this place doesn’t move you, something is wrong with you”. I couldn’t agree more.

If the reader only absorbs one piece of information from this blog, we hope that it is the importance of experiencing this region. It is a slice of Heaven that is every American’s birthright. Plan your trip. No more excuses. Make it happen. It will move you.

We guarantee it.

Britt, Tammy, and Brin Bowers
2008

Day Eight - Jackson

After loading up our luggage into the Suzuki and locking up the cabin for the last time, we decided to head into Jackson for lunch and a little shopping before heading to the Jackson Hole airport for our 3:oo p.m. flight. Brin had to wear his cowboy getup, of course.

We enjoy taking home small paintings or prints that represent places that we have particularly enjoyed, and we were lucky enough to attend a small art festival that is held in Miller Park, a couple of blocks off the Square in Jackson. We walked out with two small signed prints that we are very happy with.

Lunch was at the historic Wort Hotel in Jackson, which seems like a great place to stay if you are passing through for a day or two. The lobby is fabulous, and the famous Silver Dollar Bar where we ate has 2032 Morgan silver dollars embedded in the bar.

The flight into Salt lake City, and then back to Atlanta, was pleasant and uneventful. We arrived at Hartsfield at about 10:45 p.m., and finally fell into our own beds at about 12:30 a.m.

A final post will follow within a day or two.

NOTE - Click on the above photo for a larger view!

Day Seven - Teton Village

Down the hill, and a ten minute walk from our cabin, is the horse corral of Teton Village Trail Rides. We pass the corral every day as we leave and return to the village, and each time, Brin has advanced his campaign for a family ride. Not surprisingly, he eventually wore us down, and we agreed to schedule a two hour ride for their first opening at 8:00 a.m.

With our trail guide Jessie (an experienced 16 year old girl with a good sense of humor that we all enjoyed immensely), we headed out at about 8:15 on our trusty mounts - Jessie on Putter, Tammy on Hazel, Brin on Salty, and me on Mailman.

The ride was quite enjoyable, and was a new experience for both me and Brin. Jessie pointed out various items of interest along the ride, such as a 500 year old evergreen, a tree where a bear had scratched, and another where a porcupine had stripped a band of bark from an evergreen trunk. At one point, we rode around the perimeter of a very large green pasture, which made for quite a sight with the woods to our side and the massive Tetons rising above (unfortunately, my camera battery died before I could get these shots). It was a wonderful experience, and, even though we were all a little sore in the nether regions, we all agreed that this is something we want to do more of when we come back.

It was a welcome change of pace to stay close to our cabin for a day since we had been on the run for so much of the week. We visited various shops in Jackson Hole, and purchased the obligatory pins, patches, hats and t-shirts, and spent a while talking to an American Indian museum/shopowner who enthusiastically told us what we needed to do next time we visited Wyoming.

After sharing two orders of Idaho trout fish and chips from the Mangy Moose lunch café, we headed off in search of a drug store to find nail polish remover for Tammy (apparently, the dry air caused her recently manicured nails to become rough and dry like sandpaper - she noticed it shortly after we arrived in Wyoming). We found her drug store, and as she was coming back out to our vehicle, I asked Brin if he wanted to take a look at the western wear store next door. It was a costly mistake.

After about 30 minutes or so, I walked out with a considerably lighter wallet, and Brin walked out with cowboy boots, a western belt, a Roper brand western shirt, and a pair of cowboy cut Wrangler brand jeans. This was no costume - this was the real goods, and it looks amazingly good on him (several gentleman around town have addressed him as “cowboy”, which he loves) . Tammy and I will never forget the way he strutted as he walked out the door (he insisted on wearing it out). The whole cowboy culture has really captivated him.

We spent some lazy time back at the cabin, and eventually worked our way down to the Alpenhof Restaurant for some German food and fondue.

The hot tubbin’ before bed felt wonderful on our tenderized rumps.

Some assorted stuff…

- Most of the horseback riding trail guides are teenagers and early twenty-somethings who come to work and live together in a dorm or camp type environment for the summer. When the cashier at Teton Village Trail found out that we were from the Atlanta area, she let us know that one of their summer guides was a young lady who lived about an hour south of Atlanta, and that she happened to be there that morning. The young lady came over to introduce herself, and told us that she lived near Griffin!

- Our cabin is in a tiny and beautiful alpine neighborhood called Granite Ridge. It is located off of a road called Granite Loop Road, which climbs higher and higher above the village. Out of curiosity, we drove up Granite Loop to take a peek. It was easy to see that the homes became exponentially more expensive and impressive as you gained altitude. Early on the riding trail that morning, as we headed up one particular hill, Jessie asked us to guess the recent selling price of one of the homes that came into view. After several guesses that weren’t even close, she revealed that the home went for a cool 30 million.

- Jessie explained that the bear scratchings on the tree were a territory marking procedure. A bear will reach as high as he can on the tree trunk and leave his claw marks, then the next bear who comes along will leave the area if he can’t reach as high on the trunk. If the newcomer leaves higher claw marks, however, the original bear that marked the tree will leave when he sees the higher marks.

- Along one particularly picturesque section of the trail, Jessie pointed out a large barn that was built at that location in the 1970s for filming the Marlboro Man television commercials. You may remember the scenes with the barn in the big open field with the snow-capped mountains in the background.

- Brin wasn’t the only one who spent our money at the western wear store. I ended up with two shirts myself.

NOTE - Click on the above photo for a larger view!

Day Six - Yellowstone

Day six takes us back to Yellowstone to explore the northern areas of the park.

When experiencing Yellowstone, a great deal of time is spent just driving from feature to feature. This huge park is 63 miles long and 54 miles wide. Fortunately, the scenic beauty is enough to keep one entertained constantly.

Today's route took us first to the mud volcano features along the east side of the Yellowstone loop. You can't help but be impressed by the power of the steam, as water makes contact with the massive magma chamber 4 miles underground where it roars back to the surface through caves and mud pits. The local bison seem to view this as a spa, as they stretch out around the pits. The incredibly putrid smell of the sulfur in these geothermal areas is also quite...spectacular.

Traveling across the northern section of the loop took us next through the amazing canyon country...rolling hillsides deep in wildflowers of pink, yellow and purple, leading to the massive lower falls within "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone".

Our last stop of the day was at Mammoth Hot Springs at the northwest area of the loop. The steam features of this area are quite different in appearance from any of the others we have seen so far. Equally fascinating were the buildings in the area that housed the remote Fort Yellowstone.

We made the long trip back to Teton Village, and arrived just in time for some Roadhouse BBQ before they closed.

Notes...

- We spotted and photographed an impressive elk on our way to the Mud Volcano, but then we were informed of a MUCH larger one in the adjacent woods. He was massive, with antlers between 3 and 4 feet wide, and a total height over 7 feet (see photos)

- Yellowstone changes feel and terrain very quickly from section to section. It really is like visiting five different parks in one

- Passing through Grand Teton on the way to Yellowstone this morning allowed us to see our first and only bear of the trip - a young grizzly with a tracking collar (see photos)

Our last full day is tomorrow, and Brin has it planned out for us.

NOTE - Click on the above photo for a larger view!

Day Five - Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point Hike

Today is the day we set aside for a hike. After studying our Day Hikes in Grand Teton National Park book, we decided on the 5.8 trek that would take us around Jenny Lake, up to the 200 foot Hidden Falls, then finally to Inspiration Point (elev 7200 ft), which is a rock outcropping 400 feet above Jenny Lake.

Here is where I lack the means to communicate the intense drama of the scenery that we have experienced. To say that the views were magnificent is a gross understatement.

On our next trip here, we hope to make it past Inspiration Point to Cascade Canyon, which we hear is amazing. It will require a boat trip across the lake, then a 9.8 mile roundtrip hike. We just didn't have the time this trip.

After dragging our exhausted selves back to the cabin, we refreshed with showers, and found ourselves half starving. Our hunger was handsomely rewarded at The Gun Barrel restaurant in Jackson, where we dined on elk chops, venison sausage, and bison prime rib. Simply incredible. (post edit - This was BY FAR the best meal of the trip - B.B.)

Some items of note...

- The vastness of Grand Teton and Yellowstone makes the placement of guard rails logistically and financially impracticle for all but the most heavily visited roadside features. The result is a staggering number of trails and vantage points where there is nothing between you and a plunge of hundreds or thousands of feet. One or two misplaced steps can easily send you to your death, which tends to heighten your sense of awareness to new levels

- Along the trail, Tammy spotted a local animal called a pika, which tends to live at the moderate elevations. It looks sort of like a small rabbit, but with rounded ears and no tail. It's most unusual talent is the sound that it makes, which sounds like a much larger animal (much like the bleating of a baby goat). See a photo here... http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://raysweb.net/wildlife/images/pika_new.jpg&imgrefurl=http://raysweb.net/wildlife/pages/06.html&h=254&w=382&sz=44&tbnid=G1NW_QlvhCQJ::&tbnh=82&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpika&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&cd=1

- Tiny ground squirrels at the higher elevations will beg for food, and practically sit in your lap if they think you will feed them

- The most awe inspiring view we have yet seen has been from our facing southwest from the final 50 yard switchback to Inspiration Point....soaring peaks...massive rockslides...words can't express

The hot tub jets have worked wonders this evening. Good night.

NOTE - Click on the above photo for a larger view!

Day Four - Idaho and Montana

We started out the day with a skylift ride in the Bridger Gondola, which delivers Jackson Hole skiers up Bridger Mountain (elevation 9100 ft) where snow is still on the ground here in mid July, then rode the Teewinot chairlift for another great view of Teton Village. The resort is in the process of completing the replacement of their much larger Rendezvous Mountain aerial tram (elev 10,450 feet), which will open this december.

We then drove over Teton Pass into Idaho to experience the Teton Range from the western side.

While the terrain in Wyoming is of the rough and brushy type you would expect in the land of cowboys, the landscape in Idaho is lush and fertile farmland. And, while we certainly saw some potato farms, the majority of crops were of young wheat, which covered the rolling fields in a rich green carpet for as far as the eye could see. It made for quite a dramatic view with the snow capped Teton range in the background.

We eventually made our way to West Yellowstone, Montana, and entered Yellowstone Natl Park from the northwest, then headed the 60 miles south through the park, back through Grand Teton Natl Park, then back to the cabin. A full day to be sure.

A few highlights were...

- having to quickly apply the brakes in Teton Pass to avoid a Moose who almost ran out in front of us before he thought better of it

- seeing an unusually large spud at Idaho's "The Spud Drive-In Theatre, Home of the Famous Glady's Burgers"

- following a series of homemade signs in Idaho that eventually instructed us to "TURN HERE!" into a farmer's driveway to purchase buffalo jerky (which we did, and have enjoyed immensely)

- photographing mule deer in Yellowstone

I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard. More tomorrow.

NOTE - Click on the above photo for a larger view!

Day Three - Yellowstone

This morning, Brin and I heard Tammy calling for us to quickly come upstairs. When we got there, what we saw from the large second floor windows were two elk grazing on the hillside, forty to fifty feet off our back patio. Amazing. The first photos in our day three album show what we saw.

The plan today is for a quick tour to begin orienting ourselves with Yellowstone.

Yellowstone is incredibly vast, and is so geologically diverse that it is generally considered to be five different parks or "countries" within one. The plan today is to visit the geothermal Old Faithful area.

Here is the stripped down play by play:

-Entered Yellowstone from the south, drove through many many miles of beautiful country that still shows the obvious effects of the 1988 fires (the dead trees no longer look charred, but more like bleached poles standing as far as the eye can see, with thousands of evergreens reclaiming the forest below - the fire damaged areas are not at all unattractive, but instead have an eerie, alien beauty that is hard to describe)

- Had a picnic lunch at Lake Lewis, where it was quite chilly

- Visited the Old Faithful geyser with a thousand friends

- Hiked 3.5 miles among many of the geothermal pools, geysers, and other features of the area.

- Visited the Old Faithful Inn, which has been a highlight of the trip so far. The Old Faithful Inn was completed in 1904, and features a soaring atrium made from huge lodgepole pines. The extensive handmade detail involved in the construction is incredible, and everyone who walks in has the same awestruck reaction - truly a must-see. The second floor deck is a popular spot for geyser watching, and for sipping beer and wine, which many folks were doing. We opted, however, for a scoop of the inn's local huckleberry ice cream (huckleberries are a close cousin to blueberries, and are locally popular in jams, syrups, pies, etc.).

- Saw a herd of Bison, some of which decided to pause in the middle of the rode, blocking our route back to the Cabin (we didn't mind - Brin has a special love for Bison (both in the wild and on the dinner plate))

- Completed the long drive back to Jackson for a BBQ dinner

- Hot tubbin' back at the cabin, and finally to bed at a decent hour for the first time this trip

We have barely scratched the surface of Yellowstone, and will be making at least two more trips to this awesome place before we leave.

Be sure to take a look at our Day Three photo album.

NOTE - Click on the above photo for a larger view!