beautiful

Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks trip, August 2017 Days 6 & 7

/ Terry / 2 Comments

The Beartooth Highway is said to be one of the most scenic drives in the United States. Featuring breathtaking views of the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains, high alpine plateaus, glacial lakes, forested valleys, waterfalls and wildlife.

Abutting Yellowstone National Park it sits in a 1,000,000 acre (404,686 hc) wilderness. Being one of the highest and most rugged areas in the lower 48 states, it contains 20 peaks reaching over 12,000 feet (3,657 m) in elevation. Surrounding mountain glaciers are found on the north-facing slope of nearly every mountain peak over 11,500 feet (3,505 m) high. The Road itself is the highest elevation highway in Wyoming and the Northern Rockies at (10,947 feet; 3,336 m) and in Montana at (10,350 feet; 3,154 m).

Breathtakingly beautiful this drive takes your breath away with the vistas and the driving along the curving mountainous roads. This road is not for the faint of heart as the steepness at the edges can be overwhelming for people who do not like heights. This is a road for driving, exploring and for taking your time to see all the sights and paths along the way.

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Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks trip August 2017 Day 3 part 2

/ Terry / 4 Comments

Did you know Yellowstone was home to the army, stagecoach robbers, a president, and the largest free roaming herd of bison?

1800s Accounts From Out West
For decades, fur trappers and mountain men told stories of the lands out west. To folks living back east, all of the accounts must have seemed fantastical, yet today we know that some of the accounts were quite accurate (and some embellished works of fiction). How do you go about determining the truth of a story?

Here are some excerpts from people who explored the region now known as Yellowstone. Which do you find realistic? Which do you find fantastical?

“From the surface of a rocky plain or table, burst forth columns of water of various dimensions, projected high in the air, accompanied by loud explosions, and sulphurous vapors, which were highly disagreeable to the smell.”—Warren Angus Ferris, 1833

“Here we found a few Snake Indians comprising 6 men 7 women and 8 or 10 children who were the only Inhabitants of this lonely and secluded spot. They were all neatly clothed in dressed deer and Sheep skins of the best quality and seemed to be perfectly contented and happy.”—Osborne Russell, 1835

Intreged by stories coming from explorers and of two earlier expeditions, the US Geological Survey funded the first government-sponsored mission to the area in order to document the geological wonders and beauty it had to offer. They undertook this with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The history of the science in Yellowstone began with this expedition. Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden’s 1871 team included two botanists, a meteorologist, a zoologist, an ornithologist, a mineralogist, a topographer, an agricultural statistician/entomologist, artists, photographers, and support staff. The group of 35 men set out in July 1871 to bring back scientific evidence of earlier tales of thermal activity.

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Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks trip August of 2017 Day2

/ Terry / 3 Comments

The next day my son, his wife, grandson and I did the park loop drive while the rest headed to Jackson Hole Ski Resort to take the gondola to the top then left for the cabin outside Yellowstone.

Stopping for breakfast at the Bunnery Bakery and Restaurant in Jackson we filled up on a delicious meal before heading out of Jackson. My son and I each had a Breakfast Sandwich of two eggs and cheddar or Swiss cheese with choice of ham, sausage or bacon on a homemade croissant. My daughter-in-law had the Croissant Breakfast of 2 eggs, chocolate Croissant and hash browns. Grandson ate off of everyone’s plates. WOW a wonderful place for breakfast, friendly staff, great service, and outstanding food.

 

 

Breakfast sandwich at the Bunnery
Chocolate croissant breakfast at the Bunnery

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Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks trip August 2017 Day 1

/ Terry / 7 Comments
Day 1 Tetons iPhone-1

Early morning in the desert

Pocatello Best Western

Pocatello Best Western room

Blasting through Southern California, Nevada, Utah and entering into Idaho on my first day I arrive at the Pocatello Inn Best Western, Pocatello, Idaho for a nights stay after an 860 mile (1,384 km) 14-hour driving day. This very nice complex has a indoor pool and spa, seating area, free in room wi-fi and a buffet breakfast. When I arrived at 6 PM I was pleasantly surprised to find an Applebee’s Restaurant within walking distance of the motel to grab a small bite to eat for dinner.

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June 2016 Alaska – Day 6

/ Terry / 6 Comments

Leaving Skagway last night we retrace our route down Lynn Canal going around Point Couverden heading to Glacier Bay on our last full cruise day to a dramatic, remote, beautiful wilderness reachable only by boat or plane. Cruise boats ply this bay to fulfill the multitude on the Inland Passage route, I can only imagine staying here at the campsite or lodge, and enjoying the area in a kayak or small ranger led boat tour (bucket list). Glacier Bay National Park is 3.3 million acres of the 25-million acre UNESCO World Heritage Site that stretches from Alaska into Canada.

morning bkfstUp early again to watch the sunrise at pre-breakfast. My son makes sure to join me today and we enjoy a beautiful peaceful morning with outstanding scenery on our cruise to the National Park. Later in the morning we all head to the main dinning room for an enjoyable breakfast.

 

 

 

Before we enter the park I grab a quick lunch and have some snacks in my pocket as I do not want to miss anything. Even though there are excellent window views from different parts of the ship it is not the same as being outside for photo opportunities in this magnificent landscape.

Pano b 1 megThere is a ship following us all the way in and as we get closer a National Park Ranger joins us onboard to provide a history and background talk of Glacier Bay and to explain to us over the Public Announcement System what we are viewing as we are cruising bay.

We head to the aft of the ship to Deck 7’s outside perimeter walkway where we can go from Port to Starboard of the ship as it sits and spins several rotations at each spot. Everyone must be up on decks 12 and 13 as we have very few people on the lower deck with us.

Well I am just going to let you view some photos of the bay, explaining the beauty is difficult as I will run out of adjectives and adverbs for this wonderful landscape.

ENJOY

John Hopkins Glacier

Glacier Bay

John Hopkins Glacier

Grand Pacific Glacier

Margerie Glacier

After cruising Glacier Bay we have dinner at the restaurant we ate in the first night then part ways to explore different activities that night. I go to a throwback musical of the songs of 1969, ah Woodstock and the Hippie era when I was 14. They do snippets for one and a half hours of all the good songs that year and I relax to enjoy myself. After the show lets out I walk to the front  of the ship to head for a closer Stairway to my room but the wind is blowing so hard the group of us walking are huddled together and fight our way there. Made it back and rest comfortably as the ship is really rolling in the wind.