Week 58 - Yellowstone & Montana - 09-23-2007

Yellow!

A funny thing happened on the way to Teton Valley. Teton Valley is just a few miles from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We made reservations at the Teton Valley Campground. When we got to Teton Valley, the campground was gone! We called and were informed that Teton Valley Campground is in Victor, Idaho, 20 miles east of Teton Valley. Oh well, the trip to Victor was beautiful as seen below. The road to Victor ascend and descends at 10% grade up to 9,500 feet. The drive was beautiful and the Mother Ship handled it with no problem. The fourth picture below is the Grand Teton mountains on the way to Yellowstone Park.

Yellowstone was the first and largest national park established in 1872. President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park System bill into law in 1916. The park sits atop one of the nations most active volcanoes. After the last eruption the volcano collapsed on itself leaving a 35 x 45 mile "caldera". The caldera burns below the surface and super-heats the waters which reach the earth's surface as geysers, mud pots, pools, steam vents and hot springs.

Below is Old Faithful which erupts about every 90 minutes. The second photo is a picture Ellen took at 7:30 a.m. as we entered the park from West Yellowstone. It was 35 degrees and even the Suzuki scooter was shivering! The last picture shows beautiful terraces formed as the Mammoth Hot Springs drips calcium carbonate down the slopes at the park's headquarters.

Bison are the most prevalent wildlife. We saw hundreds and even drove right by them on the scooter. They can run 30 mph, we can go 110, but the question would be "who can accelerate the quickest?".

While the coyote below blends right into the landscape, Ellen did manage to see it and get this photo. The moose below was very recluse.

If you want to sell postcards, just come to Yellowstone. Below are our photos of Upper Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone River, the Lewis River and Gibbons Falls.

We met Pete's brother Mike at his house in Belgrade, Montana. Mike and his friend Joyce took us on an all day tour of Belgrade, Bozeman, Gardner, Montana and into the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone Park. We got many of the wildlife photos on the trip. The first photo is the world's smallest church with six seats. The second photo is the entrance to Big Sky, Montana, where Mike is currently building an 18,000 square foot vacation home. Joyce and Mike are in the third photo. And finally the Yellowstone Park Company yellow bus. The Mattson family visited the park in 1954 by traveling by train to West Yellowstone, Montana. From there they rode the yellow bus through the park. It might even be the bus shown below. However, these buses ceased to be used in 1957. Today, private individuals own several of these buses and bring them to the park once a year to tour the park.

We saw plenty of elk. The fella in the fourth photo was standing on a porch at the park headquarters. These animals are wild but they also rule the park. They get to go anywhere they want. We also saw mule deer, pronghorn antelope, a wolf, coyote, bears, elk and bison.

This grizzly put on a great show crossing the Lamar River and romping up the river bank. The fourth photo is a black bear.

This is our third trip to Yellowstone, a total of 10 days, and we still have barely scratched the surface. This is the MUST SEE of your lifetime. Most people only drive the roads. If you take the hiking trails you could spend your life here (until a bear eats you!).

Next week, off to Idaho to see relatives and to Washington to see the first friends that we met in San Luis Obispo in 1973.

Love, Pete and Ellen

Photos from Sep 2007