If you dance with a grizzly bear, you better let him lead.

This morning I awoke to a great view (left with Google Earth virtual view right). The air was crisp and the oatmeal perfect. It was a great feeling to literally be able to look out upon where i would be going throughout the day. I headed back through the North Entrance to the Mammoth visitor center. One knows this is a special place where you often have to stop as elk and other animals often cross the road and people walking to class or work have to share the sidewalks with the same animals. I had to wait 20 minutes for the visitor center and backcountry office so I could get my respective stamp and hiking permit. I almost went back to the hot springs to gaze at the terraces again in hopes of some good light for photographs, however I realized I still had to much to see and do, so decided to continue my journey. After getting what I needed I headed east along Grand Loop Road until I found a small one way road heading my direction that left the main highway for about 6 miles before reconnecting. The topographical maps seemed to show it going through a more interesting area, so I decided to take the path least followed. The trip along BlackTrail Plateau Drive was a great side excursion. I also did a quick stop to check out the petrified trees that were just off the main road.

I made a quick stop at the Tower ranger station to get their unofficial park stamp before heading towards Lamar Valley. It was a decently long drive along the northeast entrance road, but for me it was worth the effort to see a new section of the park while picking up a NPS stamp that few people know exists. The Lamar Valley Ranger station (now just known as Buffalo Ranch) is a teaching facility now and used to house people that are working to increase the bison herds. It must be working since just after I was able to get my stamp a large bison was making his way along the buildings with little notice of us. I hung around for a while to get some pictures and to make sure that I did not unnecessarily disturb it (and of course get it ticked enough to charge and damage my uninsured rental car). It was neat to see many of the herds in the distance and imagine what the view would have been a couple of hundred years ago before they were decimated by the ignorant and uncaring. I made a stop a Tower Falls, however the trail to the bottom area was unfortunately closed, so I had to just be satisfied with a few shots of the falls from the upper decks.

My next experience was definitely a trip highlight. After 20 minutes after leaving tower Falls I made a quick stop at a meadow overlook that had an informational placard concerning the valley being prime bear country. Not 20 minutes later at the cusp of a large valley are there were many cars stopped along the roadside. Without even knowing what it was, but assuming it to be something significant I grabbed my camera, long lens, and magnifier/1.4x teleconverter and headed over to the side. It took me a while to locate the subject, but several hundred yards below us was a grizzly bear and her two cubs. I was there for at least 90 minutes just watching the cubs play, rest, play while mother relaxed in the shade and wandered along. Eventually they made their way up the valley, causing a ruckus as the rangers cleared their path of people and vehicles before the animals crossed the road. Even though I was using the highest setting on the camera, the pictures are not as sharp as usual due to the magnification and distance (I was over a tenth of a mile away shooting small moving objects). It was fun to watch the cubs wrestling, funning around, and exploring their environment and I was pleased to be able to witness the event. I was planning on hiking up to Mt. Washburn from the Chittendon Road parking area, but just after I started the wind really began to pick up and I realized how late it was getting and figured I wouldn't have time to see everything else and find a place to stay overnight. I reluctantly turned back and headed towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.



After stopping by the Canyon View Visitor Center and getting the park stamp and headed over the the vistas that had names like Inspiration Point, Lookout Point, and Grand View. The canyon was formed like any other, simple erosion over time by running water. The striking canyons are those that are quite deep and offer significant elevation relief. It is the local hot spring activity that really gives the area its color. Even though it was mid-afternoon, there were still plenty of crowds around. There were a lot of look-outs and trails on the north side of the river. It is something about Yellowstone that even a huge glacial rock (rock that was picked up elsewhere, dragged, and eventually left by melting ice packs) can seem interesting. It was my goal to do as much hiking as possible, so I went on pretty much every major path so I wouldn't miss anything. Yellowstone has a lot of volunteers and hobbyists (wildlife watchers, geyser gazers, etc) that hang around. Along one path someone had a nice spotting scope set up that was focused on an osprey nest that I was able to pick up with my telephoto lens.


I continued along the north side of the river and hit all the spots along the way and checked out the view of the Lower Falls. Here the Yellowstone river plunges 308 feet. There were hot springs visible just downstream and even one that seemed to be active spurting into the river. There was a great platform that was literally at the brink of the falls itself. This was an inspiring point as one could hear and feel the thousands of gallons per second rush of the passing water. The light angle was just about right to get a good shot of the downstream canyon that was seemingly enveloped in mist.

On the way over to the south side of the river, I was stuck behind a herd of buffalo that decided to cross the road to ... well; I suppose to get to the other side. Some folks seemed a little impatient, which make me wonder why they would come to a National Park wilderness in the first place. Oh well. I continued over to the Uncle Tom's Trail that headed down the canyon for a different view of Lower Falls. This was a really steep trail that consisted of 528 steps down several staircases to the bottom platform. With an altitude of 8,000 feet, it was easy to get winded when on the way back up. The view here wasn't much better than the north side, but I just didn't want to pass up a challenge. It was sad to hear a group of young people at the top debating whether they should go down the trail because it looked too hard. Unfortunately the trail and the drive to Artist's Point was down for repairs, so I did not get to visit that famous site.



After leaving the Lower Falls path I meandered over to the Upper Falls viewpoint. Though not nearly as tall, these falls can be just as impressive. The Upper Falls, about a half-mile upstream of Lower Falls (which have more of a drop), formed at a junction of a lava flow and glacial lake sediments. After leaving the falls, I headed through Hayden Valley towards another set of roadside springs and mud pots. I had two memorable moments here. Foremost was experiencing the Dragon's Mouth Spring. This felt like a scene from Tolkien's 'Hobbit' when dealing with the dragon. Based on decades of fiction and movies, it felt just as if a dragon was active inside the cave. I sat watching this thing for about 40 minutes just listening to the roar of the steam, the churning water, and agitated surface constantly splashing the shallow pool. I don't know why it was so enthralling for me, but it was. this place had the strongest sulfur smell in the park, but it was tolerable as long as one wasn't directly downwind. After leaving the spring I continued along the boardwalk and was startled by a bison scrounging just off the path. There are constant warnings every few feet in the park about wildlife, so I wasn't going to bother the animal. I got a few shots from a distance once I scooted past and watched for a while. However, it seems the animal was on the inside of the circular boardwalk and it was soon climbing up and walking down towards me. I tried to keep a decent distance without making sudden movements, however those things can definitely move if provoked. This thing definitely can move and I was soon walking quite briskly to stay out of its way. Apparently the loop part of the boardwalk was closed for repair, so this thing was in the way of escape, so we just had to wait it out. One guy thought he would just waltz past the animal when it was just a few feet from the boardwalk, but had to sprint by when the animal made a sudden snort and foot stomp. One would have thought the sharp pointy horns would be enough warning.

After finishing up here I headed out again. I got to Fishing Bridge Visitor Center just in enough time to get the park stamp and afterwards sat at the dock for a while overlooking Lake Yellowstone. I had an overnight permit to go around Shoshone Lake, however I didn't get near the trail head until it was just about dark and I was too tired to pack and try hiking unknown territory in bear country after dark. I continued on to my previous parking spot at the Old faithful Inn, cooked dinner, grabbed a shower, and charged my batteries before finally succumbing to exhaustion in the front seat of the car. This was one of the most packed days of my life, but it was well worth the energy spent.

Geysers, like us all, need to let off steam sometimes.

It was nice to be able to wake up with geysers and nature completely surrounding me. I headed over to the Old Faithful Visitor center to pick up the park stamp and check the eruption prediction schedule. There was a ranger excursion starting shortly for which I signed up. I wandered around for a few minutes before heading back to the car to make breakfast. The ranger talk was very interesting and it was great to learn about the various geothermal features. We were taken on a long tour around the boardwalk in the Upper Geyser Basin where we learned much concerning the history of the park and the facets of the area. While on the walk I got my first daytime viewing of the famous Old Faithful Geyser. It is still scientifically amazing to me as how this has been such a constant phenomenon for such a long time as well as well as the accuracy of the predictions. It was sad to see that before the display was over the groups around the viewing platform seemed to dissipate, as if boil water shooting dozens of feet into the air isn't all that interesting anymore.

After the tour, I spent the next few hours walking around the rest of the basin area. There are simply an amazing number of active pools, mud pots, and geysers here. Every few feet there was some feature that I felt I could just sit down and enjoy for hours at a time. The clarity of the water reminded me of some of the hidden springs of Florida (where I didn't have to worry about boiling temperatures). This blog simply doesn't have enough room for me to post all of my 'favorite' photos from just this hike along. Many of the pools had such incredible colors due to the bacteria that lived at each temperature level. Every feature seemed to be significantly unique and somehow alluring. While a watched pot may never boil, these springs never cease to boil, so you can watch them all day. After watching the Daisy Geyser eruption, I made may way back to the Old Faithful area so I could continue my journey around the park.

As I headed towards the Norris Geyser Basin, there were several nice spots to stop including Gibbons falls, Artists Paintpot, Black Sand Basin, with several random wildlife viewings thrown in. It is hard to really offer a lot more detail regarding the walks other than pretty mush naming the different geothermal features that I saw. There was a lot of hiking involved and every area had a lovely uniqueness. seeing these things were exactly what I had wanted to witness for as long as I can remember. It was just so nice to get so far away from urban life and enjoy the transcendental aspects of nature and should be something experienced by everyone that wants to get something out of life and maybe even garner an appreciation for the outdoors and need to protect it. After visiting the Ranger Museum near Norris, I headed further north towards the last basin area for the day.



Mammoth Hot Springs has to be just about my favorite site in the entire park. These springs have created an amazing view that has been unparalleled in my experience. The terraces have been formed by calcium carbonate that has been deposited for thousands of years that create the stalactite-like or stalagmite-like formations. The colors were absolutely amazing when viewed from the side. I could have a million different Crayola Crayons and feel that I still not duplicate what I had seen. I spent another 3 hours here burning off daylight just sitting for a while and listening to the sounds of water and steam while immersed in a kaleidescope of the color spectrum. It is one of the most significant moments of serenity I had ever experienced. My modicum of writing ability cannot do this place justice. After enjoying the area for a while I headed through fort Yellowstone towards the north entrance to the park, the site of the Roosevelt Arch. I got a few pictures and headed off to a nearby cache and search for a place to stay overnight. After finding the cache and dropping off and picking up a few items, I came across a great little spot to throw up the tent overnight that even had a deer casually walking around behind a small pond. This was an absolute perfect spot as I was able to quickly set up my tent and fix dinner while overlooking the whole of Yellowstone National Park below me. What an incredible experience!

I stole the pic-a-nic basket, Boo-Boo, Yogi barely admitted.

After breakfast and hitting a couple of roadside caches, I headed over to West Yellowstone, Montana. After gassing up and getting a drink, and grabbing a stamp at the west entrance visitor center, I was ready to head into Yellowstone National Park, one of the top places that I had always wanted to visit, and I certainly was not to be disappointed. There were some great views of the Firestone river along the park entrance road and before I even got too far I spotted some large nesting birds (condors maybe?), nesting swans, cute little groundhogs, and a bald eagle perched on a tree near the river. There were plenty of elk herds sitting around in nearly every roadside meadow. It is hard not to be the a*hole driver and move forward at a crawl when you want to almost stop and look at everything.

I hit the Madison ranger station for a passport stamp and then headed over the the Firehole river which is one of the few places in the park where the public is allowed to swim (for good reason). There was a great swimming hole that is deep enough to dive (I saw a SCUBA diver climbing out as I arrived, apparently looking for treasure dropped by swimmers. I did some bouldering at the waters edge for some fun. Apparently once I was around the bend, the water chute I was climbing past had a sharp turn. As I was contemplating pushing myself into the middle of the river I slipped on a rock and went down hard on my ass. All I could do was curl up and ride it out. After bouncing around for a few moments, I was spit out and into the calmer water. For my sins, I had a huge bruise that covered my entire left butt cheek that did not clear up for the next two weeks and made me uncomfortable for the next two days. That and a small rip in my convertible hiking shorts got me to decide to be a little more cautious for a while.

After drying off I headed over the the Fountain Paint Pot area for a boardwalk loop of some of the geological features. this is pretty much my first real exposure to anything such as a geyser, boiling pond, etc, though I did see some boiling mudpots and steam vents at Lassen NP last year in the Bumpass Hell area. Some of the areas were busy with people (after all Yellowstone is one of the most visited parks in the nation), but only a little patience was required to get some good shots without people in the way. The next few hours were spent wandering the various boardwalks and overlooks among all the boiling lakes, mud pots, and such. The Grand Prismatic Spring is one of the most stunningly colorful things I have ever seen. It is really neat to see how just a few degrees change in temperature can sustain the different bacteria that make up each color. After staring at some of these things for a while I headed over to the next parking area which ended up being the trailhead for Fairy Falls. While on the trail I was able to get a more highly elevated view of Grand Prismatic Spring. The trail to the falls went through a lot of new growth from the devastating fires that consumed much of Yellowstone NP many years ago. It started to drizzle for a while and even though I had left my jacket and other gear in the vehicle, I toughed it out and kept going. I was glad to have stuck to it as I really enjoyed being able to enjoy the tall fall in complete solitude. The rain didn't last too long and it had quit by the time I got to the falls so that I could take out my camera.


Once I got back I decided to head towards the Old Faithful area. I had planned on making this the last portion of the trip, but it was close enough to hit that evening. On the way to the Biscuit Basin area, I saw a large elk grazing by the road and got in a few shots before hurrying off to catch the last of the day's light. At Biscuit Basin I was able to see my first real water spouting holes in the ground instead of the steam fumerols that I had been seeing earlier. I got to the Old faithful area just as it was getting dark, and missed the last daylight geyser display. I cooked dinner in the parking lot and then headed for the OFI (Old Faithful Inn) as I watched a coyote walking around the area.. The Inn itself was really beautiful and rustic, however I didn't take any pics on this visit (but did later) since I had enough stuff in my hands as I found a bathroom and was able to get a shower that I think I really needed. After that I grabbed a local brew on tap at the bar and sat in the lobby downloading pictures and GPS tracks while charging batteries for a while. It was way too far to try to drive outside of the park, so I couldn't just set up a tent off the road as the rangers are pretty strict about that. My only remaining option was to sleep in the car itself in the front seat. After a while, it wasn't too hard to get comfortable and quickly fall asleep, no doubt aided by exhaustion from the long, but quite satisfying day.

I always take life with a grain of salt, ...plus a slice of lemon.. and a shot of tequila

After waking up relatively early, I was quickly on the road and heading to Salt Lake City. My first planned stop for the day was the site of the Timpanogos Cave National Monument. Already the NPS Pass has been great since it gains me access for free to all the park that charge and entrance fee. I bought the annual pass last year for the California trip, so it has certainly more than paid for itself in savings. Just getting into parks like Yosemite, Yellowstone, or Zion can cost $25 each with other monuments, and parks charging anywhere from $3-10 dollars.

Since I was traveling solo and I got there early enough, I was able to get a tour ticket for one of the early excursions. This is a very popular area, especially since it is so close to a major city, that tickets can be sold out for all a day's tours within a few hours. I had to quickly gear up and head up to the caves, over a mile and a half up the mountain, however after a bit of determination, I was able to make it. The hike had a great view of the canyon area for pretty much the whole climb and had plenty of information plaques to give one an excuse to rest for a moment. The cave itself was interestingly enough, though it wasn't really that much different from any other cave I have explore in the past, but it was still interesting enough as it is always neat to see all the different formations.

After leaving the caves I headed to Salt Lake City and stopped by REI in order to get some climbing rope I'd need for canonyeering and fuel for my stove. I also ran by an IKEA store since I tend to hear a lot about them. This place was huge and looked like a super Bed Bath and Beyond store that had triplets. The place even had its own daycare facility and sit-down restaurant. I lopped through a couple of times and can see why some people are excited about seeing a couple of the stores open in Florida over the next couple of years. Ikea is like an indoor theme park, where shoppers are encouraged to pick up a map and a yellow shopping bag and follow a winding, one-way path from the upstairs showroom to the downstairs marketplace. After their selections are made, shoppers proceed to the self-serve furniture warehouse to pick up unassembled items and then to the checkout counter. After a stop at a NPS administration office in downtown Salt Lake City to pick up stamps for the Oregon National Historic Trail [NHT], Mormon Pioneer NHT, Pony Express NHT, and the California NHT, I meandered over to take a gander at the Mormon Tabernacle. I only briefly checked out the exhibits, however I did enjoy the landscaping and architecture of the grounds. On the way out I did see a strangely named domain for a supposed car dealership. You be the judge. I wanted a chance to go swimming in the lake just to experience the additional buoyancy caused by the extra salinity, however I just didn't have time.



I didn't have too long to hang around as I really wanted to make it to one more site for the day before closing time. My next destination was Golden Spike National Historic Site in Promontory, UT. This was the site where railroads from the west coast and the east cost met to create a complete rail line from one side of the country to another. This may not seem like a huge deal now to most people, but it was then one the same level of the Eagle landing on the moon in the 1960s or a human expedition making it to Mars in our future. It was a pretty long drive from SLC and I just missed the last demonstration of the day as the locomotive on site reenacted part of the golden spike ceremony. The ceremony was a big to-do back then with the bigwigs from each railroad company and plenty of festivities around the country once the feat was announced. I was abl eto get to the visitor center in enough time to get my stamp, of course, and take a look at some of the displays and the last bit of one of the films.

Fortunately the outside areas were open, so I had plenty of time to walk around and check out the site. After getting a few pictures and reading the plaques outside I decided to head out and try to cover enough distance to get me ever closer to Yellowstone and was able to get pretty far past Idaho Falls. I hit several caches along the way when I had light so I could drop off and pick up various travel bugs right along the roadway that as served as a quick way to stretch legs or break up the monotony of driving. Once I got within the boundary of one of the national forests I was able to find a side road with a dead eand where I could set up my tent for the evening.

With all the driving, I finished the Alice in Wonderland series and started on an old classic that I hadn't red since middle school, "All Creatures Great and Small". The books really do help time go by a little faster.

I am the highway.

I got up about the same time as Suzana was heading for work. After a quick shower, since I didn't know when I'd get the next one, and filling of water bottles and pouches, I headed out. I stopped at a grocery store to pick up provisions such as gallons of water, fruit, pasta, lunch sandwich stuff, etc. The camera stores didn't open until 9AM, so I had a little while to play. I drove down to the strip so I could get in some early morning photographs of some sights when the traffic and heat were still low. I hadn't been to Vegas in several years, so it was nice to drive around a bit and remember the last trip and sites visited. After getting the things I needed at the camera shop (they fortunately opened the doors about 10 minutes early, I hit the interstate and headed north.


My first quick stop was at a Bureau of Land Management office in St. George Utah to pick up an 'Old Spanish Trail National Historic Trail' stamp since it was just off the interstate. Part of the plan for the trip was to pick up as many of the National Park Service stamps as I could along the way for my park passport book. After that I headed to the Kolob Canyon entrance for Zion national park. Kolob Arch is the second largest arch in the world, however viewing it would involved a 22km round trip hike that I didn't have time to do. I grabbed a Zion NP stamp at the VC and then took the scenic ride up. The drive was a great way to see the sheer canyon walls that that I remembered seeing in King's Canyon in California last year. There were plenty of pull-outs that had sweeping views. at the top I took a 1.2 mile trail to a sweeping vista as a means to get acclimated to the altitude a bit and enjoy the area.


After taking off I headed back north to Cedar City UT for a stop for another 'Old Spanish Trail NHT' stamp (there would be a lot of these along the entire trip). After a bit of backtracking, I got off the interstate and headed to Cedar Breaks National Monument. I picked up my passport stamp at the visitor center and headed to the main overlook. This area is a basin full of hoodoos much like the well known Bryce Canyon but sits at a higher elevation. I spent quite a while here just enjoying the view and lack of major foot traffic and tried to hit all of the available vistas along the way. On the way back north I check out the Brian Head area that is a fairly popular ski area in the winter. There was a nice drive up to the top of the mountain that had some nice views as well.

After a good bit more driving, I finally pulled off at some random exit and looked for a place to crash. At first I was just going to find a side road on which side I could set up a tent, but I hadn't taken into account the extremely hard clay that made up much of the desert area. I finally found a gate and fence line somewhere that met at a 90 degree angle and set up my hammock tent.

After getting out of Las Vegas, I pretty much started to listen to audiobooks for most of the rest of the trip. I had started 'Alice in Wonderland' a while ago and finally got a chance to finish this as well as 'Through the Looking Glass'. If you ever wanted to know what goes through the mind of a child with seemingly extreme ADD, then this book would be a good revelation. Wow did the story ever jump around!

The Declaration of Independence was the promise; the Constitution was the fulfillment

This is the day for which I had been planning for a while. I had to spend a fair amount of the day doing last minute preparations such as downloading waypoints into the GPS, printing hiking maps, going through mental checklists, finding clothes, etc. At the airport I was surprised to run into an acquaintance, Mike (Slim Prickens) that was also traveling to Atlanta (my lay-over) on his way back home to Charlotte after dealing with some final moving issues. The plane was nearly empty and the gate crew had to nearly beg people to sit in the back so the weight would be balanced. We chatted for a while and I handed over my laptop so he could watch the movie 300 for a while. I have yet go to Atlanta and not have the gate change for my next flight, and this was no exception. After taking the subway to the other terminal, I was soon back in the air. One positive aspect about flying on July 4th during the evening was seeing all firework displays around the city. Even when flying at high altitude, in the clear sections small ground displays could be seen.

The long flight was made easier by watching the movie 'Ratatouille' on the laptop until the battery died, thereafter watching some podcasts on my MP3 player. I arrived in Las Vegas a little after 11:30. Prior to landing the captain announced ground conditions. I thought he was reading off the next day's weather forecast because he said it was 105 F outside. Nope, it was indeed the current temperature. After picking up my bags and using the airport free WiFi while charging my batteries, I headed off to the car rental facility. The last rental agency I used allowed one to choose the car they wanted within the category specifications, however Avis apparently assigns cars. I wanted to get a station wagon sized vehicle like last time (e.g. Chevy HHR, PT Cruiser, etc), but I ended up being assigned a Chevy Aveo. I mostly wanted the vehicle with the best gas mileage, so this seemed as good as any. After thoroughly reading the rental agreement (and making sure that it offered unlimited mileage and had no clause that added fees if the car was taken out-of-state) I signed the paperwork and headed out. I make sure that every time I rent a car to take pictures of all the damage or marks already in place so that I do not get blamed for anything. After getting most of my stuff situated; GPS attached, inverter installed, laptop setup, clothes organized etc., I headed out. Even the parking garage where the car was located was stifling hot at mid-night with temperature probably exceeding 100 F even then.

A friend I had met at the San Diego RDR last July, Suzana (Multiple Horesgasm), kindly offered me a place to crash. Originally I planned on taking off that night, however my camera apparently some spots on the sensor. I could not find any camera shops in the Tampa area that had digital sensor swabs in stock and had to locate a camera store in Las Vegas. I called a couple that had them, however they had no way for me to purchase the items over the phone and wouldn't leave them somewhere outside where I could obtain them upon arrival. I headed to the house and after a warm reception, I quickly crashed hoping for an early start.

If you don't care where you are, you aren't lost.

I have just about a day left before I head of for my 4 week trip to the mid-west. That pretty much means that I really should start packing and getting everything together that I think I just might need.

So far my plans are to fly into Las Vegas late on the 4th (should be neat to see the fireworks as I fly overhead in the evening). I'm still working on my route, but I'm going to be hitting as many National Parks, Monuments, Preserves, and Recreational Areas as I can such as Yellowstone, Zion, Bryce, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Archs, Canyonlands, Grand Teton, etc. Right now I'm looking at putting in over 3,000 miles on my rental car in 26 days. Yeah, I'm going to go through a lot of audio books (though the last Harry Potter won't be released until the 21st! grrrrr) while on the road.

I'll have my laptop on the road, though it'll mostly be used for navigation, backing up my music, watching movies on the plane, etc. I'll try to log-in on occasion, however I really will not have much time to answer emails and such.

In the last days, I'll play around Vegas since I have a ticket to both 'O' and the new show 'Ka', both Cirque du Soleil shows. I'll be back early on the 31st with only a few days to catch up before I'm of again.

I plan to update my blog whenever I can and hope to be able to post GPS tracks and pictures if I can find a decent Internet connection. I'm sorry for not replying as quickly as I have been recently. This traveling thing is tough!