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Published: January 22nd 2007
This is a memorablog- trip that were done long before I maintained a travelblog.
Time & bad memory do contribute. So, would be unable to write as much as I would love to.
Ok! there goes racking of my brain;
Memorial day vacation May 28th 2004 - June 6th-2004 The initial plan was just me & my hubby, but later we had another couple join us.
It was a very exciting moment for me as it was my first long vacation outside CA., ie if you do not consider a Vegas honeymoon as a vacation 😊
The first time we planned for this vacation, I wanted to do Alaska & Ganesh wanted to do Yellowstone. I think I made it very clear that I was making a compromise😊
We were going to fly into Salt Lake City(SLC, Utah) & drive 1 hour N to Days Inn, Logan for night stay. We rented a comfortable but not so efficient gray Ford Taurus(with GPS)
May 28th 2004 As always, May was hot in Bay area. SLC had something different in store. It was raining like crazy on I-15. Giri took the steering & all of us could hardly
Days Inn
So close to the Wasatch range! That's fresh snow on those mountainssee the road in that downpour. It was pitch dark by the time we reached Days Inn. We had dinner & crashed.
May 29th 2004 4 people in 1 room; So, we had to clear the bathroom. Me & Ganesh finished first & went for a walk out. The Wasatch range was still very close by & all covered in snow. What a beautiful day! We picked our breakfast & started to make an early start. We still had some 6 odd hrs to drive. It was sunny until we crossed ID border. Remember us stopping at Big bear lake (ID/UT border) & @ 'Raspberry shakes'. The landscape was just an instant hit.
The weather all started to change right from the minute we got into WY. When we were in Jackson hole. That was where I saw the first snowfall my lifetime. We were like pulling out into a gas station, saw the snowfall & just hanged around for a while to get wet & cold 😱 It was fun!
Our next stop was
Grand Teton National Park's visitor center. Too bad we did not stop for long. That was where Ganesh, Giri & Vandita rolled their tongue out
Albertson's
gearing up the grocery to taste the snow. I just liked to watch it & be there😊 if you know what I mean. The Tetons were under a snow spell & were fully covered in fog. We stopped at almost all view points to try seeing the Tetons. Finally, the weather got better & we got a glimpse of Grand Teton amidst all the fog. What a beauty! Actually, these are our first view of the Rockies. Not a doubt how majestic they are! Truly nature's masterpiece!
Not set step into Yellowstone & I already want to stay back at Grand Teton😞
30 or so miles before we reach
Yellowstone National Park. I remember us taking the south entrance. It started snowing & we heard that the south entrance might be closed. It was getting late & 300 miles around to get to the west entrance was not appealing. Vandita & Ganesh were very positive here. We stopped at the entrance to check for any updates. Nothing too dangerous other than the car being really dirty with all that snow.
So, Ganesh took the wheels and soon we were on the narrow road towards Mammoth hot Springs. We were staying there for 2 nights.
North of Logan
stopped a while to hang around- Giri & Vandita It was still snowing but we saw some cars, only on the opposite direction. Anyways, we had to stop abruptly for a bison herd to make it way through. I was on the passenger seat & imagine seeing all these huge beasts within 5 ft😱 Still gives me the creeps. The 2nd/3rd stop was not that scary anymore. They just want to get across. There was mountain on 1 side and rive on the other. They had to take the road.
We checked in to
Mammoth hot Springs resort. We got a separate cabin that could take in 4 people. It was a central restroom though(1 min walk). Will do!
Yellowstone Map May 30th 2004 Morning, we got up and on my way to the shower I saw what was behind that darkness yesterday. Mammoth Terrace & Hot Springs. It was smoking. I just could not wait to get there.
Its all in my mind, but I do not remember the names of all the springs we saw. But I do remember, it was cold & we felt so warm near the hot spring.
We went around a lot later, but I do not remember where😞
Yeah! I brought only half of
Bear Lake
ID UT border my rice cooker, so we had to drive like 50 miles N to find an Albertson's to buy one. Dumb me! But it was a beautiful drive! Montana is gorgeous! Gave us some time to hang around in the northern entrance via Gardiner, MT.
We crossed the continental divide somewhere then. Also the 45th degree latitude.
It was all so overwhelming for us. Yellowstone was the first national park in the US; I think in 1872. It safely sits between MT in the N, ID in the W, & rest WY sided. The park is the size of Rhode Island.
May 31st 2004 I think we went and checked out Yellowstone fort, the eastern- tower falls area, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone(Inspiration point, artist's point, hiked down to the brink of lower falls, upper falls) & Norris Geyser basin(a guided tour of the complete boardwalk) &
Grand prismatic hot spring. Remember seeing a black bear catching a nap near the tower falls area.
Jun 1st 2004 We checked out of our cottage, did a lot of sight seeing (that I don't remember now). We drove towards the Lamar valley that is a "hot spot" for viewing wolves. Wolves were reintroduced
in Yellowstone & we pulled over right at the point where we saw people with huge telescopes. We climbed up the hill and saw a couple of wolves playing around with their kids. From nowhere, we saw a coyote come up near us. With so many people, it just could not scare us. It looked fierce though! All's well. We headed to the "Bear tooth pass" considered one of the best highways in US. True to what we heard, the road climbed up. En route, I remember catching a glimpse of red fox, a group of mountain goats & a grizzly just crossing the road in front of us(almost 50 ft). Oh! what a day!
It was freezing & overwhelming being on top of the world at 13000ft. Plowed snow on either side of the road was taller than our vertical height. So surprising & stunning!
We drove a long time outside of the park to Cody, WY. It was past midnight.
June 2nd 2004 It took us 2 hrs to get into the park & this time we took the eastern entrance and came to Yellowstone lake @ 7000ft above sea level. We headed east to Old
Jackson hole, WY
my first snowfall Faithful geyser. We saw the predictable Old faithful erupt once every 90 min. There is a whole range of geysers in and around Old Faithful(part of Upper Geyser basin). Some geysers erupt once every 12 hrs. We had to run from geyser to geyser to catch all the action.
We did a short hike up a mountain to have an ariel view of Upper geyser basin.
We later checked into Old faithful Inn. Well! another cottage there! 😊 We could see Old faithful from outside the cottage.
June 3rd 2004 We headed towards Grand canyon of yellowstone again. A little different to see this time. We did a lot of hikes-special mention is the Uncle tom trail- a set of iron stairs that leads half way down the canyon. Remember being around 600 steep steps one way. Do I need to mention how hard it was climbing up? 😞 We stayed at the Canyon Lodge. The place was less crowded than the other places.
June 4th 2004 We did lots of walking, lots of animal sights. Other than that, I don't remember a thing!
Stayed at Canyon lodge again.
June 5th 2004 Bade goodbye
Snowfall!
we fell in love with the place to Yellowstone NP at 5 am in the morning to be in time at SLC. With Ganesh around, no one can be late to anywhere. We had 5 hrs to kill, so we entered Antelope island inside the Great Salt Lake. I remember we were baking in the heat and were too glad to see a closed picnic area. At a point, we just could not take the heat anymore. So, hit the roads to the airport. Boarded Delta flight back home in the evening.
Bison, black bears, Grizzlies, wolves, coyote, mountain goats, red fox- all of these in quite close encounters, where else can you see so much in a week...Ok agreed, ALASKA....
But this was fun! Yellowstone is closed to road traffic in winter, but snowmobiles still can take you around. The place must look like a wonderland!
And yeah, Grand Teton has some great place to see too! Just be careful- Its grizzly country!
-travelbuffs
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