Advertisement
Published: June 16th 2009
The approach to Yellowstone was some incredible driving and scenery as you climb the Rockies and traverse Bighorn National Forrest. Many of the higher elevation passes still had a good amount of snow and you could feel the outside temperature change with the elevation even while in the car. The little Fit, although weighed down with our gear and having bikes on her roof, performed admirably on the ascents and switchbacks. Wyoming really has some of the most scenic driving of the states we have visited. We passed several moose and other small wildlife on our drive, but the bighorn sheep avoided our detection.
Upon entry to Yellowstone (after paying the 25 dollar entrance fee...we opted for the year-long pass for all the national/federal parks at 80 dollars since we were hoping to visit so many), we were greeted by none other than a Grizzly bear on the side of the road. Granted it was a smaller bear (1 of 2 we saw on the drive to our campsite), but a Grizzly none the less. Bears have an interesting effect in Yellowstone. If you own an oversized camper and are inadequately dressed for the elevation (Tshirt/shorts are probably not a
great idea at 7000+ feet with on/off sleeting), you must and I emphasize must stop in the middle of the road even with a pull-off stop directly next to you, open your window talking loudly enough for all surrounding cars to hear, and improperly label the creature a 'brown bear' (not referring to color) in a sentence similar to the following template "Look kids a mighty brown bear eating some grass" while taking multiple pictures with as much flash as humanly possible. Now, in all honesty, I was surprised and impressed by the bear presence within ten minutes of entering the park. However, it did leave me wondering, if such scenes (not the bears but the campers) did not scare a bear and yet terrify me, what hope do I have of ever scaring off a bear if I encounter one. I also was curious of the distribution and population density of these bears in a park that I would be camping in for three nights seeing two along the route to said campsite.
Further along our route to the campsite...yes it is a long route, approximately an hour or so from the gate...we encountered herds of bison or
buffalo, another moose, and several deer/elk. It also happened to sleet and lightly snow during our hour long drive. That was the first time the Fit encountered falling sleet/snow. We arrived at the campsite at dusk and Caleb quickly moved to setup camp by both doing multiple things with a great amount of efficiency and directing me to do the same. He was obviously a much better Boy Scout than I was, but to my credit, he did pack all the camping stuff and it made him 'seem' more efficient (to all those who may have been watching). One thing I quickly realized as we setup camp, was my purchase of a new tent however pretty, weatherproof, and well reviewed online was pretty much the largest tent I had ever seen setup in our camping spot. I would later return this tent in Spokane, but I am sure it made quite a show to our neighbors that two not overly large boys with minimal gear were sleeping in a 16x7 brand new tent. We also proceeded to cook all of the meat that night (in pretty much darkness by the end) to avoid raw meat issues later in the week.
My lack of Scouting efficiency was overshadowed by my camping cooking prowess. I can brown meat and cut vegetables like none other apparently. A side note for all those who may consider elevation camping/cooking. Wine bottles do not fare well (esp those with natural cork) with continual elevation assaults. A potential outcome may be a wine bottle cork becoming a champagne cork and attempting to fly out of the bottle way too easily and wine spilling upon de-corking. We will from now on, be giving our support to the vacuum boxes of wine from target or other esteemed vineyards.
So night one of camping was a success, minus the cold (more on that later). My first realization that camping for me had become more holiday inn express than tent was my 'natural' alarm clock of sunrise at 5:20am. yes 5:20am. I awoke with energy assuming it was like 7 and ready to start my day only to find my watch and realize it had been dark for only 8 hours (sunset according to ranger station was about 9:20p) and obviously I went to bed past 10p since we were still cooking / setting up. In an effort to enjoy
the park, Caleb and I ventured out to find a moderate 5 mile-ish hike. We scouted all the maps and trail guides to pick the Beaver Creek Trail. Sounds enticing right? So we got in the Fit and drove to the trail head (everything in Yellowstone is a 45min drive minimum from where you currently are). We geared up in cold weather gear, our boots, and water packs (since it was about 35/40 degrees upon leaving camp at 9am) and started out. Within 5 minutes during the initial 300 foot climb of the hike, we both realized two things. 1) we are both far more out of shape doing elevation hikes than we thought and 2) it was bloody hot (temp had risen during day to mid60s). After adjusting our layers at a trail sign, we as intelligent young men decided to take a second to read the sign (we skipped reading the previous sign) only to discover the trail we were currently traversing was 'Closed due to bear danger'. In possibly the most intelligent decision of the day, we ventured onward because after all we were already outfitted, on the trail, and did not know when we would return
to Yellowstone. And hey, a bear yesterday (it was dated closed as of yesterday) might be gone today. The 5 mile hike continued on without a sighting of a bear. Luckily we did see many deer, elk, a snake, and several really cool birds. I pretended to know tracks/scat and noticed every of each that we passed on our route trying to predict what animals were in the area. Many wolf tracks were seen but no wolves. Now it must be noted, I am not an ornithologist nor as easily excited about birds as I am by other wildlife. So, if i note a cool bird, it has to be a really cool bird. However, cool bird / pretty plant is probably as detailed of a description of birds and plants you will get in this blog (Caleb is a better botanist, so you might have better luck there).
The day ended with the obligatory Yellowstone sight of 'Old Faithful'. Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes +/- 10 minutes. It was impressive but I must say it leaves you looking for something grander. Maybe I am just not overly impressed by 100+ foot 90 second eruption that is
so predictable, but I never denied I am a tough critic. We took a video, which I will try to youtube/link/embed into this for you all. That night of camping was 'wicked cold'. I woke up wondering what I had signed up for. The last night was not much warmer. Now, I must give a 'shout out' to all of my previous chemistry and physics teachers. The last morning I woke up with our aerobed, significantly deflated knowing fully that I had refilled it before bed. In the nanosecond, I was considering mentally cursing the bed for deflating, I was reminded of simple chemistry/physics. I will give you a second (although most of you are probably faster than I, and know where this is going) to figure out what I eureka'd at that moment. The air in the mattress had dropped in temperature as it got colder at night and the volume decreased causing the deflation. So freak out moment avoided and I felt as smart as I could have at 4am freezing cold.
The last little anecdote of our trip that I will share can be best summarized as Bison vs. Fit. Now, the first time you seen
Bison at Yellowstone you are in awe. Huge creatures with plenty of young this time of year and crazy close distances to human beings. There are however so prevalent in the park that by the second or third day you only notice if they are in your way. In fact, they are so prevalent and close, one small group was in our campsite the final evening during dinner. But, Bison v. Fit was much closer than that. On our way to the hike, all of the cars in front of us slam on breaks. So as we approach we realize traffic is completely stopped in the opposite direction and very slow going our way. As we approach the impass, we see two bison in the road (we guess trying to cross). The first bison was a medium size (probably 1500lbs or so) and on the far shoulder. The other larger bison (if average is 2000+lbs, this was at least 2500lbs) was in middle of other lane and approaching with no lack of speed towards my car door. Caleb managed to get off one adrenaline (ie not very focused) picture as I gently ('screamingly') reminded him no flash. I literally could
have reached out of my window and touched his horns. So I wanted to slowly move in our previous direction as not to startle him, while Caleb of a different mindset was gently ('anxiously'/'excitedly') was suggesting I not go so '!*?#@% slow' and get out of the way before we get gored. The bison was at least the size of the Fit and handily would have won the battle. I stared him and he at I, (even Caleb noted the contest later), and without any reservation tell you the Bison won.
Our Yellowstone adventure was great albeit colder than I would have preferred with overnight lows in high 20s. I managed to successfully start a fire and pretend to be outdoorsy. It is truly beautiful, teeming with wildlife, and accessible to every level of adventurer. Attached pictures show some of the geysers, bubbling mud pots, wildlife, and scenery. A must see if you can avoid the rest of the humans in the way of your adventure. The next stop is Glacier National Park (I seriously fear for the cold camping for another day or two).
Advertisement
Tot: 0.137s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0455s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
philip
non-member comment
Great Pics boys!!
Looks like yall are having a great time!!! We miss ya!! Keep us posted!