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2006 Pacific Northwest Vacation -- July 23 through August 12, Part 3
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| My 2006 Pacific Northwest Vacation. Highlights included Lewis and Clark, the Tetons, Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, and a bunch of volcanoes. Lowlights included a motorcycle rally, a broken exhaust pipe and my car getting bit by a bear. 21 days, 6,700 miles. |
Day 2 started with a beautiful view of the Tetons at Sunrise. Turned the entire mountain range an orange I'd never seen before. After a quick breakfast at the lodge, we had a date with a float trip down the Snake.
I've said that of all the touristy things I've done; Swamp tours, Everglade airboat rides, Colorado River Jet Boat tours; I haven't run into a dud yet. Well, maybe I have now.
Maybe that's unfair. The problem with the float trip was two-fold. First, the Snake may have a fair flow rate, but it's still slow relative to the size of the Teton Range. So even though you're in the boat for hours, the scenery doesn't change all that much.
Second, we were in one of the parks *famed* for the wildlife that exists within it, but the most we saw was a Bald Eagle taking a crap. Not that that was bad, but it was a disappointment.
A quick Pizza at Dornan's Ranch, we ventured further into the park following the Teton Park road, which sorta follows the foot of the mountain range. We went to Jenny Lake, and up to the top of Signal Mountain., which provides a wonderful view of Jackson Hole on one side, and Jackson Lake on the other.
Grand Teton National Park, Day 2
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We had lost our scenic view room, and was in one of the normal rooms at Jackson Lake Lodge. It was Day 3 in the Tetons, and we were going to take the shuttle boat across Jenny Lake and take a look at Hidden Falls.
We had a quick breakfast at the Lodge, then headed out to Jenny Lake. We hadn't seen the Mountains that morning, but as we turned a corner, there they were, collared by clouds. I litterally slammed on the breaks to make it into a turnout to take pictures. Another magnficent morning in the Tetons.
We took the shuttle to the base of Teewinot Mountain, a popular starting point for hikes through the Tetons. We made it to Hidden Falls, and started walking up toward Inspiration Point. Almost made it all the way up, before a narrow ledge prevented me from going any further.
On the way out, we stopped someplace I hadn't been to since our 1998 trip, Cunningham Cabin. Established between 1888 and 1890, J. Pierce Cunningham and his wife Margaret staked a homestead, known as the Flying U Ranch. It's one of the best remaining homestead cabins in Jackson Hole. And it's a two roomer. How extravagant. The ranch was finally closed in 1928 when the Cunningham's sold out to the Snake River Land Company, a company formed by John D. Rockerfeller, Jr. which eventually formed Grand Teton National Park. But it had a hell of a view.
We ate dinner in the Mural Dining Room in the Lodge. Expensinve, but the food was good, and we were seated next to the window, with a magnificent view of the Tetons at Sunset...
After dinner we hung around the back of the lodge and watched the moose off in the distance, enjoying a Jamesons (in a plastic cup) as the sun set...
The next morning, we said goodbye to Grant Teton National Park, said hello to a Coyote, travelled the John D. Rockerfeller Memorial Highway, and one again entered Yellowstone National Park.
Grand Teton National Park, Day 3
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This would be my third time in Yellowstone, having visited in 1998 and 2001. Unlike my other visits, I was really only passing through the park, to drive the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. (See below.)
But "Passing Through" Yellowstone is a relative thing. I had reservations for a cabin in Canyon, so we had a little time to dawdle...
The first place we (okay, I) wanted to dawdle was Old Faithful. Why? To take some better pictures. I last visited Ol' Faithful in 1998. Unfortunately, grey, cloudy skies blends in with steam geysers, so Ol' Faithful blended in with the sky and disappeared. Oh well, no worries, it's not like Old Faithful is the only thing to see in the park!
We travelled North up the West side of the Grand Loop Road, and revisited Firehole Drive and the Fountain Paint Pots. This time when we were there, the Paint Pots where more like fumeroles than paint pots, but then, that's Yellowstone. We continued up to Mammoth Hot Springs to find the Dining Room closed, so a quick burger at the snack shop had to suffice.
We also revisited the springs, where in 1998 Minerva Terrace was active, but was a dead white this time.
We started off for Canyon, and stop at Calcite Springs, a simply amazing view of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Bumpus Butte where the basalt hex columns stand on both sides of the river.
We check in at Canyon and find that a real cheap cabin in Yellowstone is...a real cheap cabin. But it's in the park, and you don't have to drive the length of the entrance road to find a room. The walls are paper thin, the shower questionable but the beds were comfortable. We grab dinner at the dining room, and drive over to Artist's Point for the sunset over Lower Fall. We decide we should get morning pictures as well, and will return in the morning.
While getting some ice at the local gas station, there were two bikers there getting directions to the nearest lodging outside of the park, since all the lodging in the park was taken. They were going to have to ride all the was to Silver Gate or Cooke City, a distance of some 50 miles, in the dark, in light rain, through some pretty crappy road. I wished them luck.
During the night, we're visted by wee creatures that visit our cashew nuts. They don't take any (no accounting for taste) but they did sample them.
Yellowstone National Park
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In the morning, a herd of Buffalo had wandered into the Canyon area, grunting and drooling like...a herd of Buffalo. A quick visit to Artists point, the Upper Fall, and we're out the door to the Northeast Entrance Road, toward the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.
Yellowstone National Park
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End 2006 Pacific Northwest Vacation Part 3
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