Day 74 & 75 - Grand Teton Village

Uncle Steve and Cousins Lanny and Landon were set to arrived today for a two week Yellowstone vacation amid my adventure. I did laundry, thoroughly cleaned my stinky shoes and converted my one-person camper van into a four-person voyage van. I rolled up the bed, broke down the second storage rack and raised the two middle seats in order to make space.

Steve and Lanny missed their connecting flight to Jackson and since the airline didn't fly to Jackson for two more days, they instead flew to Salt Lake City and took a bus up here, arriving 22 hours late. Cousin Landon's flight was on time at 9pm so I picked him up and we went down to Jackson for pizza and beer. The only pic of the day:

The next day Lanny and I set out to hike up to Taggart and Bradley lakes after a lazy morning. The weather was ideal for hiking at mid 60s and sunny. A "wind event" two days ago knocked over dozens of trees into the trail and Rangers were out with chainsaws clearing them. After Bradley Lake the trail climbs up 2000 vertical feet to a canyon cliff edge used as a climbing entrance to Grand Teton. The fallen trees and a lack of time blocked our progress so we turned back and drove on to Jackson to meet Steve and Lannny.

The travel-weary fellows seemed chipper and excited to be here despite their horrid 24 hours of travel cancellations and waitings. We celebrated their arrival with a tasty dinner and drinks at the Mangy Moose bar before walking around the mostly-empty mountain town of Teton Village in search of other party-goers. We walked through the beautiful Four Seasons hotel before enjoying a night-cap at The Spur bar just before it closed.

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Days 89 and 90 - Waterton

I started my journey north to Canada today. My plan was to head to Waterton Lakes, just north of Glacier, then to Calgary, then the Canadian Rockies parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier and a few others, then to Vancouver and finally to Seattle, all over the next several weeks. But first I needed the Internet! I drove south out of Many Glacier to a place I remembered having cell reception. I did some emailing and calling back home, did some research for my Canada trip and watched the final three episodes of Game of Thrones--wow, the final two episodes were sensational. This rainy, dreary day was perfect for such activities. I then drove into Canada late in the evening and to a campground set in the cloudy mountains at Waterton. The weather cleared a bit the next day and I was able to do some hiking around this scenic alpine lakes district. Waterton Lakes district from a high hill called Bear's Hump: The chipmunks at Bear's Bump were very interested in the conten...

Day 106 - Seattle

My July 4th started with a drive from Vancover to Seattle, arriving at the Museum of Flight by 11. The museum tour began with a display of the 27 U.S. Flags, made interesting by announcing the history of the states entry into the union. This B-17 is similar to the bomber my grandfather flew in WW2. A former Air Force One plane that Kennedy road on was another highlight. I stayed all day at the museum enjoying the history of aviation exhibits and finally space! I drove into downtown Seattle to checkout the city parks reserved for fireworks watching. These neighborhoods were crawling with people and would make horrible stealth street camping sites. I called several hostels and all were full... but then I found one with one bed left. I reserved the spot and drove to the hostel to find it in walking distance to the fireworks. I joined a group waking down to see the fireworks. We were joined by a few others. Two skydivers with fire flaming behind their path were followed by...

Day 93 - Calgary to Banff

After a very pleasant morning at Dave's house spent photocopying trail and scramble guide routes, enjoying a great breakfast and coffee, meeting some of Dave's extremely kind family members and chatting more about adventures, I set out for downtown Calgary. I thought a walk around a museum would be a nice change of pace, so I toured the Glenbow Museum. Two highlights were a Blackfoot Indian describing the meaning of their Tipi decorations and the Gun Scupture. The history of Alberta section was also quite interesting: fur trappers then cowboys then railroad builders then oil drillers. I then walked down to a nearby waterfront park, along a pedestrian only shopping street where a Christian pride rally was taking place, and then down quiet side streets to the park. Seeing people out jogging and playing on this Sunday afternoon reminded me of the real life I must one day return to. But not yet! Hungry and ready for mountains, I walked back to my van and left Calgary heading wes...

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