Day 76 - Grand Teton to Yellowstone

With a reservation for a "frontier cabin" at Mammoth Hot Springs at the very north end of Yellowstone, over 100 miles away, our group set out for an overview driving tour of Grand Teton and Yellowstone. But first we had to take the longest ski resort tram ride in the USA up 4200 vertical feet, riding for over 12 minutes, to the top of Rendevous Mountain.

The highlight of this voyage to me was the half dozen base jumpers "flying" off the mountain. They unloaded the parachutes from their packs, put on their helmets, straightened the cords, pulled until the parachute caught in the wind, quickly turned around and jumped off the 10,500 foot mountain. Here's a pic of Steve beginning his flight and two actual flyers in flight.

The views of the surrounding mountains were awe-inspiring. The Tetons could be seen to the north but sharp peaks and ridge-lines extended all around. This being the top of the ski resort, if this was winter, we would've skied down--not. The double blacks at the top were beyond my ski ability. We did take a great group shot and a great jump shot before descending on the tram.

Once down, we piled in the van and I proceeded to drive the boys north on a tour of Grand Teton, stopping first at Jenny Lake, then String Lake then Jackson Lake. After an Elk Chili lunch at the lovely Jackson Lake Lodge, we drove on to... Yellowstone!!

A competition to guess the number of wildlife groups we would pass on the road was won easily by Lanny with his high guess of 20-- we passed over 25 groups, mostly bison. We also passed some interesting mud pots and hot springs before arriving to Mammoth. We settled in, had a late dinner and then enjoyed a late night walk to the Travertine Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs.

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Day 104 - Glacier to Vancouver

The hike up Balu Pass was supposed to be fairly easy, beautiful and dotted with waterfalls, but when I talked to the park ranger and learned that Vancouver was an eight hour drive away, I decided to skip Balu and drive west. I left behind this pretty view. And drove many hours through pristine mountains, fewer and fewer snow-capped ones the further west I drove. Some of the valleys were flooded to make reservoirs, leaving scenic sights. I eventually made it to Vancouver and drove right on through to Point Roberts USA, a five mile by five mile coastal land just below the 49th parallel and thus in the USA. The park ranger had suggested this as a good place to camp but being late of the Thursday night before the Fourth of July there were no spots available. I drove around instead and stopped at a forested coastal park. After ten minutes of walking I came to my first grand Pacific view with Mount Baker 60 miles east. The San Juan Islands and Orca Islands could also b...

Day 122 - Mount Saint Helens

Mount Saint Helens is sinister and wonderful. I spent the morning at Rainier watching the end of the British Open on my phone, then drove south to Saint Helens. I arrived at the park's northeast entrance by early afternoon. A massive bulge of rock built up on the northeast side of the mountain before the 1980 eruption and then caused a tremendous landslide when the eruption started. I drove to the Windy Ridge at the end of the road, listened to a ranger describe before and after photos of the mountain, then hiked up to a high viewpoint. You can see the circular ridge with a notch missing where the landslide occurred, the desert-like exposed right-side where the landslide blew away life and covered 15 miles of terrain with 150 feet of dirt and rock, the greenery that was on the lucky side of the eruption, and Spirit Lake which was covered by dirt and slime and fallen trees for years. The mountain was over a thousand feet higher before it erupted. After taking in t...

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

Established as a national monument early in 1911, Colorado NM is known for its high canyon "rim road" and sandstone spires of Monument Canyon. The canyons of west Colorado are pretty--as they have more green trees and shrubs than the more famous Utah canyons. This gives them a more alive feeling, although the sandstone spires were formed many thousands of years ago by erosion. Rim Rock road curves up the the top of the canyon cliff, goes through several round tunnels and is lined with scenic viewpoints. The best views were in he Monument Canyon section, and included in sequence, the Coke Ovens, The Kissing Couple (behind my head), and the most famous of all: Independence Monument, the tall spire in pic 3 and viewed from the side in pic 4. The original promoter and caretaker of the park, John Otto, was the first person to climb Independence Monument and now it's a climbing right of passage. Every July 4 climbers ascend and mount an American flag at the summit. Fun! ...

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