Category Archives: Wyoming

GART Day 6: And so we go to Idaho

Posted on August 6, 2017 | Leave a comment

We awoke to our last morning in the Tetons. It has been wonderful having the Grand Teton looking over our cabin during our stay but all good things must come to an end. I managed a short run in the park – trying to get in one run in every state! – before we hit breakfast and headed to our next adventure: Idaho!

I confess that I had to do a bit of work to figure out how to make a stop in Idaho fit the itinerary. But since we lost our one night in Montana to the condensed first part of the trip, it was more important than ever that we make this work and be enjoyable. We made a pit stop in Jackson – what a cute town, we need to go back – get the car and some clothes clean. Then we headed across the Teton Pass with it’s 10% grades to go from Wyoming to Idaho. And then the next 250 miles or so was somewhat surreal.

Once we left the mountains, we crossed flat barren terrain. Lots of bare beigeness as we ran alongside the Snake river. And heat. After coming down from the mountains, the glaring sun drove the temperatures up. We stopped for lunch in Idaho Falls at a lovely brew pub across from the falls before heading west once more. We passed more flat, bland fields – mile after mile. I was looking for potatoes but all we saw was nuclear research facilities – Atomic City anyone?

At last we reached the National Park du jour: Craters of the Moon. A park that no one I know has ever visited or in most cases even heard of. Yellowstone gets more visitors in one month than Craters gets in a year. But it is so much cooler IMHO. It’s a large volcanic field that looks like a set from Star Trek – we kept waiting for a red shirted Trekkie to pop up from behind the volcanic rock and get shot. If you ever want to know what post apocalyptic America looks like – I think I’ve seen it.

There were hills to climb up and caves to climb in. We had to get certified before going into the caves to prevent the spread of White-Nose syndrome which has apparently been devastating the bat population. We didn’t see any bats but the caves were really cool.

We wrapped up our visit and headed to the Bed and Breakfast in bustling Hailey, ID. It is literally a one-stoplight town just south of Sun Valley. With a population of nearly 8,000, it is a bustling metropolis by Idaho standards (we passed through several towns that had populations in the 100s). We walked downtown and had a FABULOUS dinner at CK’s where we sat at the chef’s bench overlooking the kitchen and got to watch all the food being prepared. I had a wonderful gaucho steak with corn-jalapeno cakes and Frank had fresh Idaho trout with Idaho potatoes. We wandered around town before heading back to call it a night. Our room at the B&B has an extra deep tub so I decided to have a relaxing soak before bed. I can’t even tell you the color of the bathwater when I got out – apparently volcanic rock dust is black and very fine. I didn’t even notice it in the restaurant but it was certainly obvious in the bathtub. Ick.

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 279
Layers of sunscreen: 3
French lessons: 1/2 (we turned it off to pay attention in the mountains and never got back to it)
Number of photographs at Craters: 49
Steps taken: 12,248
Flights climbed: 24

GART Day 5: Staying put

Posted on August 4, 2017 | Leave a comment

Because of the change in departure day, this was our first stop where we had two night in the same place. After a somewhat rough night, I slept way too long (Frank felt the need to make sure I was still alive) but we eventually made it to breakfast. Then it was off to the main event of the day: hiking in the Tetons! I wanted something that rated as an actual hike (so no pavement) and was a little more than the casual tourist would be willing to undertake. After some research we decided on the Taggart Lake- Bradley Lake loop in the southern part of the park. And boy were we glad we did.

It took about half an hour to get to the trailhead and the car park was pretty full by the time we got there. Nevertheless, she persisted. We headed toward Bradley Lake first and it seemed like the 800 feet elevation change happened entirely on this part of the hike! We kept going up and had fabulous panoramic views of Bradley Lake – one of the 6 glacial lakes in the park.

We then headed toward Taggart Lake which was where we found the real magic. The trail goes right along the lake front (which means we had a lot of “down” to do first) and we were treated with crystal clear waters with spectacular mountain views in the background. I couldn’t resist dipping my feet in the water – which was really cold! – before continuing on the journey. All in all, the route we took covered 5.9 miles which we did in just about 3 hours. We then visited various scenic spots in the park before heading back to the hotel to take a dip in the pool to wash off the dust.

Then to the Blue Heron bar for a drink before dinner. The reason we chose this lodge is that it is where the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium takes place each year. It is hosted by the KC Fed and many of my colleagues work very hard to make it a premier event for economists from around the world. Since I will never be an official attendee at the big event, I really wanted to see what the fuss was all about. And I promised a friend at work that I would have a drink in the Blue Heron for him – so I did: a Jackson Lake Lemonade which apparently involves huckleberries as do so many other things here.

We then had a lovely dinner in the Mural room where we got to watch the sunset over the Tetons. Afterwards, we struck up a conversation with an English couple and funnily enough, the wife went to school down the road from where I used to live in London. It was another case of “it’s a small world.”

Numbers for today:

Miles driven: 55 (all inside the park)
Steps taken: 17,327
Flights climbed: 37 (according to my iPhone)
Layers of sunscreen: 2
Hours slept: 8 (in chunks of 4 with breaks)

GART Day 4: Catching up

Posted on August 4, 2017 | 1 comment

While I am very happy that we were able to salvage this trip, these first few days have been very trying. Essentially, we covered 5 days worth of vacation in 3 days. Today was the last day to cram things in before we got “back on schedule.” And we started the day right: fabulous breakfast (including GF quiche and banana bread!) and great conversation with our fellow B&B residents.

Then off to Yellowstone via WY 14 – one of the most amazing routes I have ever driven (okay, Frank drove so I just rode). It goes through Big Horn National Forest. We drove up and down as much as driving west. At one point we were over 9000 feet! The scenery is magnificent. Well, I’ll let you judge for yourself.

Then we stopped in Cody – home of Buffalo Bill – to grab some picnic supplies and get the top down on the convertible. Then off we went to the Shoshone National Forest. More unbelievably beautiful scenery and a picnic by a river. Note that the sign next to the one announcing the picnic area announced grizzly bears. And yet we ate there anyway. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

Then on to the chaos that is Yellowstone. I wanted to enjoy it more than I did. I was shocked to see acre after acre of tree skeletons. (Note: need to Google that and see what I should have learned before we went.) After the peaceful beauty that we had just come through, the bus loads of tourists with selfie sticks was a bit jarring. We managed a short hike to the natural bridge – I got to climb things so I was happy. Funny that there was a sign that described how tiny this arch is compared to the ones in Utah (which we will be seeing next week!)

The traffic and the tourists were hard to take but we were determined to see the Grand Prismatic Spring and so we did. And it was pretty amazing.

But the number of buses and the pain of getting through the park made a trip to Old Faithful just too much to bear. So we headed south to the actual destination for the day: Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park. DSCN0892 We arrived just in time for sunset. We grabbed a couple of burgers and retired to our lovely but stupidly expensive cabin to call it a night.

Numbers for today:

States covered: 1 (Wyoming)
French lessons: 1 (Bon jour monsieur!)
Average gas mileage: 22mpg
Miles driven: 246
Elevation change: roughly 6000 feet
Number of steps: 11,312

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Posted in USA, Wyoming

GART day 3: Large stone things

Posted on August 3, 2017 | Leave a comment

The day started cool, grey, and rainy and didn’t improve much as time passed. We started with a great diner-type breakfast in the biker bar restaurant before packing up and heading to the first large stone thing of the day: Mount Rushmore. We only had a short drive to get there so we could check a box on the “must see list.” And it was impressive. There weren’t too many crowds so the viewing was good.

But viewing is all there really is to do there so once we were done, it was time to move on to the next large stone thing: the Crazy Horse Monument. Entirely done by private funds and leagues larger than Mt. Rushmore, the place is really impressive. Mostly the work of one family, it has taken 50 years to get a small fraction of the work done. It reminded me of the Sagrada Familia – amazing and not likely to be done in my lifetime.

Then we took the scenic route through the Black Hills looking for a nice hike. But the Black Hills are a National Forest and not a National Park, a difference that is important for hikers. The National Park Service has obviously spent a lot of time and effort making information available and usable for visitors. I’m not sure the USDA Forest Service has done the same. Let’s start with the fact that the main hiking map is called the “Non Motorized Trail map” and go from there. We never did find a hike that suited us so we just drove on the “Scenic Byway” and headed toward one of the better known towns in the Black Hills: Deadwood.

And once we got there, we drove right through. It is a town that has really enjoyed having a TV series based there and revels in the “Old West” theme. Add to that the hundreds of Sturgis folks whose bikes were parked all along the kitschy main street and we knew that it wasn’t the place for us. We drove on along the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway to an out-of-the-way restaurant where we had a lovely lunch with a view of the hills.

Then more driving (a sub-theme for the day) until we got to the last big stone thing: Devil’s Tower. A truly impressive rock formation that was worth the stop and the wander around the base. I can’t call it a hike because the path was paved and people with flip flops were walking there so it’s a wander not a hike.

DSCN0819

And then the real drive began. Back to the freeway and long drive to Sheridan, WY. The weather didn’t really improve all day. We tried putting the top down once we crossed the state line but it wasn’t long before the cool temps and threatening clouds made us stop and put the top back up.

We got to the B&B a little late but in enough time to have a lovely chat with the owners. Another shout out to Rob and Bev at Residence Hill B&B who were able to move our reservation so that we could still stop here albeit a day late. Then we wandered downtown to have dinner at Frackleton’s . For my GF friends, if you ever find yourself in Sheridan, eat here. I had the best GF pasta I have ever had. Home made ziti with Gorgonzola sauce (fresh thyme, walnuts and shaved parmesan). Oh, and Frank had a great steak. (But it wasn’t as good as my pasta. 🙂

Numbers for today: