Rob Saker's Blog

Yellowstone is about 80 miles north of Jackson.  After grabbing a hearty breakfast and caffeine for the road, I headed out.

Morning seems to be the best time for wildlife and photographs.  The air is still, frost covers the plants, and animals are beginning the migration back to the safety of the woods.  Near the Moran junction in Grand Teton National Park, I came across this great river scene.  Even though it’s a river, the water was not moving.

The drive from Grand Teton through most of southern Yellowstone is uneventful.  Looking at a map of Yellowstone, the entire southwest corner seems inaccessible except to hiking trails.  I drove for 50 miles on this tranquil, fog covered, winding road with Stan Getz playing over the speakers.  The only downside was the coffee ran out far too early.

My friends will be happy to know I’ve stepped up my caffeine routine.  I’ve trained hard for this trip, but I realize this calls for extra effort.  I’ve met the challenge.  I’ve doubled up, which means I should be able to see twice the sites.

Yellowstone is essentially a loop, with roads branching off the core circuit.  I met the intersection of this loop at the southern entry road, and took the clockwise route leading directly to Old Faithful.

The park was struck by a forest fire in 1988 and is still recovering.  What looks like something that happened only a few years ago – burnt logs strewn everywhere, young growth, empty mountains – was nearly 20 years ago.  The park rangers say it may take 100 years to fully recover, although I think you’ll have mature forests within 20 years.

My first stop was at Kepler Cascades, which was named for the 12 year old son of the then territorial governor of Wyoming.  Forget who has the XBOX 360, “I have a series of waterfalls named after me,” definitely wins the peeing-on-the-tree award.  After viewing the falls from above, I climbed a steep embankment, not entirely sure it was meant for people to go down there – and took additional photographs.  Climbed back the 100-200 feet up the cliff and found my lungs pounding, reflecting the 8,000 feet altitude.

Left Kepler for the geyser region.  All of Yellowstone sits on highly active land, with geysers throughout the park.  The west side of the park seems to have a band of geysers running north/south for nearly the entire length of the park.  At the south of this is the area where Old Faithful resides.  I arrived, and no less than 5 minutes later witnessed the eruption.  Grand Teton was spiritual.  Jenny Lake was a hidden gem.  Signal Mountain was inspiring.

Old Faithful was oversold.  A minute after beginning, it was over.  Perhaps it’s because I work next to a pond with a man-made 150 foot high fountain, or have a garden hose that I’m sure would reach pretty high if I aimed it at the sky, but I wasn’t impressed.  The whole Old Faithful section of the park seems more like Jellystone than a National Park.  Parking lots abound, with gift shops and lodges.  Had lunch, met a fellow traveler with dogs, and continued on my way.

Met some buffalo along the road.  These ladies were just walking down the road.  They might’ve been Canadian.  Either way, they were on the wrong side of the road.

Stopped at the Biscuit Geyser Basin, which seemed to have every color of the world represented in the water and rocks.  The saphire pool was phenomenal.  This pool is about 20 feet deep and the most vibrant shade of blue.  I found another area with green, orange, and yellow shades all together.  It makes you wonder what chemicals are in the water, and if standing in the steam from this water is very healthy. 

A little further down, I found this great scenic route with an “artists point” for geysers.  Took a stroll around the area.  You have to stay on the path.  People that have wandered off the path have discovered new geysers, and have even been scalded to death.  You don’t take your squirrel hunters on these strolls.

I wasn’t that impressed with the geyser region of Yellowstone.  By early afternoon, Grand Teton definitely had Yellowstone on the ropes but Yellowstone came back swinging!

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

The GCoY is a 1,200 foot deep canyon of volcanic rock that has been carved by water.  Over the millenia, the yellow stone (ah!) of the canyon has been stained by the chemicals in the geysers, creating a miriad of colors on the walls.

The river in the canyon flows north.  It’s accessible via another scenic drive.  I stopped at the first viewpoint not knowing what the GCoY was, or even knowing that Yellowstone had a canyon.  Wow!

This canyon is unfathomable.  It goes for miles, is 1,200 feet deep, has vibrant painted walls, and the background is filled with the sound of rushing falls.  Took a lot of great pictures from above and other locations, that for the sake of my parents we won’t describe.  Not being content with these shots, I found the trail to take me down to the edge of the falls.  600 feet directly below the crest of the hill, took the path down to this deck that is on the edge of the falls.  You look down and it’s another 300 feet.  The sound is deafening, water mist is everywhere.  It started to rain.  Awesome.  Had to hike up the 600 feet, lungs pounding in the 8,000 feet air, but it was totally worth it.  GCoY was an experience I’ll remember forever.

Left GCoY, having hiked, climbed, and explored several miles and thousands of feet of elevation change on foot for the day.  Ran into a herd of buffalo on the street, but headed back to base camp satisfiably exhausted. 

Grabbed dinner at a local pizzeria, “Mile High Pizza Pie.”  Brought back to the room, and the mighty squirrel hunter crashed out quickly.  He had a long day guarding the car and barking at Bullwinkles.

Going back to Yellowstone early in the morning tomorrow.  Can’t wait.

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