I almost forgot to add a route-update before posting this blog. Here goes:
After spending all that work making a horizontal parking surface I couldn't just drive off early in the morning the next day, so I had to do a little hike to enjoy the view properly. The track I drove on had to be explored of course, because it ended up in nowhere land, and on the slope of the mountain there were some natural caves visible which would make nice landmarks to set as hiking goals.
The hike was not all that exciting because I could see the whole route from the van and I would not get all the way to the top of the mountain. At the end of the trail there were a lot of rusty objects: can's, teakettles, a drum which had transformed into some piece of alien metal sheet due to rust and erosion, and an old bed. So probably someone had tried to set up a little shack here, or had made a path to dump trash (which is unlikely). On the way there I was constantly alert on snakes, but all I saw were three or four quite large and beautifully colored necklaced lizards.
For the rest the caves did not offer up any wildlife hiding places, but with no-one around I enjoyed myself by letting a few tire-size rocks tumble down the slope (the angles near the caves were at the max rock-stacking angle). From near the cave I got a beautiful view of the endless salt flat, try to find the van in this picture (you'll probably have to check on Picasa):
After spending all that work making a horizontal parking surface I couldn't just drive off early in the morning the next day, so I had to do a little hike to enjoy the view properly. The track I drove on had to be explored of course, because it ended up in nowhere land, and on the slope of the mountain there were some natural caves visible which would make nice landmarks to set as hiking goals.
The hike was not all that exciting because I could see the whole route from the van and I would not get all the way to the top of the mountain. At the end of the trail there were a lot of rusty objects: can's, teakettles, a drum which had transformed into some piece of alien metal sheet due to rust and erosion, and an old bed. So probably someone had tried to set up a little shack here, or had made a path to dump trash (which is unlikely). On the way there I was constantly alert on snakes, but all I saw were three or four quite large and beautifully colored necklaced lizards.
For the rest the caves did not offer up any wildlife hiding places, but with no-one around I enjoyed myself by letting a few tire-size rocks tumble down the slope (the angles near the caves were at the max rock-stacking angle). From near the cave I got a beautiful view of the endless salt flat, try to find the van in this picture (you'll probably have to check on Picasa):
After this hike it was a driving day, to get as far along the way to Yellowstone that I could. If you check the map, you'll see that Bonneville to Yellowstone is quite a distance, so I expected to take at least two days. In SLC I fuelled up and got water and groceries, checked the internet for a likely place to camp out in the evening and off I went. The drive was kinda boring, and it actually took me to sunset to get out off the more suburban sprawl of SLC. Because I wouldn't have time to cook I opted for a roadside Burger King, and continued through to Brigham City, where I had planned to find an unpaved hillside road next to the airport.
This proved to be much more difficult than planned. It was right in the middle of farmlands, with houses everywhere. I tried a few of the according to google unpaved roads onto the hillside, but found most of them to be now marked 'private' or developed. One very promising road on google went across the mountain, but now ended in a roundabout with a house under construction on it. When I made a U-turn and wanted to drive down to the main road again a pick-up was blocking me. A bit of signaling and turning my windows down for a chat got me out of there, the guy building the house has gotten into his pickup with his wife and shotgun...
After spending about half an hour searching for places I opted for driving on, an hour or so, up to a road that looked a little bigger and that did connect across the hills. This proved to be a good one, and the next morning it appeared that I, once again, ended up with a great view! There were (as almost everywhere) bullet cases and glass scattered around the area, but this time also some bones... I couldn't really make out which kind it were, but probably someone had a good BBQ here. In the small wood down below at the creek there were some strange birds noises being made, but I could not make out who was the source... probably a turkey
Next up was the drive in the direction of Yellowstone. I still had not gotten the Bonneville salt off of my van, so I planned to do that (and the laundry) in the next big city where I would also need fuel. This proved to be Pocatello. Getting the mud off took two loads of cash on a high pressure session, and looking at the van now, still not everything is gone (but it's a rental, so I'm not going to care).
Probably I haven't already mentioned this, but I also topped the oil of the van off, and spent a lot of time searching for engine coolant, as this had to be topped up as well. One of the seams in the seat cushion also tore, but after talking with the Escape people this could be repaired/replaced in San Fransisco instead of along the way.
There's some pictures of the road on Picasa, as this is not all that interesting to post here. On my next night (just before Yellowstone) I did the same thing I had done the night before: planned on staying at a certain site, finding it to be too inhabited, and then having to drive on and improvise (except this time I did this in daylight, making it a lot easier). It did make me end up in a national forest, with bear country warnings everywhere... this made me a little nervous and I can tell you I have never cooked and eaten so fast (just before sunset).
The night was very, very cold, even making it difficult to sleep (with a -6 C sleeping bag and a set of blankets on top). The next morning it became apparent why:
A quick breakfast and then it would finally be time for the reward: Yellowstone National park, after two days on the road. The drive into the park was an attraction in itself: Bisons on and near the road, Elk on the riverside, and overall a very beautiful road to drive (alongside a meandering river, besides snowy mountains, through mountain passes: very cool).
For Yellowstone I had (as an exception) done a little research because I wanted to camp in the national park. What I hadn't done was research about where the campsite was... I had assumed it to be somewhere in the middle of the park, but instead, it was about a mile from the north entrance (I entered via the West entrance, which had just opened that weekend). Because Old Faithful was also on the planning for today and it was advised that the campsites would fill up before noon, that meant a long drive all the way to the north of the park, and then a long drive back along the same route to get to the geothermal south of the park.
Not much of a problem though, because the drive is quite beautiful. However, I did want to drive (the way up especially) at the maximum speed, so some tourists driving at 25 mph annoyed me slightly :-). There were still campsites available by the time I arrived (on the way in I did not stop for pictures, except for wildlife I saw for the first time), but on the way south I took my time to take in the scenery properly now.
The last picture is probably a coyote (I had hoped/believed it was a wolf), so please if there are any experts: enlighten me. Ofcourse Old Faithful did it's thing, and there were lots of geothermal springs around.
The area was beautiful and fun to explore, but I am kinda getting a 'geothermal overdose'. Having been to Iceland, and having seen Rotorua in this same holiday, it starts to all look a little similar, and not so interesting anymore. In Yellowstone it is mainly the scale of the areas that impresses... some pools have very nice colors, but for instance the Geyser was more interesting in Iceland (you could come up very close to it). One of the things I would have liked to see in Yellowstone was the 'biscuit terrace', but this was closed due to bear activity (I didn't get to see any bears to make up for this though). On the way back to the campsite I did see some cranes, and a surprising site: a herd of buffalo running through the camp... glad I am not in a tent :-).
Find the cranes...
Not my van, but similar travelers with a van from a competing company (wicked) being surrounded by buffalo
As this post is quite long already, I will continue with more from Yellowstone in the next post. For now, here's the picasa links to the road to Yellowstone, and the first day there:
Day 31: Yellowstone
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