First of all, a route update. Lots and lots of driving the last few days... but yesterday I finally got to see the ocean after some six weeks!
However, before all that will be described it's back to Yellowstone! I spent my first day there exploring the geothermal areas and the west entrance road. For the next day I wanted to see wildlife: the Lamar valley and especially Slough Creek are supposed to be the hotspot for that. As for most wildlife: the best hours of the day to spot them are at dusk or dawn. Since watching the geothermal areas took me all day it would have to be dawn the next day... I set my alarm at 4am.
Getting up early was difficult, but I did manage to be on the road before 5. First funny thing to notice on the road: The bison were using the same bridge that I needed, so I had to wait in line.... guess they must also be of the philosophy: why take the difficult route when there is also an easy route.
The drive itself was once again very beautiful: great views of Yellowstone, huge valleys and views of opposing mountain slopes, a completely different kind of park than the day before. With respect to spotting more wildlife I wasn't that lucky. When I arrived at Slough Creek there was a group of people just breaking up. They told me there had been grizzlies on the opposing mountain slope (which you would need optics to see), but that they had now retired again. All I got to see were Bison (very, very common by now) and a nice pronghorn which just turned up out of nowhere.
I hung around slough creek for a while, but without optics and with the local experts saying that the party was over this didn't work out too well. I opted for a trip to Lamar valley, because all the documentation said that that was where all the wildlife was. The views of the valley were splendid, but as for wildlife, there was exactly one lonely bison at the west end of the valley. I parked the van and ate lunch at a viewing area in the hope that holding still for half an hour or so would lure more wildlife out, but alas, nothing happened.
While driving back I came across a large group of people with telescopes. Ofcourse I got out and had a chat with them. It appeared that this was the same kind of story: they had spotted three wolves with a (hidden) carcass, but the wolves were gone after a while. A little while later someone spotted a completely different wolf on the carcass, which is why all the people were there, but this was gone now too. Now there was a bald eagle hanging out near it and probably getting a nice snack. Well, for me it once again meant no good 'wildlife score' on this day.
The only special wildlife I spotted today: groups of Homo Sapiens Sapiens gathering for sime kind of ritualistic behavior involving tripods
Without proper optics (this is the 3x zoom of my camera) this is the view of the valley the people were studying... do you see any wolves, bald eagles or carcasses?
If the day would allow it I had planned on going to Canyon village, the only open part of the park I hadn't seen yet. However, fuel was running low, so I would first have to go to Gardiner to fill up. Besides that I wanted to check the internet after a couple of days of 0 reception, because I had applied for some couchsurf stays for the route back out of Yellowstone. The place offering wifi also offered excellent coffee, so by the time I was done the time to go to Canyon was very limited. I opted to include it in my drive back to West Yellowstone instead, that way I would not have to double up the whole route again.
There's a small picture impression of the day on Picasa. I did make a lot more, but with the overcast sky a lot of them turned out only so-so. I re-arranged the camping site a little to block the wind and got a nice fire and meal going early on. That night I slept really, really badly because I was very cold. I ended up with long underwear, socks, longsleeves, a mummy sleeping bag and a blanket, and still being cold while rolled up into an embryonal posture... this is why...
While the morning was cold, the sky quickly cleared and Yellowstone had a completely new look, now even more beautiful! I drove the, now familiar, road towards the West exit, but also drove through the upper terrace drive and paid a visit to the rest of the Morris area. Sadly I missed out on the Canyon road, because this was closed due to the snowfall :-(. Guess I will have to return some day to check it out. A short impression of the drive through the snowy park below:
Due to the season a lot of the hiking trails were closed, so Yellowstone for me involved mostly driving, which made me a little sad. By now I also get the feeling that my muscles are atrophying.. so much sitting! At Morris I could finally do a small hike, with the conditions making it a little more challenging and fun:
After this small hike it was time to make some serious miles with the van: Time to get out of the cold, and towards Boise Idaho! During my fuel, coffee and wifi fix in Gardiner I had looked up the local blacksmithing community. There would be a large conference in about 4 weeks, with a famous smith giving demo's (a smith Gordon Williams actually told me about). Sadly this was in 4 weeks, so there would be no way for me to check it out. I did find a blacksmith in Boise, and dropped him a line if I could come over and do some hammering.
It turned out that Harry Black, the blade smith from Boise, was a very relaxed chap! He invited me over for a couple of days, and since he had a scouting event going on in the weekend I would be happy to join in that as well. So, with this plan in mind I set off from Yellowstone to make my way to Boise before the weekend. Driving down, out of Yellowstone, I had expected the winter to be a lot less due to the change in height, but this was not the case... It took a little more driving before the landscape was not white anymore. One highlight on the drive: some wildlife I had on the list for Yellowstone: a Moose! I spotted it on the highway and did a 180 to get this picture... definitely worth it!
The road slowly changed from a winter landscape to a windy landscape to an almost desert like landscape. Choosing a campsite was based on setting myself a time slot: between 17:00 and 17:30 I would have to pick the best spot I came across... which was a spot with a great view, in the middle of nowhere this time.
An uneventful night led into another day of more of the same: driving through Idaho's farmland. With one exception: the craters of the moon national park. This is a park preserving an area covered in huge lava flows, resulting in a jagged and inhospitable landscape. With my lava overdose I did not venture into the park, but I did pay a visit to the visitor center. The displays on the history and geology of the place were once again interesting: diary sections of colonists on the trail west that had to pass through this hellish landscape for days and days. The adventures of exploration parties, heading into the lava fields with 3 guys for 14 days, taking pictures and exploring everywhere (lowering yourself into craters with ropes etc.). The geology display was also quite interesting: the plain I was driving through is actually not a plane, but a series of Calderas: they used to be in the spot where Yellowstone is now, but the motion of the tectonic plate has smeared them across Idaho: all the rest of it is Mountainous terrain, making this fertile plain some sort of oddball terrain feature.
Threatening weather
Lava fields
The display on the calderas (top right is yellowstone)
Endless roads
All this driving finally resulted in me arriving in Boise on thursday evening. I had made an appointment with Harry for after his dayjob hours finished, so I met him at about 7pm. We chatted a bit, but actually started working in his shop also immediately. What I made and who Harry black is will be described in the next post....
Picasa:
Day 32: Yellowstone
Day 33, 34: Last bit of Yellowstone, and the road to Boise
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