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| Sunset at Curt Goudy SP |
After returning from Hawaii, we picked up our RV in
Albuquerque and started north. Just south of the CO/NM border, we stayed at Sugarite
SP. This land was formerly a mining town and the ruins of some of the building
and some of the mining equipment remained in place. The park developed the site
with signs to explain the previous lifestyle.
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We moved up to Cherry Creek SP in Denver and went out to
dinner with Nick and Kristen. We had a nice dinner and Nick treated us at a
fine Mexican restaurant in his old neighborhood. Further north, between Cheyenne
and Laramie, WY we discovered Curt Goudy SP, a real gem. We did a couple hikes
here in this beautiful park. Next, we went to Sinks SP near Lander, WY where
the Popo Agie River flows into a sink hole and emerges several 100 feet
downstream. We hiked up the canyon to see the massive Popo Agie Falls. The
picture here is just a small part of the total falls. The third part of this
delightful trio of parks was the Dubois Badlands, about fifty miles east of the
Grand Teton NP. Such a beautiful area that is ignored by the crowds that pack
GTNP.
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| Mountain Bluebird |
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| One section of Popo Agie Falls |
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| River Rise for Popo Agie River |
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| Dubois Badlands |
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| Dubois Badlands |
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| Dubois Badlands |
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Grand Teton
In the Tetons, we spent several hours looking for wildlife,
other than elk, which were everywhere. Our diligence paid off when I spotted a sow
with her three cubs crossing a field as we were driving by. I guess I started a
bear jam, because soon the road and shoulders were packed with cars. Unfortunately,
momma bear took her cubs into the woods and most of the onlookers missed the
show and left disappointed. I did not even get a picture. We did some hiking,
but after hiking on old snow, we stuck to open fields where the snow was long
gone.
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| Hiking in snow in GTNP |
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| Elk everywhere |
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Frozen Lewis Lake
When we entered Yellowstone NP, we found Lewis Lake frozen
over, but as we moved lower in elevation and closer to the thermal areas, most
of the ice and snow were gone. Last year when we were forced to leave YNP due
to the floods, we had not completed our tour of the park, missing the entire
northern section and Yellowstone Canyon. The road to Gardiner, MT was destroyed
last year, but a new one had been quickly built. That allowed us to stay in Gardiner
while we explored the park.
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| Resting Elk in YNP |
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Grey Wolf
The first morning we were up at 5 am so we could get to
Lamar Valley and see the wildlife that is out early. One advantage of the bad
winter (heavy snows) was that the calving season had been delayed and most of
the animal were just starting to calf. Of course, bison were everywhere, and bison
nurseries had lots of newborns. We also saw 2 grizzlies and several wolves. At
one spot, people were watching a wolf den about a third of a mile away with
their spotting scopes and expensive cameras and lens. Due to brain fog, that did
not lift until about 7 am, we forgot to bring our binoculars and our cell phone
camera just was not up to the task! Afterwards we spent some time exploring the
Mammoth Hot Springs area and saw several beautiful and colorful formations.
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| Mammoth Hot Springs |
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| Bison with newborn |
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| Upper Yellowstone Falls |
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Two Classics
The next day we hiked the Yellowstone Canyon Rim Trail and went
to viewpoints on both sides of the canyon. On our way back to Gardiner, we saw
a cinnamon black bear, but her two cubs were up in a tree and later we saw another
black bear with two cubs. It was a good
finish to our trip.
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| Cinnamon Bear |
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| Undine Falls |
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| Black Bear with 2 cubs |
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