Jackson Hole and the Tetons

Let's start with a little information:  Jackson Hole (or Jackson's Hole) is the entire valley area south of Yellowstone.  It includes the Teton National Park, the town of Jackson, a couple of ski areas, the national Elk refuge and more!   I was under the impression that Jackson Hole was the town....now I know better.

Every May the local Boy Scouts gather shed antlers from the Elk refuge area and there is a big auction in town.  Part of the proceeds go to the Scouts.  This auction was the previous weekend, so we were not able to attend.  There are 4 huge arches around the park in the center of town made out of antlers.  Many homes and businesses also have antlers for decorations.

Antler arches in the town of Jackson, WY

We spent 3 nights in Jackson after leaving Yellowstone and were in town for the Memorial Day weekend and festivities.  They have a rodeo, parade, mountain man rendezvous, cowboy church, street music, beer festival and more.   The parade was fun with many interesting entries!

Old Yellowstone touring car

Dog sled team pulling a truck!

Dancing cowgirl grannies - age 50 to 94!

A few local parade watchers

Teton National Park is included with admission to Yellowstone.  The passes are good for 7 days to explore both parks.  This year we have purchased a National Park pass which gets us into all the parks in the system for $80.  (Yellowstone alone is $25, Badlands $15, Devil's Tower $15, Grand Canyon $25)  If you plan on visiting a couple of parks in a year it is your best buy.

Cathedral Peaks

Jenny Lake

There are a couple of visitor centers in Teton, a few lodges and many scenic drives and trails.  Just as in Yellowstone the snow closed trails and roads....and the bears kept us off the trails that were free of snow.  We enjoyed short hikes and drives to see the mountains and wildlife in the area.

Many areas were closed due to snow pack

Grizzly and cub (she has 2 with her - only one is visible in pic)

Fox at the ski area

Deer forage along the road

Moose in a snow storm

We did check out the ski areas and a condo that we have access to with our timeshare.  Winter would be fun with skiing, dog sled rides and sleigh rides....but summer is nice too with hiking, boating, white water rafting and more.  It is really a beautiful area any time of the year!

Mountain Bluebirds



Yellowstone National Park

Another check on the bucket list - Yellowstone!!  We spent 4 days in the park and enjoyed visiting many of the places we have seen on TV and read about.  The weather didn't cooperate at times and we had to deal with road closures due to snowfall, ice, avalanches and rock slides.  Going in the spring and early summer means less crowds, more baby animals....but 'iffy' weather!

The North Entrance - Roosevelt Arch

Yellowstone is America's first national park established in 1872.  There is no way to see all of the park in a week - or even a year!  There are 3,472 square miles of Yellowstone park - larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.  The park is located mostly in Wyoming, but also parts are in Montana and Idaho.  With so much area, 5 entrances, 466 miles of paved roads, 9 visitor centers and museums, 9 hotels, one marina and soooo many trails, scenic vistas and features it is overwhelming!!  We suggest to get a good guide book, check out a few forums online and talk with friends and family who have gone before you.  (If anyone in our area is planning a trip we would be happy to share our resources with you!)  We purchased the Yellowstone Expedition Guide a few months before our trip to help with planning.  It is a great book with an audio CD, DVD of the park and lots of easy to use information and maps.

People come to Yellowstone to see the thermal features (geysers, fumaroles, mudpots) and for the wildlife viewing (bears, elk, bison, eagles, wolves).  We were able to do a little of both.

Please heed the warnings that are posted and given to you in pamphlets about not getting close to the animals.  They are wild and have been known to attack.  We were fortunate and saw black bears on 3 occasions - even were able to get some pictures.  Bison are hard NOT to see...they are everywhere and in the roads, on the sidewalks and boardwalks.  The elk, bighorn sheep, wolves and moose are in their 'home range' areas and marked on some of the park maps.  These animals are not fenced in anywhere...just tend to stay in certain areas.  Internet forums were helpful on locating these areas and often listed daily sightings from others.

Bison at Old Faithful

Mountain Bluebird

Yellow Bellied Marmot

Black Bear - it is snowing at this time

Many of the trails we wanted to hike were either still under a few feet of snow, or closed for 'bear management'.   The bears come out of hibernation in the spring and head for the lower elevation areas that are snow free to forage for food.  These trails are closed due to the heavy bear activity.  Even on the trails which were open - and easily accessible from the very populated areas we saw many signs of bears. 

Claw marks on a tree

Black bear with a bison carcass

Elk

Old Faithful was right next to our hotel, so viewing that geyser and the basin was easy.  The trails are elevated boardwalks with benches to rest or enjoy the views.

Old Faithful

The 'essental attractions' are easy to get to and most are on boardwalks and overlooks.  This is where your maps will come in handy.  Road closures did cause us to have to miss the Lamar Valley area, but gives us a reason to return someday!

Thermal pool - blue = HOT water

Mudpots

National Park Mountain - the plaque tell that this is where Roosevelt and his crew decided to make Yellowstone our first national park

Morning Glory Pool

Looks like another planet!

A Winter Wonderland (in May!)

One of many waterfalls

We enjoyed all of our time in Yellowstone and will keep it on our list of places to visit.  Next time we would like to take a trip in the fall and see the Elk with their antlers and the changing colors of the fall foliage.

 

The Old Faithful Inn

When we realized that our travels would include a visit to Yellowstone National Park, I made reservations to stay at the Old Faithful Inn.  When booking a stay at the park reservations are hard to get (sometimes nearly impossible) and can be made 12 months in advance.  While we were staying in Washington, our plans changed and we had to cancel our reservations.  With less than one month before arrival I began trying again to get a room for at least one night at the historic Inn.  The reservationists were very helpful and encouraged me to call daily - they said around 12 or 1pm would be the best time see if anything were available.  Be prepared to wait on hold for 15-20 minutes....but it paid off.  We were able to get a room for one night, and then over the next week of calling add 2 more nights!  Another item on the bucket list checked off!  Our room was in the historic original part of the hotel and had a 'shared bath' down the hall.  This is the least expensive room at the rate of $96.  Joining the Yellowstone Society gave us a 15% discount on the room - plus 10% off in the stores and other perks.

Old Faithful Inn

The rooms are furnished as they were in 1904 with a few updates.  Each room has a sink now instead of a bowl & pitcher.  There are a few electric outlets and fire detectors/sprinklers.  There are NO phones, clocks or televisions.  Robes are provided for use to/from the bathrooms. 

You can purchase the bison toy on the bed - proceeds support the park association

The fan would be good in the summer, no air conditioning

The windows are your 'thermostat' to adjust the room temperature!

View of Beehive Geyser erupting from our room window

The hotel was designed by Robert Reamer, a 29 year old architect from Ohio.  He utilized local materials to recreate a forest feeling indoors.  The lobby measures over 75' tall and has a 'treehouse' at the top.  Visitors aren't allowed above the 3rd floor balconies due to fire codes.  The lodge pole pine, including the twisted supports, were cut 4 miles from the site.  500 tons of rhyolite rock were quarried 5 miles away to build the huge lobby fireplace.  Construction of the original 140 rooms took place in just 13 months time.

View of the 'treehouse'

Interesting twisted wood is used throughout the lobby

The massive fireplace

Common areas have couches, rockers, small game tables and writing desks.  When the Inn opened in 1904 guests all dined at one seating with long tables in the large dining room.  Now anyone can eat in the restaurant (and have a drink at one of the bars) without staying at the Inn.  We found the food and service to be very good and reasonably priced for being in a national park.  The dining room has a buffet available that we enjoyed.  Breakfast was $12.99 including coffee and lunch $14.99.

View of dining area from second floor balcony

Fireplace in the dining room - all the iron work was done by blacksmith George Colpitts.  He also forged all the door hardware, fireplace tools and the clock frame on the lobby chimney.

The desks were a perfect place to write postcards 

The Bearpit Lounge

The Inn is located right next to the Old Faithful Geyser which makes it easy to catch a few of the eruptions during your visit.  All of the area lodgings have a sign at the desk which shows the next predicted eruption.  They happen at about 90 minute intervals.  There is a second floor deck that offers a view of the geyser without leaving the hotel! 

The benches face the geyser basin

View from the hikable overlook.  The Old Faithful Inn is on the right.  The visitor center and Snow Lodge are also visible.

Missouri Headwaters State Park

We are finally home from our adventure out west!  Time to get caught up on everything at home - and share some of our stops.  Leaving Washington we headed for Wyoming and Yellowstone.  The drive was too long to complete in one day, so we took our time and explored some along the route.

The Missouri Headwaters State Park is in Three Forks, Montana and just a few miles from the interstate.  Being so familiar with the Missouri river and Lewis & Clark we had to make a stop and check it out.  This is not a large state park, but it does offer a campground, picnic areas, boat launch, restrooms, drinking water, trails and an interpretive plaza. 

There is a $5 per car fee to use the area (self-pay) and Montana residents are free.  We were happy to donate $5 to keep this park in operation! 

When Lewis & Clark left St Louis on May 14, 1804 they travelled upriver on the Missouri to find the headwaters and explore the previously unknown territory.  On July 25, 1805 Captain Clark became the first-recorded non-Indian to reach the headwaters.  He wrote in his journal "a fine morning we proceeded on a few miles to the three forks of the Missouri those three forks are nearly of a size".  Two days later Captain Lewis joined him.  The 'three forks' are the Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson rivers.  Captain Clark returned again to this spot on July 13, 1806 while on his eastward trip to explore the Yellowstone River Valley.

The river a lot clearer and smaller than in Missouri, we saw people fly fishing along the banks

You can see the Jefferson & Madison Rivers here. 

There are a few hiking trails in the park and they offer great views of the area, some pictographs along the bluffs and even some fossils are visible.  

Part of one of the trails

The pioneer town of Gallatin has long since been abandoned in this area, but a few of the structures are still visible in the park.

The structure in the center of the picture was the town hotel

The bluff from where Lewis & Clark surveyed the area is marked on the hiking trails.

The bluff is above Tim's hat