I finally gotten around to writing up a description of our road to Wyoming in July and posting photos. The write up is pretty long, so I decided to add some links to photos and other goodies right at the beginning of the post but I hope you end up reading all about our trip!
I also finally got around to publishing a book on Blurb.com and am really happy with the results, so I added a link to that here also. And of course, I was not only armed with two digital cameras, but also with my trusty GPS and SPOT, so I have included detailed tracks of our backpacking trip and an overview map in Google Maps.
Hope you enjoy and maybe you'll be inspired to go visit Yellowstone and the Tetons yourself!
Photo Album
Blurb Book
Google Map
GPS Track Log (GPX File)
Google Earth Track with Photos (KMZ File)
It only made sense that the first big roadtrip in Harvey, the Westfalia camper van, should be to
Yellowstone, America and the world's first National Park. This wonderful summer road trip was dreamt up by Richele and I while we were stuck in the cold, dark ski traffic on I-70 this winter. We talked about how fun it would be to own the Westfalia that we had recently seen parked with a For Sale sign at the Southern Sun and take it on a road trip in the warm sunshine to some far away place that we wouldn't ordinarily travel. I had not been to the Tetons in the 7 years since I moved to
Colorado and had never really explored
Yellowstone, so I eagerly suggested this location. At 10 hours away, it is not so far as to limit the number of days that can be used exploring the park. And as we learned, with an area as large as the greater Yellowstone-Teton park, you need all the time you can get to see everything. After purchasing
Harvey in February, we both blocked out the week of July 4th to take this Wyoming Road Trip.
Our trip began with a late departure from
Denver on Friday 6/27 at 9pm, but fortunately for us, we only had to drive 2 hours to reach
Vedauwoo, WY where we pulled off the side of a National Forest road and made quick camp in the van for the night.
Vedauwoo is a very neat rock outcropping just off of I-80 that is popular with climbers for its multitude of short routes on granite boulders of all sizes. The cool thing about pulling over and camping there was that I woke just before dawn and drove away from that beautiful little spot while Richele was still sleeping in the bed in the back of the van. And within 20 minutes, we were in
Laramie, WY where we quickly fueled up on Starbucks for our long drive ahead. Ah, the good life in the Westfalia! We took highway 287 from Rawlins up towards
Yellowstone for about the next 7 hours and were blown away by the view of the Tetons as we descended the pass at the end of the highway. I would highly recommend this route if you drive to the Tetons or
Yellowstone, since the view is the perfect beginning to your time in that area. From there, we headed North up into
Yellowstone to try to arrange our 5 day backpacking trip.
The ranger station was about to close when we finally arrived in the park and we desperately wanted to get our backcountry permit, so we could begin our backpacking early the next day. But as it turned out, fate didn't want us to be so expedient.
The nice ranger who was working the desk explained to us in her own words that she didn't have a clue about backpacking in the park and that she was new to this job and that the guy who we would really want to talk to was not working at that station this summer. And then she proceeded to tell us that the trails that interested us in the Southern end of the park were too muddy, snowy, and flooded to consider hiking. We had really hoped to avoid the Northern part of the park, since it takes a few hours to drive from one end to the other, but it began to look like we would have no choice. We continued on to
Yellowstone Lake and found a nice little campground where were able to sit by the lake and enjoy the evening sky.
We tried to get going early Sunday morning and wound up speaking to a wonderful ranger who echoed the fact that it was a bit early in the season to explore much of the park. After a bit of conversation, we decided on a favorite hike of his through the
Black Canyon of the
Yellowstone River. The only down sides were that it was only a 3 day trip, and it was located in the far Northern end of the park. Oh yeah, one more thing. The biggest problem bear in the park had been raiding camps for the past week along that trail, so half the campsites were closed while the rangers attempted to trap the problem bear. A quick stop at the general store for another can of bear spray and a rope to hang our food away from the pesky bears and we were headed North.
We finally got started hiking around 4pm under a hot, sunny sky not far from
Montana. We quickly descended the switchbacked trail to a suspension footbridge high above the roaring rapids of the
Yellowstone River. Unfortunately, the park doesn't allow whitewater boating on the rivers, but there are stories of intrepid raft guides sneaking into the park at night to make their way down these huge waters. After an hour of crossing open meadows with gorgeous views of surrounding hillsides, we found ourselves at the aptly named Hellroaring Creek and our campsite for the night. We were both relieved to only have 2 miles of hiking on our first day, since the heavy packs and the hot sun were proving more difficult than expected. It was wonderful to be in the middle of nowhere with such beautiful scenery and weather. I had forgotten what a pleasure it is to backpack into such places.
The following day, we got a late-ish start around 11am and finally saw a few people on the trail. There was a ranger cabin on the other side of Hellroaring Creek where a group of rangers had been staying, presumably dealing with our nemesis the bear. The trail began a detour from the creek across from our camp and began to ascend the hillsides through wide open meadows. Although beautiful, the heat from the sun, then mosquitos, then the threat of our bear-friend, and finally concern of lightning resulted in a more challenging hike than we had anticipated. This whole backpacking thing was tough! We finally stopped for a bite to eat at the highest elevation of the trail, so I took out the map to figure out where we were and still had to go. My heart skipped a beat when I realized we were in
Montana and no where near the river! Oh no, had we missed a turn off and had we hiked in the wrong direction altogether? Nope, it just turned out that the trail took a different path than I thought it would. And after a few more hours, we found ourselves in a nice, riverside campsite where we could take off our shoes, eat a hot dinner, and relax.
We were sure to get an earlier start for our third day on the trail, and we quickly found ourselves at another suspension bridge that took us back across the
Yellowstone River. At that point, we met two rangers on horse back who were patrolling the area and had already completed in that morning the same distance that we had covered over the past two days. Our conversation eventually led to the problem bear and the discovery that he had come in on horseback to kill the bear. But as fate would have it, this bear had escaped from rangers in year’s past and even had managed to avoid fake campsites that were set up as traps. Poor guy, some day his luck might just run out. After the bridge, the trail steeply climbed out of the canyon and up to the high, exposed grasslands. We ran into the ranger once again while resting and eating a snack. He warned us not to dilly-dally, because the trail ahead was exposed and lightning would soon be arriving. So we shouldered our packs and moved ahead quickly. I really hadn’t anticipated such a long hike across the grasslands or that a thunderstorm would roll in so quickly. But once we were up there with no cover from the looming storm, all we could do was move forward as fast as possible.
Fortunately, we made it back to the road before the rain and lightning, but within seconds we were caught in a ferocious downpour and hail. The problem was that we weren’t at the same spot we had started and we needed to hitch a ride back to the van. We figured that passing motorists would take pity on two backpackers caught in the hail and lightning, but we were wrong. Trucks, vans, cars, you name it, all passed us by as we huddled by the side of the road, until finally a nice Indian couple in a tiny rental car stopped to pick us up. We were thrilled and thanked them profusely. I have no idea how we fit ourselves and our packs in that tiny back seat, but I know that the graciousness of those people is something that I will aspire to in the future.
Once again, it was late in the day and we didn’t know where we were going to sleep, but we did know that the North entrance to the park led to
Gardner, MT with pizza and beer!
After that diversion, we found ourselves back at the park headquarters of Mammoth Hot Springs where we showered for a fee at the lodge and then plopped ourselves down in the campground for restful night of sleep. That little village is really quite a neat place. It’s fun to think about people entering the wilderness of the park on horseback and in carriages a hundred years ago and staying in the old hotel before visiting the massive thermal pools just down the road.
On Wednesday, July 2, we headed from Mammoth Hot Springs to the
Lamar Valley in the Northeastern corner of the park where wolves were reintroduced in 1994. Most people arrive before dawn with hopes of catching a glimpse of a wolf trotting across the valley floor, but we didn’t arrive until mid-morning. Fortunately, it was a cool, damp, overcast morning and we were treated with far off views of the wolves as soon as we arrived! Spotting scopes, powerful binoculars, and massive cameras were all on hand to help view the canines. Although we could barely see them, it was fun to see their dark, almost black bodies run and play across the valley from us. I would love to come back and get to witness them again in the future.
Within a few hours, we were exploring the various hiking trails and views of the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. Breathtaking is the best word to describe this little area of the park. If you find yourself in Yellowstone, be sure to stop and take a look at the falls from a few vantage points. The view from Inspiration Point was, well, inspiring, but going to the top edges of the falls was really my favorite. The sheer power of the water gushing over those precipitous drops was truly awe inspiring. And if you want an up close and personal view of the bottom of Lower Falls, be sure to take the hike down the steep staircase but remember that you will need to trudge back up it!
As if we had not done enough that day, we then headed down to Geyser Basin, the location of Old Faithful and numerous other geysers and thermal pools. Despite what some tourists may believe, the geysers aren’t controlled by the rangers as if it were the Bellagio. Instead, they spout steam and water on a somewhat period basis that has been characterized by scientists over years and years. And so when you arrive, you can view a “schedule” of all the geysers and their predicted eruption times. Well, when we arrived, Old Faithful had recently erupted and was due to again in another hour. But three others were also due to spout around 7pm, including Grand Geyser and Riverside Geyser. Exhausted from hours of driving and sightseeing, we proceeded along the boardwalk that skirts the dozens of spectacular thermal pools en route to Grand Geyser, since it is purported to be the highest predictable geyser in the world. After waiting for a while among the large crowd, we began to walk away, only to have the geyser erupt right behind us! We doubled back and got a ton of great photos before heading on towards the rest of the pools and geysers. At some point, Daisy Geyser erupted in the distance and as we got farther along, Riverside Geyser began to erupt over the Firehole River! We ran ahead, got a few photos, and were excited to witness our second geyser eruption in only a few minutes. It was somewhat disappointing to know that we had missed Old Faithful, but we got to see two geysers and then after a few minutes of walking, we got to check out the beautiful Morning Glory thermal pool which I had been wanting to see for several days. Thoroughly exhausted and not sure where we would stay for the night, we headed back towards the van. There were no campgrounds with vacancy in the area, so we would need to drive a few more hours all the way to Teton National Park- ugh. On a whim, Richele checked for vacancy at the Old Faithful Inn and found out that we could get a room discounted for $70 because of the late check-in time! The Inn is the poster child for classic lodges of the National Parks and is probably the coolest hotel I have ever stayed in. We then decided to relax with a drink on the deck after the long day only to discover that the deck faced Old Faithful which was about to erupt- amazing! We were very happy campers! We reveled in the luxury of a hotel and fine dining, even if just for one night during our road trip!
On Thursday, we sadly left Yellowstone behind as we headed South to the Tetons. With July 4th weekend only a day away, we made sure to get a campsite early near Jackson Lake and then we were off to the Snake River. We kayaked the flatwater stretch of river called the Oxbox section just below the dam at Jackson Lake. The views in the first mile are outstanding with Mt Moran and the Northern peaks of the range jutting high above the surroundings. Farther down river, the focus turns towards the wildlife, with numerous bird species inhabiting the oxbox water. We came across 3 elk swimming across the river, bald eagles flying high above, and young ospreys in a nest along the river’s edge. Although there was no whitewater, it was a wonderful way to experience the Tetons from below.
On July 4th, we expected to kayak another stretch of the Snake River that offers magnificent views of the Tetons, but without a way to get back to the van at the end of the run, we decided to try to meet some other folks who we could shuttle cars with. We probably had our earliest departure that morning, since I wanted to make sure we could find some friends to share a ride with. But as fate would have it, we weren’t meant to kayak that day. We spent several hours at the put-in waiting to find some private boaters to share the shuttle, but they never arrived. And the commercial guides and drivers were anything but friendly and willing to help our cause. After dealing with the initial disappointment, we found a nice spot on the side of the Snake River near the Oxbox and we just hung out and relaxed for the remainder of the day. With all the go-go-go that we had been doing throughout the trip, it turned out that what we really needed was just a little time sitting on our kiesters in a nice setting. When evening arrived, we made our way into the town of Jackson for a steak dinner at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and fireworks right in town. This was one of the most spectacular fireworks shows I had ever seen, which was particularly amazing considering the small size of the town. Then again, with enough money anything is possible.
It was hard to believe that on Saturday, July 5, our trip was almost over, but we still had a great day available to kayak the whitewater stretches of the Snake River downstream from Jackson. Based on a tip from a local raft guide, we decided to check out the more mountainous Hoback River tributary to the Snake and as luck would have it, we found another group of kayakers in this land of few kayakers to share a ride and trip down the river with. The Hoback is a beautiful Class II-III stretch of cold water that flows into the Snake at Hoback Junction. Although the run only took a little over an hour to complete, we were thoroughly satisfied with our whitewater experience. 
That evening, we made our way up into Granite Creek Canyon and were absolutely stunned by yellow wildflowers and mountain views. We got to see Granite Creek falls and set up a gorgeous camp not far away before dark, which left us time to soak in the National Forest run hot springs at the end of the road. The canyon felt like one of those amazing places that you only stumble upon once in a great while, and we were thrilled to have done so on our last night of the trip.
On Sunday, we finally pulled away from our camp to head back to- Idaho? Yeah, we sort of got the day started by going the wrong direction altogether. Oops! It turns out that we could have left almost right from camp, but instead we took a little 3 hour detour to Idaho and back. Live and learn. The 10 hour drive home was, well, long. And windy. We managed to split the time behind the wheel pretty evenly, which meant that when it was time for dinner and I was in the back, I had to cook! That’s right, I fired up the stove and proceeded to make burgers, mashed potatoes, and rice all while Richele was driving! I can’t say that it was the best meal I ever had, but it was certainly one of the most fun to prepare. A few hours later, we were shocked by the bright lights and traffic of Denver after our week of quiet in the Wyoming wild. There was comfort, however, in knowing that Yellowstone and the Tetons would always be there 10 hours away when we decide to return…
It's one thing to say that you can or are going to do something, and it is a completely different thing to actually do it!
