Banff and Beyond

On our first full day in Banff, we headed to the downtown area. As in all tourist towns, parking is at a premium here. Here is a picture of our rowdy group heading down the main street. Gary seems a bit reluctant to be in the picture.

However, Sandy finally manages to "coax" him out by using her gentle persuasion technique.
We headed for the center that could book us tour packages. The packages included a cruise on nearby Lake Minnewanka, a gondola ride in Banff and a what was advertised as The Columbia Icefield Glacier Adventure. We gave this agent one run for her money! She was trying to explain to 6 retired people all the ins and outs of the various tours. We were all pretty good at sitting still and listening without too many interruptions. That doesn't mean we all understood EVERYTHING she told us. Some of us had variations of her spiel. We had maps and brochures. Surely, between 6 minds we could remember the important parts and make it to the different places!
With that in mind, we headed straight for the cruise boat on Lake Minnewanka. I like to think this is where Willie Wonka should have had his chocolate factory so we could say we're going to see Willy Wonka on Lake Minnewanka! Anyway, back to the cruise story. The dock was all gussied up with Canadian flags, so we guessed we were at the right place.
Success! We arrived at the dock about 20 minutes before the next boat was to depart. The lake is a spectacular blue color and it's close proximity to Calgary means that this is one of the most popular areas in Banff National Park.
The tour guides were quite knowledgeable, providing us with native folklore and the history of this interesting area. One thing we found out was that you didn't want to go hiking around the lake by yourself. Because of bears in the area, you had to be in a group of 4 or more people. This is one place where you don't want to be considered by a bear as a main course!

Canadian Confusion!

As we headed north across the border and into the southern portion of Alberta, we were surprised to encounter rolling hills and grasslands. Both Don and I thought that once we entered the Canadian Mounted Police territory, it would be nothing but forests and tall pine trees. On our route through Calgary, we didn't get into the pines until we were almost to Banff.

We were quite unprepared for the Canadian signs, or should I say, lack of them? We stopped at a visitor center and the man there had suggested we turn and go south (or was it west)at this street in Calgary. Is this as confusing to you as us? Why would we go north on an east-west street? Do directions change north of the U.S. border? Do Canadians know something that we don't? They must, otherwise their signs would be less confusing.
In the photo below, you can see we are almost to Banff National Park. Finding the main entrance was the easy part. Finding the trailer campground was quite another! Forget putting directions to the campground in your Garmin or Tomtom or whatever. There is NO street address on their multiple websites! A Post Office Box just doesn't work for some odd reason. At least it doesn't for us American folk. By this point, our two way radio was petering out on us and we could no longer use our Verizon phones since we were across the border. Might as well have been across the ocean at this point! This was not part of our "well thought out " plans. Maybe a good backup plan at this point would have been for Sandy and me to hang on the windows and do signs with flags!

We found out that once you get near the campground here, there are NO signs that say "entrance". It is up to you to guess if this is actually the entrance or maybe a dirt road to a place where it would be impossible to turn your rig around. Two rigs backing up a dirt road would not have been a pretty picture. We passed by two entrance points (remember: no signs) and ended up doing a U-turn in the town of Banff ! Ahead of us is Jerry almost at the check in point for the campground. There were 4 rather testy people in our vehicles at this point!
After all of that, we were extremely happy to finally settle in our campsites. I think Don and Jerry headed for some cold liquid refreshments as a top priority item on their agenda. We were sure grateful that Gary and Sherry had gotten here before us, and had a meal ready.
This is what the most of the Banff RV sites look like. Gary and Sherry's coach is across from us, Jerry and Sandy are directly ahead of us. As they say, "All's well that ends well"!

Back to Yellowstone

We had no way of knowing what an auspicious day it was going to be on Monday. The four of us had decided to start out after lunch and stay later in the day. We hoped that we would see more wildlife (and I don't mean campers that party into the early hours) than we did on our previous jaunt to Yellowstone. On Saturday, the only two animals that we saw were elk in the prone position, and they were NOT taking a nap beside the road. Sandy kept saying that she wanted to see elk, bison and at least one bear. I wasn't too keen on the bear sighting, since most of the time it would mean hiking into back country and getting up close and personal with one of those scary beasts. Yes, I realize that God made them, but I sure don't have to like them.

The forecast for the day was 40% chance of rain, and it was overcast and windy when we left our campsite. Within half an hour of getting into the park, we had our first elk encounter. The three elk were grazing contentedly right beside the roadway. All of them were wearing the latest fashion in collars.

Our first planned stop was the Fountain Paint Pot area trail. Steam from the Clepsydra Geyser, Morning Geyser and Fountain Geyser drifted over the area. It was cool and windy and I was glad I had on my warm vest as we walked the boardwalks.
The Upper Geyser Basin, which includes Old Faithful, is the greatest concentration of geysers in the world. They are connected by bike/pedestrian walkways and also boardwalks. Don and Jerry are chipper as they head off on the trail to Morning Glory Pool. It was a mile and a quarter each way and we hoped we wouldn't get rained on before we did the round trip. In this picture, it looks like it was all blue skies, but the weather was very fickle that afternoon.In the distance is the Castle Geyser.
Whew! It was hot and foggy at this spot! If your clothes had wrinkles before you went through this steamy section, they were certainly gone by the time you passed through!
The clouds were building up again as we passed by Giant Geyser. He was only huffing and puffing at us, and erupted only once in 2010. The eruptions can last over an hour and reach an impressive 250 feet, but we sure didn't wait around to see if it would put on a show for us today.
I loved the shape of the Grotto Geyser, with all its mounds and holes.
Success! We made it to our destination: Morning Glory Pool. It was named in the 1880's for the remarkable likeness to the shape of the Morning Glory flower. However, now it is more like Faded Glory. People throwing debris into the pool clogged up the sides and vent of the spring, which, in turn, reduced the circulation and temperature of the water. Every year the Park services try to clean out objects that have been thrown into the pool, but it will never return to its former glory.
Next stop: West Thumb Geyser Basin. This basin is situated in the West Thumb area of Yellowstone Lake. The turquoise blue waters of Surging Spring are beautiful against the cobalt blue waters of the lake behind it.
Sulphur Caldron was by far the stinkiest stop! The noxious sulphur smell was overwhelming. No wonder, the pool is ten times more acidic than lemon juice! The fumes from this bubbling pot assault your nose the minute you get out of your vehicle in the parking lot! Even after we left the area, the smell seemed to hang inside my nose and throat. This is not the spot to sit and eat your picnic lunch!
Our next stop was not a planned one. Right after Sulphur Caldron, we headed to Hayden Valley and came to a huge traffic jam. The cars were not even creeping along, they were completed stopped. Clearly, there was some kind of wildlife up ahead that made all the traffic come to a complete halt. Don pulled off on the side of the road, while Jerry and I headed up the road. It was a standoff between two very large bison and a Chevy truck pulling a trailer! These two guys were not backing down and didn't seem to care a hoot if any of us had to wait for them to leave the roadway. Of course, who is going to argue with a 2000 pound buffalo? Not me! Jerry is patiently waiting for them to clear away. I have decided to stay behind him and keep my distance from these creatures.
Here is a nice, close picture of the culprits! Sandy took this picture from her side of the truck as we passed within a foot of them. Neither smiled as she snapped away. I don't think they relish having their picture taken. Some of our kids were the same way at various times in their younger years....
I think it's time to head home when a bison sticks out his tongue at you. Where was his manners? At least I didn't stick mine out at him! Nanny, nanny boo, boo to you too!
Maybe I was just tired and cantankerous at this point. We got back at our campsite at 10 PM, late for us old folks!

Where is Mesa Falls?

I bet you probably think Mesa Falls would be near Mesa, Arizona. That would certainly make sense. But no, Mesa Falls is located on an Idaho scenic byway, about an hour's drive from the West Yellowstone entrance. They are on the Henry's fork of the Snake River. I consider it a hidden gem. If you are ever in this area, it is well worth driving to see the spectacular falls. There are both lower and upper falls, but the upper one is the place to be!

We headed there on Sunday, hoping to avoid the weekend crowds at Yellowstone. Sandy was the first one to head down the stairs to the falls. There are LOTS of steps here!

The Upper Mesa Falls are 114 feet tall and 200 feet wide. Approximately 967 million gallons of water flows over them daily. The area has pathways, stairs and platforms which allow visitors access to the brink of the falls.
The spray from the falls create a microcosm on the canyon walls opposite it. It looked like the rock walls were covered with fine green carpeting.
Don's bad knee forced him to stay at the top of the stairs, so it was up to Jerry, Sandy and me to do the stair climbing and to take pictures.

Here is a view from one of the upper platforms:
After doing the Mesa Falls scenic route, we headed back north to the town of West Yellowstone. All around the town they have decorated buffalo statues.
Sandy and Jerry peek over the buffalo at the West Yellowstone Visitor center.
Then it was our turn. This was one buffalo that we didn't have to worry about trampling us!
"Hey, Don! Come here! Ya just gotta see this!" Better be careful, Jerry....that could really backfire on you!
Last I heard, Jerry was in the restroom washing off his face and hat. Lesson learned!

I'm not alone in Yellowstone

Nope, I'm not alone....it is me, Don, Sandy, Jerry about 10 million other people at Yellowstone on Saturday. Or at least it seems that way. Aren't all those families with children supposed to be back home, getting their kids ready for school? Okay, I may be exaggerating just a wee bit, but there sure are a lot of trucks and cars on these roads!

The four of us have decided to do Yellowstone in stages, since we will be in the area for 5 days. If we were here for only one or two days, it would be hard to figure out just what areas we wanted to visit.

Our first drive was through the Firehole Falls loop since it was on our way to see Old Faithful.

Old Faithful put on its spectacular show right on time. The boardwalk was crammed with tourists, all waiting with their cameras to catch the display on their cameras. Old Faithful didn't disappoint anyone that day. If it wasn't so darned cold here during the winter, I would absolutely love to come when there was snow on the ground and less people. It would be a great time to get some wildlife pictures. For now, I must be content with capturing geysers and hot springs in varied colors.
Our next stop was Black Sand Basin. No, that is NOT me "spouting" off to Don. We are in front of Cliff Geyser.
This is a better shot of Cliff Geyser, once the old "geezers" were out of the way!
Iron Spring Creek meanders through the Black Sand Basin, the blue water creating a beautiful contrast with the orange and white runoff from the geysers and pools.
As we walked towards Rainbow Pool, we passed through a sauna-like mist that drifted off this hot spring. It was like being in an open air sauna!
What impressed me was the variation in the colors of the pools of water, ranging from blues, to turquoise and deep green, as seen in Emerald Pool in the picture below.
This is the Wall Pool, which reminded me of the turquoise waters of the Caribbean.
Our third stop was at the Biscuit Basin area, which was named for the unusual biscuit-like deposits that used to surround Sapphire Lake. Following the 1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake, Sapphire Lake erupted, which resulted in the "biscuits" being blown away. Still, I think Sapphire Lake is one of the prettiest blue pools in Yellowstone. It's amazing how clear the pool water is.
These types of trees are referred to as "Bobby Sox" in Yellowstone since they look like they're wearing bobby socks. The white "sox" are created when calcium in the water is absorbed by the tree, eventually killing it.
Jerry, Sandy and Don paused on the boardwalk long enough for me to take a picture from the front.
The end of the day brought us a full moon over the Idaho mountains. This is a view from our campsite at Henry's Lake State Park. After a day with all the crowds and the hustle and bustle, we're glad to have peace, quiet and a large space all to ourselves!

The Tetons ARE grand!

We got to Grand Teton National Park on Thursday morning, awed by the rugged mountain range that captures your attention right at the very start. The cloud formation almost looked like Indian smoke signals coming out of the tops of the mountains!

Our campsite at Coulter Bay Village was only a 2 minute walk from Jackson Lake.
As you can tell, it was a very blustery day! White caps formed on Jackson Lake, and I was a bit chilly as I stood by the water taking the picture. Later on that evening, there was a group of teenage girls swimming in the lake! I found out they were from Canada. That explained everything! This Arizona girl doesn't go into the pool water until it is at least 80 degrees.

The drive down towards Jenny Lake from our campground was impressive, with the jagged mountains appearing at the bends in the road.
The next morning I was up early, determined to capture a sunrise shot of the mountains. No beautiful sunrise was in store for me unfortunately, but I was able to capture fog lifting off the lake.
At 6:45 AM, it was just me and 3 old crows at the lake shore. Make that 4 old crows.... : )