Catching Up - First of Three Very Full Weekends

 

The weekend of July 23-25 got started early for me, right after work on Saturday. I had pre-booked a campsite at Canyon Campground inside the park.  Taking the convoy over at 5:30pm allowed me to enjoy the park at my favorite time . . . DUSK . . . when the animals are often more active and visible.  It also provided me with the ability to wake up in the park, and get started early without a 4:30am wake-up alarm.

For those who haven't followed me on past Yellowstone adventures, I have a pretty nice set up to be able to "car camp" in my Santa Fe.  It's not very spacious, but it's warm and comfy, so for a 6-8 hour sleep, it works out just fine.  On this particular night, my campsite was RIGHT NEXT TO the J loop bathroom, so it was as perfect as could be hoped for.

There is really nothing like sleep outside, even if it is in your SUV/Truck.

On Saturday evening, I enjoyed my drive up to the top of Sylvan Pass . . . not much in the way of wildlife, other than a stray bison or two.  If mosquitoes count, there were thousands of them!  I got back to my campsite just as nightfall came, so getting to sleep by 10pm worked out perfectly for an early morning rise with the sun.

I took advantage of the early morning, driving over the Dunraven Pass, hoping to see some of the resident bears and cubs that had been seen throughout the early part of the summer.  Unfortunately, no bears for me so I worked my way over to some of the thermal feature areas that typically are very busy.

It was a nice cool morning, with few people around, so I enjoyed a couple of short walks . . . the first at Mammoth Terrace and then at the Norris Geyser Basin. 
Nothing too far or strenuous, since I'm still gauging my physical abilities with my gimpy knees and respiratory limitations due to asthma.  I was happy to be able to do what I did . . . and enjoy some of the sights I've previously not been able to see.  Getting some 40+ pounds off this year also helped me.  It's good to be able to walk and not feel gimpy or in pain after just a mile!

During my time at Norris Geyser Basin, I ran into a large group of fellow Cheeseheads on a charter tour through Green Bay based Lamers Bus Company.  That was pretty cool, actually.  Lamers has been a long-time partner with my former association, and we used them for a couple of our Wisconsin Vintage Alleys Tours, so it was nice to see a familiar sight out here in Yellowstone.  The people in the tour group were seeming to have a good time, although one commented to me they didn't feel they had enough time at some of the various attractions in the park.  I hope they will come back and enjoy Yellowstone at their own pace someday.

With the wildlife viewing a bit of a disappointment, I decided to go with my "Plan B" for the day . . . head out of the East Entrance to Cody for a midday breakfast for lunch, and then head home via the Chief Joseph & Beartooth Highways.  I had enough people tell me that was a "must do" while out here so it seemed to be the right time.

What a treat I was in for, as I headed east over the Sylvan Pass!  These five big horn rams were right along the side of the road at this waterfall . . . one of many on that stretch of road heading towards the East Entrance and Cody.

As I told my sister Pam . . . I've seen lots of bears over the years in Yellowstone.  But I've only seen big horn rams twice . . . EVER . . . inside Yellowstone.  So this was special for sure.

Once in Cody, I did have breakfast at my favorite "go to" place . . . Granny's Restaurant . . . where they serve breakfast all day.  BONUS!

The drive out of Cody on the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway is pretty amazing, and yet, pales in comparison to the Beartooth All American Road.  It was well worth the extra drive time and miles, especially since I did get to see the resident goats atop the Beartooth near the ski lift where they are known to hang out for much of the summer.  (And check it out . . . still snow up there!)   Here are just a few of the photos of the scenery along these two scenic highways.

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Back to the Park - Sunday & Monday (7/3 & 7/4)

 

The Fourth of July holiday weekend ushered in interesting times for Yellowstone National Park.  The park had been closed for roughly ten days and when it initially re-opened, it was only the lower loop (three entrances) and with an alternating license plate system to cut visitor traffic by roughly half since only half of the park was open to guests.

On Thursday, June 30th it was announced that effective Saturday July 2nd the park would be mostly open (93% of the roads inside the park) with the elimination of the license plate limitations.  Additionally the Old Gardiner Road (OGR), was opened up for recreational use by employees working in the park, as well as approved tour operators.

It was nice to be able to spend my "weekend off" (Sunday & Monday) in the park.  I've already blogged about what the experience was like drive over the OGR, so check out the previous post (and photos) if you're interested.

This photo was taken at the Bay Bridge Marina on July 4th . . . as I sat and just enjoyed the morning breeze at Yellowstone Lake.

Both days in the park saw glorious weather . . . crystal clear blue skies . . . air temps in the 70's . . . with a light breeze from time to time.  For me, the time spent in the park was mostly my usual looking for bears or other interesting happenings to just sit and enjoy watching.

I was happy to once again spend some time with Raspberry & Jam, the grizzly bear Mom and her third year cub.  As in prior sightings, they were way up on the hillside my first (eastbound) drive by the Lake Butte area.  On my westbound trip, there was a jam of parked cars and photogs along the road, but it seemed most people will just milling around.  There was a ranger present, so I figured bears were somewhere in the area, so I too pull off on the shoulder to check things out.

From what folks were saying, the pair were hunkered down napping in the shade from the warm afternoon sun.  Some folks had been waiting upwards of an hour for them to awaken.  I had nowhere better to be so I pulled up, popped open my tailgate and had lunch.

 

 

 

This was my view while I patiently waited.  It wasn't too much longer when they both were seen bobbing around behind the fallen trees about 75 yards from the road.  It was exciting to finally see them again . . . without the rain that had plagued my earlier opportunities to photograph them.

As you can see, the "cub" is almost as big as its Momma!  Both look very healthy, so that is reassuring.  They say Raspberry is roughly 15 years old and this is her second consecutive cub she kept around into a third summer.  Snow was the last cub which she had with her until her fourth year, when she was emancipated.  Normally grizzly bears stay with their mom for just two years. 

Here's a little better photo of Raspberry.  She has such beautiful features including the lighter blonde markings along her left front leg.

The two munched on grasses and whatever the found underneath the dead logs.  After about 30 minutes of foraging around, they again slipped out of sight . . . so I moved on.

Perhaps the easiest bear viewing over the weekend (on both days) was between Mammoth and Canyon, especially in the area around Tower Junction (roughly five to ten miles in either direction).  Lots of black bears have been seen through this area, and at all times of the day.

In fact, on Monday afternoon it was warm with a high sun.  I had some time to kill before the 4:00pm road convoy back to Gardiner, so I thought I'd cruise one more time back over Dunraven Pass and back around to Mammoth via the Norris Junction.  I never did make it that far!

I really didn't expect to see bears in close range of the road, but this one was literally on the left shoulder by a pullout.  I parked and waited to see what it was going to do.  Crossing the road right in front of me and one other car, we had a front row seat to watch it for quite some time.

I was happy I spent the time "just in case" something was going to happen!  This bear didn't seem to be phased one bit by the midday heat.  Once it slipped up beyond the treeline, I called it a day and headed back to Mammoth to tank up my car at our YPSS station and got in line to head home to Gardiner.

All in all over the two days in the park, I saw (and photographed) six or seven black bears and the two brown (aka grizzly) bears.  At the bottom of this blog post, I'll share more photos of the bears I was fortunate to spend time with.

One of my more rewarding experiences in the park, happened on Monday morning.  Several years ago, my friend Valerie and I visited the West Thumb geyser area.  There is a loop boardwalk of about 1mile, give or take.  Because there is little shade and often the thermal features give off a pungent sulfur smell, I've been reticent to walk among hot spring pools and dormant lake shore geysers.  Add my "gimpy old lady knees" and it has a challenge for me to even consider the short walk.

Having lost 35 pounds since the first of the year, I've found my knees don't bother me as much as they had over the past couple of years.  While the morning was still cool, I decided to give the short walk a try.  I'm really glad that I did as there wasn't a terrible odor, and I was able to take a leisurely stroll, enjoying the sights around me along the lake.  It was amazing how clear the water was right at the lake's edge.

Here's a full panoramic view of the West Thumb Geyser Basin.  I really did enjoy my time here!

There really is so very much to see and do in Yellowstone National Park.  I try to make the most of my time here, given my health limitations.  Sometimes, just pulling over near a running stream or waterfall is good for the soul.  This was near the top of the Dunraven Pass.  Turn up the volume to hear the water flowing from the melting snowcaps above.

When I first arrived to Yellowstone back in late May, there was still quite a bit of snow up on Dunraven Pass.  As you can see here, it's mostly melted away.

As promised, here are a few more photos of the bears and other wildlife I saw during my two days off from work over the July 4th holiday weekend.

Three Weeks After the Flood

Since Monday, June 13th the North Entrance into Yellowstone National Park from Gardiner, MT has been closed due to the total destruction of the road connecting our town to the park.  It's been a terrible thing for all of the residents and seasonal businesses who need strong summers to make it through the lean times of winter.  It has turned this little bustling community into a ghost town for the past three weeks.

While the park was partially opened after a brief closure to allow the National Park Service to evaluate the damage done by the "thousand year flood" . . . the limited access afforded businesses needing to get into the park, was restricted to just essential services.  For employees cut off from the park, we received news last Thursday that the NPS was going to allow us some ability to enter the park for recreational purposes this July 4th holiday weekend. 

 

Entry is via the Old Gardiner Road (OGR), which was originally a one-lane dirt road that traverses over the sage hillside overlooking both Gardiner, Mammoth and the canyon below.  The NPS road crew has worked very hard to make the road suitable for transportation not only of warehouse box trucks like my employer YPSS uses, but also other administrative and commercial traffic.  I used the road both Sunday (in only) and Monday (in and out) and was very impressed with how good the road is given the challenges of shoring up a road not intended for such traffic.

The views are beautiful, given the vastness being up that high.  Throughout the five mile drive, I saw numerous elk.  Surely they were wondering "Where did all of these cars come from?"

Entry is limited to specific windows of time, providing control necessary for one-way traffic.  They tightly manage this so as to provide alternate direction traffic without incident.  For my trip into the park from Gardiner, the first time frame begins at 7:00am.  Here I am in line at the gate, as seen on the park's webcam, caught by a friend.

With the latest return out of the park from Mammoth scheduled for 4:00pm-5:30pm, I knew I wouldn't want to rush on Sunday, so I planned to go the long way home, via West Yellowstone, Big Sky and Bozeman.  I figured it probably added in reality about 125 miles and 2 hours.  But to give you an idea of that routing, here's what Google provides. 

And if I'm honest . . . I actually enjoyed my evening journey taking the longer route.  Hwy 191 goes through an underutilized part of the park . . . one I frankly didn't even know existed!  I had to stop to take a photo of the park sign, as one would see it enter coming from the down into the area north of the town of West Yellowstone.

This was the staging area for the convoy home from Mammoth on Monday afternoon.

 

So for 2022, this is our new normal.  It is my hope we (employees working in Yellowstone NP) will be able to continue to use the OGR for recreational purposes throughout the rest of the summer.  It would truly suck to have to drive "the long way around" in both directions to be able to enjoy the park this year.  It would be a huge time commitment plus probably $50 in gas round-trip. Only time will tell.

Izaak Walton Inn - Essex, MT

 

I really do like the Izaak Walton Inn, located on US 2 about 20 miles east of West Glacier, Montana.  I have dined there a couple of times on previously trips to Glacier National Park, once for breakfast and another time for lunch.  The food is good, but pricey.  If you're there for lunch or dinner, do the huckleberry-apple cobber.  I was going to after I checked in, but it was late, and my "Fitness Pal" wallet (that David & I use to calorie count) was already in arrears, so I did take a pass on this trip.

Early in the afternoon, I decided to not try to make it back to Gardiner that night, as I was anticipating a long day even without getting up into Canada.  I started calling around to see what I might be able to find.  Inside that park, nothing for less than $200 + taxes . . . and even going further out like Kalispell or Whitefish, I was looking at $175-$200 for "budget chains."

When I first called the Izaak Walton Inn (it was actually my first call) I was turned off by the $179 rate for a single ($205 with taxes) . . . but after several calls I called back to book (and prepay for) my room.  I'm glad I did because when I checked in, they told me they had just sold their last room for the evening.

The Inn opened in 1939, originally built as lodging for railroad workers for Great Northern Railroad.  Furnishings are still modest, and do not include a television.  No AC (open your windows!) and the heat is provided by in-room steam radiators.

As you can see from the photo, I had a nice corner room, so plenty of ambient light. (It didn't get dark outside until close to 10:00pm!)

The bathroom had the toilet and over-tub shower, with the sink and bathroom mirror in the sleeping room.  All in all, very comfortable for my one night stay in the area.

There was a very nice lobby area, with a big fireplace and several comfy chairs.  There was also a small gift shop adjacent to the lobby.  This main lobby level is also where the restaurant is, which includes a nice patio dining area.  On the lower (basement) level is their Flagstop Bar.

I love that their hours listed are "Open until closed."  I used to kid some of my bowling center owners when I'd see that on their website or Facebook page, so I get that if there's no business, there's no reason to be open, so they close.

I enjoyed spending my evening sitting out on the back porch watching the trains go by.  For some, this might be a deterrent for sleep, as the tracks are literally less than 100 yards from the Inn.

For those wanting a more unique lodging experience, you should check out their rail car and caboose accommodations.  Throughout the property there are several that have been renovated for personal lodging.  I would love to do this someday, but I'm pretty sure it's out of my price range . . . even for a special occasion splurge.  Besides I'm not THAT MUCH of a train aficionado to feel the need to stay in something that special.

All in all, I had a nice stay in a clean room and would recommend it to others looking for something near Glacier National Park, but without the steep "in the park" rates.

FYI this is a year-round lodge, with winter activities too, like cross country skiing and show-shoe hiking.  And for those who want to expand their railway experience, Amrak's Empire Builder does make a whistle stop on their Chicago to Seattle routing right at the Izaak Walton Inn.

Weekend Off - Where to Go?

With my car wheel bearing replaced, I was ready for a little weekend adventure.  Even better . . . my first "weekend" off without rain in the forecast. It is nice having Sunday & Monday off as my weekend off, and I made the most of it this past weekend, as the weather was warm and sunny. 

My initial plan was to head north towards Glacier National Park and its sister park Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta (yes, in Canada).  I had done a basic routing, figuring I'd have plenty of time at the St. Mary's entrance to Glacier on my way to Canada.  Unfortunately, when I got the border crossing, I learned I needed to be a registered visitor on their ArriveCAN website.

I guess I should have done more research, but I has under the impression that with the COVID pandemic concerns lessened and the borders open between the US & Canada, there were no onerous processes in place.  I was wrong . . . and got turned around . . . told by the Canadian border agent that I would need to go back into the USA, find a signal and register online with my vaccination status.

Given the border was only going to be open until 6pm local time, and it was already 2pm, it hardly seemed worth the effort.  Having looked up the information online since returning home to Gardiner, I've decided it's OK if I never get back to Canada as long as they have such onerous requirements.

The other thing that happened was that I realized the direct border entry point between Glacier NP and Waterton Lakes NP has remained closed since pre-COVID.  I suppose staffing the extra entry point in such challenging times is the underlying reason, but I don't know.  It was unfortunate that I got all the way to that border only to see this.  All in all, pretty poor planning on my part.

That said, it was still a really great couple of days, so not being able to get into Canada didn't deter or upset me.  I did realize about mid-afternoon, that I was going to need a hotel room near Glacier NP.  I started calling around, and was happy with being able to land a hotel room in the Izaak Walton Inn, in Essex (about 20 miles from the West Entrance into Glacier National Park).

Before trying to enter Canada, I did stop by the St. Mary's Entrance into Glacier NP.  At the entrance, they were allowing unrestricted entrance.  When I asked about the advance reservation system, the guard at the gate said they were allowing folks to enter since the Going to the Sun Road was still being dug out at Logan Pass, and from this particular entrance, you could only go about 14 miles.  Knowing this, I went to the visitor center to stamp my passport booklet and use the bathroom, as I wanted to get up to Canada ASAP and maximize my time there.

Once turned around at the border, I did head back to the St. Mary's entrance and did drive the 14 miles to explore what I could.  This is one of the beautiful overlook viewing areas.  It was a nice drive through the park, but no wildlife to see in this part of the park.  The ranger did say that some folks had seen mountain goats with spotting scopes earlier in the day.

From the east entrance area, I headed for the main (more central) entrance in West Glacier.  Because it was after 6pm, the gate was unattended. I had hoped to get to the visitor center to get my passport booklet stamped from this entrance too.  But alas, they were already closed, so I figured I could come back the next morning.

Another miscalculation on my part . . . thinking what I had been told earlier at St. Mary's entrance would hold true at the west entrance, so rather than driving what part of the park I could Sunday night, I opted to go find supper.  BAD DECISION!

Dinner at the Glacier Highland in West Glacier was very good, I had the chicken pot pie.  So I was happy I decided to eat since I hadn't had lunch and didn't want to wait until 8pm (or later?) to eat at Izaak Walton Inn.

It's just unfortunate, because the next morning I ventured back to the park around 7am, but they were tightly monitoring all entering vehicles for their advance timed reservations.  When I explained what I had been told the day before, he said that several people inside the park were giving out bad information.  Further, as the busiest entrance into the park, they were following the reservation system, even though the road wasn't open all the way through.

So I missed out on driving the road for wildlife and scenic photo ops, as well as not getting my West Glacier passport stamp.  Oh well.

One of my wildlife viewing and photography  spots turned out to be right on US 2, a few miles east of the Izaak Walton Inn.  There were a lot of cars pulled over at a waterfall area.  When I got closer, I realized they were seeing a group of mountain goats . . . several ewes with lambs.  I pulled over and parked safely to join the people.

Look closely to see the small lamb behind its momma.  It was amazing watching them, as they are very agile and capable walking around on the steep rocky incline down to the water below.

This cute little one stayed very close to her, until she decided to leave the waterfalls and head back up to where the others were.

All totaled, I counted around 12 goats in this area.  Some never did come down from the grassy area where they were grazing.

With this little bit of excitement over, I headed to my lodging.  I was pretty tired, so getting in before dark was good.  I was surprised that it really didn't get dark until close to 10pm!

There was no TV in the rooms, as things were kept in the tradition of no-frills lodging built for the railroad workers of the 1930's.  I was OK with it, actually.  I enjoyed some time outside in the fresh evening air, watching the trains go by.

During my hour on the porch swing, there were three orange & black BNSF trains that passed through, as well as Amtrak's Empire Builder (which runs from Chicago to Portland, OR/Seattle, WA).  I've done the Empire Builder twice . . . once (roundtrip) from Milwaukee to Whitefish, MT and the other time home from Seattle.

About the drive to/from Glacier National Park, I took two different routes.  And while the trip north was lovely . . . the best part of the drive was coming back to Gardiner through Kalispell and the Flathead National Forest.  Some of the views were simply amazing throughout Montana.  Snow capped mountains surrounding in all directions, in expansive valleys.  Some areas were sparse of trees, mostly ranchland . . . while others had tall ponderosa pines.  The pine tree lined mountains reminded me a lot of the area around Lake Tahoe.

Here are just a few of the photographs I took of the landscape seen throughout my 1,100 miles (yes over just two days!).

On my way home, I stumbled upon the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site . . . just off I90 in Deer Lodge.  I wish I had more time to spend there, as they offered tours of the 1860's ranch.  Unfortunately, I arrived around 2:15pm and the next tour wasn't until 3:30pm . . . plus it was pretty hot (mid/high 80's).  I really wanted to get home as I had some grocery shopping and laundry to do once back in Gardiner.