Missoula to Glacier

We've finally landed at Glacier, a place that is very near and dear to me. This is my fourth visit, and we look forward to our week's worth of adventure here. Evidently the summer weather here has been a bit unsettled. A few weeks ago there was a massive mudslide that blocked Going to the Sun Road somewhere near Logan's Pass, so the road was closed for a while, but it's open again. Also, there is road construction west of the Continental Divide (chip seal road work or something), which is actually good news. It means that there are free shuttles running every 30 minutes, so we will be driving very little while in the park. Today we'll make our way via shuttle to the top and do some short hiking. 

Yesterday I spent a little time cleaning my bike's drivetrain and getting ready for riding the Going to the Sun Road at midnight, hopefully more than once. 

Climbing under a full moon back in 1991 was one of my most lasting memories, and I’ve been so looking forward to repeating it. Maybe I’ll go tonight, but if not, definitely on Wednesday.

The Fish Creek Campground has a swimming area on Lake McDonald right across from our site, and the view there is sumptuous. That’s the best place to be at the campground, especially since the mosquitos are unrelenting in this very heavily wooded campground. Gail was fairly miserable last night, but hopefully we’ll find a way of defeating them or at least ignoring them as much as possible.

On our way to Glacier we drove through Kalispell and Whitefish, two more cities which seem to have grown almost exponentially since I last passed through nearly 20 years ago. The tourist industry in northwestern Montana sure has matured…Whitefish is building its downtown like crazy, with an abundance of overpriced restaurants and tourist attractions, but we still managed to find a great and inexpensive pizza joint. We also visited Glacier Cyclery, where both boys got nice souvenirs. Leo really wanted a cool Going to the Sun jersey, but unfortunately they had no kid sizes. He did wind up with a women’s size Pearl Izumi jersey which he loves and is not likely to take off for a long time. He’s convinced that it makes him ride faster, and judging by how he was tearing around the campground last night, I think he’s right. Toby got some cycling sunglasses that fit him nicely, and he is quite pleased with how he spent the last of his souvenir cash.  I was sad to see that they retired my favorite jersey design, and wasn’t prepared to shell out $130 for a long-sleeved Merino wool jersey, even though it was just the thing I’m missing from my cycling wardrobe.

Images to follow soon…down to one bar of signal.

Yellowstone camping recipe

Gail writes:

Yellowstone is a big place. You don’t quite realize that until you’ve driven around for about 7 hours and covered a fraction of the territory (as a point of reference, that’s almost as long as it takes to drive from Ithaca to NYC and back). That pretty much sums up today. We left camp at around 9:30 and drove around to various hot springs and viewpoints. We lunched at Mammoth Hot Springs (where we got to say hello to a pretty grey housecat whose family was moving from Wisconsin to Nevada) and then walked a bit until thunder and lightning sent us scurrying back to the Visitor Center. After things cleared we went to Boiling River, where Armin & the boys soaked in the hot/cold waters.

Then we headed back to camp, and from here on in I offer up a recipe for camping adventure & dinner:





1. Arrive at camp to find winds gusting to 40 mph and thunder rumbling in the distance. Re-stake the tent as it tries to get airborne. Order everyone into the tent to hold it down. Read while it rains and rumbles.




2. Once the wind dies down and the rain is manageable, drag your cooler, stove, and kitchen boxes out of the car to start dinner. Open that bottle of wine you bought in the Grand Tetons and pour it into the fine plastic cups you brought with you.




3. Use 1 burner of your stove to make mac-n-cheese for the boys. On the other burner, start sautéing sweet potato and corn with some salsa. Add rice and water. Simmer. Drink more wine. Open the tortilla chip bag that is puffy because of the altitude. Munch on them and wait a while.




4. Add a can of drained black beans to the sweet potato mixture. Simmer some more until everything’s done. Serve up the boys’ mac-n-cheese, drink some more wine, and rummage in the cooler for the artisanal multigrain tortillas. Juggle things on the burners so you can heat them up. Watch your boys have a pinecone war with some kids from New Jersey. Pull up your raincoat hood against the next round of rain and enjoy a delicious burrito. Stamp your feet at the ground squirrels that want to eat your food. Finish the bottle of wine. Let the guys do the dishes while you blog.




5. Watch the sun come out over the mountains and put away the cooler, stove, and kitchen boxes so the ground squirrels and bears won’t get into them. Take a deep breath of cool mountain air and realize how lucky you are to be on this adventure with the people you love most in the world.

Armin writes:
The drive to Mammoth made it abundantly clear that heading north on the bike out of the Madison campground would have been a terrible idea. In addition to the endless stream of campers and RVs suddenly pulling off to view wildlife or make a sudden decision to visit a thermal area or waterfall, the road is under construction right now. Chip seal road work is very annoying, especially when there is loose gravel for about 30 miles, so I headed west on the flat-ish road to West Yellowstone. 

I was overjoyed to see the "Welcome to Montana" road sign, since Montana is my favorite state. West Yellowstone is a tiny park border town, and the ample signage advertising lodging and food had me imagining a focus group that was asked to identify the most appealing words for weary campers. My incomplete list includes:

Espresso
Internet
Showers
Hot Tub
Pizza
Gift Shop
Wildlife

Sunday afternoon update:

The list was much longer yesterday, but now I'm just exhausted and happy to be safely in a Missoula motel. We stopped for a nice lunch in Butte, Mt., and while waiting at a stop sign behind the sheriff of Butte, he decided that he was too far into the intersection and backed right into our van, in spite of the fact that I was laying on the horn. How could he not have seen or heard us? Perhaps he had is Lady Gaga CD turned up too loud. I didn't have enough time to throw the van into reverse, and was extremely bummed out about the bumper and body work damage. Fortunately the damage was cosmetic, and we were able to continue our journey to Missoula. You can bet, though, that if I lived in Butte, I certainly would not be voting for Sheriff John Walsh in his re-election bid.

]

Animals

We have ran into many animals on our First and second days in Yellowstone. I managed to photograph a few, including a bison hanging out in the general store parking lot

Yellowstone

Thermals are just about the coolest thing so far. I have already seen old faithful, some mud pots and extremely hot ponds

Also, the bison are everywhere! We even saw a bison road crossing!

And for those of you ithacans, we have a different type of squirrels called ground squirrels

Yellowstone!

Gail writes:

Ahhh…Yellowstone. It’s our first night here in the granddaddy of all national parks, and how splendid it is. We had a leisurely morning getting out of the Grand Tetons. Tobes has embraced the joys of sleeping in (after being up before 6:30 nearly every morning of his life), so we finally had to dump him out of his sleeping bag at 9:00. Leo had been up for a while, keeping us company and asking great questions about how our solar system works, the hemispheres, and United States geography, among other things.

It’s only a couple dozen miles from Grand Teton National Park to the Yellowstone border, but Madison campground is another 40 miles from the south entrance gate. We cruised on up to Old Faithful, where we joined the crowds witnessing the geyser’s eruption. The boys were suitably impressed. The new visitor’s center at Old Faithful is really beautiful, with well-planned exhibits, a kids’ room, and some short films. We’ll have to go back and explore some more. By that point, the day was quite hot and we wanted to get to the campsite. We passed by the big geyser basins with a promise to come back later.

As we found our campsite, some crankiness was setting in, so we got the tent up quickly and went to explore the nearby Madison River. That was a good move, since the boys quickly found some other kids and they all played around in the shallow water while we chatted with some nice folks from Minneapolis. Good humor was restored, and after a quick supper we decided to make an evening visit to a couple of the boardwalks. That was a good move, since the air was cool, the crowds were gone, and the light was low and golden. We saw paintpots, fumaroles, geysers, and bacterial mats of all colors. The boys just couldn’t believe that places like these exist, so their interest was truly captured. On the way back to the campground, we saw some elk grazing by the roadside. We’re hoping to get out early one morning to see more wildlife. With only 3 days here, it’ll be hard to see everything, but we’ll give it a good try.

Armin writes:

Gail agreed to my scheme to give me a head start and allow me to bike ahead to the Yellowstone border, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. I headed out at 9:30 under a deep blue sky and pushed it hard on the now-familiar route. My hope was to make it to the ticket booth before Gail, and sure enough I made it in an hour. Unfortunately I didn’t pack money or a snack, so I stood around for over half an hour listening to my stomach rumble, watching the non-stop flow of vacation travelers, until I met Susan. She was cycling solo from western Canada to Phoenix, and I loved chatting with her and checking out her inventive rig. She was blogging her trip, so she carried a netbook, a Garmin (the kind that uses AA batteries), and a solar trickle charger that powered all of her devices. She must have been in her late 50s or early 60s, and was clearly having a blast. Chatting with her brought back a flood of memories of my cross-country bike tour in ’88.

It’s 6:30 on Friday and I’ve been sitting in the car writing this blog entry. Just a moment ago I looked up to see a massive bison casually walking down the campground road just 100’ in front of me! Unbelievable—too bad I couldn’t find the camera in time.

Big Day in the Tetons

So why did we not figure out until the last day that there is free wifi at the luxurious laundromat and shower building at the Colter Bay campground? I'm thrilled, since it means that I can upload the latest blog post and get some more pictures online.

Today was our best day yet in the Tetons, and I feel like we really got to appreciate the awe-inspiring hikes in a family-friendly way. I got an early start, heading out for a 31 mile bike ride up Signal Mountain, about 812' of climbing spread over just under 3.5 miles. This relatively easy climb offered up the best road surface I've ever encountered on a hill climb, and because I finished the climb before 8 am, there was no traffic to contend with. I was really supercharged and soooo wanted to get the Strava KOM for the climb, but I was happy to settle for third.

We got a late start on the hike, but now that the boys both have their fancy hiking poles, they were very motivated to get in one last Teton trail. We retraced our steps over a part of the String Lake trail, and then headed up Paintbrush Canyon, a climb that was a real challenge to poor Leo toward the turnaround point. Still, we managed to climb 1,000', which was a huge accomplishment for the boys. We also a rugged waterfall and some amazing views of the valley below. We saved our picnic lunch for the turnaround point, and shared the scenic spot with about fifteen other hikers, many of whom were camping on the mountain. This idea certainly has the boys intrigued, and I think it won't be long before we'll be doing something more challenging ourselves.

After the 7 mile hike, we visited the top of Signal Mountain (in the van this time) in search of a signal, and finally had a chance to talk to my mom, who was very happy to hear from the whole family. We followed that with a visit to Jackson Lodge, a grand, elegant building with an undiluted old-time charm. We plied the boys with ice cream, and are finally prepared to say our goodbyes to the Tetons and embrace the Yellowstone phase of our great adventure.

Tomorrow morning, if weather cooperates, I'll bike ahead to the Yellowstone border and meet the family by the entrance gate. We're looking forward to the impressive geological features, but also to the motel that follows in five nights.

Regaining Our Footing

Gail writes:
We've had a discontented couple of days here at Points West. I think that being together all the time is wearing on us a bit. After the epic grumpiness of Saturday and Sunday, we regained our footing a bit yesterday and seem to be on a better trajectory...sometimes. There's still some brotherly bickering that's raring up, and occasional displays of attitude. I guess that's inevitable when we're not more than a few feet apart for days at a time.

Yesterday we had a nice, mostly flat hike around String Lake, followed by a swim in the shadows of the tall mountains. Then we had a campfire and some singing, which seemed to make all of us feel a bit more kindly toward each other. I woke up in the night to the sound of coyotes howling in the distance.

Today we headed out to Jenny Lake, where we took the boat shuttle across the lake and hiked into Cascade Canyon. The first part of that hike, up to Inspiration Point, was like hiking on the thruway--super busy and crowded, though with amazing views. Most people stop at Inspiration Point but we continued on into the canyon and were rewarded by a much less crowded, easier hike through beautiful country, with the peaks looming right above us. The boys hiked with high spirits and good cheer, which was a relief after the considerable whining of days past.

Now we're catching up on the online world here in Jackson. Tomorrow is our last day in the Tetons, so we'll find another great hike, then start the process of packing up so we can go to Yellowstone on Thursday. We've really enjoyed our time at Grand Teton, and the rangers we've talked to seem thrilled that we're staying so long. One told us that 75% of their visitors just drive through and rarely get out of their cars, except to snap pictures at the viewpoints. It's a shame, because the camping is great, there are spectacular hiking trails, and the scenery is unbeatable. You really can't take a bad picture here!

Our Day of Discontent...and Grand Tetons!

Every long family vacation must allow for at least three days of discontent. Yesterday we used up at least two of those days between 6:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.! It all started when I woke a certain tween up from a solid comfy motel room slumber in order to snag a campsite at the Colter Bay campground on Jackson Lake in the Grand Teton National Park. Our early-waking boy has been a reliable household alarm clock for years, but it seems that we are witnessing the beginning of some changes to his circadian rhythms.

The next incident was when we exited the motel and walked to the van. I was temporarily blinded by the brilliant sun and managed to walk right into a tree limb at forehead height. Ouch! That left quite a goose egg and put me in a bit of a funk.

Finally I failed my family by finding a less-than-stellar grocery store for breakfast items and sub-standard coffee. When we finally hit the road and head northeast toward Wyoming and along the Idaho border, we took turns being very grumpy, and this sour mood hung like a dark cloud over us all until a while after we set up camp. The mood did lighten considerably when we stopped for groceries and a picnic in Jackson Hole. The quality and range of the offerings were not far off of Wegmans standards, quite a change from the last time we were here in the mid-90s. They even had things like pre-packaged Portobello mushrooms with basil, finely chopped tomato and feta cheese, all ready for the grill and a wide range of fake meat products.

It always takes a little while to feel settled in at a new campsite, so instead of immediately putting up the tent, we took in the breathtaking views of Colter Bay and the rugged Tetons in the background. Then we did the ritual tour of the visitor center and gift shop. We were most impressed by the quality of fresh produce and range of products available in the camp grocery store, including our favorite Greek yogurt, which made for a great lunchtime treat today.

Family peace was restored when we went to the evening program, sang familiar campfire songs, and learned about the history and the biology of the bison. We continue to be most impressed by the quality of the programming. Every park ranger that I’ve met has been so patient and kind, and they deserve kudos for figuring out how to manage the endless questions and occasional inappropriate interruptions from the junior ranger crowd.

We woke up on Sunday to a beautiful sky, and I worked on the omelet and home fries breakfast while Gail went for her first run in a little while. After piling on the calories, I went for a bike ride to the Yellowstone border and back. This was my fastest ride of the vacation, and aside from a 600’ climb spread over 3 miles, it was great time trial material—I wish I had aero bars for the flat sections, but in spite of that, I averaged 21.4 mph over the 37 mile ride with almost 2200’ of total climbing. The return trip was most rewarding, with views of the Tetons and a tailwind, but surprisingly I didn’t see many other cyclists.

This afternoon we went on a three-hour ranger-led easy hike. Ranger Danielle was terrific, and she taught us a great deal about the trees, plant life, animals and the entire web of life in this portion of the park. The bear claw markings on the lodge pole pines were most impressive, and I really hope that we have any close calls with bears, based on the size of the incisions. I’ll definitely be buying a canister of bear spray, since the Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier are all prominent bear territory.

When it started raining, I raced ahead, since once again I forgot to close all of the tent windows. When will I learn? Fortunately nothing got too wet, and the skies cleared again after a two-hour light shower. A burrito dinner hit the spot, and now we look forward to another evening program. Tomorrow it’s off to Jenny lake and some more adventurous hiking that will take us closer to the big mountains, particularly Rockchuck Peak, which is just over 11,000’ high, weather permitting. The current plan is for me to bike ahead to the trailhead with a bit of a head start. Hopefully we’ll also find a 3G hotspot so that I can upload this blog entry as well!

Good grub!

I know I already wrote a post this morning, but we've had a really nice day here in Salt Lake City. It has been focused around food, so you know I was one happy traveler. Breakfast here at the hotel was perfunctory and indifferent, so we headed out to find some lunch. I'd heard of a local grocery store chain called Harmons, which someone on Yelp! compared to Wegmans. We headed there, and it was a great place to shop and eat. We scored some terrific sourdough bread and a nice runny wedge of Brie, plus tasty cherries and raspberries. We also each had a Chobani Greek yogurt. You may know about my obsession with Greek yogurt. If not, rest assured that I consider it one of the finest breakfast/lunch/snack items to be had. I've missed it sorely, since we haven't been stocking it in our camping cooler.

Harmons is indeed Wegmans-esque in its scope and selection. We stocked up on some camping necessities, like canned tomatoes and Indian boil-in-bag meals. It was hard to resist the well-stocked chile pepper aisle and the 8 kinds of exotic sea salts. I don't think we found these kinds of options when we went cross-country in 1995. I remember it being slim pickings for foodies out here in the Midwest/West. It has been much easier to find good groceries on this trip. I'm especially impressed by the huge tortilla selection at even the smallest grocery store. The huge racks with 12 or more different types make Wegmans' selections look pretty paltry. There are all permutations of tortillas, with amaranth, blue corn, quinoa, and other grains making an appearance. Yum!

The one thing Harmons lacked was espresso. I was definitely feeling coffee deprived, since I'd had one measly cup of weak hotel coffee for breakfast. You know what happens when I feel coffee deprived, don't you? Not pretty. Armin whisked us away to a hipster coffee place called Coffee Garden, which had super-excellent espresso. After a skim latte with a quad shot, my fangs and talons retracted and the boys came out of hiding. We took in a spiffy bike shop and headed to library geek heaven.

Yup, I'm talking about the Salt Lake City Public Library. Gorgeous. Impressive. Majestic. Hip. I can't say enough good things about it. I also don't have pictures because only had Toby's camera and forgot the cable for it. Let me just say, though, that the SLCPL has a roof garden, complete with honeybee hives, a soaring atrium with shops and a coffee place, an art gallery, and a super-cool youth services area on the bottom floor. It has a Crystal Cave room with lots of reading nooks as well as a room that's designed to look like a treehouse. There are comfy chairs all over and a ceiling made of fabric sails--it looks like they retract to let in more light when needed. If you are ever in SLC, you MUST go to the library!

Then we tooled around a bit. Armin took us up the Emigration Canyon road where he did his morning ride--very pretty! And then, of course, we were hungry again. It was early, but we wanted to get to the Red Iguana before it got crowded. It was the best Mexican food we've ever had. I had Vegetarian Killer Nachos and they were very good, especially the guacamole. We also got a sweet fried plantain, dusted with cinnamon. Heavenly.

We've changed our plans for the next leg of the trip. Instead of spending the next 2 nights in the Wasatch National Forest, we're going to press on to the Tetons and get a camping spot at Colter Bay. That's a big campground in the Tetons National Park and sounds perfect for the boys--there's kayaking, swimming, lots of ranger-led programs, and (for me!) showers. We've figured out that things go best when we can stay in one place for more than a few days, so we'll be there for 5 or 6 nights. Then we move up the road a few miles to Yellowstone for a few more days. Sounds perfect to me!

Quiet times...and BEDS!!

We've been quiet for the past couple of days because things have been mellow. We went for a nice bike ride on Wednesday through part of the Dixie National Forest. There's a terrific bike trail that seems to be vastly underutilized, so we had it to ourselves as we swooped through prairie and woodland scenery.

Yesterday we drove to Salt Lake City for a bit of civilization (including showers, laundry, and beds). It was something of a shock to go from camping to being in the middle of a large city. So many people and cars! We had lunch at a shopping mall in the downtown area and I clung to my espresso cup as people shuffled and squawked around me. We'll venture out to explore a bit today, since we've opted for a second night in the hotel in order to to the laundry and let the boys have some pool time. We've heard that the Salt Lake Public Library is amazing, so we'll head there, library geeks that we are.

It is hard to believe that we are about halfway done with our vacation. We're all a bit homesick, I think, wondering how Poe is faring and missing the routines and conveniences of our house. Still, I think we're all retaining our sense of adventure. I know I'm excited about our upcoming Tetons-Yellowstone-Glacier segment. We're trying to make the trip back East more than just a sprint across the country, so we're contemplating swinging back down to the Black Hills, then up to southern Minnesota for a couple of days before we head for home.

Seeing Stars

After yesterday’s late-afternoon hail and rain extravaganza, we had clear skies last night. Coming back from the evening ranger program, we saw brilliant stars. Bryce Canyon is truly a Dark Sky sanctuary, with approximately 7500 stars visible on a moonless night. You can clearly see the Milky Way, and the stars shine with great depth. I just wish I could identify more than the Big Dipper.

I paid the price for craning my neck back looking up at the stars, though, and aggravated my dizziness problem. I woke up this morning feeling like the world was spinning, and spent the day trying not to lurch when I walked. Armin and the boys kept me away from any canyon rims. I am feeling better this evening, though, and I hope that by sleeping kind of propped up I can avoid any further dizziness.

Anyway, we had a 2 am thunderstorm that sent us all into the car for a little while. The boys handled it with sleepy good humor, and quickly fell back asleep once we were back in the tent.

This morning we took some time off from hiking in order to do some housekeeping. We had to get the tent tidied up and dried out, and the back of the car needed some serious organizing. It felt good to do some little chores and be able to find things once again. The boys also appreciated being able to lark about with their campsite friends who were going back to California today.

Once we had things shipshape, we decided to drive the park road to hit the scenic overlooks. There was only one little hike along the way, so we just tooled along, snapped pictures, and enjoyed a picnic lunch. The boys finished up their Junior Ranger requirements and we spent some time at the Visitor Center. Then we got back to a nearly deserted campground and hung around, reading and such. I’m reading Mrs. Frisby & The Rats of NIMH to the boys and we are completely captivated by it. We spent a couple of hours lounging in the tent following the adventures of our new mouse & rat friends.

The day has been free of rain—probably our first day without precipitation in more than a week. It’ll be chilly again tonight (sorry, sweltering East Coast friends), with clear skies for good star viewing. I’ll resist the temptation to crane my neck!

Tomorrow we’ll take a ride on the Dixie National Forest bike path, which Armin says is spectacular. Then on Thursday morning we head to Salt Lake City for a bit of city sight-seeing and a hotel room. I will resist the temptation to spend the entire time in the shower.

So, dear readers, though it makes for rather dull reading, I am glad that the past 24 hours have been free of drama. We needed some mellow downtime!