Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks

16 July
We had a real struggle publishing the blog last night. Blogspot seemed to have changed their website but eventually we succeeded. There was also a good electrical storm with lots of lightning.

We headed to Wal-Mart for a big shop and then to the State Liquor outlet for some wine. You really get the feeling that drinking is a bit sinful in Utah as they make it so hard to stock up. Eventually we were back on the I15 heading north to a State Park on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. We had heard that this lake is more salty than the sea and we had a swim to find out. It did not seem to be very salty or buoyant. Like all the lakes so far it was very low however. Around dinner time it started to rain. All these state parks have power so the aircon is on a fair bit.

17 July
We headed back south on the I-15 for 10 miles to check out an Air force Museum at Hill.

What a place! There were over 75 war planes, fighters, cargo, and bombers. Some were inside and the bigger ones outside. The B29 which dropped the nuclear bomb, the Stealth Bomber, the B24 (flying fortress) and the B52 (Vietnam) were the most impressive but the sheer size of some of the fighters was also surprising. (F111, F16
and many more).

Back on the I-15 heading north again. The visit was well worth the 20 extra miles we drove back. We left the I15 and drove up a small pass and into a valley where we are camped at yet another State Park at Lake Hyrum. This is a small family camp overlooking the lake. The swimming was great with warm water. The camp is full with young families having their summer break. Most seem only to stay less than a week however.


18 July
We drove thru Logan and turned up a good road leading into the mountains.

Unfortunately they were resealing most of it so we had about 30 miles of road works including a couple of stops. We drove over the top and down towards the large Bear Lake. At the lake shore we turned south to a State Park at Rendezvous Beach. The camp was fairly full but the ranger managed to find us a site for two nights. We are camped right on the shore. In the afternoon we headed down for a swim. The lake is really low and we had to walk thru shallow water to get a swim. The camp is large and the feel of the place is like Wanaka without the spectacular mountains. There are quite a few boats and many family groups with sunshades and gazebos near the water.

19 July
We are not going anywhere today so we had a lazy morning pottering around “Ernie”. In the afternoon we headed back to the beach and found some nice shade under the willow trees. The lake is 20 miles long by 12 miles wide and the border between Utah and Idaho runs right thru the middle.

20 July
Today we drove thru 3 States. We started in Utah and followed the shore of Bear Lake passed some typical holiday baches, resorts and camping grounds. Half way up the lake we crossed into Idaho for a short piece before entering Wyoming and followed the Snake River down the Star Valley.

This was a green fertile area with many well kept small holdings and several prosperous towns. Our next camp was at a Forest Park up the Snake Canyon. This area is popular for white river rafting. The camp was near the river and we spent some time watching commercial and private rafts negotiating the rapids.

21 July
Out of the Snake Canyon to a tourist town called Jackson (do not think it is the town made famous by the song) and a short drive into the Grand Teton National Park. The Grand Teton Mountain (13700ft) and the mountains around it are spectacular. A bit like the Remarkables with several lakes setting the mountains off.

The first camp we tried was full so we had to drive another 10 miles to a huge camp where we were given a site. The camp, at Colter Bay is so big that they have areas for full hook-up, pets, and even a non generator area. We are in the latter. We walked to the shore of Jackson Lake with great views of the mountains. We have booked for 2 nights but will spend another here relaxing. After lunch we walked back to the visitor’s centre and a 2 mile walk along the lake shore.

22 July
We drove back to Jenny Lake (about 20 miles) and caught a ferry across the lake for a hike up Cascade Canyon. The first ½ mile was up hill to a waterfall and a view of the lake. We then headed into the Canyon and were surprised when a Grizzly Bear cub crossed the track in front of us. When you see a cub your first thought is “where is the mother”. We waited for a while and then walked on talking loudly and shouting. (the advised procedure for scaring bears.)

Further up the track we came across a female moose and her calf feeding in the river. Around the corner was the bull moose with huge antlers. What a sight! Not many Americans have seen bear or moose. We stopped for lunch at a small lake with great views of Grand Teton and the other mountains. Back across the lake to “Ernie” where we took the bikes off and rode a great cycleway with more views of the mountains. We have decided to stay another day so biked back to the gate to pay for an extra night.

23 July

A relaxing morning with a bike ride to the phone box to book a couple of nights at a camp in Yellowstone N.P. This achieved, we went for a walk passed some beautiful ponds with reflections of the Great Teton mountains. After lunch we took our chairs down to the shore of Jackson Lake and spent a great 3 hours swimming

and sunbathing. The locals think the water is cold but we thought it was a great temperature. (around 21C) Families are waterskiing and generally enjoying the lake with the mountains in the background.

24 July
We were off to an early start today as we do not have a camp site for tonight. We entered Yellowstone National Park and found a site at Lewis Lake not far into the park. After setting up on our site we drove further into the N.P. to Grant Village visitor’s centre and watched a film on how the park had survived some major forest fires. We had to fuel up “Ernie” at over $4US/gallon! We continued on to the first of the thermal areas beside Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone N.P. is a series of thermal areas on a plateau with several lakes

and river. The whole park is huge and we will visit most of it this trip but we will be back in a couple of years to see the northern areas. The first thermal area reminded us of Rotorua with geysers on the shore and some in the lake. We did a short hike to a view point over the lake. Back to our camp to find that someone had pinched both our levelling ramps. Very frustrating as everyone leaves their stuff at their sites unsecured. The camp host was very apologetic. After dinner we walked down to Lewis Lake for a spectular sunset.

25 July
We have the next 2 nights booked at a camping ground at Bridge Bay on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. There is a loop road which takes in most of the thermal areas so we drove to the famous “Old Faithful” area. Old Faithful is a geyser which is well named as it erupts every 90 minutes. As we were between eruptions we took the time to walk around the other thermal features in this area. We were lucky to see an eruption of Lion Geyser. (named after it’s roar) We

returned to Old Faithful in time for the eruption. A great site lasting about 5 minutes. As this is the famous geyser there is a hotel right in front of it. There are also hundreds of seats which were packed. Lots of tourists only get to see this one eruption as they do not have the time or the will to walk around the other geysers.

We went for longer walk along the miles of board walks to end up at Morning Glory Pool. On the way back we were lucky to see a huge eruption of the Grand Geyser.

Before we left this area Old Faithful erupted again. We drove on to 2 other thermal areas with beautiful coloured boiling pools and bubbling mud. In one area we were treated to another spectular eruption which lasted for some time. On the way back to our camp we off loaded the bikes and enjoyed a great 10 mile ride to Lone Star Geyser. It is well named as it is all by itself. Unfortunately we missed it’s eruption by a short time. Can’t win them all! We had done pretty well for seeing eruptions. We checked into our camp at Bridge Bay. The camp is huge with 450 odd sites all full.

26 July
We decide to have a lazy day and explore this area where there is no thermal activity. After lunch we rode to Natural Bridge, an arch which we were able to climb up into. We rode along the Yellowstone Lake shore and ended up at the harbour and marina near the camp.

27 July
We drove the rest of the “loop” road with our first stop at the Yellowstone River Canyon.

Before we arrived there we were stopped by several Bison (Buffalo) crossing the road. They are huge and seem very primeval. At the canyon there are 2 massive waterfalls and we climbed down a series of 380 stairs for a great view of the Lower Falls which are 308ft high.

There are view points along both rims of the canyon and paths that lead down to the tops of the waterfalls. Quite a sight. The day was cloudy and cool so the photos are not as good as we would have hoped. Our next stop was at another thermal area. We were lucky to find a park. We had no luck with eruptions in this area. Lots more beautiful clear and coloured boiling pools and more bubbling mud. Walking the board walks is frustrating as the average American walks at about half our pace! As it was cold we sat in “Ernie” for lunch (this is the first time we have been inside for lunch) before exiting the N.P. and driving to our camp at Henry’s Lake State Park. The Yellowstone National Park is in Wyoming, we drove thru 12 miles of Montana and we are back in Idaho where we will be for the next week. Henry’s Lake is a fishing lake where they catch Cut Throat Salmon.

28 July
We woke to find 15 boats fishing just out from our site. Nothing was caught while we sat and had breakfast. We continued south thru some low hills and eventually onto a plain planted in various crops. Idaho is renowned for it’s potatoes. We are now at Idaho Falls, a town of around 50,000 for shopping, laundry and the internet. We rode our bikes into the town along a green belt following the Snake River. The town is named after a series of low waterfalls.