Grizzly Bears in Yellowstone

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Dave

Grizzly Bears in Yellowstone NP

We started a bit late this morning and decided to make a beeline to see Old Faithful but were sidetracked about 30 minutes into our journey by a mother Grizzly bear and her two cubs near Indian Creek. They were about 150 yards in the distance but over the course of 30 minutes made it all the way to the road we were on. We snapped a few pics and here they are.

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1200 miles in 4 days…and that’s just a start

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Dave

Lamar Valley - Yellowstone

Yes-a lot of driving on this trip. So much, in fact, that I got a severe migraine and very sick a couple of days back. But we recharged and hit the road yesterday for a marathon road trip beginning at our hotel in Bozeman, down to the north entrance of Yellowstone NP, through the Lamar Valley, onto the Beartooth Highway through Wyoming and Montana driving as far as the Beartooth Pass at close to 11,000 feet. We then retraced our route back to Gardiner, WY–which is just outside the north gate of Yellowstone NP–and found a hotel. Had a great rib eye steak at Rosie’s on Park street–much thanks to Emily our lovely waitress and former Paducah, KY resident.

Would love to write more but the Internet service in this town is really bad….like I wish I had a modem bad. I will write a synopsis of the trip, including more photos, when I get back.

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National Park Tour Continues…

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Dave

View from our Glacier NP campsite - Lake McDonald

A slight change in plans from what I documented in my last post.  We decided to be a little more ambitious and decided on Glacier National Park and Yellowstone instead of Badlands.  We are three days into the trip and this is the first opportunity I got to post.  I am not going to into much detail because it is early morning and we have to hit the road again soon. It has been a mostly good trip so far with a few bad–even scary moments– sprinkled in.  The good has been the weather, the hikes and, of course, the scenery.  The bad has been the weather–two major hail storms while driving in which the steering wheel of the rental car still shows signs of indentations from the death grip I had on it while trying to navigate through the mess.  Also, on the bad list is that some of the trails on the east side of the park were only partially open.  Then on my very bad list is the Bear Spray Incident…I will describe this in another post…when I gather enough courage to document in the a manner it deserves.

I am hoping I have more time tonight to share more stories and photos from the trip.  We plan to tour Bozeman, MT this morning, take a ride on the Beartooth Highway the rest of the day and then find a hotel near Yellowstone NP this evening.  We have two nights of camping in Yellowstone planned before we head back.

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Upper Yosemite Falls trail and the Mariposa Grove

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Dave

Mariposa Grove

This will be my last post on Yosemite…at least until I return again.  Packed up all of my gear and headed to the Ahwahnee for my $50 breakfast (see a couple posts below).  Visited the park office and spoke with a ranger who recommended the Upper Yosemite Falls trail as a good option for a 3-4 hour hike.  I knew that I wasn’t going to try to make it all the way to the top of the falls because I also wanted to try to make it to the Mariposa Grove to see the redwood trees.

The UYF trail is a slight incline that quickly becomes a long series of ass-kicking switchbacks up the mountainside.  I can’t remember how many switchbacks I counted before the trail levels off but it has to be 50 plus.   Once you reach the top, there is a 20 or 30 minute relatively level walk to you get a good view of the falls.  I stopped once I got to the viewpoint and took photos for 30 minutes or so and then headed directly back down.

I hopped in the car and took CA route 41S for the 90 minute drive down to Mariposa Grove.  45 minutes of the drive was spent behind a blue VW Beetle that  drove an average of 30 miles an hour.  I felt like I was in a funeral procession as there was a 15 car long line of vehicles behind this car.  Some people are just totally oblivious; my biggest test of patience the entire trip.  It was so bad that the drive in the car behind the VW must have dozed off and almost drove off the side of the mountain–their car quickly swerved to the right and kicked up huge puff of dirt.  They would have fallen several thousand feet if they wouldn’t have caught themselves.

Oh well, that was the excitement for the day but both trips were great and I have many photos to share below.

Posted in California, US, West, Yosemite | 1 Comment

The Mist Trail

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Dave

Merced River at the top of Nevada Falls

My Yosemite plans originally included hiking the Panorama Trail on Saturday and the Mist Trail on Sunday. Because the hiker’s bus to Glacier Point wasn’t in service yet, I decided to do the Mist Trail on Saturday morning. I headed out on foot directly from the Lower Pines Campground, walking the mile or so distance to the trailhead. The trail started gradually uphill on a paved trail along the Merced River. It quickly steepened running along the right side of the Merced to Vernal Falls. This is where the Mist Trail gets it’s name as the wind blew mist from the waterfall directly in the hikers direction. I was completely doused but it felt really good. I decided to continue up to Nevada Falls–a 3.7 mile hike from the beginning of the trailhead–all of it uphill. This is when I realize that my physical conditioning was awful. I started and stopped every 50 yards or so. I eventually made it to the top of the falls and was planning to return to the valley via the Muir Trail. Unfortunately the trail was closed due to potential rock falls so I had to return the way I came.

A very good hike that left me wasted. Thankfully, there was Degnan’s Deli in Yosemite Village to fuel up. Thieir #9 sandwich (chicken waldorf) is phenomenal and I lived off of them over the weekend. I followed this up with a grilled cheese, tomato and onion sandwich, two beers, milk and a bag of peanut M&M’s. By 7:30pm I was 90% recovered.

After my dinner plans at the Ahwahnee fell through, I decided to take a drive up to Glacier Point. I picked up two Austrian hikers half way up–they apparently became separated from their buddies somewhere along the Panorama Trail. I drove them 16 miles or so all the way to Glacier Point and dropped them off–hope they were able to hook up with their friends.

The view from Glacier Point is stunning–even with the evening fog rolling in. You can see a full view of the valley and all of the waterfalls from thousands of feet above. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera so you will have to be content with the other photos that I took during the day which I have posted below.

Posted in California, US, West, Yosemite | Leave a comment