6,500 Miles With the Crazies - A National Parks Road Trip Extravaganza

[HouCuseChickie]

Yep, that must have been it. So I would have been 11 I guess. I knew it was somewhere around in there, but I didn't remember the exact year. So that must have been the year before I went with the Girl Scouts, and it must have been the girl scout trip where we saw all the scorched trees. I remember seeing a coyote on our trip with my cousin and he was unimpressed. We had traveled to Illinois and brought him back with us to do Yellowstone, but he was too cool for school and really just didn't understand what we thought was so cool about wildlife, trees, mountains, etc.
I'll be really interested to see everything again next Summer. The Mammoth Hot Springs area is one of my favorite spots. I hope we get to go!

I have vague memories of it. I knew I was in high school and it was one of those sad scary stories that would only show on the big national nightly news program. I also remember it feeling far...like even as a teen, I had no frame of reference for where this really was, since I'd never seen anything that far west. I know there are people like your cousin. I've had plenty of people tell me they have no interest in going because they don't enjoy the mountains and aren't into nature or hiking. I get it...but I also think some of it is not looking at ways to help them appreciate the area they're seeing. I know it would not have been possible as kids to plan this, but as adults, I've seen things like rafting and ATV excursions that have turned people around, like your cousin. I also think YNP converts most people like this because of the thermal features. And I don't know how he could go to a spot like Mammoth and not be impressed, but everyone is different.

 

[Songbird76]

I have vague memories of it. I knew I was in high school and it was one of those sad scary stories that would only show on the big national nightly news program. I also remember it feeling far...like even as a teen, I had no frame of reference for where this really was, since I'd never seen anything that far west. I know there are people like your cousin. I've had plenty of people tell me they have no interest in going because they don't enjoy the mountains and aren't into nature or hiking. I get it...but I also think some of it is not looking at ways to help them appreciate the area they're seeing. I know it would not have been possible as kids to plan this, but as adults, I've seen things like rafting and ATV excursions that have turned people around, like your cousin. I also think YNP converts most people like this because of the thermal features. And I don't know how he could go to a spot like Mammoth and not be impressed, but everyone is different.

Meh, he was a 10 -11 year old boy. I think most of the nonchalance was for show. He didn't want to seem too excited because he was from Illinois and we were a bunch of hicks from the sticks as far as he was concerned. He couldn't be seen liking things that WE liked.

I failed my driving test. I got so nervous that I had trouble shifting. They pay a lot more attention to technique here, so even though my driving was fine, she felt like I didn't have that down yet.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I need to look at my itinerary and see how many days I had planned for Yellowstone. I just don't remember enough about our trips to know where we should stay and how much time we should plan for each thing. I know we spent quite a bit of time at Old Faithful to look around the lodge and go to the giftshop as well as watch the geyser go off. And I remember on one trip we walked to Morning Glory because my mom had always wanted to see it, but had never been with anyone willing to hike out there. And I know we spent a bit of time at one of the viewing points for the falls. I hope my kids will remember more than I do from their trip when we go....they will be 14 and 16 where I was only 12 the last time I went, so hopefully they will.

I'm actually learning the driving isn't quite as different as I thought. My first driving instructor was just on a power trip and had me convinced I was the worst driver ever and that everything I did was wrong. Now that I have a new instructor, I'm much more confident and I'm realizing that yes, there are some differences....like you can't turn right on red here, and of course there are rotondes everywhere, and the right of way is weird...people coming from the right have the right of way, even if you are going straight and they are turning, unless you are on one of the major streets where people already on the street have the right of way. So there are differences, but the major thing was just that the instructor criticized everything and kept telling me if I didn't do things perfectly, I would fail. I thought it was ridiculously strict...like, he told me they could give me a string of 5 instructions all at once, and if I did it wrong, I'd fail. That makes no sense...that has nothing to do with driving. That's remembering instructions, but I'm rarely going to have someone telling me where to go, and if I take a wrong turn, it's not the end of the world. But my driving instructor now says it's not the instructions they are worried about. It's the safety. If they tell you to turn right, do you check your mirrors, use your turn signal, etc, before getting into the turn lane? If you don't get into the turn lane, do you try to turn right anyway, or do you just go straight and find a new place to turn? My first instructor tried to motivate with fear. "If you don't learn, you'll fail." That doesn't work for me, especially with something where you can never tell what the traffic is going to be like....the situation is constantly changing, so you have to adapt. It's not a concrete concept where it will always happen the exact same way, so sometimes you will just have to go with the flow. Yesterday, some idiot decided to pass me within city limits, just on a random street, because I was only going 51 in a 50!! And I was turning left, and he went around me right where I was turning. REALLY stupid and jerk move, but all the examinor wants to see is that I reacted safely. I failed the first time because I was just so confused about what they WANTED and the guy told me I was too "unsure" in my driving. I should be loads better now.

The reality is that you could spend a ton of time in just about any part of the park. Yellowstone also taught me a lot about hiking...not in the technical sense, but just what we like. I do enjoy that walk out to Morning Glory and also enjoy the upper viewpoints of the falls. I'm just kind of over the majorly strenuous stuff where I'm so tired at the end point and so physically pushed along the way that I can't enjoy the journey or the big reward view. I'll spare you my battles with people in my national parks groups who are extremely opinionated on these things. Ultimately, I think you can look at the map, look at the big areas...start planning there and then fan out.

A bad instructor can make a big difference with driving experience. When I learned to drive, I was enrolled in a very popular local school that was a hometown family run business. I remember my friend wound up getting the owner's son as her driving instructor. He was nice, his training vehicle was a converted Mustang, and he took her nice places. I got the father...older guy that was really gruff and impatient, driving a 1970s boat that was converted into a proper instruction vehicle, and would always take me into AWFUL areas to learn. Needless to say, I never wanted to drive. I can't remember if he was critical like yours was, but I could see how someone constantly saying you're going to fail could easily undermine your chance for success. I like the approach of this new person and like the perspective that the focus is really about safety...because that's really what it should be about. It sounds like it's going much better this time, so hopefully all goes well.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Meh, he was a 10 -11 year old boy. I think most of the nonchalance was for show. He didn't want to seem too excited because he was from Illinois and we were a bunch of hicks from the sticks as far as he was concerned. He couldn't be seen liking things that WE liked.

I failed my driving test. I got so nervous that I had trouble shifting. They pay a lot more attention to technique here, so even though my driving was fine, she felt like I didn't have that down yet.

I did wonder if where he was from had some impact on his behavior. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being from Illinois, but growing up in a major metro area can really warp your perspective on more rural parts of the country. This may be why I've pushed for these trips that take the kids into different parts of the country. My parents gave us nice trips and I'm not condemning any of that, but we also live in a huge metro area with massive levels of sprawl, and I want the kids to know that there's a lot of country out there that's not like this, but still great. Yes, there have been some tiny towns we've visited that made me really uncomfortable (one is coming up in this trip), but there are many others that are great...just like there are many parts of our own area that I don't like or that I love.

Ugh...I'm sorry. How long before you can take the test again?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

July 24 continued...

So, I took pics as we drove away from Mammoth and into the wild.

Never the greatest pics, but have to take pics of the Yellowstone River as we pass over.

I really just took pics here and there as we made our way to Lamar Valley. This tends to be a more quiet part of the park...although, there are several hikes to waterfalls and the petrified tree. There's a neat suspension bridge hike over here too, but the uphill to get back would probably leave the kids stranded in that part of the park...OK, me too! LOL

We eventually got to the turn off at the Tower Junction. There were quite a few random bison here and there on our way in.

Our first stop was around this one bridge...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We also hit a few areas early on where single males were in the road. I have a variety of pictures and videos from here, including one where the music in the background cracks me up every single time I see it.

I probably should have kept filming, but we saw at least three instances of people getting WAAAAAAAAAAY too close. Part of me would like to think that some people don't grasp the difference between feet vs. yards, but the reality is that they just don't care. We saw this family, including a little girl who couldn't have been more than 4, sneaking around a car trying to get closer to one. They looked like they were less than 10 feet at one point. Another family, also with little kids, just walked on by...passing with only a few feet...like they were at a petting zoo. I should be filming in case something happens and the park needs evidence for charges, but I also don't want to witness a preschooler being tossed in the air or gored to death either. Well, here are some more vids and pics along the drive...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

These really give you some perspective on the size of a bison vs. your car...

You can also see, with all of the little hills along the road and the sheer number of animals, that you really never know what's behind any hill. Whenever we do stop, we take a really good look around before we get out, because they could be mere feet away on the other side of a rise. Just like our last visit, we saw so many that came galloping across the road out of nowhere.

We pretty much just drove along...took videos here and there...stopped here and there. I really loved when all of the pronghorn crossed the road and I'm a big fan of bison wallowing. I was a bit too shaky for the sharpness I wanted, but I also love the closeups of the one guy. Well, either way...here's a whole bunch of pictures. LOL

All this and I haven't even gotten to my bison close ups! Looks like we're driving a bit again.

And did I mention ground squirrels?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I guess those close up bull pics came when we came up on a herd that was much closer to the road than the others...well, I think...I still haven't gotten to them...

(this could have been so good if someone remembered to put down their window!)

 

[HouCuseChickie]

OK....finally...found my close ups. Some are sharper than others, but we caught him as he was wallowing. So, some are better than others.

OK...I probably have another 20+ of him, but you get the idea. There was a cute baby bison nearby too...

I recall just marveling at herd size...hence where there are a number of far off pics. I just can't get over the number of animals. I know it's all bison with a sprinkling of pronghorn, but after seeing next to nothing in Glacier, it was so nice to come here and have wildlife everywhere. I know it's not guaranteed here either, but we have yet to be skunked. That being said, a woman recently commented in one of my national parks groups, saying she came home seeing 1 bison and 2 elk. I don't know how that's possible, but I guess it can happen.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Why did the raven cross the road?

Or get into my neat flying rolling hill pictures?

Sage and wallowing...

Where the bison and the antelope play!

And the geese?

And honestly...no idea on this fun feathery friend...

I'm not really sure why we made this our ending point for driving in Lamar Valley, but David and I agreed that we'd stop at Soda Butte and then turn around. Maybe it's because we never stop, yet have so much fun calling it Soda Butt. So, this time...we stopped.

I really thought I'd at least make it to Soda Butte tonight, but I forgot how many pics I took on our initial pass through Lamar Valley. This is still only a fraction of the pictures! As it is...this is sooooooooooooo much more than I remember taking. So, coming up...Soda Butte and hopefully lunch in Gardiner.

 

[MinnieM123]

OK....finally...found my close ups. Some are sharper than others, but we caught him as he was wallowing. So, some are better than others.

Outstanding photos of all the wildlife in the parks!!

 

[Songbird76]

The reality is that you could spend a ton of time in just about any part of the park. Yellowstone also taught me a lot about hiking...not in the technical sense, but just what we like. I do enjoy that walk out to Morning Glory and also enjoy the upper viewpoints of the falls. I'm just kind of over the majorly strenuous stuff where I'm so tired at the end point and so physically pushed along the way that I can't enjoy the journey or the big reward view. I'll spare you my battles with people in my national parks groups who are extremely opinionated on these things. Ultimately, I think you can look at the map, look at the big areas...start planning there and then fan out.

A bad instructor can make a big difference with driving experience. When I learned to drive, I was enrolled in a very popular local school that was a hometown family run business. I remember my friend wound up getting the owner's son as her driving instructor. He was nice, his training vehicle was a converted Mustang, and he took her nice places. I got the father...older guy that was really gruff and impatient, driving a 1970s boat that was converted into a proper instruction vehicle, and would always take me into AWFUL areas to learn. Needless to say, I never wanted to drive. I can't remember if he was critical like yours was, but I could see how someone constantly saying you're going to fail could easily undermine your chance for success. I like the approach of this new person and like the perspective that the focus is really about safety...because that's really what it should be about. It sounds like it's going much better this time, so hopefully all goes well.

We can't really do any intensive hiking. A can't handle that kind of thing. We did an outdoor escape room type thing (more like a scavenger hunt, really) a week or so ago and he complained the whole time that he wanted to sit down, his legs were tired, etc. And that was paved, flat ground we were walking on. A hilly area on a dirt path is not going to work with him. We'll mostly stick to driving from one place to the next and only hiking from a parking lot to the nearest pool or geyser. I need to look at the maps again and see how much walking will be involved to see things. Morning Glory does look pretty far out there and there's no parking near it that I can remember. You have to hike out to it, even if it's a nice path. He's going to be the hardest sell. E will love everything, no matter how long we have to hike to get there.

We go ALL over the place to get experiences in every type of traffic situation. On the one hand, it's good for you to do the difficult stuff so that when you get into your test, you have the experience to get through whatever is thrown at you. The downside is that there is no way you can possibly experience every possible situation in your lessons. You can drive through the same intersection 50 times, and 50 times it will be different than last time. Different cars, going different directions, etc. So how you handle it will be different. And if you just have bad luck on the day of your test and there are a bunch of tricky situations, that can have an effect. I've got a couple of months now before I try again, so hopefully I can learn what I need to in that time and really get comfortable with it. So much of driving is about gaining experience. Someone once told me you actually learn to drive AFTER you have your license. It's so true. You have such a short time to learn and there are so many situations to prepare for....different types of weather, different types of intersections, daylight and after dark driving, people with road rage, highway, city, country roads....in order to learn everything, it takes time. You don't get proficient all at once. I just feel really disappointed that it's not going as quickly as I'd like it to, and I think if I'd never had that other instructor, I'd be done by now. He confused me and completely messed me up.

 

[Songbird76]

I did wonder if where he was from had some impact on his behavior. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being from Illinois, but growing up in a major metro area can really warp your perspective on more rural parts of the country. This may be why I've pushed for these trips that take the kids into different parts of the country. My parents gave us nice trips and I'm not condemning any of that, but we also live in a huge metro area with massive levels of sprawl, and I want the kids to know that there's a lot of country out there that's not like this, but still great. Yes, there have been some tiny towns we've visited that made me really uncomfortable (one is coming up in this trip), but there are many others that are great...just like there are many parts of our own area that I don't like or that I love.

Ugh...I'm sorry. How long before you can take the test again?

No, nothing wrong with being from Illinois, just that he wasn't used to traveling at all. My mom grew up in Illinois, but she used to spend Summers with her uncle in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She loved that area so much because of those summers. Whenever we went there, she'd always point out the spot she picked for her house if she had ever taken her uncle up on his offer of any acre of his land for 100 bucks. She regretted not taking it. But she used to go camping and she had a cousin and they went to Yellowstone, the Black Hills, Devils tower....long before she met my dad, who she ironically met on a plane somewhere, NOT in Wyoming OR Illinois....ironic because my dad did NOT travel. He was coming back from Honduras? Some latin American country, where he'd been working with some specific breed of cattle and my mom had been at some conference for the savings and loan she worked for. Anyway, my mom had traveled so close to where my dad lived many times to go camping with friends or visit her aunt and uncle, but then met my dad somewhere completely different. But we grew up traveling everywhere by car. My mom always wanted to show us other parts of the country....historical sites, natural wonders, wildlife, points of interest...we saw a LOT that other kids didn't, and we had an appreciation for travel. My cousin had probably never been out of the general area he lived in...probably never traveled farther than Chicago. So his parents were more excited for him to get to see Yellowstone than he was to see it himself. I don't think he really understood the fascination with travel and seeing something different. He'd have preferred to play video games or watch movies. We didn't have a game console and movies were expensive. It was just such a different culture and he considered us pretty low class. His grandparents were quite well-to-do and he was the first born grandson and they spoiled him rotten. He had all the most expensive toys and nice clothes, while I was in hand-me-down clothes and we stayed in budget hotels his grandmother would never have set foot in. His grandfather was my FAVORITE uncle and had a great sense of humor and our nicest birthday and Christmas gifts always came from them, but we weren't constantly spoiled like my cousin was. So he had very little appreciation for anything but materialistic things. I think your girls are really lucky to get to experience so many things. They might not realize it now, but someday they will appreciate that they have a better understanding of other cultures and people because of those experiences. There are things that I didn't understand when I was that age that I look back on and wish I had appreciated it more when I saw it, or that I understood what I was seeing. They will get there.

My driving test is set for November 11th now.

 

[Songbird76]

Great pictures of the bison! We always saw a ton of them in Yellowstone, and those were the least impressive to us because we lived literally within site of the Durham ranch so I could look out my bedroom window and see a whole herd of them. Any time we drove into Gillette, we had to drive right past them. It wasn't an unusual sight for us. We didn't understand when we were little why people would sometimes be stopped on the side of the road taking pictures of them, or of Pronghorns. We saw them all the time. Pronghorns hung out in town all the time...they would graze right under my window. There were some deer who liked the shade under our friends' trampoline in the back yard. Wildlife in Wyoming is just part of the landscape, so that wasn't necessarily the most exciting thing to us about Yellowstone unless it was something less common like moose, bear, coyote, etc. We occassionally saw Elk nearby, especially if we were driving to Newcastle or Upton, and we'd see Bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the Black Hills. But they were more exciting than Bison or Pronghorn. But for the average Yellowstone visitor, ANY wildlife is really a huge draw.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Outstanding photos of all the wildlife in the parks!!

Thank you! It's why we love Lamar Valley...lots of wildlife

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We can't really do any intensive hiking. A can't handle that kind of thing. We did an outdoor escape room type thing (more like a scavenger hunt, really) a week or so ago and he complained the whole time that he wanted to sit down, his legs were tired, etc. And that was paved, flat ground we were walking on. A hilly area on a dirt path is not going to work with him. We'll mostly stick to driving from one place to the next and only hiking from a parking lot to the nearest pool or geyser. I need to look at the maps again and see how much walking will be involved to see things. Morning Glory does look pretty far out there and there's no parking near it that I can remember. You have to hike out to it, even if it's a nice path. He's going to be the hardest sell. E will love everything, no matter how long we have to hike to get there.

We go ALL over the place to get experiences in every type of traffic situation. On the one hand, it's good for you to do the difficult stuff so that when you get into your test, you have the experience to get through whatever is thrown at you. The downside is that there is no way you can possibly experience every possible situation in your lessons. You can drive through the same intersection 50 times, and 50 times it will be different than last time. Different cars, going different directions, etc. So how you handle it will be different. And if you just have bad luck on the day of your test and there are a bunch of tricky situations, that can have an effect. I've got a couple of months now before I try again, so hopefully I can learn what I need to in that time and really get comfortable with it. So much of driving is about gaining experience. Someone once told me you actually learn to drive AFTER you have your license. It's so true. You have such a short time to learn and there are so many situations to prepare for....different types of weather, different types of intersections, daylight and after dark driving, people with road rage, highway, city, country roads....in order to learn everything, it takes time. You don't get proficient all at once. I just feel really disappointed that it's not going as quickly as I'd like it to, and I think if I'd never had that other instructor, I'd be done by now. He confused me and completely messed me up.

I found this map that might help...



I wonder if you guys could take a Divide and Conquer approach. One of you could go with E while the other go with A on the longer hike. David and Kendall weren't up for it when we were there in 2018 and really just stuck with the Old Faithful loop. When Sam and I walked it, we took the one path to Castle Geyser and then cut over with that walkway leading to Grand Geyser, and then walked back to Morning Glory. The two paths converge at Grotto Geyser, which is probably my favorite looking one of the bunch. I also really like the scenery in the area where you cross over the Firehole River just before getting to Morning Glory. If you keep going beyond Morning Glory, you will wind up on that trail section we did in 2005 that took us to the other side of Biscuit Basin. In hindsight, while our elk herd encounter makes for an interesting story to this day, the couple of pools and little geyser after Morning Glory aren't very exciting.

That seems like an awfully subjective driving test...to the point of sounding unfair. Maybe that's a very American mindset, but it seems to lack uniformity...like someone else might go out driving on an easy day and you wind up with crazy stuff. It sounds like you know what you're doing, so it may just be a matter of persistence with getting tested so you can get licensed. I can't imagine how many drivers would be sidelined if testing were like that in the US.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

No, nothing wrong with being from Illinois, just that he wasn't used to traveling at all. My mom grew up in Illinois, but she used to spend Summers with her uncle in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She loved that area so much because of those summers. Whenever we went there, she'd always point out the spot she picked for her house if she had ever taken her uncle up on his offer of any acre of his land for 100 bucks. She regretted not taking it. But she used to go camping and she had a cousin and they went to Yellowstone, the Black Hills, Devils tower....long before she met my dad, who she ironically met on a plane somewhere, NOT in Wyoming OR Illinois....ironic because my dad did NOT travel. He was coming back from Honduras? Some latin American country, where he'd been working with some specific breed of cattle and my mom had been at some conference for the savings and loan she worked for. Anyway, my mom had traveled so close to where my dad lived many times to go camping with friends or visit her aunt and uncle, but then met my dad somewhere completely different. But we grew up traveling everywhere by car. My mom always wanted to show us other parts of the country....historical sites, natural wonders, wildlife, points of interest...we saw a LOT that other kids didn't, and we had an appreciation for travel. My cousin had probably never been out of the general area he lived in...probably never traveled farther than Chicago. So his parents were more excited for him to get to see Yellowstone than he was to see it himself. I don't think he really understood the fascination with travel and seeing something different. He'd have preferred to play video games or watch movies. We didn't have a game console and movies were expensive. It was just such a different culture and he considered us pretty low class. His grandparents were quite well-to-do and he was the first born grandson and they spoiled him rotten. He had all the most expensive toys and nice clothes, while I was in hand-me-down clothes and we stayed in budget hotels his grandmother would never have set foot in. His grandfather was my FAVORITE uncle and had a great sense of humor and our nicest birthday and Christmas gifts always came from them, but we weren't constantly spoiled like my cousin was. So he had very little appreciation for anything but materialistic things. I think your girls are really lucky to get to experience so many things. They might not realize it now, but someday they will appreciate that they have a better understanding of other cultures and people because of those experiences. There are things that I didn't understand when I was that age that I look back on and wish I had appreciated it more when I saw it, or that I understood what I was seeing. They will get there.

My driving test is set for November 11th now.

Yeah...people can have really interesting reactions if they aren't used to travel and being in new places. While not snooty about it, I have a good friend who is the same way. As a nearly 50-something adult, she'd like to go see all of these places, but her life was so sheltered from anything new that she gets really nervous in new spots and it usually ruins the experience. The cousin of yours just sounds more like my situation, where we hadn't seen much beyond New York and Philly and it really colored how we perceived things when we started doing more road trips and seeing life beyond our major metro area. That is interesting about all of the travel with your mom and how she met your dad. And even if your cousin was materialistic and couldn't truly appreciate his experience, you got a lot out of it. Our girls will hopefully one day get it. I really thought it would click with Sam when her science teach was green with envy over her visiting some of her bucket list places, but it may take being out on their own and doing for themselves to really get it.

Ok, so you've now got time to work some more on these things. I know you can do this. It sounds like you've got it. I just don't care for their testing system. I know...not my call, but it should count for something...right?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Great pictures of the bison! We always saw a ton of them in Yellowstone, and those were the least impressive to us because we lived literally within site of the Durham ranch so I could look out my bedroom window and see a whole herd of them. Any time we drove into Gillette, we had to drive right past them. It wasn't an unusual sight for us. We didn't understand when we were little why people would sometimes be stopped on the side of the road taking pictures of them, or of Pronghorns. We saw them all the time. Pronghorns hung out in town all the time...they would graze right under my window. There were some deer who liked the shade under our friends' trampoline in the back yard. Wildlife in Wyoming is just part of the landscape, so that wasn't necessarily the most exciting thing to us about Yellowstone unless it was something less common like moose, bear, coyote, etc. We occassionally saw Elk nearby, especially if we were driving to Newcastle or Upton, and we'd see Bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the Black Hills. But they were more exciting than Bison or Pronghorn. But for the average Yellowstone visitor, ANY wildlife is really a huge draw.

We used to pass a ranch here that raised bison, but I suspect they are more costly than more common cattle, because the bison disappeared at some point. So, I totally understand stopping to gawk at the more unusual livestock on a ranch. Pronghorn are a different story. We just don't have those here. There's a sanctuary/rescue...not too far from the bison farm...that has all kinds of exotics. It's primarily things in the antelope family...so it's about the closest things to pronghorn running in the wild we may see here. I'm not sure how many acres they have, but we pass on the way to our friend's ranch. Now, we do get coyote here, but that's about it. Even mule deer are a novelty, since we don't have them here. I just remember talking to a park ranger from SD who said her favorite memory of growing up in the area was watching pronghorn and marveling at their speed and dexterity. Still, wildlife is a big draw for us. Yes, I do enjoy all of the pretty scenery, but I liken some of this to an African safari. Not to mention that wildlife isn't a given...so it's always a bit more special when you do see them.

 

[cgersic]

I think the fires happened....I remember a big fire in Yellowstone when I was around 9 or 10 I think...so probably around 86? There was a lot of controversy because they wouldn't "fight" the fire, because as long as it's a naturally occurring fire (not someone's campfire that spread, arson, etc) it's good....it serves a purpose. It gets rid of the dead stuff and fertilizes the ground for new growth. But of course, a lot of acreage burned. We went the year after it burned, and I remember large sections of just blackened tree remains. It was so sad. Then when I was in high school, there was a fire in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We went and visited a friend in Custer and it came so close to their property line they could see the flames. I don't remember if they were evacuated, but I remember roads where both sides were just charred forest...it had just jumped across the road in some places and then kept going. So I think the fires happened, but there was no social media to spread news. You had to wait until someone could call you to tell you they were alright and where they were.

I moved from Colorado in 1984, so I would have missed this one. I grew up in the Rockies so I'm definitely aware that fires serve a purpose and have seen many parts of the forests that are blackened become green again. The beetle kill that's been happening for many years has turned so many areas into timber that lights so easily that I'm hoping for regrowth there. And I agree about the news, we generally heard about any disaster from our neighbor who was a volunteer fireman/EMT.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

July 24th continued...

So here we are at Soda Butte...

Part of why I wanted to stop at Soda Butte was related to something I'd seen on the Smithsonian Channel. That darn channel makes me want to see so many things. In fact, it is the whole reason I know about our next stop after YNP. I'm guessing it's around the other side, where you're not supposed to be walking, but there's a huge colony of birds (American Cliff Swallows). I could see them flying all over, but couldn't get around to see their nesting structures. I went over onto this side just so I could get some of them flying around...





I did, however, get a number of fun ground squirrels in this area. We saw a lot of these this trip...including a lot that came pretty close to becoming road kill. I probably should get a bumper sticker that says "I brake for Ground Squirrels"- because I do. These guys aren't quite as fearless as the golden mantled variety, but they were still pretty fun.

There was something so soothing about the water flowing around this area....like I could have just sat there for hours.

Just a neat little area in general...

(I'm being watched!)