Friday, June 30th, 2023

Starting mileage: 5406, distance travelled: 36

Miles hiked: 8.5

With the goal of hiking the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, we started the day by driving to Wapiti picnic area to the South Rim Trail to Point Sublime. We entered the trail next to Chittendon Bridge. The roiling rapids were incredibly powerful and beautiful.

Shortly we approached the Upper Falls from the top and hiked down to several amazing lookouts. We hiked a bit further to reach the top of the Lower Falls which were perhaps even more spectacular that the upper. Throughout the hike we could look across to see people driving and hiking along the North Rim road and trail. It was one of the more stunning hikes we’ve ever been on, with incredibly colorful scenic vistas, precipitous cliffs right next to the trail, and lots of altitude changes. In the ultimate small world story, we ended up at Point Sublime, with a retired gentleman from Concord, MA, who had set off on the trail at the same time we did and was staying in the cabin next to us at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel!

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Mud volcano, which Brady was very interested in visiting because he loved the mud pots. We did not anticipate the buffalo spa we encountered when we came around the corner to find 8-10 bison lounging around the hot springs and mud pots. They were so close to the boardwalk, we could have touched them…although, not advisable. On our descent, we sadly came across a bison carcass, a nice illustration of the circle of life for the kids. The last stop on the boardwalk was the Dragon’s Mouth Spring which looked and sounded like a dragon’s lair.

In the evening we saw plenty of wildlife roaming about the hotel property. A deer was wandering through the general store parking lot and a Buffalo was very close to our cabin. We also found some abandoned old school phone booths, without phones, but still holding skeletal phone book husks.

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

Starting mileage: 5302, distance travelled: 104

Miles hiked: 4.5

Knowing we would be fighting the crowds, we got out of the campground as early as possible, which translated into 8:30am, fueled but sadly without coffee. We stopped briefly at Moose Falls, a quick walk from a turnout before going to Old Faithful.

We ran into significant construction traffic, and didn’t arrive at Old Faithful until 10:10am, just in time to sprint across the parking lot and see the 10:30am geyser, right on time.

We flooded the visitors center to hit the restroom and get our passport cancelled, only to hear the announcement that the Beehive Geyser was scheduled to go off in 10 minutes, a once every 18-20 hour occurrence. We scooted out and saw the rare spectacle.

We decided to abandon our idea of hiking through the complex due to an approaching thunderstorm and chose instead to drive to Fairy Trail, where we encountered massive traffic and zero parking. We found a roadside spot at a 30 degree slope in our very tall camper in the pouring rain. We made and ate our lunch, carefully load balancing to not tip our camper over. The rain hadn’t completely abated but we hiked our way to the Grand Prismatic Overlook. The view was spectacular.

After hiking down, we drove another mile and got to walk right up to the hot springs we had viewed from above. The colors were amazing. In addition to the Grand Prismatic Spring, we also saw Opal and Tourmaline pools.

We continued driving north, hoping to stop at the Lower Geyser Basin but were dissuaded by the massive traffic jam and zero parking. We continued north on the Grand Tour loop road, finally stopping at the Artist’s Paint Pots, which didn’t disappoint, finally providing a view of actual bubbling mud pots, which Brady had been greatly anticipating.

The last 30 miles of our day were interrupted with lots of traffic, but mostly because people were stopping/slowing to view buffalo grazing in the fields adjacent to the roads. We were tired but it was worth it.

We arrived at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel just after 4pm, checked into our cabin, and had time to hit the general store before dinner. We had a cocktail overlooking the beautiful lake, listening to the string quartet playing Come on Eileen! An amazing dinner followed, complete with rabbit confit and elk sausage for Brady and local trout for Laura. We were all happy to snuggle into real beds for the night.

Wednesday, June 28th, 2023

Starting mileage: 5238, distance travelled: 64

Hiking distance: 3 miles

We set off from Colter Bay RV Park and headed north toward the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. The landscape was striking, with acres of toothpick trees on either side of the road, remnants of the 2016 Berry Fire, we learned from the guidebook. We also finally captured our Grand Teton sign picture on the way out of the park! 😂

As soon as we entered Yellowstone National Park, a ridiculously deep canyon opened up to the east, right next to the road. The Snake River seemed to drop down 100s of feet.

We landed at West Thumb Geyser Basin and walked the boardwalk past geysers, holes, and cones. The boardwalk protected us from boiling in pools of bubbling water and mud. The colors were spectacular: brilliant aquamarine to dusty orange to bright yellow, all on the western shore of Yellowstone Lake.

Our last excursion for the day was a 2-mile hike up the Yellowstone Lake Overlook Trail, which fulfilled its promise of a beautiful view of the lake. We got some bonus thermal activity sites with a small waterfall and a couple of bubbling pools of water at the top.

We drove back outside the park for one night at the Headwaters RV Park at Flagg Ranch and drove by Lewis Falls (named for Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition). It was right in the middle of a construction site so we only got a quick drive-by pic.

Back on the Ranch, we checked in at the RV park, did laundry, and grabbed local beers and appetizers at the lodge saloon. We began planning for our next Yellowstone adventure tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 27th, 2023

Starting mileage: 5201, distance travelled: 37

We started the day with special single-serve sugar cereal for the kids and eggs and bacon for mom and dad.

We started out at the Colter Bay visitors center while dad took a shower. The kids got attacked by a black bear and then we watched a movie about the history of Grand Teton National Park.

We attempted a short hike to Swan Lake and Heron Pond only to be foiled by some closed trails due to heightened bear activity. We still made it the back way to Heron Pond and saw a giant flock of Canada geese, GBH, an osprey diving for fish (a near miss) and an American white pelican which has recently begun visiting the park.

After lunch we drove to some lookouts to view wildlife and found a bear driving a car!

From a distance we saw a herd of pronghorns and braved a side road to get a closer look. We also found a moose or elk print in the dried mud. It looked like we could continue along the dirt road and connect back to the main road but only 1/4 mile shy of the main road, we approached a flooded section of road and had to turn around and traverse the 3 miles back on the very sketchy road. David was convinced we would lose our generator in a deep culvert with rocks the size of two fists, which we ended up braving twice.

We ended the evening walking from outrun campsite to a pizza place. There was a wagon wheel bench out front. After dinner, we enjoyed the fudge we bought at Wall Drug.

Monday, June 26, 2023

Starting Mileage: 5169 Distance Traveled: 32

Today we woke in the bungalow well rested and ready for the day but no amount of sleep could’ve prepared us for the hike we decided to take. Our tour guide from yesterday had recommended the Cascade Canyon hike as something to do and even went so far as to say that it was one of the most beautiful places on the planet so of course we absolutely had to go. The 9.1 mile hike winds its way in between Grand Teton and Mt. Woodring with raging rapids and waterfalls galore. We boarded a ferry to cross Jenny Lake and boy oh boy was the view spectacular.

Once we got to the other side we immediately started hiking and I’m not going to go into huge detail but IT WAS AMAZING!!

And just to give you an example of waterfalls galore here are some of our pictures. See if you can find all of them.

About half way to the top we saw some moose ears poking out from the bushes. On the way back we really wanted to see it standing and if it wasn’t for Brady we wouldn’t have spotted it. It was standing about 15 feet off the path and was so cute.

About half way back it started to thunder like it was threatening to storm but it never really started to rain. We visited Hidden Falls on the way back and it was probably the best waterfall we’d seen yet.

Once we got back to the ferry there was a 30 minute wait but when we finally got back to the campsite we all had aching muscles and just wanted to take a stretch break. We had a bare bones campsite with no water and electric but a nice fire pit and picnic table. We made our first campfire of the trip and headed nachos!

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Starting mileage: 4913, distance travelled: 257

We drove about 4 1/2 hours. It. was. Boring!!!!!!! But, at the end it was definitely worth it. Mom took a LOT! of photos.

We arrived at Signal Mountain Lodge, greeted by Hollywood, the local elk.

We settled into our bungalow and went to the restaurant on site, complete with spectacular views.

Then, obviously… The evening float trip down the Snake River. We had an amazing guide, Joe, who was in his seventh year of taking folks down the Snake River. We saw many birds (merganser ducks, great blue herons, cranes, pelicans, geese with goslings, and nighthawks), beavers, and caddis flies. The views were beautiful and we skirted around the edge of a thunderstorm, complete with dramatic bolts of lightning and distant thunder. We shared the boat with 3 generations of a family who had been road-tripping to the national parks throughout their childhood. They were so fun!

Saturday, June 24, 2023

Starting Mileage: 4666, Distance Traveled: 247

We woke up today to find everything soaked outside including some of our own shoes. Turns out the KOA has all you can eat pancakes for just $3.50. It was a deal we just couldn’t pass up so we walked down to the pancake tent to eat while David stayed back to make something he could eat.

After eating one of the best breakfasts yet Brady left early to go take a shower with David. The showers at the KOA turned out to be really great and after a quick wait while the cleaning crew washed them, three out of four people were clean. I bet you can guess who wasn’t.

After getting all cleaned up we drove 15 miles to Crazy Horse Memorial and spent an hour or two checking out the museum and going on a tour. The tour guides were practicing giving tours with their teacher from the Indian University of North America. They were both from local tribes, Lakota and Aglola Sioux.

After learning about Crazy Horse we drove 27 miles down to Wind Cave National Park where we had a tour booked. We still had an hour before the tour so we decided to see the natural entrance and then take a short hike.

The tour we went on was amazing and none of the pictures we took can really capture it, but we had a great guide that led us through the caves while explaining the history behind them. We saw cool cave formations like boxwork and popcorn.

And just to show you the sheer size of the caves here is the map:

We knew we had a LONG drive to the Grand Tetons the following day so we got back on the road to kick out another 3 hours or so before bedtime. Circumstances left us eating dinner in the county seat of the least populated county in Wyoming, the least populated state in the U.S. We had found a great-sounding pizza joint, only to find it closed due to family illness. That left only one choice, a “family friendly” pub, full of smoking locals, but with really delicious 3/4 pound burgers and a decent local beer in a can.

We got to see the sunset on the road and landed at a Casper, WY KOA at about 9:30pm, just in time for one quick ride on the playground spinner before bed.

Friday, June 23rd, 2023

starting mileage: 4548, distance travelled: 118

After one final bout with the mosquitoes to disconnect the camper, we fled the Badlands and headed west toward Mount Rushmore. We had a lovely tour guide who described the flora and fauna of the Black Hills. After snapping a few photos of the big heads, we went into touristy Keystone, SD and got lunch at a 1880’s themed saloon with mediocre food, but great service and fun decor. While we were in town, a very tall, very lanky, very grizzly old gentleman in chaps, walked into the middle of the road cracked his whip, and announced a “family friendly” western comedy saloon fight would be starting soon. Sadly we missed it.

Then we went to the second largest (and possibly most expensive) KOA campground where the number of Polaris off-road rental 4x4s possibly exceeded the number of humans. However, the amenities were amazing: 2 heated pools and hot tubs, mini golf, playgrounds, and the largest bad beers offered this side of the Mississippi (at least so far). We took advantage of all of the things…minus the 4x4s. Unfortunately, it was only after the beers that we realized we were in a tornado watch zone, so David kept watch in the pop-up until he fell asleep 5 minutes later. Fortunately, no tornados materialized, but high winds and rains rocked us through the night.

Thursday, June 22nd, 2023

Stating mileage: 4465, distance travelled: 83

What an amazing day exploring the Badlands!

In the morning we went to a prairie dog field. SO CUTE!

After that we went on a hike in the Badlands. The trail was called notch trail. We had to climb up (and more excitingly, DOWN) a big ladder. There were cool, mud bird nests in the building eaves and awesome cacti all over the place.

Then we stopped at a picnic area to eat lunch and started to drive to another hiking trail by the far Sage Creek Campground. We got stopped on the way there by a buffalo crossing!

On the hike, we crossed prairie, a dry creek bed with cool quicksand-like mud, Buffalo dung, and massive amounts of grasshoppers.

Wednesday, June 21st, 2023

Starting mileage: 4055, distance travelled: 410

After driving from Jackson, MN to Wall, SD we visited the infamous Wall Drug.

after wall drug we FINALLY! Got to Badlands. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Campground Drama…and mosquito-pocalypse

We arrived at our campground only to find that they had overbooked electric hookup sites and they didn’t have one to honor our reservation. They offered us any spot we wanted in their staff campground, just outside the park, so we went that route instead of a non-electric site. We arrived at the staff “campground” only to find what appeared to be an abandoned campground with overgrown sites and a shuttered camp store. There were more mosquitoes than we had EVER seen in our lives. At one point, when connecting the water and electric, Susan had about 20 on her right calf alone! It was a mad frenzy to find a site with 30 amp power and water. The place looks like something out of a zombie apocalypse movie.

Despite a little creepy feeling, we were comfortable inside our camper, safe from the blood suckers.