Yellowstone, Sort Of .....

So, we made it to Yellowstone. Kinsey likes to travel in the Fall because, theoretically, the tourists should have cleared out. Apparently, that theory is obsolete. There are now hoards of Baby Boomers running around thinking the same thing.

Highballing Our Way to Yellowstone

Last time I shared Kinsey's manic preparations for our trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons (see Gearing Up to Travel). To begin our journey we got up at the crack of dawn, in fact dawn hadn't even cracked yet. All that was left to load into Clementine was the food. Shadow was already shadowing.

Clementine & Shadow

The Eagle Has Landed

Well, Kinsey and I have landed. Which means we made it home from our latest adventure.

We had a super duper time of it. I think Kinsey is a little pooped out. I'm not a lot of help accept for supervision and getting under foot. This was my longest road trip ever and I'm beginning to appreciate that solo RV'ing is a lot of work. Thank goodness Kinsey really loves it despite the work and responsibility. The old girl is pretty handy I'll grant her that.

Our trip took us down to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We mostly just drove through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks. US national parks don't allow dogs on the trail so we explored the surrounding national forests. What adventures we did have. We even met a movie star fly fishing on the Madison River in Montana.

So, stay tuned. I kept notes on all our travel experiences and as soon as Kinsey recovers I'll be after her to process the photos of our trip so I can show you as well as tell you about all the cool stuff we saw and experieinced.

The below photo is just one I got her to do for me. It's a picture of our rig at the Yellowstone Holiday RV park on Hebgen Lake in Montana. It was a very cool place to end our trip. We were right on the water!

Clementine (Winnebego View) & Shadow (Ford Focus) on Hebgen Lake, Montana

The photo was taken at sunrise. I don't seem to be in it so I musta still been snoozing.

Ciao for now.
Molly Montana

©Kinsey Barnard

Jackson Hole Wyoming

Wowie! Zowie! I'm on my second RV trip and it's been awesome so far.

No internet for five days. Been in Yellowstone and the Gallatin National Forest. Going to have some great stories and photos to share.

Got into Jackson Hole yesterday afternoon. The fall colors in the Tetons are incredibly beautiful. Can't wait to get out hiking.

Weather is very warm and sunny. Must be why there are still so many tourists around. In Jackson Hole itself the traffic is bumper to bumper. Kinsey was very surprised. She hasn't been here for about six years but thought the tourists would have thinned out by now. According to one local we talked to, it has! That is hard to imagine.

Don't have any photos for you as Kinsey isn't processing any on this trip.

Ciao for now!
Molly Montana

Beartooth Highway: The Scariest Road I Ever Drove

No, it’s not “the Luge”. Although, I can tell you that lately people have been chaining up all four wheels to make the trip. I should also add the qualifier, ever drove in Clementine towing Shadow. The scariest road I ever drove in a car was the road between Silverton and Ouray in Colorado. I don't do heights at all well.

Last September Koty and I headed off south to Yellowstone National Park to see if I could find a natural gem or two to photograph. I did find one and I call it “Lily Pads”.  In addition to exploring Yellowstone, from the Gardiner entrance, I also was going to Bridger where I had an invitation to take a private tour to see the “Wild Horses of the Pryor Mountains”.

When we travel we go in our Winnebago View dubbed Clementine and tow a Ford Focus  named Shadow. Koty got to grace the vehicle with his photo because I happened to be enjoying that photo at the time. I often do that. I find a picture and it becomes my OCD photo until a new one takes its place. It probably wasn’t the wisest choice, as nine out of ten people want to know if I am a husky breeder.

Clementine and Shadow

After I had done my best with Yellowstone it was time to head on over to Bridger. Someone I had met in Bozeman had told me that I did not want to miss the Beartooth Scenic Highway because according to the late CBS correspondent Charles Kuralt it is “the most beautiful drive in America”. Well, that’s good enough for me so I put it in my flight plan.

We headed out at first light. Well, maybe not exactly first light. Since I travel by myself, and Koty refuses to pitch in, it takes a little time to batten down the hatches and get Shadow re-attached. But, it was early morning and it was a beauty. My route took us through the Lamar Valley which is awesomely beautiful and was just loaded with grazing bison. I stopped to watch and revel. A person with an imagination like mine could easily picture herself a Shoshone hunter, astride her painted pony, stalking these sacred beasts through the morning mist.

The Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park

Bison Grazing in the Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park

We exited the park at the Northeast entrance passing through Cooke City and continuing to what I can only describe as the point of no return. Just before you start the ascent to the Beartooth Corridor you are given the choice of hanging a left and heading south on the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway toward Cody, Wyoming or continuing on the Beartooth Highway. There is a sign that cautions RV’s of greater than 40 feet in length to head south. Clementine is quite diminutive at 24ft. and with Shadow in tow we are just right the limit.

“The Beartooth Corridor is one of the highest and most rugged areas in the lower 48 states, with 20 peaks reaching over 12,000 feet in elevation. In the surrounding mountains, glaciers are found on the north flank of nearly every mountain peak over 11,500 feet high. The Road itself is the highest elevation highway in Wyoming (10,947 feet) and Montana (10,350 feet), and is the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies.” ~ Pilfered from Beartooth Highway.com.

Steep climbs and altitude don't bother Clementine. She is equipped with a turbo charged Mercedes diesel and can leap tall mountains is a single bound even towing Shadow. And she gets 18 mpg whilst doing it. Quite a girl that Clementine

We ventured forth toward 11,000 ft into the deep blue sky. Soon we were rapidly gaining elevation, the turns got tighter and the road got narrower. We snaked up the mountain at twenty miles per hour or less. The average speed, even for a sensible car driver wouldn’t be much faster. As far as I was concerned there were no places to turnout with my rig. Few enough even for cars. The wind buffeted Clem around like a cork in a heavy sea. We climbed and we climbed and I thought we would never reach the summit.

Finally, there was a regular turnout near the summit. I didn’t stay long. I wanted off those mountains so bad. Going down the other side was no picnic either. It was steep and narrow but at least not much wind. When I reached the valley floor I was so relieved I pulled over, got out and kissed the ground. Then I looked up at the road we had just traversed and nearly swooned! At some time in the not too distant past there had been some really nasty slides. The roadbed which had been carved out of sheer cliffs was, in many places, being held up by what looked like spit wads of concrete. If I’d known I was driving across those Band-aids I would have had a heart attack for sure!

Needless to say you will have to go elsewhere for photos of this All American Highway. I sure as heck don’t have any and I have no plans of EVER have any. At least not unless I hire a car and driver to take me.

For those of you who can’t wait to give the Beartooth a try I make this suggestion. If at all possible start from Red Lodge instead of Cooke City. I’m pretty sure the views that made this highway famous are best seen going east to west. The way I came the views were always in the rearview mirror. And do it in the morning or you’ll have the sun in your face. I’m certain you will find it an exciting and beautiful drive which ever way you go, especially if you get to be the passenger.

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Yellowstone-The Lamar River Valley

If you hang a left, heading south from the North Entrance, at the Roosevelt Lodge you'll be on your way to the Lamar River Valley. Lamar is truly a breathtaking river valley.

Lamar River

The landscape was practically overrun with bison. I don't think I've ever seen so many in the park.

It's not so much that the bison are exotic wild animals it's more about a feeling, at least for me. When I see them out on the range I can't help but get all dewy-eyed, reflecting on days gone by. I know, I am a sap.

I think there were nearly as many fisherman on the Lamar River as there were bison on the range. The Lamar River is a beauty but I wasn't able to find a place where I could get any kind of a shot that I liked. I'm still struggling with that darned sprained ankle. It has really put a crimp in my style. The photo that follows is the best I could do. Maybe another time.

I stopped in at the Lamar Ranger Station because it looked kind of interesting, all old log cabins, barns and out buildings.

Barn at Lamar Ranger Station

I pulled in and parked. There didn't seem to be a soul around but I heard some pounding going on in the barn. I have very old fashioned ideas about men. The one I found in this barn was one tall drink of cool water and he had the baritone voice to go with it. Turned out he was readying his equipment for a pack trip into the back country. At my age men are more of a nuisance than anything else but I must say, I would have ridden off with this one in a Minnesota minute. :)

This lucky devil is probably going to get to go!

This last photo is of the barn again. I'm just throwing it in because I like the lines and tones of the image.

Speaking of images; I have been absolutely amazed at the number of people I see taking photos directly into the sun. The chances of getting a photo you'll want to look at shooting into the sun are slim and none. I realize it doesn't cost anything to trash a digital image but it sure makes for a lot of needless work. People, get that sun behind you! And then watch out your shadow isn't in the frame.


Yellowstone National Park - Images by Kinsey Barnard

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Yellowstone-Mammoth Hot Springs

About five miles into the park, from the North Entrance, you come to Mammoth Hot Springs. It's a very busy congested area with lodge etc. But, just beyond you find yourself at Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces. The photos that follow were taken at the terraces. Some truly wonderous sights to see here.

Ain't this planet grand?!


Yellowstone National Park - Images by Kinsey Barnard

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Yellowstone - Undine Falls & Landscapes

As many of my friends already know I sprained my ankle back in Bozeman on the Cottonwood Trail. What a bummer. But, have limped along all the way over to the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park at Gardiner, Montana.

Got in around noon and good thing I did too because everything around here is booked solid. Got one of the last RV sites at Rocky Mountain RV. We are at the end of the line at the back of the lot but we are grateful to have that!

Set ourselves up and headed out to the park. Didn't have a lot of time but I snagged a couple of images. It was an awesome afternoon/evening!

The rest of the images are just some random shots I took.

The above photo was actually taken on the road into Gardiner. What you see is the Gallatin Range and the Yellowstone River. It isn't called Paradise Valley for nothing!

Yarrow and Sage

Undine Falls

Fall colors are starting to show and they really paint the landscape.

Clouds and sky were doing there thing!

We just keep hobbling along hoping to find that next slice of heaven!

©Kinsey Barnard Photogrpahy

Yellowstone-September 28, 2009

It was a balmy 25 degrees this morning. Clem's batteries held up over night. I think I may have been right. They just needed some exercise.

It was 7:30 am before we got out into the park and quite smokey but we never say die. And, as it turned out it was a pretty productive morning. What Mother Nature takes away with haze she gives back with steam.


Fire Hole River

The cold weather really brought the steam out and made for some very nice opportunities. If you're patient and don't give up things will come into view.


Morning Steam

As usual, Koty was less than inspired. He does not care for National Parks because All he gets to do most of the time is ride shotgun. For a busy boy this is shear torture which can only be alleviated by a good snooze.


On Strike

WE went back down the road as far as Black Sand Basin. Because of the smokey haze, I suppose, there wasn't much of interest so we headed back to Fire Hole Drive where we were treated to some very beautiful scenes.

Mystic Morning

It was so bleeding cold but if it had not been these photos would not have been possible. It's funny how I don't seem to be able to get enough of beautiful scenery. I am well and truly addicted. Why else would I be out here freezing my arse off?


Great Fountain Geyser

You can find the Great Fountain Geyser on the Fire Hole Lake Drive. I saw it yesterday and it certainly didn't look like this!


Buffalo Boy

Just as we were leaving Fire Hole Drive we ran smack dab into Buffalo Boy grazing right along the road.

By this time the morning was completely gone and I was once again pooped. I was also ready for a full service RV Park so we headed for West Yellowstone and the Grizzly RV Park. Very nice park by the way. We right away found a place to hike into the woods and I got the idea I should ask the people in the office if there was any access to the Madison where I could walk with my dog. I was told absolutely and given directions. I figured t would be the perfect place to head in the morning.

Whilst we were wandering around town we were stopped by a local couple who it turned out raise huskies. They told me about some good camping spots up 191 and I put it on my agenda, sounded ideal.

West Yellowstone, MT

All around the town there are these buffalo that artists have painted. I thought they were awfully nice so I swiped an image.

After dinner I decided to see if we could find the trailhead of the trail I had been told about. Well, I found it and there was a great big sign saying no dogs. I tell ya I have to wonder about people. That changed everything. We headed home to get packed up for a morning departure.

I wasn't too disappointed because I had a Plan B, just head on up 191.

©Kinsey Barnard

Ennis to West Yellowstone September 27, 2009

We continued our journey toward West Yellowstone following 287 and the Madison River. The Madison is a also a very pretty river and it was loaded with fishermen.

I made one stop along the way at the "Beaver Ponds". Didn't see any beavers but I thought I saw some beauty there.


Beaver Ponds

The park seemed pretty crowded and I soon found out why, the road to the North Entrance was closed due to construction. We headed directly to the Madison Campground. It had plenty of spaces available.

After checking into the campground I thought I had a very clever idea. I would drive up the closed road a way and then give Koty a good walk on a road that was not likely to have much traffic.

I was really thinking we could walk a long way with some privacy. Well, there weren't too many cars but about a mile and a half up the road had a barrier and said to walking in either. Drat!


Hot Springs

On the way Koty had his first run in with a hot spring. He jump off the road to get a drink and had a very sudden surprise. We did see a lonely bull buffalo grazing along the Gibbon River. Not a photograph kind of thing.

So, the I thought "Ok, we'll go down to West Thumb and then up". Our first stop was Black Sand Basin where we found this somewhat colorful pool.

Opalescent Pool

By the time we got down to the West Thumb turn-off there was a great big fire raging and the road was closed. At this point about two-thirds of the park was out of bounds. Foiled again.


Fire

So, back north we headed. We took a side trip on Fire Hole Lake drive. It turned out to be pretty cool.


Primordial Oyster

There were a number of colorful pools and I could see that there might be some very nice opportunities with morning light. I made a note for a reprise.

Primordial Ooze

Unfortunately, you may not be able to see the mystery in the photo below but there was like a glow that came up from this pool that look surreal. It kinda looked like maybe it was a mystical portal.

Mystical Pool

I never get to be in a picture so I could resist taking one. I've tried to get Koty to do it but he refuses.

Self Portrait

We also stopped in at Fire Hole Falls where I took a series of perfectly ordinary and boring pictures.

We capped off the day with another trip up the closed road to Norris. I thought maybe in the setting sun the old bull might present an image there along the Gibbon. He was still there only lying down. I walked all around him. Called him any number of names. And do you think the old sod would get up? Not on your life. He had heard it all before.

I did find this little gem. Well, I think it's a gem. Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder.


Islands in the Stream

It has been a very long day and I'm ready for the campground. The spaces are just little turn outs and ours was full of ashes. Koty is now, very happily, a grey and black dog.