Mt Rushmore NM: Stone Faces and Obstructive Goats

(2019 Grand Teton Ep 9)

After enjoying the bison, burros, pronghorns and prairie dogs of Custer State Park, we decided to drive the Iron Mountain Road (US 16A) from Custer State Park to Mt. Rushmore National Monument the next morning. It took nearly an hour to drive the 20 mile road. Included were three single lane tunnels (e.g. very narrow and around 10 foot tall) and several pig tails, where the road makes a complete 360 degree loop under itself. Glad we weren’t towing our camper!

When we drove through the first tunnel we realized Mt Rushmore was visible through the tunnel. We turned around and drove through it a second time to get the full impact and to take photos. The third tunnel has a similar view of Mt. Rushmore. Tip: it is better to drive the Iron Mountain Road from south to north for the Mt. Rushmore views.

Although the previous day was overcast with occasional showers, we arrived at Mt Rushmore under crystal clear blue skies. The presidential views were awesome!

Rushmore Courtyard — Courtyard in front of Mt. Rushmore

A large parking garage has been built just outside the entrance because lots of people visit the memorial, so finding a parking place was easy. From the entrance, a wide stone courtyard extends up to an amphitheater below the stone faces. There was construction on the front part of the courtyard so we were unable to walk only about halfway to the amphitheater. The views were fantastic nonetheless.

We also walked the trail that goes immediately under the sculptures. We climbed more than 200 stairs to get a special nosehair view of the presidents. As we returned we stopped by a studio that had the original sculpture from which Mt Rushmore was modeled.

Rushmore Sculpture — Sculpture from which Mt. Rushmore was modeled

We left Mt Rushmore and reentered Custer State Park at the Sylvan Lake/Needles Highway Entrance. We hiked around Sylvan Lake, a tranquil lake at the top of the Black Hills, and then continued along the Needles Highway.

The highway makes its way through some stunning needle-like formations that culminate with a tricky drive through a very narrow (8.5 ft) tunnel. We had to fold in our truck side mirrors to avoid hitting the sides!

There were delays as cars drove through the tunnel – some more than 10 minutes. Our turn came and as we exited the other end of the tunnel we discovered the reason. There were two white mountain goats perched on a rock outside the end of the tunnel. During breaks in the traffic, the goats reentered the tunnel and began licking the minerals on the inside of the tunnel. Only after some assertive coaxing by drivers would they move and let cars pass!

We returned to our campsite and anticipated our drive the next day to the interesting formation made famous by the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Badlands NP, Missiles and a Tourist Trap

(2019 Grand Teton Ep 7)

We left Omaha on Sunday, Sept. 8, and after a night on the road, arrived in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. The Badlands are known for unusual rock formations, fossils and wildlife.

We camped in Cedar Pass Campground, a very short distance from the base of the rugged Badlands rock formations. After a short drive we hiked the Window and Door trails. Each trail provided up close and personal views of the Badlands. The formations are kind of a cross between the Grand Canyon and the beach, although on a much smaller scale.

On the way back to camp, we hiked the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail. The trail was steep with several sets of stairs. We enjoyed early evening views of the formations and valley below.

We set out to drive the 60-mile Badlands Loop the next morning. The loop travels through the eastern part of the park, along I-90 to the town of Wall and then back through the park to our starting point.

We stopped to hike the Notch trail. After a short distance, the trail continued up a 100-foot ladder and then along a narrow ledge trail to the ‘Notch.’ From the Notch, we saw a phenomenal view of the formations extending into the valley below. It was like a scene out of the move Dances with Wolves.

As we returned to the start of the trail, we discovered a large boulder containing a bird skull fossil. We finished the trail with a nervous climb back down the 100-foot ladder!

We continued the loop out of the park and upon reaching I-90, we toured the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. During the Cold War, Minuteman nuclear bomb-tipped missiles were spread in remote locations across South Dakota and other western states. Many of the sites were decommissioned in the 1990s based on arms reduction treaties between US and Russia.

The museum provides a sobering reminder of the potential destructive power of such weapons. It is worth a visit if you are traveling in the area.

We then headed to Wall. Wall is made famous by hundreds of signs along I-90 telling about the many things available in the town. Wall Drug, the most well known place in town, has about every tourist souvenir imaginable, plus a large café offering 5 cent coffee and free ice water.

Wall is a South Dakota icon and an interesting stop on the way going east or west.

We reentered the west side of park and again saw views of the Badlands. Among the formations was a herd of Big Horn sheep and numerous bison.

The Badlands wildlife was a preview of our next destination, Custer State Park.

Denali NP: Revisited

After the Glacier-Wildlife Cruise on Friday, August 10, Phil flew home late Saturday and Pat and I left Anchorage on Sunday morning. Our plans were to revisit Denali if the weather was good. We wanted to see some of the sights and hike several trails that we couldn’t during our first visit rainout.

We camped at Willow and Talkeetna on the way (RabbiTRAILS Alaska Map, pts #46 and #47) and arrived at Denali (map pt #45) on Wednesday, August 15. Campsites weren’t available in the park so we set up camp at a private campground six miles south of the park.

We checked the weather forecast for the next two days and decided to ride the park transit bus to the Eielson Visitor Center on Thursday. Eielson is about two-thirds of the way to Kantishna, at mile 66 of the 92-mile-long Denali Park road.

We were amazed at the mountain and valley vistas that were shrouded by rain and fog during our first visit. The unspoiled wilderness and immenseness of Denali is awesome. And to think, we only saw about 2% of the park!

2018 Alaska Trip 3784 - 1808161401 — Panorama view from Polychrome Pass

2018 Alaska Trip 3852 - 1808161736 — Toklat River flowing from distant mountains

The park road crosses wide rivers and climbs steep mountains. Steep drop-offs along the narrow road that were hidden from us during our first bus trip were now clearly visible and a bit scary!

At Eielson we hiked a short (.8 mile one way) but very steep (1000 ft elevation gain) trail to an alpine ridge overlooking the visitor center. The day was partly cloudy and the views were wonderful. Had the day been clear, we would have seen Denali.

2018 Alaska Trip 3837 - 1808161716 — Pausing for a photo on the Eielson Alpine Trail – great views but no Denali

Like our previous trip we saw lots of animals, including a mother grizzly and cub that crossed the road right in front of several buses.

On Friday, we hiked a loop trail along the Savage River. It is one of the most beautiful hikes we have ever taken.

2018 Alaska Trip 3901 - 1808171548 — Savage River

We broke camp on Saturday and prepared to leave for Fairbanks. The day was clear. Before we left the Denali area, we caught a spectacular glimpse of The Great One!

Kenai Fjords NP: Glacier and Wildlife Cruise

(2018 Alaska Ep 39)

As our son Phil’s trip to Alaska came to a close, we decided to take a six-hour glacier and wildlife cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours. Our cruise on the Calisto Voyager would take us southwest from Seward (RabbiTRAILS Alaska Map, pt # 44) along the Alaska coastline and Kenai Fjords National Park.

We saw wildlife even before leaving the dock – playful otters, a lonely sea lion and even some jellyfish.

We left Seward and arrived at Aialik Glacier in about 30 minutes. The ship stopped a quarter mile from the glacier. It was a magnificent view on a magnificent day!

Our ship captain told us the face of the glacier is nearly 600 foot high and about a mile wide. The glacier is noisy – with continuous cracking, occasional loud bursts that sound like cannon shots, and small ice flows that fall into the water every few minutes.

The glacier face has deep fissures and we hoped to see a large piece break free. Such calving didn’t happen during our visit, but here is a 2015 YouTube video that shows Aialik Glacier calving.

Various-sized chunks of ice floated in the water near the glacier and numerous seals sunned themselves on the larger pieces. One of the crew members explained the seals choose that location to avoid predators.

We left the glacier and spent most of the remainder of the cruise searching for wildlife around various islands just offshore.

Our boat and several others stopped to see a pod of Orca whales dive and surface. Later we saw a larger humpback whale. The captain explained humpback whales migrate to Hawaiian water during the winter.

On another island we saw a large group of barking steller sea lions. They nervously waddled from the rocks into the water when our boat approached.

The islands are home to thousands of seagulls, cute puffins and other birds. One puffin flew alongside our boat for a considerable distance before finally veering away.

We also saw a majestic bald eagle standing guard near the top of a rock face.

As the cruise came to an end, we were surprised by another flying spectacle – a kite surfer riding the brisk breezes above the ice cold waters of Resurrection Bay.

Denali NP: The Great One

(2018 Alaska Ep 38)

2018 Alaska Trip Video 0433 - 1808051513

After picking up Phil in Anchorage on Saturday, August 4, we traveled north to Denali National Park and Preserve the next morning (RabbiTRAILS Alaska Map, pt #45).

Denali National Park and Reserve is huge – at more than six million acres, it is nearly three times the size of Yellowstone. Only a small part of the park can be accessed via a 92-mile road from the park entrance to Kantishna, a historical gold mining area. The first 15 miles of the road can be driven in a private vehicle. The reminder can only be seen on a bus. We had bus tickets for the following day.

Bus riders hope to see Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. But only 30 percent of park visitors actually see the mountain. It is usually hidden by clouds.

There has been controversy about the mountain’s name. Alaska natives called the great mountain Denali long before western explorers discovered the mountain. It was officially renamed Mt. McKinley in 1917 to commemorate President William McKinley, US president from 1897 – 1901. President Obama restored the mountain to its Alaska Native name in 2015.

It was raining as we left on Monday for the eleven-hour roundtrip to Kantishna. Most of the trip is a winding dirt road. Before long the bus windows were splattered with mud. Thank goodness for frequent rest stops and the driver’s diligence to clean the windows at each stop.

Despite the drizzle during most of the day, we could see broad valleys and lower mountains. There were several heavy downpours as we crossed higher elevations and even a few brief periods of sunshine.

We saw four of the five major mammals that call Denali home: a herd of about 15 caribou (also known as reindeer), several distant dall sheep, a much closer grizzly bear, and a cow moose. Only wolves remained unseen.

During the bus ride we never saw Denali or the other tall mountains.

With rain in the forecast thru Thursday and only a week in Alaska, Phil decided to take the Alaska Railroad to Anchorage on Tuesday and to rejoin us on Friday for a glacier-wildlife cruise in Seward. More on the cruise in an upcoming blog update.

Pat and I remained in the park. We enjoyed a sled dog demonstration given by National Park Rangers. We’ll share more about sled dogs in an upcoming blog post.

On Thursday we awoke to sunshine!

The gray skies had become brilliant blue. Fresh snow dusted the tops of the lower mountains near our campground.

2018 Alaska Trip 3291 - 1808091145 — Early snowfall on the lower mountains near our campground

As we drove toward Anchorage we could see the distant tall mountains.

We even saw Denali and are now members of the 30 percent club!

2018 Alaska Trip 3329 - 1808091515 — Denali and the tall mountains

2018 Alaska Trip 3351 - 1808091609 — Denali, the Great One!

We head to Fairbanks after the cruise and saying goodbye to Phil. If the weather is clear, we hope to visit Denali again to see more of the amazing park and mountains.

Yellowstone NP: Final Blog

(2018 Alaska Ep 20)

By all accounts, Yellowstone is a great place to spend a day, a week or even longer. It is unequaled in its scenery, thermal features, animals and much more.

We’ve compiled a list of our faves and not-so-faves. The not-so-faves are not complaints, but reminders that Yellowstone is wild and remote and lacks some of the comforts of home. These require some forethought and planning when visiting.

Faves

(Pat) Wildlife
(Ed) Great campgrounds (and hotels) throughout the park that allow visitors to be closer to the other faves.
(Pat) Solitude – gives an undistracted chance to recognize and enjoy God’s amazing creation.
(Ed) Snow-covered mountains and beautiful views throughout the park.
(Pat) Hiking and biking trails that give an opportunity to exercise and to see things not seen from the main areas of the park.
(Ed) The foresight of leaders 240+ years ago to create the park, and the National Park Service who maintain and manage the park and many others like it.
(Pat) Geysers and other thermal features found only in a few places in the world.
(Ed) Roads and facilities – in good shape overall considering the harshness of winter and heavy use by visitors.

Not-So-Faves

(Pat) Crowds and traffic – we were in Yellowstone during Memorial Day weekend. The park is busy through early September.
(Ed) Weather – some facilities and parts of the park are closed/inaccessible until mid-June. In addition, weather can quickly change, from sunny and cool to rainy/snowy and bitter cold.
(Pat) Prices – gas, groceries, dining, souvenirs and camping fees are all much higher.
(Ed) Drivers and pedestrians – you have to be continually watchful for drivers/persons excited to see wildlife who forget/ignore rules of the road and overall safety.
(Ed) Connectivity – only a few areas have cell phone service. Service is limited to voice calls only, data/Internet access is very slow or nonexistent (at least for Verizon).

The faves FAR OUTWEIGH the not-so-faves. We look forward to visiting Yellowstone again one day.

Perhaps the sign when leaving Roosevelt Lodge says it best…

Yellowstone NP: Heels and Wheels

(2018 Alaska Ep 19)

Heels

There are great day hikes throughout Yellowstone. We enjoyed a couple.

After a visit to Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of Yellowstone where we saw lots of buffalo and a group of big horn sheep, we decided on the Lost Lake Hike.

From Roosevelt Lodge, we followed a series of switchbacks as the trail climbed more than 400 feet to the top of a mountain. A short ways further we found Lost Lake, a quiet lake in the cradle of several surrounding mountains.

The trail continued along a creek to the parking lot for a petrified tree. This was a bonus as we didn’t associate petrified trees with Yellowstone.

From there, a very steep 300-foot climb led to a mountaintop meadow. The view of the distant mountains was spectacular.

Hikes don’t always yield the expected.

We hiked the Elephant Back trail later in the week for a grand view of Yellowstone Lake and the distant mountains.

The trail was muddy and as we neared the top, we discovered it was covered with deep snow! We were unable to continue. When it started to rain, we put on ponchos and trudged back to the parking lot, muddy, cold and tired.

We caught a glimpse of the lake and mountains part way up the trail. A more interesting find was a small pine tree growing on the top of a rock. This reminded us of the perseverance and faith needed when facing day hikes in the rain, long trips to Alaska and the challenges of life. Praise God for His presence and steadfastness in every situation!

Wheels

We learned about and rode several bike trails added to Yellowstone in recent years.

Our first ride took us 2.5 miles to Lone Star Geyser.

A few short sections of the trail were still covered with snow and we had to walk our bikes through them.

We parked our bikes when we arrived at the geyser and to our delight, Lone Star geyser began to erupt!

A couple days later we rode four miles down another road to the backside of one of the largest and most beautiful thermal springs in Yellowstone, Grand Prismatic Spring. We parked our bikes and followed a short trail to an overlook with a phenomenal view of the spring.

On the way back, we rode close enough to a group of buffalo to hear them grunting and snorting! Fortunately we passed by safely.

Yellowstone NP: Animals, Oh My!

(2018 Alaska Ep 18)

Yellowstone never disappoints with an amazing diversity of wildlife. And the reaction of visitors to the wildlife is sometimes more interesting than the wildlife itself.

More than our previous visits to Yellowstone, buffalo could be seen throughout the park – singles on hillsides, groups of a few walking down the road, larger groups grazing in the meadows and so on. In fact, unless there was a danger to traffic or walkers/hikers, it seemed the reaction of most persons to the buffalo was pretty much ho-hum.

The buffalo were everywhere, or at least the telltale signs of buffalo were everywhere. One buffalo below seems to be viewing a hot spring near Mud Volcano (below). When we were camping at Madison, a fellow camper stopped by to remark the biggest buffalo he had seen spent the day in our campsite. Wish I had a picture of that to share.

We didn’t see moose or wolves during our visit, but we did see a coyote and several big horn sheep.

What created the most excitement were bears.

Anytime cars were stopped in the middle of the road, people were crossing with cameras and binoculars with no heed to oncoming traffic and waving at their family members to do the same, a bear had been sighted.

Fortunately, both bears we saw were a long distance away and no danger to anyone. We only had to worry about the crazy drivers…

Yellowstone NP: Thermal Features

(2018 Alaska Ep 17)

People come to Yellowstone to view fascinating geothermal features. Although these features are located throughout the park, many of the features are located close together in areas called basins – these are the areas most park visitors frequent.

There are various types of thermal features – fumaroles (steam vents), geysers, hot springs, mudpots and travertine terraces (the link above has details about each).

What would a visit to Yellowstone be without seeing Old Faithful! Contrary to what you might think, Old Faithful doesn’t erupt hourly – it is more like every 90 minutes.

The rangers have gotten pretty good at predicting the time of the next eruption. Although we missed one eruption when it occurred 10 minutes early, we enjoyed an eruption later in the day that occurred exactly when predicted!

What this photo doesn’t show is the wide boardwalk along one side of Old Faithful that includes benches and standing areas for hundreds of people. Behind that is Old Faithful Lodge, stores, restaurants, a gas station, huge parking areas and more. Everyone wants to see this iconic piece of Yellowstone.

We saw another geyser erupt while driving Firehole Lake Drive, a couple miles from Old Faithful. It was starting to rain, but White Dome Geyser didn’t disappoint.

You may have seen recent news about another Yellowstone geyser that has erupted eight times this year after infrequent eruptions in recent years. Steamboat Geyser’s eruptions are much larger than Old Faithful. Unfortunately we weren’t there when it erupted – we missed it by three days.

Another interesting thermal feature several miles away from Old Faithful is the Mud Volcano. This feature is pretty tame now, but in the past it eruptions were a lot more vigorous, like a volcano!

You can hike a short trail from the viewing area to see several interesting hot springs and the impressive Dragon’s Mouth fumarole. This feature sounds (and smells) like a dragon’s mouth!There are MANY more thermal features in Yellowstone – 10,000 by one estimate. We are blessed to have such a place to visit. Even without the amazing scenery and wildlife, the thermal features make a visit to Yellowstone a must!

(we’ll share some additional photos in upcoming Yellowstone blog posts)

Yellowstone NP: Amazing Scenery

(2018 Alaska Ep 16)

At practically every turn Yellowstone offers inspiring beauty.

We arrived on a sunny Friday afternoon after driving west from Cody. After entering the park from the eastern entrance (park map), we were reminded that parts of the park were still emerging from winter. Throughout our week in Yellowstone, the remnants of the past winter’s snowfall were just about everywhere and temperatures were chilly – most days in the 50s/60s and nights in the 30s. Rather cool for us Floridians!

Soon we were passing by Yellowstone Lake and looked back to see the snow covered mountains we has just driven through.

Yellowstone River flows out of Yellowstone Lake. Several miles downstream it cascades over Yellowstone Falls and continues through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The falls are impressive – the 308-foot drop of lower Yellowstone Falls is nearly twice that of Niagara Falls!

2018 Alaska Trip 1287 - 1805291434 — View from Artist’s Point

We tested our endurance by walking down a trail to the brink of the lower falls – the drop was equal to a 60-story building. We were rewarded with a different perspective of the falls that made the hike back up the trail worth it!

Yellowstone has stunning mountain vistas…

…and broad valleys where wildlife abounds.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of the scenery we enjoyed during our visit.

You might be wondering about the Yellowstone fires that burned almost 800,000 acres or more than 1/3 of the park in 1988. Pat and I were amazed at the recovery of the burned areas – thick new stands of lodgepole pines and other trees are more than 20 feet tall in many areas. The forest is well on its way to recovery after 30 years!

2018 Alaska Trip 1145 - 1805261232 — New forest growth near Old Faithful

Of course, there is much more to Yellowstone than scenery. We’ll cover thermal features and animals in upcoming blog posts, as well as some of the hiking and biking we enjoyed.