Home September 2

We have had a wonderful 3 week journey through Arizona, Utah, Montana and Wyoming but as Dorothy says” there is no place like home”!

Monument Valley August 31

After breakfast at the San Juan Inn, we drove the 20 miles to Monument Valley with photo stops along the way. We were too early to check in so we drove the rough 17 mile drive through the valley. We had been here in the late 90’s but didn’t remember the terrible road. I wasn’t as impressed with the formations as I had anticipated probably because we have seen so much natural beauty on this trip. The condition of the road added to this feeling as we were bumped and jarred until I thought my teeth would fall out! Our van was coated with red dust. We were both grateful to be back on paved road again. We checked in to our hotel, The View Inn, early and I worked on photos and the blog. From the balcony in our room, we had amazing views of the mittens, the most famous of the formations in Monument Valley. I wanted to capture sunset and sunrise photos and the best came at pre sunrise. I even tried a night shot.

Mexican Hat August 30

The Goosenecks




Newspaper Rock

Bob found some wonderful sights to see on our way to Mexican Hat today. One thing that I have forgotten to mention is the fields of wild sunflowers that we have been seeing since we left Yellowstone. We have been amazed at the abundance, especially in August. Our first stop was Newspaper Rock which was an even bigger petro glyph display than Rochester Rock and much easier to get to. After imagining what the artists were trying to say, we went on to Natural Bridges National Monument. We discovered that a natural bridge is formed by the erosive action of moving water and an arch is formed from frost and seeping water. The three bridges here were protected in 1908 by the establishment of Utah’s first National Park System area. We walked down to the bottom of Owachomo Bridge because it was the easiest hike. All of them are visible from overlooks but it is really cool to be able to stand under one of them. We then took a scenic short cut to Goosenecks State Park. The road turned to gravel and then we drove via switch backs one of the scariest roads ever for me. I took photos but they will never show what we experienced. The Goosenecks are an impressive example of an entrenched river meander as the San Juan River twists and turns for over six miles advancing only 1 ½ miles towards Lake Powell. We saw the rock that is the namesake for Mexican Hat and turned onto a dirt road to look for petrified wood as our host at the B&B heard that there was a possibility of finding some in the area. We didn’t find any but we enjoyed some beautiful views of unusual sedimentary layers. We checked into our funky hotel, The Hat Rock Inn and then had a fine dinner at the San Juan Inn.

Moab August 29

Potash Pools

Delicate Arch

We decided to splurge on a flight over the parks today. Our hosts at the B&B gave us a recommendation of Red Tail Aviation and we thought that Nick, the pilot, was great. We left the airport at 9:15 and flew over Arches first and saw the Delicate Arch and many of the arches that we had seen yesterday. We were glad that we did the flight after we had driven through the park so that we had a good feeling for the layout. It was windy and the flight was pretty bumpy. Every time I would take a shot, the camera would recoil and I felt like Dirty Harry. We then headed over to Canyonlands and it got bumpier! The views were magnificent and we especially enjoyed seeing the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. The Green River is aptly named and the Colorado is brown. The line where they merged was so clear. The flight lasted an hour and we all felt the effects of the bumpy flight, even Nick. That was a fantastic way to see the parks!. Then back into Arches to see the double arch. We decided to make it a short day and went back to the B&B. On our way back we drove out to see some dinosaur tracks that were visible from the road.

Moab August 28

Landscape Arch

Dead Horse Point

Canyonlands National Park

A storm was in the area this morning and it rained during our breakfast at the B&B. We decided to tour Canyonlands today since it is more of a driving park with overlooks. We went to Dead Horse Point State Park first and saw some beautiful views of the Colorado. We discovered that the reason that this area was not made a part of the national park is that it is being mined for potash. Water from the Colorado is pumped into 3000 foot wells to dissolve the minerals and then injected into flats, and then allowed to evaporate. The flats were kind of pretty but out of place in the environment. It was overcast but no rain so we went on to Canyonlands. While we were there, the sun came out and we had white puffy clouds. Canyonlands is Utah’s largest national park at 527 square miles and one of the newest; established in 1964. The canyon, created by the Colorado River is 1/2 the width and 1/2 the depth of the Grand Canyon so it is very impressive. We explored the section of the park called Island in the Sky which is the most accessible by car and stopped at the many view points.
Since the weather had turned in our favor, we decided to head over to Arches National Park. We walked out to Landscape Arch, the largest arch at 306’. An easy walk of 1.6 miles, there were two short side trips to two other arches along the way. We ended up in the Windows section for the sunset and views of North and South Window as well as Turret Arch. It was a long but fruitful day.

San Rafael Country August 27

We drove from the Jackson Hole to Price, Utah yesterday which took 7 ½ hours. We stopped at the College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum in Price on our way to the motel. As luck would have it, we had an hour to tour before closing at 6 pm. It had a fabulous collection of dinosaurs and fossils with great explanations. The visitor’s center for the area was in the lobby and a very knowledgeable woman gave us some interesting things to see on our way to Moab today. Our first stop was a one mile hike back to the Rochester Rock Art panel. This is the largest collection of petroglyphs on one rock we have ever seen and is considered one of the most unusual in Utah. Then we took the scenic Miller Canyon road to Interstate 70. The section of this interstate is probably the most beautiful in the entire US highway system. We traversed the San Rafael swell, a huge dome formed by pressure from under the earth leaving striking ridge-like formations sculpted by wind and water. The San Rafael Reef dominates the eastern side of the swell. The reef appears to be an impenetrable wall from the east and it was only in 1970 that the interstate was built through a pass in the reef. We had spectacular views the whole way!
The next stop was Goblin Valley State Park. As we drove in, we saw a small herd of prong horn sheep. We had a picnic lunch at the overlook and then walked down into the valley for a close up look at the stone gnomes. Actually, they look more like mushrooms and that was the name given to the valley by the discoverer. We needed to hurry as we could see a storm closing in. The wind came up on our way back and we were in the middle of a sand storm. We finally made it to the B&B that was to be our home for three days in Moab at 5:00.

Grand Teton National Park August 25

We drove into the park today for views of the Tetons and of course, we had to have our photo taken at Jenny Lake. The visitor center in Moose is fantastic so we spent some time there enjoying the exhibits and the movie. Lunch was in Jackson Hole at a historic old hotel and then a walk around the town. There was a shop that was full of animal heads and hundreds of taxidermy animals! I had never seen anything like it before. Our lodge was elegant rustic and loaded with carved bears. This area really plays up the backwoods theme!

Yellowstone August 24

Geyser country was our agenda for today. Our first stop was the Fountain Paint Pot Trail in the lower geyser basin. Along with geysers, pools and fumaroles, this walk included a cool (actually hot) bubbling mud pot. We then took a scenic drive around Firehole Lake stopping at beautiful springs and more geysers. White Dome Geyser just happened to erupt while Bob was making a short video and we were really surprised! We then went on the boardwalk at Middle Geyser Basin to see the Grand Prismatic Spring, a beautiful pool that is 200’ across. Last stop was the Old Faithful area. We arrived about 20 minutes before an eruption so we hung around to catch it before heading out to the trail. This easy walk skirts a variety of thermal features including colorful pools, geysers and steamy fumaroles. We lucked out as many of the geysers erupted as we passed them. The area is completely open so that the views in all directions seemed otherworldly.

Yellowstone, America’s first national park established in 1872 has done a fantastic job of making

its wonders accessible to visitors.

We drove into the Tetons for the next leg of our adventure. Our next two nights will be in Teton Village at the Snake River Lodge.

Yellowstone August 23

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

yellow bellied marmot

We met Schelbs for breakfast at a cute 50’s style soda fountain near our lodge and then they left for home. We started off the day with a 3 mile ranger guided hike along the Upper Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and then along a trail into the forest and meadow to explore the geology and history of the canyon and enjoy a bit of the backcountry. Along the trail, we saw some deer and a yellow bellied marmot. After the hike, we drove along the overlooks and enjoyed beautiful views of the canyon and the lower falls. The best view was from the overlook at Artist Point.

Yellowstone August 22

We drove across Montana to Yellowstone National Park. The terrain varied from tall craggy mountains to golden rolling hills and along the way we passed Hebgen Lake where, in 1959, there was an earthquake that dammed the lake and affected Yellowstone geysers. We met our good friends Mary Margaret and Galen Schelb who drove over from Ashland, Oregon to tour the park with us for a few days. We are staying in the park at Canyon Lodge for three nights which we chose for the central location.
We drove up to Mammoth Hot Springs this morning and saw our first bison along the way. We found out from a park ranger that the bison herd was down to 23 in 1902 because hunting was allowed. They finally stopped the slaughter and introduced some breeding stock to bring back the herd. Now you see bison everywhere. I was surprised to hear that they ever allowed hunting in a national park.
About half of Yellowstone is in a huge crater that measures 35 miles by 45 miles left by a volcano that erupted 640,000 years ago which accounts for the amazing thermal features. The stone terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs are formed when thousands of gallons of mineral laden hot water are deposited daily from deep beneath the earth. Near Mammoth we saw a herd of mostly female elk grazing in front of a church. No close up moose yet.
We drove down to Yellowstone Lake to look for wild life and a bison, who was grazing beside the road, decided to cross right by our car. He came close by Bob’s open window and gave a snort as he passed. Bob was able to get off a few shots at close range!

Glacier last time August 20

Lake McDonald

We were up early today as our ranger guided hike started at 9:00. This one left from the Avalanche campground which is a little longer than an hour from our condo. The 4 mile hike started in the Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail which is the farthest inland rainforest from the Pacific coast. We were so glad to have decided on this hike as it showed a completely different view of Glacier national Park. Our guide Matt was so knowledgeable and informative. His focus on this hike was to demonstrate the power of water and how it shaped the park both by running water and from frozen water of the glaciers. Taking a guided hike is so much more interesting even if we don’t remember what we learned later! We didn’t arrive at Avalanche Lake until noon but we had gained 500’ elevation and had lots of information stops. The trip down only took one hour. Avalanche Lake is also fed by Sperry Glacier just like Hidden Lake.
We stopped at Lake McDonald Lodge before leaving the park for the last time. Lake McDonald Lodge is much nicer than Many Glacier Lodge except for the views.


I’m so glad that we had a week to explore the park and this beautiful area. Yosemite has always been my favorite national park and still is in many ways but Glacier is just as beautiful and much wilder. It really isn’t about the glaciers that are disappearing because even after they are all gone this will be a special place to visit.

Glacier again August 19

Tom Jean Bob and I had a spectacular day in the park today. We lucked out and got a parking space at Logan Pass (no easy feat) so we decided to take the 3 mile hike to Hidden Lake. Part of the way is a boardwalk but all of the way is UP.

The meadow is full of many different blooming wildflowers and we even came close to two different herds of mountain goats. The lake is beautiful

and we even had a small view of the Sperry Glacier that feeds it. It is part of the Columbia River watershed and supplies water to a huge area even into Canada. It took a lot longer to get to the overlook so we had to just about run back to the car in order to make it to the Rising Sun boat dock to catch our boat trip on Lake St. Mary followed by a 3 mile guided hike to St. Mary Falls. Luckily, we made it through the construction traffic stop quickly and even had time for a quick lunch before boarding the boat. Our guide Wendy took us to Baring Falls first which was just a short walk from where we docked the boat. Not much effort for a really great falls. The hike along the lake to St. Mary Falls was pretty with more beautiful wildflowers but the high light was a moose seen from pretty far away. She was in the lake having a great time splashing about but we really needed the binos to identify what it was. St. Mary Falls is a double falls and a great payoff. On the way back to pick up the boat we observed a second moose playing in the water but sadly no closer to us.

Big Fork, Montana August 18

Another beautiful day! We decided to explore a couple of areas around Columbia Falls today. First was the small town of Big Fork which we heard was a cute place and we agree. Kind of an artsy enclave with restaurants and galleries galore located in a beautiful setting. A local nursery promoted a beautification project which included hanging huge flowering baskets which they just happened to make. Pretty smart! The town does look great. We took the historic walking tour and checked out a few galleries before going on to our next stop. We drove to Whitefish and went to Big Mountain. Our plan was to ride the chair lift up to the top for views of Flathead Valley but there was so much haze we decided to skip it. Tom and Jean arrived this afternoon and it was fun catching up with them.

We really enjoyed a performance in Whitefish Tuesday evening. There is a nice performing arts center there where they put on shows with Broadway performers; pretty amazing for a town of 5000. The show was a musical revue of Rogers and Hammerstein called “A Grand Night for Singing”. Top notch!

Into Glacier National Park August 16

Many Glacier Hotel

Goose Island

Jackson Glacier

Wow! What a day. It was a 12 hour day but worth every minute. We decided to take the quintessential introduction to Glacier; the 50 mile Going to the Sun Road. The drive into the park starts at around 3000 foot elevation and climbs to 6646 at Logan Pass. It is a scary ride with sheer drop offs against the sides of the mountains and it is a mystery how this road was ever built. August is a good month for many varieties of wild flowers. The road is being resurfaced in parts so the traffic is stopped from time to time but who cares with the spectacular views. We listened to an interesting ranger talk about the glaciers at Logan Pass Visitors Center and then walked part of the Highline Trail where we saw our first mountain goats. The glaciers that are in the park now are not the ones that carved the valleys. Those melted long ago and these new ones peaked in number in 1850 at 150; now there are only 25. It is estimated that there will be no more glaciers in 10 years!

After many photo stops we made our way to Many Glacier Hotel where we had a late lunch. Along the road to the hotel there were a lot of cars parked so we stopped and asked why…they were all watching a mom grizzly bear and three cubs. They were pretty far off in the field but I was able to get some photos and a video. Actually the distance was just about right for safety. The log hotel was built 95 years ago in Swiss chalet architecture with huge Douglas fir pillars and a fireplace built to resemble a campfire.

The return drive brought us back to Logan Pass at 5:30 or 6 which apparently is the best time to view wildlife. We stopped and were rewarded with up close and personal encounters with a family of mountain goats and a group of Rocky Mountain sheep. My impression of the 100 year old Glacier National Park is of its wild beauty with limited development making it unique compared to the other parks that I have seen. And great animal viewing!