U.S.A. Road Trip: Grand Teton and Yellowstone

After Moab, the most southerly point on the roadtrip, we turned and headed north, towards another two National Parks on our hitlist, Wyoming’s Grand Teton, and the Grandfather of all National Parks, the enormous Jellystone Yellowstone. On the way, we stopped and camped on the shores of two extraordinarily beautiful lakes. First at Jordanelle State park in Utah, a popular ski area in winter to the east of Salt Lake City, followed by a night in the dunes on the Idaho side of Bear Lake. It was around here that I realised I have only a sketchy knowledge of the geography of the USA. If asked, I’m not quite sure where I would put Idaho, perhaps near Iowa or Ohio based on the name? Certainly not where it actually is, a funny shaped plot of the Rockies sandwiched between Washington and Oregon to the west and Montana and Wyoming to the east. The numberplate slogan in Idaho is ‘Scenic Idaho, famous potatoes’ and we found it to be exceptionally scenic, both on this part of the trip and later as we drove across towards Seattle. The famous potatoes part also checks out. Idaho, home of the russet potato proudly grows more than a third of the US crop of potatoes each year. We made a brief stop in Montpelier, Idaho, whose main claim to fame is that Butch Cassidy robbed a bank there in 1896, training a horse to head home with the loot while he took a different route and avoided capture. We enjoyed panoramic views from the high point of the Lander cut off and saw the world’s largest Elk Horn Arch, a record we were previously unaware of in the cute little town of Afton.

Hiking, fishing and paddling in the shadow of the Tetons

Yellowstone is by far the more famous of these two national parks, somewhat overshadowing the natural beauty of its little sister to the south, Grand Teton. However, dominated by the pointy peaks of the Teton Range which rise dramatically up from glistening glacial lakes, Grand Teton has some pretty spectacular scenery. We based ourselves at Colter Bay, on the shores of Jackson lake, the largest lake in the park in the shadow of the iconic mountains. Colter Bay is styled as an activity village and has a large campground, a marina, shops and the all important visitor centre for information about the park and to pick up a junior ranger pack to complete in order to earn a badge. Turns out we were lucky to snag a spot to camp, as accommodation in this area fills up fast, which doesn’t fit well with a freewheeling road trip itinerary. From here, we were able to hire kayaks for a fishing and paddling adventure across the lake towards the fantastically named Badger Island. Unfortunately, no badgers were sighted. One morning, Jim and Rafe hiked the 9.7 mile Hermitage Point loop where they trekked through forests, sage brush meadows and across rocky beaches with dramatic views of the mountains across the lake. They also encountered a pair of fairly rare and loud sandhill cranes on the adventure. Closer to camp, we set out on a bear hunt around the lakeshore trail.

Waterfalls, rocks and geysers at Yellowstone

Yellowstone straddles three states, but by far the largest part is in Wyoming, the least populated state in the USA, with the second lowest population density, after Alaska. The park was the world’s first National Park, established in 1872, centering on a caldera created by violent eruptions of the supervolcano which lies here under the surface. The park covers more than two million acres of forests, lakes, waterfalls, canyons and panoramic vistas, but it’s the hydrothermal activity which it’s most famous for. Home to half of the world’s active geysers, including the tallest (Steamboat) and the most famous- Old Faithful, which erupts around every 90 minutes and can be predicted to within a couple of minutes. There’s different types of hydrothermal activity all across the park, with more than 10,000 features including 500 geysers. After the obligatory viewing of Old Faithful, we walked the geyser hill loop and were treated to seeing the dramatic eruption of the beehive, castle and grotto geysers as well as peering at hot springs with their kaleidoscope of colours created by thermophile microorganisms. In the West Thumb geyser basin, we followed the trail around springs, boiling mud pots and fumaroles pouring warm water into the icy glacier melt of Yellowstone Lake.

The most dramatic landscape of Yellowstone is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, a twenty mile long stretch where the Yellowstone river cuts deep into layers of lava and volcanic deposits creating spectacular vistas and giant waterfalls, with a number of trails winding around the rim to scenic views. For people who like rocks (and who doesn’t?) there are some excellent examples of columnar jointing in basaltic lava flows in the walls of the canyon.

Elk, bison and a bear

There is a significant intelligence overlap
between the most intelligent bears
and the least intelligent of tourists

Park Ranger

By the time we reached Grand Teton, it was clear that we had entered ‘bear country’. The bins have bear proof closures, you are regularly warned to leave no food anywhere other than in a locked car or bear box unless you are actually eating it at that very moment, and posters let you know how far to stay from all wildlife (two buses or 25 metres from most animals, eight buses or 100 metres from bears and wolves.) Excellent advice. We were told by a park ranger that it’s tricky to design the bear box and bin mechanisms, as there is a significant intelligence overlap between the most intelligent bears and the least intelligent of tourists.

The so called ‘big three’ of the Yellowstone / Teton area are the elk, bison and bear. All carry different dangers for us humans, but equally there are plenty more dangers that we pose to them. While there is a lot of wildlife about, there’s no guarantee visitors will see all three. The bears in particular are generally wary of humans unless we leave food out for them, and at this time of year they tend to be at their most defensive nursing cubs. However, we did get to see all three on our trip.

Herds of bison were the first that we found, with a group chewing the cud soon after we entered Grand Teton along Antelope Flat. After a while, we found the bison were pretty much everywhere. So much so that the favourite dad joke quickly became Jim: “How do you tell the difference between a buffalo and a bison?” Everyone else “Shut up dad.” At the Old Faithful area, we spotted several of the large and powerful beasts wandering around amongst the geysers and hot springs. However, the largest numbers, and the ones wandering across the road stopping traffic were seen on the plains of the Hayden and Lamar Valleys.

While camping at Colter Bay we learned that a female grizzly bear and three cubs had recently moved into the area. A short section of trail had been roped off to give the family some space and avoid accidental bear encounters. We explored nearby the area while keeping out of the restricted zones and felt ourselves lucky to see bear claw scrapes on tree bark. As luck would have it though, the bear happened to make its way to a distant part of the lakeshore just as we were in the ranger station with a view of it. Generally on this trip our phone camera + gopro combo has been ideal for capturing the adventures, however snapping wildlife at any distance is the only time when a longer lens could be wished for. Within the limits of the technology we have, we could only collect a small, grainy image. But that black blob on the shore is definitely a bear, honestly. The ranger station is equipped with telescopes, so we were able to observe the bear pretty well from a safe distance.

Before arriving in Grand Teton, we stopped at the National Elk Refuge on the outskirts of Jackson where we learnt about the elk and their migratory patterns. They can travel up to 100 miles in winter in search of food and shelter at lower elevations. As people increasingly put up boundaries and obstacles in the way of these seasonal journeys, a visionary piece of legislation in 1912 designated 25000 acres of elk winter grazing grounds as a protected habitat to preserve these winter feeding grounds. The elk usually stay at the warmer climate of the refuge from December to April. Whilst in Yellowstone, we spotted a few elk in the distance, and one day, near West Thumb encountered a large one, complete with big, velvet covered antlers in the bushes incredibly close to us. Our whole visit to both parks was littered with sightings of animals, seeing pronghorn (which Odessa learnt are the fastest land animal in North America) and in the Lamar Valley, a coyote wandered across the road in front of us. Due to our junior ranger training we could distinguish it from a wolf by its large ears, skinny body and general wily expression.

The Beartooth Highway

We left Yellowstone from the North East corner, into Montana. Leaving the park, we presumed the spectacular scenery of the back to back parks of Grand Teton and Yellowstone could not be bettered, but as we started out on the Beartooth Highway, we soon realised we were wrong. The 68 mile drive from the edge of Yellowstone to Red Lodge was spectacular at every turn, and a little hairy in places with hairpin curves and steep drop-offs. The highest point of the pass is at an elevation of 3337m where we were plunged into an alpine tundra with lakes and grasses still thick with snow, a stark change from the lush forests at lower elevations. Our timing was fortuitous, as the pass had only opened for the summer season a few days previously, and the snow was still stacked metres high at the edge of the road. The highway allows for a number of viewpoints across the Bear Tooth mountains, including Montana’s highest, Granite Peak. Stopping for a stroll at Rock Creek Vista, we found plentiful friendly chipmunks and marmots, clearly used to visitors and the sunflower seeds some of them bring. Parts of the highway have recently been upgraded and we were particularly excited to see actual bear footprints preserved where one had wandered across fresh concrete at one of the lookouts. Charles Kuralt, a journalist whose job was to drive about America observing the Americans and their doings in a show called ‘On the Road’ and therefore a bit of an expert on such things described the Beartooth Highway as America’s most beautiful road, and he could just be right.