Day 5 August 31 Whitefish to Havre:

How many teeth does an adult human have? 32. With that correct answer to a coffee shop trivia question, I got a free coffee as we left Whitefish today. Yesterday at Glacier National Park was challenging. We drove from Livingston to the East side of Glacier National Park. We arrived there just as it started to rain. After a quick stop at the St. Mary visitor center, we headed into Glacier National Park. The higher we went the harder the rain came down and the clouds moved in, so we could not see much of the park. To make matters worse, once we dropped down heading to the West side, the traffic became very slow. We stopped at Lake McDonald Lodge, but again in the rain, not much to see. Leaving the lodge, we hit road construction. The road was torn up, dirt and potholes for the next 10 miles. The traffic and rain added more potholes than Costa Rica and it was a very slow and painful exit from the park.  

After the day we had, we made the decision not to continue on to Canada to see Banff and Jasper National Parks, too much driving and not enough time to enjoy the beauty of the  parks. Instead, we decided to try and see Glacier again hoping this time would be without the rain and road construction and hoping for some good views.  From our hotel in Whitefish, Montana, (which is a really nice resort town), we headed back around to the East side of Glacier National Park, so we could avoid the dirt road. Today we were greeted by no rain and fewer clouds. We went on a nice hike by the shores of St. Mary’s Lake and viewed a few waterfalls. We drove to the top of the park again for much better views than yesterday. We exited the park to the East, and headed to Havre for the night.

 Day 4: August 30 Livingston to Whitefish

Hold please...... we had issues with the weather and the roads yesterday, so we are reassessing our plans. I will leave you with 4 pictures from yesterday. 1 is from a cute little town called Augusta, MT. Michele found a great cup of coffee. The rest are from a rainy Glacier National Park. (Note, a sharp reader pointed out I had call Grand Teton National Park - Glacier a few days ago) I have corrected, but sorry for the confusion.

 Day 3 August 29, 2023 Jackson to Livingston, MT.

One more note about Jackson, when I was here last January the shuttle bus driver said it was even more busy in the Summer than in the Winter. When I asked her about this time of year, after most of the kids have gone back to school, she said, “it’s still busy with all the newlyweds, and the nearly dead’s” I know which category we fall into. We left Jackson, this time with Starbucks in hand and headed back into Grand Teton National Park on the way to Yellowstone. In Grand Teton we completed the drive past Jenny Lake, including a little 4-mile loop road with views from across the lake from where we hiked yesterday. From Jenny Lake we continued North to Lewis Lake and then Jackson Lake. Jackson Lake is larger and has spectacular views. Just outside of Jackson Lake, Michele spotted a black bear in a field.

We entered Yellowstone at the South Entrance and made our way to Yellowstone Lake, which is huge. I showed Michele the one room cabin I stayed in on my 48 days trip and then headed to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. When we got to the canyon, we hiked a little in each direction to get better views and pictures of the waterfall and the canyon. We made a few more stops and saw some buffalo in the distance as we headed up the east side of the park. We stopped at Tower Falls and again at Mammoth Hot springs.  Michele and I have both been here a couple of times, but today we saw stuff that we had not seen before. 

We ended the day in Livingston, MT. I stopped here on my 48 days trip and immediately liked the little town. We did notice a lot of restaurants are not open Monday and Tuesday, some only open Thursday – Sunday. We noticed this in Rock Springs as well, and it is either a sign of the season slowing down, or a worker shortage. Maybe a little of both. Livingston is a cute little town with an amazing backdrop of the mountains.

 Day 2 August 28,2023: Rock Springs to Jackson, via Teton National Park

Days 2 started clear and bright, heading north out of Rock Springs to Jackson, WY. I travelled this highway last January on a ski trip, but much nicer today. Made the mistake of not stopping for coffee on the way out of town. It would be a good 100 miles before we had the chance to get coffee, we found a good place in Pinedale, WY. My brother turned me on to an App called Autio. Autio tells stories of the places you drive through, using GPS location. Today we learned that Rock Springs was founded as a railroad junction, where nearby water and coal were used to keep the trans American railroad going. The building of the railroad also caused Rock Springs to attract immigrants from around the world as these were the people that built the railroad.  Each story is short, but it does add to the experience as you drive through an area.

Once in Jackson, we kept going to Grand Teton National Park. A note on National Park passes. It's $80 for a year membership, pays for itself after 3 parks, as each entry is $35. I found this year, that at age 62, I can buy a lifetime pass for the same $80 - what a great deal.

 We stopped at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center. From there, we were able to take a boat about 15 minutes across the lake ($20 per person) to a trail head for Inspiration point and the Cascade Canyon.  Michele kept me hiking by promising, "just a little bit more", "a little higher", "a few more minutes" her encouragement turned into a 2-hour, 4-mile hike. The views were great and the hike wasn't that bad, just a few steep spots. After the hike, we headed back towards Jackson, but saw a sign for Teton Village. Teton Village is at the base of Jackson Hole Ski Resort, I wanted to show Michele the ski area, so we headed over. On the way we saw a bunch of vehicles stopped, we pulled over to see what they were watching and it was a Moose hanging out by the river. Back in Jackson for hotel and dinner. Michele was last here 40 years ago or so with her sister, it has grown a lot.

 August 2023

Travel - Steamboat to The National Parks

 

If you have read my other stories in my blog, they have all been about solo road trips. In 2020 I wrote about 48 states in 48 days, in 2021 I wrote about Prince Edward Island and the coast of Oregon and California and in 2022 a trip across Canada. For this year’s trip, I convinced my wife, Michele, to join me and we set off to visit a handful of National Parks in the US and Canada.

 

Backstory: In July of this year I drove to Colorado, picked up Michele in Denver and headed up to the mountains for a two-week stay. Knowing we would be coming back out this way in a little over 3 weeks, I left my car in the Denver Airport at an extended stay economy lot and flew home.

 

Day 1: Steamboat, CO to Rock Springs, WY.

I picked Michele up in Steamboat, it’s a long story, but we had planned our 4^th annual trip to Steamboat with our group of Denver friends. The plan was us to fly out of Boston on Wednesday, pick my car up at the airport in Denver, spend one night in town and then head up to Steamboat for 3 days of fun in the mountains. On Wednesday morning I woke up not feeling great, and in fact had body aches since Sunday. Out of an abundance of caution I tested for Covid, and was positive. Michele tested negative so off she went. Using what I think the latest CDC guidance is, I stayed isolated until Saturday (5 days from 1^st symptoms) flew to Denver and stayed in a hotel near the airport and met Michele at noon in Steamboat, after our friends had left.

From Steamboat we headed north to Craig, Colorado, then directly north to the Wyoming border and 1-80 Westbound. This drive triggered a memory from when I first got out of college and was working for a finance company in Denver. My job was to visit the Appliance, Television and Motorcycle dealers we financed and check their inventory once a month. If they sold something and had not paid us, I collected the money. Normally my route took me east out of Denver once a month, but one time, I think in May, I switched routes with the guy I worked with and did his route, which took me to Steamboat, Craig and then up this same road to Rawlings, WY. Back then, it was Prairie dog mating season. The prairie dogs were crossing the highway in alarming numbers. This first time I saw one, I braked to avoid it. Further on up the road there was no avoiding them, I ended up just cringing and running them over. The Prairie Dogs were safe today and I got through the area with only a little PTSD.

 

The pictures attached are from Wamsutter, WY. We stopped here because good friends of ours have a daughter who lives here. We didn’t try to catch up with her, but we had to say we stopped. The town is just a truck stop and some homes half-way between Rawlins and Rock Springs. She has made a nice little life of it here and I can tell you it sure looks better in August then when I have stopped here in January, but it really is in the middle of nowhere.

We pulled into Rock Springs and checked to what looks like a new Holiday Inn Express and it really exceed my expectations. I drove through Rock Springs last winter on the way to Jackson Hole and on that route, there was nothing but a McDonalds, a Best Western and some gas stations. Just a few more exits west on the highway is new part of town with a Walmart, a ton of restaurants and many hotels. We will prepare for our first National Park of the trip tonight and be heading out first thing tomorrow.