Grand Teton National Park
Photos by Kathy and Tina; Narrative by Kathy
Grand Teton National Park
Photos by Kathy and Tina; Narrative by Kathy
June 18-July 4, 2005
We begin our adventure on Saturday morning, leaving Duluth and the Annual Grandma's Marathon and the 50,000 people in town for the race behind . We are not sad to leave these athletes and their fans. Temps are in the 40's. it is obviously Duluth in the summer. We travel down 35 through the Twin Cities with a stop at REI because Kathy received a gift certificate for her birthday from her most excellent sister, Becky, and partner, Cady. Kathy states for the record, "One can never have too much camping stuff". Blue Mounds park is great and we see our first, or what turns out to be many, Buffalo!
We head west and a bit north as we detour to the Pipestone National Monument. Well worth the detour! We get back on I-90 and it is on to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD! Did I mention that I never went "out west" as a child? Well I never did and I do not really think it hurt me much except maybe got me more attached to lakes than mountains...anyway this is a great adult trip as well. So, have you ever been to the Corn Palace? The first one was built in 1892 and the present one was built in 1921, with two others in-between. I could tell you lots more but this trip goes on for days so I will not.
Kathy visits the Corn Palace; the fun is just beginning!
Well we had not really planned to drive all the way to Wall but got kind of disoriented there in Interior, SD in the Badlands and next think we knew we were there at Wall Drug, actually this is not true we were at the Welsh Motel so just had to check in. We were going to camp but it was TOO HOT so we chilled instead.
In Wall we will meet up with our traveling companions, Carol, Julie, Carlyn and Lucas. It was actually their idea to take this trip!
Kathy and Tina do a little tour of the Badlands, having arrived here a whole day early. We see animals...Bighorn Sheep, Bison,Rattlesnake, Prairie Dogs. We tour the South Rim and other points before returning to our campground to check in..."Happy Hollow"; right by the scenic railroad..ok, freight train railroad. Nice showers, though.
Today is a grand tour of the Badlands. it is very hot and we hike up a little mountain to the "notch". Unfortunately my pictures do not turn out so you miss the cool cable ladder up the side of the cliff but this might be just as well, as half of our party had a little meltdown anyway. We visit the Visitor Center, first of many on the trip. We have lunch at the Cedar Lodge, which is air conditioned! We visit the gift shop, also first of MANY. We see more animals: bison, wild turkey, pronghorn antelope, rabbit,deer, red-tailed hawk, prairie dogs, big horn sheep. We visit the "Pig Dig", site of many fossils. We see many plants: wild sage, wild rosemary,prickly pear cactus, upright prairie cornflower, yucca plant, floodman thistle, juniper trees, a variety of grasses (Tina bought a book). Also, meadow rose, scarlet globe mallow, downy pholyx
We head to Wounded Knee, site of the Wounded
Knee Massacre-December 29, 1890 on the Pine Ridge Reservation. It is hot
and windy and desolate and very sad. There are some tribal members selling dream
catchers at tables outside so we make some purchases, feeling like this is the
least we can do. Very powerful. We are struck throughout our trip by the injustice
of what has been done to Indian people in the past as well as now.
We then continue to the Black Hills through Custer State Park where we see very
up close buffalo. We arrive at the
Rafter J Bar Ranch as the thunder rolls in, although it does not really
rain much this night.
Carol and Tina relax at the "Ranch"
Big day of touring! We start at the Crazy Horse Memorial, which is pretty amazing and we stay there a few hours. Korczak Ziolkowski started carving it in 1947 at the request of Chief Henry Standing Bear and other Indian leaders. We visit Mt. Rushmore, which is little in comparison but still amazing. Oh yeah, we also take an 1880's steam train from Hill City to Keystone. Adults like it; kids are bored.
Mount Rushmore; Carlyn,Julie,Luke and Carol at Crazy Horse Memorial
We revisit Custer State Park in search of buffalo and eventually do find a few herds, as well as some mule deer. Highlight for the kids is Evan's Plunge in Hot Springs. Evans Plunge (named after its builder Fred Evans), was built in 1890 over the numerous small, sparkling springs and one Mammoth spring of mineral water. Originally, Evans Plunge and the other mineral baths in Hot Springs were sought as a cure-all for a multitude of illnesses. We have dinner at the Springs Steak House, which is built around a large rock in the dining room. We were unable to get any info on this, but it was a good place to be because there was a big thunderstorm while we were there. We return home to Hill City and take in the evening "Legends in Light" multimedia show at the Crazy Horse memorial.
Big day of driving...Devil's Tower monument is absolutely amazing. Known by several northern plains tribes as Bears Lodge, it is a sacred site of worship for many American Indians.(OK, I lifted that from the NPS site) It is very hot, again. We arrive in Cody just after dark and check into the Cody Motor Lodge.
Kathy is constantly amazed by pretty much everything!
Kathy and Tina at Devil's Tower. They do not climb it.
We head over to the East Entrance of Yellowstone Park through simply incredibly beautiful mountains. The East Entrance is under construction so it is kind of exciting around the cliff-like mountain pass on a rutted dirt one-lane road. Yellowstone Lake is BIG (I guess I could have looked at a map). We drive the loop, including the West Thumb Basin and take in Old Faithful, the Yellowstone Inn, Old Faithful Lodge, tour the geysers and bubbling mud a bit and then on to Grand Teton and Colter Bay Village. Tina and Kathy are in the "cabin tent" area, while Carol and Julie and the kids are in the RV area. Tina thinks it is a bit rustic (what's up with that, we have been in our tent?) but Kathy is loving it.
Caryln and Luke watch for a geyser eruption from the boardwalk
Kathy hangs at the "Tent Cabin" in Colter Bay Village
We spend the day hiking in the park, driving around, seeing animals-moose,wolf, bald eagles,sand hill cranes. Campfire in the evening-Luke has been waiting for this the whole trip!
Tina demonstrates her rockhound skills while Kathy poses for yet another picture
in Grand Teton National Park
Kathy and Tina and Carol and Luke get up early to head over to Cascade Canyon and Jenny Lake. They see elk on the way. They get the ferry across the lake and hike to Hidden Falls. Kathy goes on to Inspiration Point, Carol and Luke walk back to the Jenny Lake boat landing (over 2 miles) and Tina enjoys the Falls.
We return to camp before heading over to Jackson lake Lodge for dinner and a raft trip down the Snake River. We see bison, elk herds, bald eagle, great blue heron. Very beautiful and peaceful.
We head our separate ways, but actually are heading the same way so run into each other a few times more. Yellowstone is an amazing place and we end up looking at some more scenic wonders before exiting at the South Entrance near Mammoth Hot Springs. They are mammoth and hot! And crowded, as we draw ever closer to the July 4th holiday.
We leave Billings all refreshed from our night in a motel....opted to not camp last night. We tour the Little Bighorn Battlefield and truly believe that Custer was crazy, thinking he could ever win that battle. Very moving and powerful experience. Then it is on to Theodore Roosevelt National Park where we find a great campground and beautiful campsite on the Little Missouri River. We have obviously left the crowds behind. in the evening we get a call from our buddies! They have checked into the Badlands Motel, right here in Medora!
We meet our buddies for breakfast in Medora and send them off to Minnesota and home. We stay another day and tour the park, including the "North Unit"."The North Unit is very good"-Tina Welsh, 5:05pmCST July 1, 2005. We find a picnic site under the big cottonwood trees. It is very hot but the breeze and the shade make it OK. Scenery is once again, simply amazing. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
In the evening we go to the "Medora Musical". This is in an outdoor amphitheater that seats 3000 people, in a town with a population of 100. I cannot really capture it here; you just have to go.
This is the view from our campsite in Roosevelt National Park(the Little Missouri River)
Big driving day and Tina insists on a little trip down the "enchanted highway" which ends in Regent, ND . What can I say, they are big metal sculptures in the middle of nowhere, North Dakota. We continue on to Bemidji where there is a big Fenske Family Reunion (Kathy's Family)
"Fish" sculpture on the "Enchanted Highway"