From Trailer Park to Ski Resort

The magnificent views of the Tetons would leave anyone speechless, or so we have heard.  Four straight days of rain, snow, and cloud cover pretty much ruined our plans for Grand Teton National Park.  Since we’re never ones to let the weather ruin our day, we came up with plan B:  to spend some relaxing time wining and dining in the ski-resort community of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Delicious food, cold microbrews, rooftop hot tubs, television, and WiFi helped make up for not being able to see the majestic mountain tops. 

The best pictures we could get of the mountains

We spent the first two nights in the campground on the shores of Lake Jackson despite 5 feet of snow surrounding us.  Luckily, our campsite had electric hookups so the heater kept us nice and toasty all night long.  On our third night, we moved to the swanky town of Teton Village at the base of the Jackson Hole Ski Resort.  We enjoyed the hot tubs and delicious cuisine at Teton Mountain Lodge.  We were able to score some good deals since ski season is over and the summer tourists have not yet flocked to the park.  On our last night, we moved again to the Rustic Inn in the town of Jackson.  We drank some cold beer at the Snake River Brewery while watching a heavy snow fall outside and then did some shopping around town. 

We made several trips into the National Park to see what wildlife we could find.  We spotted several moose, bison, and elk and also got to see coyotes hunting for ground squirrels by pouncing on top of the snow.

 

Today we continue our journey south.  We are headed toward Arches National Park near Moab, Utah.  We’ll be there for three days before continuing onto Zion National Park.    

Mammal Extravaganza

I guess we were in a hurry to get to Yellowstone…we drove 16 hours straight and didn’t get to our campground until after midnight.  But as we discovered, one can never spend too much time in Yellowstone.  Our wildlife sightings were better than we could’ve ever imagined and the weather was beautiful.  Luckily, May is considered off-season in Yellowstone and we were able to miss the crowds of tourists that flock to the park in the summer and fill the park with traffic jams.

                         Yellowstone traffic jam

Tuesday was our first full day in Yellowstone.  In the morning we recovered from the hard drive from the day before.  At first we were so excited to see a herd of elk walking through our campground, but we soon realized that wildlife is everywhere you go in this park.  It turned out to be a daily occurrence to have an elk or bison walk through our campsite.  That afternoon we decided to go out and look for some more wildlife.  The park ranger had told us that Lamar Valley was the best place to see wolves, black bears, and grizzlies, so we set out on this 1-hour drive.  We were excited to see newly born bison calves nursing and herds of bison walking down the streets.  

We decided to do the typical tourist activities on Wednesday.  We drove to Old Faithful to watch it explode and toured several other geysers and hot springs in the Upper Geyser Basin.  These were cool to see, but we were reminded that the typical tourist attractions just weren’t our thing.  So we decided to take an evening drive to Lamar Valley to look for more wildlife.  We set out just before sunset and within minutes, we saw a herd of elk running across a hill in front of us.  We looked behind them to see a lone elk sprinting for his life with four wolves chasing it!  The wolves jumped on the elk’s back and took her down, but she got back up and made a run for it.  Within seconds the wolves had jumped back onto her, took her down, and killed her.  The wolves immediately went for her belly and ripped out an unborn baby elk.  It was a sad day for the elk and her baby but an exciting kill for the wolf pack, who would be sustained by this kill for days.  We were so excited to have seen the kill happen!  Apparently others noticed our excitement (we were standing on top of the pickup truck looking through binoculars), because soon we had attracted a crowd.  For the next few days, we heard people talking about the kill and felt very lucky to have seen it all take place!  From this point on, we were addicted to wildlife spotting and couldn’t get enough.  We spent the next few days driving the valley, getting to know professional wildlife chasers, and becoming self-proclaimed wildlife spotting experts.

 

                      The wolf pack enjoying their dinner

We woke up at 4:30 the next morning to drive out to the Valley by twilight.  We had gotten a tip from one of our colleagues about a recently deceased bison.  Apparently, it had died of natural causes near a river right off the main road… a perfect location for wildlife spotting.  It was only a matter of time before either wolves or a grizzly bear would come to feed on the bison.  We waited with several professional photographers and although no grizzlies came to feed, we did take some pictures of a lone wolf feeding on the bison. 

                                       Lone wolf with the dead bison

Later on in the day, Megan spotted a wolf stalking a herd of bison with her eagle eyes.  We pulled over on the side of the road and within minutes, we spotted three other wolves surrounding the bison herd, searching for vulnerable bison calves.  There was no kill, but it was still exciting to watch the wolves.  And once again, we attracted a crowd of professional wildlife spotters and our reputation grew.  That evening, we spotted our first grizzly bear.  We watched him walk along a creek and over a ridge and were able to take some great pictures.

                                 The GRIZZ

Again on Thursday, we woke up early to check on the dead bison.  When we got there, part of it had been eaten by a couple of grizzlies overnight.  The wind was calm and the smell was strong, so we knew it was just a matter of time before something came to feed on it.  There were about 50 professional photographers lined up waiting to take pictures, so we had slight camera envy (our $200 zoom lens was much inferior to their $6000+ lenses).  Soon we heard that someone had spotted a grizzly on the road working his way toward the bison.  We watched him as he came over the ridge, followed his nose to the bison, and cautiously approached the dead bison.  Then he started to feed and the photographers went crazy.  Watching him feed at close distance (we were about 80 yards away) was an absolutely amazing experience.  After gorging himself on bison meat, he got a drink from the river and laid down near the carcass for a nap.  It’s typical for grizzlies to stay by their carcass for days, guarding it from other predators, until the carcass is gone.  Soon the crowd had attracted a host of Park Rangers who determined that the carcass needed to be moved so that the grizzly didn’t get used to eating close to humans.  They described to us that they were going to scare off the bear with noisemakers, move the carcass further from the road (but still in view), and let the bear return to feed on it.  This put an end to our photo extravaganza, but we were satisfied with the experience we had gotten.  

The variety of wildlife we saw in Yellowstone was amazing.  We saw black bears, grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes, elk, bison, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, red foxes, marmots, moose, and black-tailed deer.  Yellowstone was definitely one of our favorites and we can’t wait to return again. Today we are in the Grand Tetons, just south of Yellowstone in Wyoming.  The weather has turned sour and the views of the Teton range are hidden.  We are taking it easy and enjoying some time in a nearby resort lodge.  Hopefully the clouds will clear and we’ll be able to take some shots of the beautiful Teton Range.

                            Black bear walking through the snow in Yellowstone

Sunburns in the Snow

We’ve spent the last four days in Olympic National Park and the weather has been beautiful.  On Thursday we stayed right on the beach and spent the day exploring Ruby beach and other areas along the coast.  Our campsite was perched on top of a bluff looking right down on the ocean and beach.  Jack was tempted to steal the hundreds of huge mussel clams he found at low tide, but since the season was over and taking them would likely be some kind of Federal crime, he resisted temptation.  Megan was able to take some great pictures of the Pacific Ocean and the sun setting over the horizon. 

On Friday we moved campgrounds and explored another portion of the park: the Hoh Rainforest.  Olympic National Park has a variety of ecosystems and believe it or not, one of them is the rainforest we spent the day in.  A rare break in the rain allowed us to enjoy sun and warm weather while going on a couple of hikes.  We got about 20 feet from an elk feeding on grass, watched countless black-tailed deer feed, and after watching an owl for about ten minutes, we watched him swoop down and try to catch a frog out of a pond.   

Spirits were high and we were loving life when, while leaving the road from the rainforest, we heard a popping noise and the low tire pressure alarm started sounding.  When Jack got out he could hear the air hissing out of his front tire, but when he noticed that both of the driver side tires were punctured it became a much bigger problem.  Since we only had one spare tire and were towing the camper, we had some problem solving to do.  Luckily we actually got phone service where it happened and there was a place to pull over so no damage was done to the rims.  Unfortunately, according to emergency road side service, the only option was to leave the camper and have the truck towed…..that wasn’t going to happen.  We called the closest town which amazingly had a tow company and a tire shop in it.  A tow truck had to come out and get one of the popped tires and bring it all the way back into town, have the tire shop patch it, and bring it back out to us.  With that fixed tire and the spare on we were back on the road in a couple hours.  We were able to go get the other tire patched and put the spare back so we were operating at normal capacity again.  This was a rough and expensive little incident but we felt very lucky that it happened where it did because it could have been much worse. 

On Saturday, we needed a little rest and relaxation so we stayed in a campground inside the park that is connected to a hot springs lodge.  The idea of sitting in the 106 degree thermal pools sounded like a good way to put the tire mishap behind us.  Before becoming completely lazy we went to a nearby glacier-fed lake, rented two kayaks, and spent the middle part of the day paddling around and enjoying the views.  When we got back it was time for the springs.  Much to our surprise, the hot springs was a strange and awkward experience.  The springs were not the rock pools of relaxation we dreamed of but more like shallow pools with European tourists lounging in them and staring blankly at newcomers.  The sulfur smell did not help the situation and we never really managed to “relax”.  Later that night Jack tried it out again and found it to have a better crowd of people, however after going from a 106 degree pool to the 60 degree pool a couple times, he almost passed out and decided to call it a night.  

                                       Lake Crescent

On Sunday, we moved again to yet another region of the park that is all mountains.  We camped at a lower elevation but spent the day up at the top of Hurricane Ridge at 5600 feet where 13 feet of snow was present.  The sun was shining and we even got a bit of a sunburn so weather was not an issue.  We played in the snow, soaked up the rays, and just sat back and enjoyed the scenery.  After that we spent the rest of the day in the town of Port Angeles at a coffee shop using the internet and then cooked a Creole shrimp boil dinner and sat by the campfire.  

                     On top of Hurricane Ridge

We both agreed that Olympic was our current favorite park because of the diversity, wildlife, and stunning scenery.  Although we were sad to leave this morning it was necessary to get up early and head out because our next destination is Yellowstone National Park (850 miles away!).  We are currently driving through the beautiful mountains of Montana and looking forward to Wyoming. 

Rain, rain, cheese, and more rain

Since it has never really stopped raining in the 3 days that we’ve been in Oregon, we decided to take some of our adventures indoors.  On Tuesday, we drove around and explored the little town of Tillamook.  We found a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop with WiFi advertised on the window and decided to make a stop.  Upon entering, we quickly discerned that this was not your typical Starbucks coffee shop.  For one thing, there was no one there (including employees).  It looked more like a rundown antique shop than a coffeehouse; there were only two seats in the whole place (the rest was filled with clutter).  Some of the highlights: a giant trash bag full of aluminum cans in the middle of the entryway, one-year supply of eye drops on the table next to our chairs, a bill from the county hospital on the counter, a stack of about 5 years worth of daily newspapers, and a framed picture of 30 elderly women and one topless man wearing extremely short shorts.  We waited around until the man who seemed to be the owner walked in and took our orders.  The price of two lattes was only $3.50!  While we were sitting on the only two chairs and using the WiFi, the owner grumbled, “I’ve gotta go to the hardware store, I’ll be back” and left the shop in our hands.  Apparently this is a customary practice because while he was away at the hardware store, a drifter came in, fixed his own drink, left some coins on the counter, and walked out.  If only all coffee shops were this unique.  

We devoted Wednesday to exploring the beauty of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  We took a brief self-tour of the cheese making and packaging process, sampled some cheese, and then splurged in the gift shop.

After eating too much cheese and ice cream, we decided to go for a hike despite the looming storm blowing in from the ocean.  A 4-mile hike in 40 degree temperatures and blowing wind, rain, and ice is just about as fun as it sounds.  After that, we retreated back to the camper to attempt to dry our gear, but we’ve found out that things don’t dry too well in this humid climate!  We warmed ourselves with hot cocoa, a spaghetti dinner, and another game of Skip-Bo.

Today we are en route to Olympic National Park, our furthest northwest destination before turning back south. 

Keep your fingers crossed for dry weather!

Drifters with Cash

Our time in Redwood can be summed up with the following: mammals, rain, and drifters.  The best part of the park was all the wildlife we saw.  There were herds of Roosevelt elk around our campsite as well as black-tailed deer, coyotes, bats feeding on insects, and sea lions!  We spent hours searching the coast for the majestic gray whale with our binoculars(supposedly they migrate back to Alaska from Mexico this time of year), however, the whales continue to elude us. 

 

                                   We caught him mid-chew

                      Sea Lions sun-bathing on the coast

We spent Easter morning hiking through the Lady Bird Johnson grove of giant Redwood trees.  We were amazed by the lush vegetation throughout the Redwood forest; it receives over 100 inches of rain throughout the year and everything is so green!  The Pacific Northwest is incredibly beautiful but the rain has gotten somewhat tiresome over the past few days.  It has rained every day since we’ve been here, and just when you think the sun has come out and the clouds have cleared, it rains 5 minutes later!  

One other thing we discovered about northern California is the abundance of what Jack likes to call “drifters” a.k.a. hitchhikers, hippies, or parolees.  We’re not sure what the attraction to northern California is for these people (seems like an awful rainy place to be walking on the side of the road all the time) but we’ve had a good time turning it into a game of Spot-the-Drifter.  But like Jack says, we’re really just drifters with a little bit of cash in our pockets.  

 Crescent Beach Overlook- one of the places we watched for gray whales

Today we headed out of California into the beautiful state of Oregon.  We followed highway 101 up the west coast and stopped for the night at a state park right on the beach.  The small town we’re in is apparently known for fresh crabs and seafood, so after getting some advice from an Oregonian, we headed out to a locals-only seafood joint and enjoyed some Oregon beer and clam chowder.  We mingled with some local folk and then took a short walk along the beach before retreating from the rain to continue our ongoing Skip-Bo feud.

Tomorrow we head to Tillamook, Oregon, home of the world-winning medium cheddar cheese. We hope to gorge ourselves on cheese, ice cream, and various other dairy products.  We will be there for two nights before heading north to our farthest Northwest destination: Olympic National Park in Washington. 

We hope everyone had a great Easter.  You are with us in our thoughts!

With Love,

Jack & Megan

Wannabe Grizzly Adams

We spent our last two days in Yosemite at Hodgdon Meadow Campground on the north side of the park at about 4900 feet elevation.  Little did we know, the campsite we reserved was at a steep angle downward.  The problem with this, as we found out, was that everything in an RV stops functioning when parked at an angle.  The bathtub stopped draining, so we had to hand-bail the water out of the tub after each shower.  In addition, the refrigerator and freezer decided to stop working; we discovered this only after we poured warm milk into our cereal bowls on Thursday morning.  We had to trash some good steaks and various dairy products, and we’re hoping the rest of the refrigerated items will make it at room temperature until we reach our next campsite.  Also, the temperature at 4900’ likes to drop below freezing at night, so we awoke this morning to a dead camper battery from the heater blowing all night long. 

On a brighter note, we had a great time exploring Yosemite.  On Wednesday, we took a short hike through deep snow to a grove of sequoia trees.  It rained for about 10 hours straight on Wednesday night, so we felt fortunate to be warm and dry in our camper (our tent-camping neighbors were not so lucky).  We spent the day on Thursday exploring some of our personal interests.  Jack went on a strenuous 8-mile hike to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls, gaining 2700 feet in elevation in just over 2 hours!  Meanwhile, Megan took a photography class called “Walking in the Footsteps of Ansel Adams.”  The class took her to the places that the famous photographer shot some of his legendary photos of Yosemite.  While she was shooting the iconic Upper Yosemite Falls, through a twist of irony and technology, Jack waved to Megan from the top of the Falls after some coordination of text messaging.  Of course, because of the elevation and distance between us, it was quite possible that we were waving to rocks and trees instead of each other (it’s impossible to make out cars, much less people, at that distance.)  We reunited at the bottom of the Falls later that evening to enjoy our first meal at a restaurant since leaving Texas.  

                                   Half Dome

                                        Upper Yosemite Falls

In other news, Jack has yet to shave his face and his attempts to look like a mountain man are starting to materialize. 

Today we are driving north through the beautiful wine country of California.  Our destination: Redwood National Park in northern California, where we will be for the next 5 days. 

We have been working on updating our Shutterfly website with more pictures of our adventures, so be sure to check up on those!

Wannabe Ansel Adams

Over the past two days, we’ve been hiking around Yosemite.  We arrived in Yosemite Valley this morning and have been enjoying the views all day.  Yosemite is very different from any of the parks we’ve been to so far; the Valley is very developed and there are people everywhere.  There are free shuttles that run through the park every 10-15 minutes and most of the hikes are paved roads.  A deer on the side of the road will create a traffic jam.  Nonetheless, the scenery has been amazing and the photo opportunities are endless.  We feel we can only describe Yosemite with the pictures we have taken; words cannot describe the natural beauty!

                                   Lower Yosemite Falls

                                  Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls

                                        Yosemite Valley

                                        Yosemite Valley