The Yellowstone/Grand Teton Adventure Summer 2011

Day Four

The Circle of Fire tour was the activity for the day. We boarded the big yellow school bus for the tour departing at 9:30 am. This tour traveled along the lower portion of Yellowstone's figure eight road system. The major sights include the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins, Yellowstone Lake, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, and Norris Geyser Basin.

West Thumb Geyser Basin is one of the smallest geyser basins in Yellowstone yet its location along the shore of Yellow-stone Lake ranks it as the most scenic. West Thumb derived its name from the thumb-like projection of Yellowstone Lake and the name was given by the 1870 Washburn Expedition. It was also known as Hot Spring Camp. West Thumb has less geyser activity than other basins. But West Thumb, for its size, has it all-hot springs, pools, mud pots, fumaroles and lake shore geysers.
Fishing Cone has been the most popular feature. Its unusual location along the lake shore and its symmetrical cone were popularized by early stories of "boiled trout." Abyss Pool is also noted for its depth and colors.

The Thumb Paint Pots are constantly changing. In the 1920s and 30s they were very extensive and active. Now they are less active but, depending on moisture, they still build mud cones.

Since the mid 1970s, West Thumb has decreased in thermal activity. Some temperatures have cooled in the basin allowing large colonies of algae and cyanobacteria to grow. As a result, large newly-formed microbial mats flourish on the run-off channels and along the edges of pools.
Second stop was Old Faithful. Old Faithful may be the world's most famous geyser. Members of the 1870 Washburn Expedition first noticed the geyser's regular eruptions, and gave it the name it bears today. Oddly enough, Old Faithful is neither Yellowstone's biggest geyser (Steamboat Geyser is) nor its most predictable, but it has name-brand recognition, and people like watching it so much that more than 85% of Yellowstone visitors stop by to see it go off.

The Lower Geyser Basin encompasses nearly 12 square miles, with most of the thermal features widely scattered in small groups. Some of the groups include the Fountain Group, Firehole Lake Group, White Dome Group, Great Fountain - White Creek Group, and the Imperial Group.

The Lower Geyser Basin possess a large variety of thermal features, including mud pots, geysers, pools, springs, and fumaroles. Great Fountain Geyser is one of the grand geysers in the Lower Geyser Basin. It erupts from a large, terraced platform with massive bursts exploding up to 150 feet high. White Dome Geyser does not have spectacular eruptive displays, but it does have one of the largest pink and white streaked cones in the Park.

The Fountain Group has a large cluster of multi-colored mud pots, and nearby in Pocket Basin is the largest collection of mud pots in Yellowstone. The Fountain Group also includes several spectacular geysers. Fountain, Morning, Clepsydra and Jet geysers dominate the group with periodic and colorful displays.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone: After the flat lands of Hayden Valley, hills rise up either side of the Yellowstone River, which flows over two large waterfalls and drops into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, one of the most spectacular canyons anywhere in America. Its walls are very steep - 700 feet almost vertical at the western end and up to 1,200 feet further east, and partially formed of jagged, eroded, chemically altered volcanic rocks of unusually bright colors - red, pink, orange and white. Most of the 20 miles of the Grand Canyon are out of sight since the surrounding land is too rough for roads or trails, but the upper 4 miles can be viewed from several overlooks along the north and south rims, and a number of trails. The views were spectacular.

West Thumb

Old Faithful

Lower Geyser Basin

Yellowstone River Upper Falls

The Yellowstone/Grand Teton Adventure Summer 2011

Polly in Yellowstone

Finally at Yellowstone

Bison on the roads of Yellowstone

Day Three

Somewhat refreshed from a night of opportunity for sleep, the alarm sounded at seven. We hooked up Polly, disconnected her hose and electric and began the final leg of the trip excited to view this Yellowstone National Park everyone speaks of. The morning was peaceful and quiet as the sun rose across the prairies of Idaho. Road construction laughed at our attempt to make good time in our trek to Jellystone to see Booboo. After what seemed like forever the signs announcing Yellowstone we getting closer with each mile. Reaching the entrance gate was a site worthy of a celebration and a photo.

Our campgrounds, Fishing Bridge RV Park was on the other side of the East gate where we entered.  Whenever we found a pullout that had room for Beast and Polly, we stopped to observe the breathtaking scenery. 

Checking into Fishing Bridge and driving into loop A, we wondered why the campsites were so neat and clutter-free. Working quickly, we moved all of the food items out of Beast to put into Polly because of the rules regarding grizzly bears. Polly looked like she was suffering from hoarders disorder.

When the sun began to go down, the reason the campsites seemed uninhabited was apparent.  Due to the fact that Yellowstone has some of the largest native cutthroat trout we learned that their favorite food was also large and in charge. The mosquitoes were bloodthirsty savages with the taste of blood their only goal. Relaxing outside was impossible and relaxing inside the hoarder’s trailer was also impossible. We toured the immediate area until it was dusk. The animals began to come out and move around and it was no longer safe to be out driving around. The bison are on the move in the evening and use the roads to travel on. Their eyes absorb the light from automobile headlights and they are basically invisible until you are right on top of them. Two thousand pounds of bison will total your vehicle.

The Yellowstone/Grand Teton Adventure Summer 2011

Day Two

We woke early, washed our faces and departed around 6:45. Said “good-morning” to Nevada and pointed Beast and Polly East.

Nevada has a very straight and flat presentation with many miles in between each stop area. It seemed like an eternity as we kept driving. After stopping for gas and a quick hamburger at McDonald’s, we actually missed our turn off. Completely engrossed in Black Hills by Nora Roberts being read to us on CD that I didn’t realize we had missed our stop until we were 20 miles past the turn off. I looked for an exit to turn around but I had to drive quite a ways until an exit appeared.

An observation that we have made on this adventure is that most of the highways we have been traveling on are in the middle of some major construction. That combined with the fact that legally Beast cannot pull Polly as fast as he is accustomed to driving, it feels like we have been creeping across the states.

Crossing the Snake River in Twin Falls, Idaho was one of the highlights of the day. Stopping in the tourist parking area, camera in hand, we walked across the bridge and took the path to walk under part of the bridge. Not realizing that the bridge was a site for base jumpers, I almost had a complete meltdown as out of the corner of my eye, saw a person jump off the bridge. I didn’t think it too funny but I think Denise found a little humor in it.

Twin Falls also had construction so the trip took us longer than planned, about two hours longer than we had planned. We found the Twin Falls/Jerome KOA, checked in and “dropped” Polly off at the campsite. (We timed ourselves just for fun and we set the record of 7 minutes to disconnect and hook up the water and electricity.

Twin Falls not only has the Snake River but it is home to the Shoshone Falls. With directions in hand from the KOA desk clerk, we ventured out to find some beauty to find the site where Evel Knievel jump site from his attempted historical jump of 09/8/1974, which ended in a crash.  After touring around, we concluded the day with a Five Guys burger and some famous Idaho potatoes and bunked in for night two.

Driving across Nevada

Snake River

Day Two at the Snake River in Twin Falls

Shoshone Falls

The Yellowstone/Grand Teton Adventure Summer 2011

 Day One:

Leaving Modesto Friday after Denise got off work, we traveled to our first stop, Boomtown, Nevada. After thinking about the long days of travel ahead of us, we on Interstate 80 around Auburn, California. Crawling over the Sierras, we arrived at the Boomtown KOA at dusk. We elected to stay connected to the truck to save time. We plugged in and hooked up the water, put down the stabilizers and dozed off to slumber land.

The Boomtown KOA was pretty deserted and we arrived after the staff had gone home. We had made reservations through the Internet and the staff had indicated the site we were to occupy. The campground was right below the Boomtown Casino but other than the wind that whistled through the plains, the campground was quiet and met our needs. 

Arriving at Boomtown after dark.

The Magic of Redwoods

About 200 miles north of San Franciso is the small town of Garberville, CA. It was founded around the late 1800's as South Fork but was changed to Garberville in 1874, being named after the postmaster. Garberville is the gateway to the Eel River, Shelter Cove and the Lost Coast, and the 31-mile long Avenue of the Giants that winds through stands of ancient redwoods.

The Avenue of the Giants offers more than just the majesty of towering redwoods. It also passes thru several small towns that give a glimpse into the history of the timber industry. Several of these towns have been completely devastated by the Floods of 1955 and 1964 and if rebuilt, were placed on higher ground.

When we arrived in Garberville, it was absolutely gorgeous weather. Across from the RV park on Highway 101 stands the "One-Log House" which was hollowed in 1946 from a single redwood more than 2100 years old. The comfortable living quarters were made from a 40 ton tree, taking two men eight months to finish. The living, sleeping, and dining areas are completely furnished (it reminded us of the old RV's without slides). Amazingly, enough wood chips were produced from the hollowing to build a five-bedroom home.

Upon waking to a bright and sunny day, we decided to take the 31 mile drive down the Avenue of the Giants and it was certainly spectacular to look several hundred feet into the air and be in awe of the majestic beauty portrayed by these trees. The road was quiet and tranquil and built as a stagecoach and wagon road in the 1880's. It parallels Highway 101 and the Eel River. Fossil records show that redwoods grew naturally in many places across the Northern Hemisphere. Due to climatic changes and other factors, Coast Redwoods now only grow naturally in a narrow 40 mile wide and 450 mile long coastal strip from southern Oregon to southern Monterey county in California. Redwoods are taller than any other living thing.
They can live over 2,000 years and withstand most fires, floods and insects. Only the greatest fires can kill mature redwoods because of their thick fire resistant bark and lack of resin. They also contain a great amount of tannin, a material that insects find particularly distasteful. Redwoods are so immense that they live in three climatic zones at once. The base of each tree is in one set of climatic conditions, the stem in another, and the crown in yet another. Redwoods need great amounts of moisture. The 65 inches/year average rainfall plus the summer fog moderate the climate. Redwoods help create their own microclimate through the transpiration of moisture from the leaves to the atmosphere. A very large redwood can release up to 500 gallons of water into the air per day.

When towns were originally built along the Avenue, it was because of farming and logging. Now they rely on the tourists. Humboldt Redwoods State Park covers over 52,000 acres, 17,000 of which are old growth coast redwood forests with trees whose average ages are 400 - 600 years.

 

We followed the auto tour, stopping and taking the half mile hikes back into the forest. Sunlight peeks from the clouds and foggy treetops, streaming down onto the needle packed paths. The silence is unbelievable as you hear only your steps crunching along and an occasional bird voicing its melodic chant. Founder's Grove, dedicated to the founders of the Save-the-Redwoods League, contains the 346 foot tall Founders Tree and the Dyerville Giant. The Dyerville Giant was recognized as the "Champion" Coast Redwood as certified by the American Forestry Association until it fell on March 24, 1991. Before it fell, it was at least 362 feet tall. That is 200 feet taller than Niagara Falls or comparable to a 30-story building. It is also 17 feet in diameter and 52 feet in circumference. It probably weighs over 1,000,000 pounds.

We toured the Drive Thru Tree in Leggett where the kids found frogs in the nearby pond. I think the were more impressed by the pond life than by the tree they saw. We spent several minutes trying to catch a froggie.

During this trip, we camped at the Westport KOA. What a beautiful campground location. Loved it and would recommend it again.