Mountain West

The Mountain West did not treat us well.  We planned to leave Gillette WY and go through the east gate to Yellowstone, the drive the Yellowstone loop on day 1.  The east gate was closed and we had to reroute through Montana.  Once in Yellowstone we tried to drive from Mammoth to Madison (quickest route to Old Faithful)- closed.  We had to go around the long way, so no geysers on day 1.  No signs of the snow that caused all the closures, but plenty of good wildlife and nice views.  We did not get into our hotel until after dark, by which time we were exhausted and ravenous from a  13 hour day.

an old geyser

Mammoth hot springs

where the wolf watchers are

Road closures were a theme of the next day to- the old faithful to west thumb road closure caused us to add over 60 miles on our way to geysers.  At least snow caused this one.  We pushed through to the geysers, despite the 35 degree temperatures, rain/snow, and winds making watching them not that fun.  The best part was seeing the herds of buffalo using the ground warmed by thermal springs.  There were a lot of tour buses there, which combined with the snow was quite annoying.  We couldn't do the heart lake hike we wanted, but we hike dup to observation point for old faithful though, so we still got our walk in.  Driving to Jackson Hole, we could not see the Grand Tetons.  The pizza place in Jackson Hole almost made up for it.

The clouds were no better today, so I did not see the Tetons at all.  Once again we had a closed road that added an hour, but we made it to Craters of the Moon.  In time for the whole place to be covered in a thick sheet of fog.  We pushed through anyway, I'd already bought the pin and we drove 3 hours to get there.  After a very brisk walk (both pace and weather), the clouds actually cleared and we were able to see most of Craters of the Moon.  Lava is weird, and I really hope Yellowstone doesn't explode soon.  We also passed the first Nuclear Power plant, and Idaho National Labs (the big nuclear research facility in the US).  Made it to Ogden Utah for tonight.

boy scout in boy scout cave