Highways of Happiness ! [Yellowstone]

[Southwest Dave]

To Yellowstone !

As lovely as the La Quinta was we had an interupted nights sleep caused by loud horns going off through the night, that we can only presume was caused by freight trains. [I forgot to enquire at the desk] We had a nice Continental breakfast before packing up and moving on. The breakfast attendant was a very nice lady and most helpful. I enquired as to which side of the Missouri River would offer the best view of some of the dams. She duly obliged by getting a local map and a yellow marker pen to outline possible routes and enthusiastically told us about the area. She recommended we go north of town and then head to Ryan Dam, her favourite spot and a great drive for good measure. Unfortunately this would take longer than the time we had to spare so she told us to stay on the south side to view the 2 dams I had previously planned to, Black Eagle and Rainbow Dam.

Black Eagle.



Rainbow.





There was a foot/cycle path known as 'South Shore Trails' that continued beyond Rainbow Dam. We walked a short way up the hill and looked at the lovely views of the river and contemplated the challenge that faced the Lewis and Clarke expedition on their journey west.



Giant Springs Heritage State Park is located between these two Falls and has a Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive centre there.

Our stop for the night was West Yellowstone and I had contemplated driving from Great Falls to Red Lodge and then into Yellowstone on the Beartooth Highway. I knew it would be pushing things by the time we had seen the Falls even before we had set out from the hotel, but on leaving the Falls area it was 'plan B'.

We headed south on US89 through Montana's pretty rolling prarie land that had herds of cattle grazing upon it. We drove across the winding Belt Creek a couple of times before pulling off the road where there was a scenic overlook of Belt Creek making it's way into Sluice Boxes Primative State Park, which is in the Little Belt mountains of Montana.



Next we drove through the Lewis and Clark National Forest and the small towns of Monarch and Neirhart, following Belt Creek a lot of the way before going over Kings Hill Pass. We then stopped at White Sulpher Springs for fuel for both us and the car. There was an inviting looking place on the edge of town called the Branding Iron Cafe which provided us with a great lunch and we were on our way again towards Yellowstone. We stopped at an information board and statue named 'Thunder Jack' in the Shields river valley near the small town of Wilsall. The river was named by Clark, in honor of John Shields a member of the Clark and Lewis expedition and flows into Yellowstone River further south. 'Thunder Jack' is a tribute to all the hardened mountain men who came, endured and lived in the mountain valley.





We then drove east with a brief stint on I90/89 before heading south on 89 with views of the Yellowstone river before arriving at Roosevelt Arch and Yellowstone NP.



More to follow.......

[Southwest Dave]

To West Yellowstone

As we entered the park the plan was to do a little sight seeing, before exiting again to West Yellowstone where we had a room at the Moose Creek Inn waiting. The views in the park were wonderful and we were excited to be here, our first stop was Mammoth Hot Springs. The time was getting on and we were pleased that the roads and Mammoth Hot Springs were fairly quiet.

Mammoth Hot Springs.





We walked around the lower terraces, with boardwalks going off in all directions. Quite an incredible place !







We spent a lot longer here than we had expected to, mesmerised by the landscape. There were some Elk with their young grazing on the green and as usual we watched them from a respectable distance, unlike some others who were getting far to close. Luckily a nearby Ranger came over and warned them off with a telling off, good for him !

Back on the road, we already knew it was too late to try and include Norris Geyser Basin in this evenings plan, but we did stop at other sites along the road. One of these stops was not scheduled, but there was nothing we could do about it. There was only one person in charge here !

A big boy !



Section of roadway.



Nymph Lake.



We rolled into West Yellowstone and arrived at our Motel at 8pm and checked in. We had booked the Moose Creek Inn, which seemed to offer good value by comparision in this Yellowstone gateway town, but wasn't sure what to expect. We were very pleased with what we got, the room was small by comparision, but very clean and well furnished. We were also pleasantly surprised when we walked to town for an evening meal. I was expecting West Yellowstone to be an overpriced tourist town living off the close vicinity to Yellowstone NP. I was right, but what I didn't expect was how much I enjoyed this vibrant, clean and friendly town and we had a great night out. After checking out some shops, they all stay open late for the tourists returning from their day at Yellowstone, we finally ate in the Beartooth BBQ diner-come-bar. We had a chicken dish with sides washed down with a Yellowstone Golden Ale. It was all very nice, but as expected a little overpriced.



It was back to Moose Creek and a very good nights sleep soon followed, probably helped by being out and about for 14 hours today.

Todays Mileage 290. Average speed = 45mph. Return =33mpg.

Total mileage = 1980

[Mark Sedenquist]

What were those people thinking? Out of their cars with a full-grown bull bison cruising about.

Great photos -- I so much wish I could go there now!

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

What were those people thinking? Out of their cars with a full-grown bull bison cruising about.

Great photos -- I so much wish I could go there now!

Mark

Mark.

The behaviour of some people in Yellowstone left us astonished, the wildlife had more sense then some of them !! There was a minority that showed little regard for others as they caused road jams and put themselves and others in harms way. Not to mention the blatant disregard for the rules and regs.

Dave.

[john.waters]

Really enjoy following your trip Dave. You have me planning another trip to Yellowstone and Jackson.
John

[Southwest Dave]

Thanks John. Yellowstone is quite something !

You have me planning another trip to Yellowstone and Jackson.

I don't think you need much persuading ! ;-)

Dave.

[Pmount]

Your comments regarding Yellowstone and people's behavior are right on! We have been very frustrated touring Yellowstone because of the road jams and disregard of rules. We hope to avoid Yellowstone in July and August, as much as possible in the future.
Great pictures and report.
-Pat

[Southwest Dave]

Bison and the Beartooth.

We headed back into Yellowstone this morning, where we had managed to book 3 nights accommodations, thanks in part to Yellowstone's free cancellation policy. If at first you find everything to be booked up as we had, it's worth it to keep checking back on the parks lodging pages for availability. It would seem that it's quite common for people to book a room, even if they are not sure they will make it, and then cancel nearer the time if they can't.

We entered the park about 9am and things were already getting busy. We knew areas we wanted to see, but had no plan in particular. It wasn't long before we were held up in a traffic jam again. I think 2 or 3 cars with excitable people must have pulled up to photograph wildlife which kick started everyone elses curiosity. We finally made our way through the dozen or so cars on either side of the road, to discover that it was a couple of Deer by the side of the road causing all the fuss. A similar thing happened further down the road when someone blocked the road and got out with his camera, fortunately there was a park Ranger on hand to point out the error of his ways.

Our first stop was Norris Geyser Basin, but the car park was full and there were many cars circling around waiting for a space to become available. We quickly decided to move on and try our luck one evening as we had done at Mammoth, it turned out to be a good idea but more on that later. It was a lovely clear morning and I still had an 'itch' that needed scratching, the famous Beartooth Highway, so we headed up towards Mammoth, across to Tower and through the Lamar Valley to Silver Gate. There was major construction at Tower which delayed us another 20 min or so. It looked as though some recent rock fall had occured and where they were working underneath looked a little precarious.

There were large herds of Bison on the move with their young through the Lamar Valley and it made for some spectacular sights as well as more traffic jams as they crossed the roadway.



We stopped at the Log Cabin Cafe in Silver Gate where we both had the Beartooth Burger. The meat was said to be locally raised, grass fed and free range and a burger you would never forget. Well I haven't forgotten it yet, delicious !

We then continued our drive up the Beartooth to the switchbacks where we got out of the car and had a walk across the rugged terrain and took in the views of the mountains, lakes and the switchbacks we had just driven up.



It was time to turn around and head back to Canyon Lodge for the night. We decided to stop for a coffee back in Silver Gate and look around the General store we had noted earlier. We had planned to stop in Cook City on the way back, but Silver Gate was quieter and appealed to us more. After shopping in the store and having a chat with some Locals, they asked if we had had a look around the barn, a huge timber building that I had taken a picture of on the way up. They recommended we did, informing us that no one was inside, but the doors were open and we should wander around. They told us it was thought to be the oldest building in town and is still used for functions, parties and group lodgings. I am so glad we stopped here, the building had a real WOW factor, the whole building and furnishings were made of timber. As we looked up into the eaves we hadn't even realised that there were landings with bedrooms and bathrooms all the way around an upper floor. A huge dining room, lounge areas and wonderful old fashion kitchen and servery were also discovered as we made our way around.







Silver Gate General Store and cabins.



Once again the clock was turning and we were back on the road. We drove back through the Lamar Valley with a stop at Soda Butte creek and many more stops for Bison Herds and views and then to Tower, where the traffic and congestion due to the works had eased considerably, so we took the time to walk to Tower Falls.

Soda Butte Creek.





Lamar Valley.



Tower Falls.



As the light faded we drove to Canyon and got checked in by 8:30pm and then headed to the dining rooms. The restaurant had a 45min waiting time so we opted for the cafe, which was basically a self service canteen at restaurant prices. Not a great dining experience but it done the job of filling us up before turning in for the night.

Another long, yet wonderful day was had.

Todays mileage = 210 miles. Average speed = 30mph. Returning 34.5mpg.

Total mileage = 2190

Route.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I enquired as to which side of the Missouri River would offer the best view of some of the dams. She duly obliged by getting a local map and a yellow marker pen to outline possible routes and enthusiastically told us about the area. She recommended we go north of town and then head to Ryan Dam, her favourite spot and a great drive for good measure. Unfortunately this would take longer than the time we had to spare so she told us to stay on the south side to view the 2 dams I had previously planned to, Black Eagle and Rainbow Dam.

Hey, a shout-out for the great photos of the three of the falls that gave Great Falls, Montana its name. Fantastic.

Mark