Gypsy Blood: Tetons, Yellowstone, Montana and Cody, WY

Gypsy blood, that's what we've got!

We left late after work on a Wednesday night, got as far as we could go, and camped at a random campsite outside Cheyenne, WY. It was on Happy Jack Road (how could we resist?). The next day we drove about 8 hours through vast, desolate central Wyoming into the gorgeous jagged peaks of the Grand Tetons. We didn't even get a picture (!!) because we just drove straight through all that stunning beauty in our rush to get to a campsite. Plus, it was thunderstorming so it didn't look quite as dramatic as this photo I found online.

Day 2 and already filthy. Welcome to camping in Dustbowl, USA, a.k.a. Grand Tetons Campground. I haven't done much camping in national parks so I was not prepared for a 600-site, $50-a-night, Two-Inches-From-Your Neighbors Dustbowl. Daniel avoids these sardine-esque campgrounds at all costs, but the costs were location and Christine's fears of grizzly bears. With neighbors inches from our noses and cars whizzing past our tent, I wasn't that worried about grizzlies, despite the ubiquitous signs.

The next morning we packed up early and drove north into Yellowstone. 

Old Faithful was faithful. Getting there early made all the difference. When we arrived, the place looked pretty deserted. We got coffee and hot chocolate and enjoyed the chilly, misty morning while we waited for the eruption. It lasted about a minute, and it was really cool to watch. 

What I didn't know is that Yellowstone is home to over half of the world's geothermal features. There are over 300 geysers and over 10,000 geothermal features in the park. According to the Yellowstone website, it "holds the planet's most diverse and intact collection of geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles." We did one of the boardwalk loops and saw so many geysers, steaming vents, and bubbling cauldrons of all sizes that we lost count. 

Morning Glory Pool

Grand Prismatic Pool

Have you ever read C.S. Lewis' Perelandra series? I felt like I'd landed on one of his imaginary planets. The colors and shapes were otherworldly.

Mammoth Hot Springs

A few hours later, the Old Faithful Lodge (gorgeous!) and surrounding area looked like an amusement park in July. Perfect time for us to roll out. 

Rather than race to secure another crowded dusty Yellowstone campsite (they generally fill by 10am in summer), we continued up the western side of the 140-mile "Grand Loop" of Yellowstone and headed north to Montana. 

I've longed to see Montana ever since I, along with every other wistful romantic on the planet, fell in love with A River Runs Through It. We lucked out with a googlesearch which landed us at the last available campsite at a pristine wooded campground called Pine Creek Campground near Livingston, Montana.

It reminded me of visiting Momie down in the mountains--clean crisp air and a green lushness that smelled like Virginia. Just taller mountains!

All that driving and clambering over logs with kids and chopping wood and setting up camp makes a man hungry for STEAK!

Meanwhile, I was doing my best to focus on the happy frolicking of the kids running around picking raspberries and playing games with new friends in the campground. We were still right in the thick of grizzly country, with warnings posted everywhere and signs of recent sightings. The campground host (a former Yellowstone park ranger) told us he'd found bear scat in the campground. On the other loop, he said, so not to worry. But be sure to lock up everything in the bear box even if you're just going for a walk or you'll get a $200 fine. Or worse.

Great.

That's bear spray, folks. And I know how to use it. Except I think I have it backward in this picture. Ah-hem.

Daniel called this The Trifecta: bear spray, his camping knife, and yes, Valium. My first time taking Valium. One pill wasn't cutting it, so I had to take two just to fall asleep. It was quite a night.

If you think I'm over-reacting on the bear issue, I have a few thoughts for you: PTSD from my honeymoon (the-bear-that-was-a-moose-story), a certain Outside article, and a little documentary called Grizzly Man.

We survived the night and woke to beautiful sunshine. The kids had fun gathering more wild raspberries. Mmm. So delicious.

After breakfast we drove to Bozeman, Montana for a yummy lunch at MacKenzie River Pizza Co. Bozeman is an adorable Western college town.

We got ice cream and iced chai at a cute coffeeshop. I eavesdropped on students and professors talking about art projects and Thoreau and got that wistful longing for college towns and being a student and a professor. 

Off to The Museum of the Rockies to see the famous dinosaur exhibit and a planetarium show.

Then came one of the highlights of the whole trip: a 68-mile drive along Beartooth Highway. We had read that it's one of the most scenic drives in North America. We were skeptical, being a bit spoiled by our Colorado and Utah road-trips, but honestly, it was truly jaw-dropping. The road itself is the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies. (Colorado's got higher ones. Just sayin'.)

Once again, we miraculously scored the last campsite at Island Lake, considered by Sunset Magazine to be one of the most beautiful campgrounds in the West. We'd have to agree. It was stunning.

It was so gorgeous we considered staying an extra day, but in classic style, we got that itchy feeling and decided to move on.

Back into Yellowstone we went, via the northeast entrance. 

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, viewed from Artist Point. In 1872, Thomas Moran made the canyon famous with his sketches, helping to spark tourism to the area and future conservation efforts.

Lower Falls

No big deal, just another buffalo crossing!

  

 Yellowstone Lake, the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 feet in North America. 

Leaving Yellowstone by the east entrance, we headed east to Cody, Wyoming, to watch the Cody Rodeo. Famous for being one of the longest-running rodeos in the country, it's been going strong for almost 100 years.

We had a great time, although it was definitely like stepping into a different culture to watch 10-year-olds get thrown from angry bulls and trampled, only to limp off the field alone. No one comforted them or did more than a perfunctory check to make sure nothing was broken. It ain't easy being a cowboy, I guess.

Jack's favorite part was getting to go down on the field with about 50 other kids and try to grab ribbons off the tails of two baby calves. (Owen decided to stay with Mommy and Daddy.) He didn't get one, but he got awfully close! I have it on video but can't figure out how to load it here. Grrr.

The next morning we ate breakfast at The Irma Hotel, established by Buffalo Bill in 1902. We couldn't stop staring at this elaborate back bar. Apparently, it was given to Buffalo Bill by none other than Queen Victoria, in 1900. 

After breakfast, we headed over to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. It came highly recommended and wow, are we glad we stopped by. It has magnificent exhibits on the Plains Indians, William F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill"), the geography of Wyoming, and much more. It made Daniel and me want to get some books about the history of the West.

After five days on the road, we decided to head home. It was a fantastic trip, but we were ready to be in one place for a while. 

And no, for the record, we never saw any grizzly or black bears. The kids were hoping to see one from the car. I think my nightly chats with the Spirit of the Bears (telling them I respect their territory and that we were only passing lightly through) may have nixed that dream. 

However, we later learned that four people were attacked by grizzlies in Yellowstone a few days after we left. It's a difficult issue, of course, because the odds of being attacked by a grizzly bear are 1 in 2.1 million, according to the Yellowstone Park website; believe me, this was my mantra. Also, we're talking about a species that used to be endangered and is still threatened. Although grizzly attacks are on the rise, it's almost always a mama bear protecting her cubs. And, as I was telling the Spirit of the Bears, I get that. I respect that.

Grizzly fears or not, we wouldn't have missed this trip for the world. It is definitely one of the most fascinating and beautiful places I've ever visited. 

1600 miles in 5 days. Now that's a road trip.