Sunday, September 23, 2018

2018 - Kenya Discovers the Wild West - Days 9 - 13



Day 9 – September 18, 2018 – Mountains and Arches

Spotted Wolf Canyon, UT along I70
We awoke to the sight and smell of smoke in the air as the Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires rage south of here, burning over 90,000 acres. The reports were encouraging, however, because the wind has died down and over 1,500 firefighters are on the scene battling the blaze. So, because of road closures, we were forced to take another route south, which turned out to be the highlight of the day! We headed south to Interstate 70, then east through the Fish Lake Mountain range, including Spotted Wolf Canyon. Oh my, this was absolutely stunning. Elevations ranged from 5,000 to over 7,700 feet; the mountains and valleys varied from craggy and treed to steep red-rock cliffs with little vegetation. From the ear-popping ascents to the dizzying descents, across the red dessert terrain or gazing down deep jagged ravines; from sandstone crowning flat iron cliffs to the red rock of the Colorado Plateau caused by iron oxidation, nature certainly is the best artist ever!! This was a wow, just WOW!

North Window and South Window, Arches National Park
Skyline Arch



Balanced Rock

The fins
We stopped at a wayside for a little lunch. It was breezy but hot at 93 degrees! It reminded Father Robert of Kitui, Kenya, in March or September! It’s probably good to get him acclimated to being home again! And then we headed a bit south again to the entrance of Arches National Park. This, too, is simply amazing. This small rugged area contains a variety of sculptured red rocks created by water, ice, extreme temperatures, the movement of salt underground and a lot of time. Over 2,000 arches with at least a three-foot opening have been categorized in the Park. While driving along we see not only the arches, but many of the fins of red rock (tall thin slabs of rock standing side-by-side without touching), some balancing rocks atop base pillars as well as those formations named for the Three Gossips, the Court House, the Fiery Furnace, Sheep Rock,, Park Avenue, etc. This was so fun I even started naming a few of the formations myself – The king sleeping on a chair, the Angel, the Train, the Buffalo … maybe they’d pay me to name a few more formations!!! Overall, this too is a phenomenal place to see, nature outdoing itself again!

But we’re not done. We then meandered toward Colorado via the Colorado River Valley along the east side of Arches where we continued to encounter steep red-rock cliffs on both sides of us, all with many different formations on or alongside them. It is a long drive, but well worth the scenic beauty. We’re in Grand Junction for the evening, still marveling at the vast array of natural occurrences, in this case, all within a day’s drive from each other!


Day 10 – September 19, 2018 – Canyons and Mountains

Monument Canyon


Coke Ovens


















Right next to Grand Junction is the little known gem, The Colorado National Monument. The canyon rim rises 2,000 feet above the Grand Valley of the Colorado River at a height of over 6,700 feet. It is like a mini-Grand Canyon with its bold and brilliantly colored plateau and sheer canyon walls, the towering naturally sculptured rock all within 32 square miles of rugged up-and-down terrain. The road takes us first zig-zagging our way up to the rim with an absolutely stunning view of the valley and Grand Junction below with another cliff far beyond that. We then circled the rim for about 20+ miles, finally zig-zagging our way back down. In all the red rock grows pinyon pines and Utah junipers. The junipers fascinate me as the roots tenaciously find their way to nourishing soil in the cracks of the rocks, while the fibrous looking trunks twist and turn across the stones. Again, nature’s artistry at work!

Utah juniper
The short walk through the junipers to view Ute Canyon was also fascinating. Under foot were layers and layers and layers of thin red slabs of rock, like they were piled there to build up the cliff. I found this very interesting. And, of course, Ute Canyon along with all of the other canyons and formations were simply stunning. As Father commented, everything is so unique in its own way, unbelievably stunning. Another WOW!

But that didn’t end our day. We drove east along Interstate 70 for about 130 miles in the canyon of the Colorado River. It too was an absolutely gorgeous drive with towering mountains hemming us in on both sides, through tunnels in the mountains, turning right, then left, then right, then left making our way up and then down the rugged terrain. This had to have been an expensive freeway to construct! We left the interstate for the back country to the little town of Kremmling along the upper Colorado River, half way between Steamboat Springs and Vail. Getting here was quite the adventure as we again meandered up and down mountains and viewed many beautiful valleys in this very sparsely populated area. Then, at an intersection of a tiny little village, we ventured onto a 24-mile long dirt road. Being somewhat apprehensive about taking that short cut, the crude little sign on the road assured us that yes, it indeed is a dirt road, but our car will be ok!!!! Actually, it was a great dirt road through more of the beautiful mountains.

We arrived in Kremmling mid-afternoon, so we had an opportunity to just relax – who knew that such stimulating and exhilarating scenery and nerve-wracking roads could be so tiring!! A relaxing dinner at a local brewery completed another wonderful day of dry canyons to high, jagged, lush mountains. Simply amazing – How Blessed we are.


Day 11, September 20, 2018 – More Mountains to the Prairie

Leaving Kremmling, MT this morning, we continued to follow up the Colorado River all the way through the west valley of the Rocky Mountain National Park. While this area is considerably more populated, it is still very beautiful, especially with the brilliantly colored yellow aspen leaves showing their fall motif and the morning sun glistening on the mountain tops. One of the benefits of coming here in the fall is to enjoy the fall colors against the backdrop of the deep green spruce trees and the mountains themselves. Driving through the ravines and canyons, we were literally in the clouds at several points. Father reflected it’s like heaven reaching down and meeting earth!

Once in the park, we were favored with the sight of a few female elk grazing along the roadside, ambivalent to all the attention they were given by us spectators! Unfortunately, that was the only wildlife we saw in the park today. However, the vistas while driving through the park were simply unbelievable. After numerous switch backs up the mountain, we stopped at 10,100 feet to gaze and gasp at the valley below and surrounding mountains. Not only is it a LONG way down, but the terrain is something to behold.



But there are many more switchbacks as we climb above the tree line to the mountain tundra, at one point over 12,000 feet. We’re mighty short of breath up here about now! But, again, the views are spectacular. We stopped at the Alpine Visitor’s Center for a 360 degree view of the area. There is only a six-week growing period up this high, but the thin layer of soil does produce a plethora of low-growing flowers during that time. Because of the temperatures this time of year – the low 40s this morning with a very, very brisk wind – the elk that are generally found here grazing during the summer have moved to lower elevations and the Big Horn Sheep too have found warmer shelter elsewhere. There are still a couple glaciers in the rugged mountain tops as we head downward on the east side of the Park. Once again we admire nature’s incredible handiwork!


Kawuneeche Valley, Western Rocky Mountain National Park

But, alas, one must return to civilization; and Estes Park is a great place to stroll, shop and enjoy a most delicious ice cream cone! As we are now mindful of making our way back home, we traveled on Highway 34 along the gorgeous narrow ravine of the Big Thompson River, again the rugged mountains hemming us in on both sides. As we say good bye to the mountains, we cross the mile-high rather treeless plateau, north to Cheyenne, Wyoming, then eastward on the prairie along Interstate 80. This evening we stopped at the famous western town of Ogallala, Nebraska. We’re staying at the – get this – Lonesome Dove Lodge (those of you who are fans of western movies know what I mean!) and had a delicious meal at the original western town Front Street Steakhouse and Crystal Palace Saloon!! A fitting way to say adios to the Wild West as we meander eastward and downhill to home, don’t you think?!
Front Street of Ogallala, Nebraska


Days 12 & 13 – September 21 and 22, 2018 – Homeward Bound

What is there to say about driving across Nebraska’s prairie on their busy Interstate 80?? Well, there’s acres and acres of corn and grazing land; a few fair-sized cities along the way and the Archway across the highway at Kearney which pays tribute to the freedom of mobility of Americans, recreates the wagon train experience of crossing the prairie, the buffalo stampedes and other iconic westward movements in our country’s history. That’s about it.

Once we leave Omaha and cross into Iowa, we follow the Missouri River up about 20 miles to the beautiful DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. Here we learn that the Refuge is a part of a larger network of refuges devoted to preserving and restoring increasingly scarce habitat for migrating birds. The ranger told us that over a million snow geese landed on DeSoto Lake last fall as they migrated south. How exciting that would have been to see!! Over 1,200 acres welcomes a wide variety of migratory bird species, and beckons hundreds of eagles to spend the winter there. With less than one percent of the original prairie landscape of our country left, they are also working to restore it, especially providing the plants necessary to attract monarch butterflies as they too migrate through here. Unfortunately for us, our timing wasn’t right and we saw no birds!

However, there is a piece of intriguing history here of the great Missouri River; and that is of the steamboat Bertrand, loaded with over $300,000 worth of supplies to be taken up the “Big Muddy”, as the Missouri was affectionately known, to gold miners and settlers in the Montana territory. Unfortunately, it sank on its maiden voyage April 8, 1865, and was quickly covered with mud. Much of the remarkably well preserved cargo, including dishes, glassware and serving platters, some champagne, some pantry staples, some items of clothing, ammunition, mining supplies, etc., were finally unearthed in the late 1960s, much of which is on display at the Visitors’ Center here. It’s fascinating to browse through what life was like over 150 years ago!

Our stay this evening in Sioux City is uneventful –- one more nice quiet evening before getting back to the busy-ness of “real life” tomorrow!

Saturday morning – As we wander home through northwestern Iowa and Minnesota, there are many signs of the tremendous amounts of rain they have had recently. Rivers have flowed over their banks into the ditches and low-lying corn fields, and some side roads that cross the rivers have been washed out. While the weather is a bit cool today, overall we’ve had remarkable weather – no rain, generally quite cool in the mornings but very comfortable during the days except for two days of hot sunshine! Of course, the high elevations and the fact that it is mid-September affects those temperatures as well.

Overall, we have all agreed this has been an amazing adventure. As Father Robert reflected, “It’s unbelievable. Things I’d never see anywhere else. You have to be there to really grasp the Wow factor. A once-in-a-lifetime experience. Out of this world!” While Bob and I have been to most of these places before, it’s been like a thrilling first-time venture, always seeing and experiencing something afresh. We are Blessed to meander through a small beautiful portion of our country with Father Robert. And we are so Blessed by his friendship. As they say in Kenya, “God is good all the time. All the time, God is good!” Asanta Sana









Tuesday, September 18, 2018

2018 - Kenya Discovers the Wild West - Days 5 - 8


Day 5, September 14, 2018 – Geysers, Geysers and Geysers






Our first day of exploring Yellowstone National Park was a real adventure as we meandered down the west side.  There along the cauldron’s edge run the high mountains with sheer cliffs down to the deep gorge of the Gibbon River that at one point gushes down a lovely waterfall. But most of the trip finds us looking at the many billows of steam popping up from the ground. At the Norris Geyser Basin we hiked for almost two miles through a large area of steaming geysers … some just spouting steam, some steaming over brilliantly colored water, some just percolating boiling water which sounds just like a boiling pot on the stove, some just sounding like the wind blowing, and some really giving off that sulfur odor. Today one little geyser was spewing water up 3-4-5 feet for over three and a half minutes, which the local ranger categorized as a major geyser.




Old Faithful
I wanted to stop at the Midway Geyser Basin, but both going down and coming back the parking lot was full, jammed at the entrance and lined up along the road.  We wondered why so many are here in September … don’t people work anymore??  So this little trek will have to wait for another day.  We were, however, in time to see Old Faithful show her magnificence. She was right on time and did not disappoint. 


Firehole Canyon Falls
Another beautiful little jaunt was through the Firehole Canyon Drive which follows the twisting Firehole River. There’s the breathtaking view of the 800-foot high sheer cliffs which tower over the canyon; and, it is interesting to note, the river does not freeze in the winter due to the hot springs beneath it.  That warm water then became the swimming hole in this area. And then a 40-foot falls gushing between the rocks provides a gorgeous picture where one could just sit and be mesmerized for hours!   There’s another wonderful falls on the Gibbon River that cascades down the rocks, the water then meandering through the grassy flat areas. 

While Father Robert had seen a geyser in Kenya, he was amazed at all that we saw today. Again, you have to be here to experience it. This area does have the world’s highest concentration of geysers, and we are privileged to be able to enjoy them. 





Day 6, September 15, 2018 – Canyons and Falls





Today Fr. Robert and I spent the day exploring the east end of Yellowstone while Bob stayed back to rest.  Again, how does one describe the incredible beauty of driving up and down the mountains, the vast expanses of hills and valleys, some yellow with wild grasses, others very green with evergreens? Then there’s the very deep canyons with steep cragged, jagged walls and pillars of stone, all carved out by what looks like a very small river, though we know that the Yellowstone River is not all that small!  We made many stops along the way to soak in the wonder of it all -- the canyon above Tower Falls, the North Rim of the colorful Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, as well as the graceful Tower Falls, then the Upper and Lower falls. 


Mammoth Hot Springs




After a little lunch at the Canyon Village store and purchasing a few souvenirs, we headed back to our place, but not before taking in the expansive Mammoth Hot Springs.  The gigantic chalk-white travertine terraces are created by the interactions of water and limestone. The park information states the terraces are among the fastest changing features in the park, emerging quickly and drying up just as fast.  There are pockets of steam and water spewing out in many places … and it just keeps growing!  The nice thing today was it didn’t seem as crowded … we actually found parking places everywhere we stopped! Even so, Father Robert was amazed at how many people were here doing exactly what we are doing!

Father’s commented that the park offers such a vast array of natural phenomenon, all of which are “out of this world!”  That about says it all. And all of us are so glad we’re able to experience it.


Day 7,  September 16, 2018 – Mountains and Valleys

Trumpeter Swans
This morning we entered Yellowstone National Park once again, backtracking along yesterday’s eastern roadway, but this time continuing past Canyon Village. While still following the Yellowstone River, we encountered Hayden Valley, an expansive plateau of yellow grasses where wild animals are often found grazing.  We did see a lone Bull bison and a few mule deer, and we were very excited to see some magnificent trumpeter swans and their babies on a small lake. We’re told only about 1,500 exist in the entire world! Of course, Yellowstone Lake’s sparkling blue waters welcomes the eye against the yellowing tree leaves, green evergreens and hazy blue/gray mountains in the background. Yellowstone Lake is the highest mountain lake in North America and also one of the largest, 14 by 20 miles.  And it is also over 400 feet deep.  After a brief respite to enjoy the lake, we continue south, over the Continental Divide at about 8,000 feet, and out of the park.  For Fr. Robert, it’s been a once-in-a lifetime experience.  And even for Bob and me, such a mixture of phenomenon and unique vistas are never tiring.










But as many of you know, leaving one National Park here leads right into another, this time the Grand Teton National Park.  While we didn’t take a lot of time to explore, just driving along the winding Snake River and enjoying the jagged mountains rising, without foothills, straight out of the Jackson Hole plateau from 11,000 to almost 14,000 feet tall, most peppered with snow and glaciers, was amazing.  We did stop at several lookouts to take in the panoramic view across Jackson Hole to the Teton Range. As we approached Jackson, there is an expansive Elk Preserve area. Unfortunately we didn’t see any herds of elk, and we surmised they were still resting in the high plains on this sunny, warm afternoon!



The elk antler arches on the four corners of the town square park in Jackson are always a draw. And we were no exception to that draw, stopping to get that picture in front of an arch. All of them were created in the 1960s with elk antlers collected by the local Boy Scouts.  Very unique, as is the western flare of the town with its wooden sidewalks!

The remainder of the day was spent driving west -- twisting, turning, up and down through more mountains crossing through some beautiful valleys filled with ranches and farm fields on our way to Idaho Falls.  It was nice to get here mid-afternoon and to just relax before taking off again tomorrow.  This is indeed a beautiful country!


Day 8, September 17, 2018 – Craters of the Moon and Salt Lake City

Traveling westward from Idaho Falls for over 60 miles, we follow along a high plateau of approximately 5,000 feet that is pretty much devoid of trees but is used for farming and open range grazing.  Large square bales of something yellow, probably wheat, are either stacked at the fields’ edges or still scattered in the fields. Many of the fields are irrigated, but there were a few bright green fields of hay – everything else is pretty much yellow or just sage brush wilderness.  We did note, however, that when some where driving through or plowing the fields, there’d be a huge cloud of dust that could be seen for miles. What really surprised me is once we got to Craters of the Moon, a topographical layout of the area showed the plateau as being only a very small area that is totally surrounded by mountains!


Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a very interesting place.  This 1,100-square-mile area contains basaltic volcanic rock from activity that took place between 2,000 and 15,000 years ago. While most of the lava in the vicinity now has sage and other vegetation growing on it, about a 52-mile area is still quite bare with sharp black lava rocks and cones from fountains of molten gases that shot up into the air (called a’a) or smoother rocks from the flowing lava (called pahoehoe).  Some of the cones are quite large, up to 700 feet; but because the rock is so porous, the lava has pulverized and most have vegetation growing on them. Interesting enough, this entire lava bed was not the result of explosive volcanic activity, but simply lava seeping up from fissures in the earth. 
















From here we doubled back just a bit, then south to Salt Lake City where we stopped to stroll the Temple Square of the Church of Latter Day Saints. It is so beautiful and peaceful there with the gorgeous flowers and landscaping.  The Visitor’s Center has a huge display on the life of Jesus as well as a large statue of Him up stairs where one can sit and contemplate.  The cavernous Salt Lake Tabernacle, completed in 1867, hosts a huge organ with the acoustics such that one can hear a pin dropped in the front all the way in the back.  Of course, this is home to the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It is an amazing building.

We’re spending the night in Provo, hoping to cook up some chicken breasts for dinner; but we couldn’t get the camping stove to work, so a delicious pizza was second choice!  So we’ve had another wonderful day meandering across our wild west and enjoying much different scenery. Most of today was through mountains that were bare rock except for what looked like moss over them and valleys filled with golden grasses speckled with occasional evergreen trees. Even the deciduous tree leaves are turning yellow and occasionally red. A heavy haze rides over the mountains due to two large forest fires raging uncontrolled just south of us. This may change our plans for tomorrow as roads are closed, so we will be praying for the threatened homes and the firefighters as we find a way to work around it.



Friday, September 14, 2018

2018 - Kenya Discovers the Wild West - Days 1-4



Day 1 – September 10, 2018 – Driving Across South Dakota

After a belated start this morning, we spent the day driving down through Minnesota to I-90, then across all of South Dakota to Rapid City, which will be our base for the next three days.  While we’ve driven this route several times before, there’s always something new, memories rediscovered, sometimes boring but mostly interesting.  We drive past acres and acres of corn and soybean fields dotted with treed homesteads, hundreds of grain bins, soy bean processing plants, ethanol plants, and hundreds of advertising signs along the freeway (especially for Wall Drug and Firehouse Beer and Wine!).  Western South Dakota boasts of many hay fields, some just cut and windrowed ready for baling, others peppered with large bales of hay.  All this to feed the many herds of cattle, mostly black angus and white face.


Of course, there was the obligatory stop in Mitchell to visit the world’s only Corn Palace.  Murals of  the area’s colorful history are created from various colored corn cobs, grasses, grains and straw, all from the local area. Every year the motif changes.  It is an interesting site. Once we crossed the Missouri River, the terrain changed considerably to bigger rolling hills and deeper valleys, with trees being a rarity.  It became drier and more rugged as we approached the Badlands. 

This adventure is to allow Fr Robert, our Kenyan friend, experience the beauty of our vast country before he returns home.  When comparing this country to his homeland, he marveled at the large farms, the big herds of cattle and the many ponds (he’s from a very arid area). It seems that with enough water, crops can be grown anywhere.  And, of course, there’s  the excellent roads (I’ve driven on some of their roads … our freeways are great!)!

It was a long day of traveling and we’re glad to be just hanging out this evening.  What a Blessing to be able to enjoy life with a very good friend.


Day 2, September 11, 2018 – The Badlands

Today we backtrack east a bit, first to the infamous Wall Drug.  This  one-block long mercantile and restaurant was  started in 1931 when Dorothy and Ted Hustead purchased the only drug store in Wall, a town they settled in because it was the only one in the vicinity with a Catholic Church where they could go to Mass every day. After browsing through the shops, and little chapel, posing for pictures with a few famous locals (Fr. Robert and the saloon girl, of all people, plus, of course, the jackalope!), we savored our 5-cent coffee and homemade donuts!



Then on to the Badlands National Park.  We drove through the entire park, stopping frequently to soak in the landscapes of peaks, gullies, buttes, the thousand tints of colors along the cliffs and mounds, plus the wide prairies.  Learning about the shaping of this area over millions of years, the amazing findings of fossils of new species that inhabited this area as well as the work being done to restore native animals and grasses to this area was so fascinating.  We delighted in the many little prairie dogs that seemed to pose for us; and a great bonus was spotting seven big-horned sheep on a cliff’s edge!  Then, we no sooner left the sheep on the cliff, that we encountered a mom and baby big-horn grazing along the side the road, oblivious to us humans snapping pictures of them!  And finally there was one lone bison that crossed our path on the way out of the park. These are sites and experiences that will not be found in Kenya. However, the very dusty and bumpy gravel road for the last 20 miles and some of the more arid areas did remind Fr. Robert of his home!





This evening we went to the Firehouse in Rapid City for dinner.  Great food, after which we did the Firehouse wine tasting.  It was a very enjoyable time; and the wine was quite tasty, as we came home with a couple bottles plus two beautiful Firehouse wine glasses!!   God is good … All the time!




Day 3, September 12, 2018 – The Black Hills

Today’s venture found us meandering through the beautiful Black Hills with its high craggy mountains contrasted with the brilliant green evergreen trees.  Hill City has a western flare to it, so it was interesting to walk down the old-time walkways in front of the stores.  Of course, the iconic Mount Rushmore was amazing.  We haven’t been there since it was upgraded with the State flags greeting us and honoring these four Presidents – Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln. No matter how many times we view it, one has to marvel at the ingenuity in sculpturing these men in the mountainside. 


Leaving Mount Rushmore brought us not only gorgeous vistas but up and down a very windy road with several pigtail switchbacks … so fun!  Fr. Robert was amazed at the many, many trees, and even more thrilled at the Needles Highway as we twisted and turned, threading through one-lane tunnels in the granite mountain sides.  The most amazing and one of the longest tunnel is at the top near Black Elk Mountain, where we could get out and touch some of the huge granite finger-like spires which grace all of the surrounding mountain tops and sides. Fr. Robert was as giddy as I was passing so close to these monstrosities! 

We continued exploring the area by driving past the Crazy Horse Monument, which doesn’t appear to be much different than when we saw it 4-5 years ago, or 30-40 years ago, for that matter; enjoying the rolling grasslands, hills and valleys of Custer State Park though no buffalo were sighted and a stopping at a cute grocery store for a little pizza and quiet respite at such a serene site. The difference in geography between yesterday in the Badlands and today in the Black Hills is like night and day … all within 50 miles of each other!  Truly amazing, and it’s been a delight sharing it with Fr. Robert!

 













Day 4, September 13, 2018 – Mountain Tops to Mountain Tops

We left Rapid City before the sun came up, making our way westward.  Our first stop was Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. It was a very enjoyable ride through high rolling terrain, and the wild animals were enjoying it too!  We saw over a dozen deer having breakfast along the road, a couple antelope and a flock of wild Turkeys.  Even without any “close encounters”, the overwhelming star is the giant Devil’s Tower that rises 1,265 feet above the river level, dwarfing everything in sight, which includes the very tall pines ringing around its base. Then as we continued west on I90, we delighted in seeing dozens and dozens of antelope also grazing in the open grassland andalong the road’s edges.  While Fr. Robert had never seen antelope before, they are not unlike gazelles and Impalas, which are plentiful in Kenya.







We veered off the freeway, taking a shortcut to Red Lodge; and boy was this an exciting adventure.  The twists and turns of switchbacks took us up over 9,500 feet in the beautiful Big Horn Mountains.  Brilliant yellow popular leaves in front of deep forest green trees in front of massive multi-colored stone mountain tops provided a stunning picture. Driving along the tops of the mountains provided a variety of vistas of deep valleys, yellow grass on rounded tops all dotted with evergreen trees.  Of course, on the other side of the mountain range, we descended down, down, down by turning this way and that over and over and over again … wheee!  (At least when Bob’s driving.  Father said “wow” a lot, being totally in awe of the sites; but he jokingly says he was praying too that we wouldn’t fall off the steep edges!)







But the excitement was not over.  Once we left Red Lodge, we headed to the Beartooth Pass, which took us to Yellowstone National Park’s Northeast entrance.  If you’ve never taken this route, I’d say it’s a must do.  If the Big Horn Mountains are big and beautiful, the mountains of Beartooth Pass are gigantic and phenomenal! Shimmying up to 10,949 feet along a zig-zag road clinging to the mountain side is no small feat.  The valley below gets smaller and smaller the higher we go, but the jagged mountain tops with scattered pockets of snow become closer and closer and more magnificent.  There are only craggy rocks at the treeless top, and the gusty wind was biting as we took the obligatory pictures by the elevation sign!  And as before, what goes up must come down … and so we did, still reveling in the glory of it all.  This experience cannot be captured on film. It cannot adequately be put into words. It has to be experienced. As Father said, this is simply out of this world and something he probably will never experience again.  I couldn’t agree more.






 The absolute beauty of the mountains, valleys, ravines, lakes and rivers continued as we made our way to Yellowstone and drove across the Park on the north side. As it is getting toward evening, many people in the park were looking for wild animals along the Lamar Valley.   While we were in a bit of a time crunch and didn’t stop to browse, we did see a couple herds of Bison, quite a few elk near the north park entrance and a dozen or so antelope in Gardiner.


So it’s been a long but exciting day.  And to top it off, at our little abode for a few days in a plateau of the Absaroka Mountains north of Yellowstone, we were greeted by a momma mule deer and her three little ones.  They didn’t seem to mind that we had invaded their territory! We marvel at all this beautiful creation in our country; but more importantly we marvel at the great gift we’ve been given to be able to meander through it and savor it!