Goodbye to Yellowstone

All good things must come to an end. Like our stay in Yellowstone. To be honest though, after a point we found ourselves comparing each new view and each new natural manifestation. That lake is bigger; this view is not as good as the other; no, this is just a squirrel, I want to see a coyote now; and so on. Quite judgmental of nature, as S put it, and unnecessarily so. In fact it reminded us of the time that, having driven along the interstate highway US-1 along the Pacific coast for miles and miles, enjoying the views of the mountains by the sea (and in my case, hoping not to fly away in the rogue winds), we found our minds wandering and our eyes seemingly telling our minds, 'Yes yes, we've seen this over and over again. Move along now. What's new?'

But I digress. The point is, it was time to leave Yellowstone. We'd seen and heard of native American settlements in and around the Yellowstone area, and thought of looking for some souvenirs. We ended up roaming around West Yellowstone, picking up a few things here and there, before leaving. 

The road back was the same as the way onwards, up to Idaho Falls in Boise. There onwards, the way diverged, towards Boise. 

The route to Boise passed through the Craters of the Moon National Preserve. The name sounds a lot fancier than the place looks! What it actually is, is a preserve of basalt and lava. I took a picture, thinking to myself that it looked just like black mud.

 

We then drove through almost deserted roads, in weather that made us feel more like we were in Hyderabad, than like where we were. When we finally reached Boise later in the evening, the temperature was nearly 40 degrees Celsius. 

We initially did plan to do some sightseeing in Boise, especially in the downtown area. It was just too hot though, and we instead decided to indulge ourselves by eating some Indian food - it had been a week since we'd eaten rice! Besides, one of the things Idaho is most famous for is potatoes. We ate some potatoes in our dinner, and had hash browns at breakfast the next day as well. 

Incidentally, it's been a week since I had tea. :) I am missing my masala chai fix, but managing reasonably well despite that - or so I would think.

Wildlife in Yellowstone

Yosemite and Yellowstone generally vie for the status of the best (perhaps they mean most popular or most magnificent or beautiful) national park in the US. I hate to admit it, but I've now changed sides to support Yellowstone on this.

Apart from its huge size (spanning three states) and the variety of nature that one sees here, there is also the number of species of wildlife that one can spot here. Whilst we did hear a bear in Yosemite - where sightings are still very common - we didn't get to see any real wildlife there. And so we didn't really expect to spot any wildlife in Yellowstone, either. 

And we were pleasantly surprised to be contradicted.

First, there was the friendly bison. Bison seem to be all over the place, and generally quite comfortable with humans around, although the park authorities keep trying to impress on people that they have gored people in the park.

Then there was the marmot. Easy to miss.

We also saw a ground squirrel - looks like the Indian 'Ramar anil' but quite smaller. 

The ravens at YNP were so big, I thought they might have been a third my size.

I also managed to capture on camera two poor little ducklings weathering the rapids in Yellowstone River. 

Saving the best for last, we saw a couple of stags/mule deer, from up close. We got some good pictures too!

We also saw a pronghorn, but we drove by too fast and there was no space to stop and get a closer look or take a photo. :( I also didn't get to see any wolves, coyotes or bears. Better luck next time I hope!

Yellowstone Lake and Yellowstone River

Yellowstone National Park was named after the Yellowstone Lake. The lake is situated at an altitude of about 7,730 feet, and covers an area of about 136 square miles. For context, the city of San Francisco covers an area of about 232 square miles.

We started out near the West Thumb of the lake, as it is called. This is how big it looks!

This is just a portion of the West Thumb! We then drove miles and miles around the lake, and stopped at a few places to take pictures. Photographs cannot really do this lake justice.

The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri river. The river feeds and drains Yellowstone Lake. Practically, we found the river beginning to flow at one place where the lake ceased to be. The river flows gently at places, and at others, forms rapids.

There's also a small-ish waterfall near what is known as the Artist's Point.

There are so many wonders in Yellowstone. I'm already planning to come back!

The Old Faithful and Other Geysers in Yellowstone

From our days in school, we've read about the Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone National Park, a natural geyser that spews water and steam (and H2S) at regular intervals giving it its name. I also distinctly remember seeing so many cartoons (especially Loony Toons) where the Old Faithful made a cameo - usually to erupt, causing an unsuspecting Wile. E. Coyote or Sylvester the Cat to get pushed dozens of feet into the air. The Old Faithful, along with the other numerous geysers dotting this seismically active landscape, remains one of Yellowstone's most famous attractions. It's also interesting trivia that half the world's geothermal activity occurs in Yellowstone.

Before we reached the Old Faithful though, we did stop by and admire a number of other geysers that made bizarrely attractive formations, and had names to match. First stop was at the Fountain Paintpot geysers.

We also caught the Clepsydra geyser just as it erupted...And Old Faithful. A photo won't serve, we must have a video!

Another marvel of nature was the Dragon's Mouth at YNP.

Day 4: To Yellowstone!

This was an exciting day. At some level, the real point of this trip was visiting Yellowstone National Park. We'd heard so much about how beautiful it is, and it was on our must-do list for this country.

The drive through Idaho (from Utah) up to Montana was beautiful, the landscape somewhat different from the previous day. Idaho seemed to have several lakes and creeks of varying sizes, and the view of the Rocky Mountains (I think) in the backdrop only added to make the vistas look and feel like scenes from a Bollywood dream sequence!

We reached the One Horse Motel and then headed out again, after a break, to see Hebgen Lake and Earthquake Lake. Earthquake Lake was formed after an earthquake in 1959, when a portion of a canyon in Yellowstone broke off and a nearby lake and river overflowed to form a new lake. Unfortunately, there were a number of casualties; about 28 people who were camping in the campgrounds pass away.

Hebgen Lake is a beautiful, and huge, lake in Yellowstone National Park, nestled amongst the mountains. There are a few shores from which to access the lake waters, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the waters were clear and not too cold, and also that there were even waves, caused by the winds.

Much more to see tomorrow - Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake, and hopefully some more! :)

Salt Lake City - Apart from the Lake

Salt Lake City also has a couple of canyons around, not all too surprising given the number of mountain ranges and lakes that seem to be around. We visited the larger of two famous canyons - Little Cottonwood Canyon, giving the smaller - Big Cottonwood Canyon (ah, irony? wit?) - a miss. There was an aerial tram ride (sort of like a cable car ride for a large number of people) to the peak, Hidden Peak, which was 11,000 feet above sea level. In a manner of speaking, that's like getting to Everest Base Camp, or so I thought. Everest Base Camp is actually at an elevation of nearly 18,000 feet!

I was a little apprehensive about this, because we were attired to stand in the waters at the beach, not to hike along Everest Base Camp (or a little below relatively speaking). But it was a really hot day (we both tanned, quite a bit) and the weather at the base was very bearable. So we bit the bullet and went along - and it was really quite doable! As much as I'd like to suggest that I withstood Everest Base Camp (or an American version) in beachwear, the temperature was probably not below 10 to 12 degrees at any point in the twenty minutes that we were there. 

After this wonderful achievement, we went back to our base camp, our hotel room. After a short break again, we headed back to the city, to the famous Mormon church around which this city was built. This church was built in the late 19th century, and has been laid out in a number of buildings collectively called the Temple Square. Visitors are also allowed to roam their beautiful gardens, and there are a few visitor centres to provide further information to interested visitors.

Salt Lake City was beautiful! But now, onwards to the Rocky Mountains! :)

The Great Salt Lake

Having come to Salt Lake City, we of course had to go visit the Great Salt Lake. The Great Salt Lake is apparently two to five times saltier than the ocean! This also means that one can float in the lake, quite effortlessly.

We decided to visit Antelope Island, an island in the lake offering great views of the lake, a beach, and some fauna (bison, mainly) to watch. After a couple of diversions (as luck would have it, there was a parade and a part of the way was closed off), we reached the lake around mid-morning. It would be no exaggeration to call the lake and surrounding areas, breathtaking. At many places, the surrounding hills were reflected off the surface of the water, giving the whole place a very surreal appearance.

We also managed to see a bison from very close range. I think the bison there are used to people driving by and taking pictures. Having obliged a few cars on the road with some winning poses, he(?) turned back to his own business.

There's actually quite a long beach to the lake. It's a walk from the edge, and I wonder if that's because a lot of water from the lake has evaporated. Just as we neared the lake, we were attacked by a stench. We had to bear it and try to ignore carcasses of some small birds, mostly ducks. The next deterrent was gnats. Droves and droves of gnats that settled everywhere on the lake, on the sand, on us.

If you get past all that and get into the water, it's warm, pleasant, mostly still, and yes, you do float in the water! At least my foot did. :)

More on Salt Lake City in the next :)

On the Road: Day 3

Day 3 was mostly spent on the road. Contrary to my apprehensions, it was really an amazing drive.

We drove through Nevada on Interstate 80, a freeway that really cuts across that state, and some others, in an almost straight line. It was a somewhat lonely drive (not to be confused with the 'Loneliest Road in America,' a much lonelier road), but perhaps a better description would be to call it a drive with minimal traffic, and spectacular views.

Perhaps the most awe-inspiring thing for me was the vast expanse of land and mountains stretching out on either side of the road, and nothing but nature as far as the eye could see - which was very far. It made me realise the enormity of this country. This was a drive through one of the smaller states, and yet it stretched so far and with so much empty land! I was also amused that crossing over into Utah, we were entering a different time zone - one hour ahead of the earlier one. This also meant that there would be daylight until 9.30 pm!

After checking into the Springhill Suites, Marriott (Salt Lake City) and taking a small break, we ventured into Salt Lake City (the hotel was near the airport, a little away) to walk around and check out the downtown area. There was a very nicely designed mall which reminded me of the Palladium in Mumbai, or UB City in Bangalore. We walked around and took a few pictures there. We also made mental notes to explore a few other places the next day, and tired out, returned to our room to crash for the night.

Road Trip Day 2

So Day 2 was spent in Reno. S calls Reno the "Poor Man's Las Vegas." An accurate description, really. Reno has casinos (including some of the famous names seen on 'The Strip' in Las Vegas) and is in dry, hot Nevada. But it isn't quite Las Vegas. It really lacks the scale, the grandeur of Las Vegas. 

We spent some part of the day at the Peppermill Resort, in Reno. This is Reno's best rated resort/hotel, and it's really apparent why. It's done up very prettily, in an Italian style. I took several pictures of the place...

After exploring the hotel a little (and trying our (bad) luck at the casinos for a bit), we went to a quaint little diner, The Pneumatic Diner, for lunch. This was a tiny almost hole-in-the-wall place which served vegetarian/vegan food, and the menu had a lot of puns. Maybe they overdid it, but the food sure was nice, and we had a great lunch. 

We then went for a walk along the Riverwalk, which is basically a walk by the river Truckee, which runs through Reno. Very interestingly, one part of the Riverwalk is surrounded by a park and natural scenery, and the other part resembles European cities with cobblestone streets, sculptures and art installations and the like. 

We ended the day with a little more walking around within our hotel, all charged up for the long drive to Salt Lake City the next day.

The Chronicles Begin: Day 1

And finally, the day of the trip arrived! 

We had slowly postponed packing hour after hour, evening to morning to evening, and finally reached a point when it could be postponed no more. But being the experienced and thoughtful packer that I am (*cough! cough!), I had everything organised and put together in under two hours! 

So we left home at around 4 pm, on the ostensibly four-hour drive to Reno. We unfortunately got stuck in a lot of traffic, and we'd left the water and snacks in the boot, to boot. It took us nearly three hours to get to a place which we should have reached in half the time! But the skies were clear and the sights were pretty...and we held up. Or should I say Sumanth, being the super driver that he is, held up well. 

This was also an opportunity for us to make a pitstop at Davis (boasting the University of California, Davis). We unwittingly got off the freeway near some downtown-ish area, with cute little eateries and boutiques. It even had a restaurant named "Pacha Mama!" I wanted to take a picture, but didn't want to be *that tourist* clicking everything. Some delicious dinner later (Andhra style yummy dosas, kadala chutney and onion chutney, followed by a huge and yummy cookie), we got back on the route, which by now had cleared up a bit. 

More long roads and pretty sights later, after crossing a section of the Sierra mountains between California and Nevada (it was too dark to take pictures), we finally reached our destination, Reno, post 10.

The hotel is pretty and picturesque. Pictures and more travelogues on that tomorrow! :)