It's now Monday morning and I'm sitting at home in front of a real computer. I've gone through the blog and hopefully have added pictures. I'll quickly go over the last couple of days of our camping trip.

Thursday, the 20th, we played tourist: saw all the things one should see around Old Faithful. When we arrived at the area, Old Faithful was actually just beginning to erupt:

Sawmill Geyser:

Castle Geyser on right and Old Faithful on left:

Grand Geyser:

And other geothermal phenomenons:

After spending all day doing this it began to feel like "if you've seen one geothermal event, you've seen a hundred." So we bade Yellowstone a found farewell and headed to the Tetons to see how things would be there. In a word it was SMOKEY. We thought it was bad in Yellowstone, but the Tetons were twice as bad. We did find a nice camp spot in Colter Bay. As we were checking in the ranger said that one of the campers had seen a bear walk through their camp site an hour before. I'm glad we sleep in the Beast!

Friday morning we headed over to Jackson Lake Lodge to get a cup of coffee and look across the Willow Flats to the Tetons. It was so hazy you could barely see that there even were mountains there. It's so disappointing; normally the Tetons are awe-inspiring. But, we decided to go for a hike anyway - one that didn't rely on the views to be great. We went to Lupine Meadows trailhead where folks climbing the Grand start out. We didn't take that route, instead went to Bradley Lake - a 6 mile round trip hike. It was nice, but the air just felt thick with the smoke. We did get some nice views of the Tetons:

 But, decided it was time to head south and get out of the smoke.

We ended camping at a National Forest camp spot somewhere between Jackson Hole and Salt Lake. It was a nice spot - lots of camping places but very few campers. We talked with a couple of the other folks there and they, too, had left the Tetons due to the haze.

Here's our last night camping:

To sum it up, we had a wonderful trip, saw amazing things, did great hikes, had fabulous meals and the Beast did well. Plus, I had the best companion imaginable to do it all with. Steve, after two weeks, 1800 driving miles and 80+ hiking miles, thanks for another trip-of-a-lifetime.

First off, I have to say "I'm in heaven!" I've just had a shower and it was wonderful!! (It is the little things in life.) Next, I've just realized that none of the pictures I've dutifully been adding to this blog (otherwise it's like a picture book without the pictures) have actually shown up on the blog. It shows that an IPad is definitely NOT a computer. So, sorry. When we get home I'll see what can be done about it.

Although to tell the truth, yesterday there wasn't much to photograph. We left Mammoth Tuesday morning and found a camp spot in the Tower Fall camp area. We then went off to do the Mt Washburn peak, which is suppose to have the best views of Yellowstone. Have I mentioned that there are 6 fires presently going on in Yellowstone and there are fires in all the surrounding states? It's important to remember that. We hiked up and up 3 miles on a dirt road to get to the lookout on the peak. Surprise, surprise the view was minimal due to all the smoke in the air. Here's the one picture we got up there.

We did then go to see Tower Fall, right across from our camp area and it was lovely:

And the Yellowstone River was nice:

But that was about it for Tuesday. We did have a wonderful spaghetti dinner with artichoke hearts and fresh rosemary. Today was a different matter. We moved to the Granite Village area and the drive down was amazing. We stopped to see the Lower Falls

And then in the meadows saw a herd of buffalo off to the side of the road. Talk about cars stopping. But it was very cool to see them up close

After getting our camp spot Grant Village we headed over to Riddle Lake, about a 6 mile total wonderful, flat hike. It was a beautiful hike with meadows, old trees, new trees and a lake at the end. 

We did see a bear paw print by the far side of the lake. It's kind of wild to think that in the past day or so we were walking where a bear had also been

After the hike we went over to the West Thumb Geyser Basin and saw the thermal stuff one should see in Yellowstone.

Now we're sitting at camp, enjoying a cocktail after a wonderful shower. Tomorrow we're off to see Old Faithful.

Monday morning we woke up to find out we had slept in a very pretty place - it was dark when we got here.

Initially the morning had low hanging clouds and was a bit chilly, but by the time we'd had our coffee and eaten it was a lovely day. So we headed off to Yellowstone (a mile away) to first get a camp spot, then do some exploring. Last night as I was going to sleep I heard lots of yip-yip-yippings. Do coyotes yip?

Anyway, we found a spot in the Mammoth area campgrounds. It may be the worst place we've camped in ever. The place itself is OK; flat (important for sleeping in the van if one of us doesn't want to end up squishing the other or both of us sliding off the bed), the bathrooms are clean and, of course, the views are great. BUT, they built the campground right where the main road of the park makes a sharp U-turn. So, there are cars and trucks traveling on either side of the campground all day and night. It's like living in LA.  But, enough ranting.

We decided to go hike Bunsen Peak (named after the guy who invented the Bunsen burner) and Osprey Falls - a nice 10 mile loop. At the start of the hike was a small pond and an osprey was flying above us. All of a sudden it tucked its wings and dove into the water. It came up empty beaked, but so cool to see. We took it as a good omen for the hike. We made it up to the peak.

Passing through areas where the 1988 fire had gone through. It was interesting to see how quickly new growth comes back.

We then went over the peak and down the other side to reach the falls. Somehow we missed "the sharp left at the burned out tree" (did I mention we'd been hiking in a burned out forest?). All was not lost; we didn't see the falls but hiked in a beautiful mountain meadow and had amazing views. We probably hiked a bit over 7 miles. Maybe we should have paid attention to the empty beaked osprey...

After the hike we decided to go back to camp, rest for a couple of hours, let the crowds subside (have I said how busy Yellowstone is right now, in September? What's it like in the summer?) and then hike over by the Mammoth Hot Springs area. In my hiking book is mentioned a trail off the beaten path.

So, that's what we did. The hike is suppose to be a nice, leisurely trail to hot springs off the boardwalk or to Beaver ponds, round trip about a mile. We start hiking at 5:30 and it is a beautiful evening. After a bit, we realize we've definitely hiked at least a mile in one direction and haven't seen a hot spring or beaver pond, but have been walking in a lovely forest. All of a sudden we hear an elk bugling, and then another. What a great sound to hear in the middle of the forest. After going off trail a bit and waiting patiently we, see one of the bull elk. What a great sight. Eventually he moves on and so do we. But, almost as soon as we turn around to head back there's a coyote on the trail. It doesn't hang around long, but was wonderful to see. We hadn't done the hike we had planned on, but what an experience we had.

We did get back to the hot springs and saw the obligatory sights.

Steve thought this looks like "The Scream" by Edvard Munch (maybe he was inspired by it??)

Then it was back to camp for dinner (a Mexican concoction) and bed.

OK, I've realizes a third flaw when blogging, camping and traveling. Turns out Canada is another country and I don't have an international cell phone plan - go figure! Verizon would have been happy to sell me time, minutes, data plan or something, but I just turned everything off. We're now back in the States and I'll briefly catch up.

Friday morning we left the Many Glaciers lodge.

As we were driving out of the park, once again cars were parked on the side of the road and a black bear was lumbering along on the far side of the river. Again, too far away for a picture, but I think she was telling us good bye.

We then headed out of Glacier and went north to go to Waterton Park in Canada. It was a beautiful drive with the Plains to our right and the mountains to our left. When we got to Waterton, we found the only camp area still open in the park, but they had lots of spots available. This camp area is not very pretty itself, few trees, lots and lots of RVs and trailers, but the view of the mountains and lake were fabulous.

It was late in the day so we did a short hike (1.5 miles round trip) up Bear's Hump. From there you get a great view of the town and Prince of Whales Hotel.

The wind was whipping, but we managed to not get blown off.

That evening Steve made a wonderful dinner.

And we went on a short walk to some nearby water falls.

Saturday morning we took a short cruise to the other side of  the lake to hike to Crypt's Lake, an 11 mile round trip hike. When we had been hiking in Glacier lots of folks had bear bells (including me) as they hiked to "warn" the bears that  humans we're coming. Steve said he thought it was just the dinner bell for the bears. I liked wearing mine. Anyway, the boat captain made an announcement about how to stay safe in Bear Country. Yup, you guessed it, he made fun of bear bells! I was crushed! But, then he went on to say that what bears really don't like are songs by Barry Manilow. I then spent most of the hike trying to think of his songs - and failed miserably.

There are 4 waterfalls along the way

A ladder

A tunnel

And a steep climb with a cable to hold on to

To get to the lake.

But, it was gorgeous and Steve got to try out his new water filtration gadget.

The hike back was just as pretty. I like up-and-back hikes; I see things that I don't see hiking in.

The boat was back at 5:30 to pick us all up and back to camp we went for a spaghetti dinner and sleep. One thing different we noticed about camping and hiking in Canada were the number of dogs.  They were everywhere, but incredibly well behaved! We hardly ever heard one bark, even when deer were wondering in the camp park. Steve thinks we should send Sadie up here for some lessons; I'm afraid it's just us. 

Sunday morning we had a nice leisurely morning, enjoying our coffee and breakfast. We loaded up the Beast and headed south to Yellowstone. We got to the North Gate at about 8 pm and the ranger said all the campgrounds were full. But, he told us of a nearby camp area in National Forest lands. We found it, had a well deserved glass of wine (or two) a tuna fish sandwich and bed.

This morning we woke up to very cloudy, inclement looking day. Not sure what will do...

It's now Friday morning and I've discovered a flaw about blogging while camping. Well, actually two flaws. 1. The IPad doesn't work well without power and 2. The blog doesn't work well without the internet. So I now have a bit of catching up to do.

Wednesday morning when we woke up it was 32°. Yikes - I guess winter is coming up to the north. Anyway packed up and left the St. Mary's area of the park and headed up to the Many Glaciers area. Within a couple of miles cars were pulled off to the side of the road - and you guessed it - there was a momma bear and two cubs way up on the hillside eating away and ignoring the gawking people down below. They were too far away for a picture, but what a great welcome.  I had forgotten to mention that when we first came onto the park Sunday night a coyote crossed the road. How cool is that?

Anyway, back to Wednesday morning. We found a camp spot in the middle of a big camp park. But, there were enough trees around and people are very respectful of other campers that it was OK. We checked out our hiking book and decided to do the Grinnell hike and managed to start before noon (11:45) so we felt pretty good.

Once again, all I can say are that the views are spectacular. We chose to go to the Grinnell Glacier as opposed to just the lake, and I'm so glad we did; although at the top it was a bit breezy and cold. It was about 11 miles round trip, but worth it.

We did have a ram Big Horn sheep join us on the trail for awhile and saw a heard or two off in the distance. Towards the end of the hike were some ptarmigans.

And there were the oddest looking plants. They reminded Steve of the Lorax.

That night we had taco salad, a lovely fire

And bed.

Thursday morning we decided to hike the Iceberg Trail.  It had been closed previously due to "bear activity" but was now opened (and we have our bear spray and bear bells). It was 10 miles up and back, and I hate to sound like a broken record, but it was gorgeous. 

Who said you had to go to the Antarctic to see icebergs?

Thursday night we had planned to sleep at the Many Glacier Hotel

And it was wonderful.  Nothing like a nice warm shower!  Also, they had electricity and wifi. Hence, the blog.

We're off to breakfast - then on to Canada.