If I had to use word association for this trip, I'd say Badlands = vast, lonely, fierce; Yellowstone = science, move, cool; Grand Teton = beautiful. Like so beautiful it hurts your soul a little bit. Grand Teton seemed to be less about the see and more about the be. It was for us at least.
By the time we left Yellowstone, I was ready to relax. Maybe it was because we didn't have as much on the agenda here, or because we spent the first day basically eating and lounging simply because we were too beat for anything else. Or maybe because I had it in my head after reading Trip Advisor that many people retreated to the Tetons to just be after tearing ass around Yellowstone.
Fall was much more apparent in the Tetons than it was in Yellowstone, and the atmosphere in general was very laid back. It was a nice coasting ride into the park.
Fall splendor entering the Tetons, lunch at Jackson Lake Lodge, a stop at Chapel of the Sacred Heart
Our place to just be was Signal Mountain Lodge - I did a lot of research and am so glad I chose this one. We had lunch at Jackson Lake Lodge and were in the Jenny Lake Lodge area and none of them had better views than we had or proximity to the lake. Signal Mountain had a great down to earth vibe.
I really loved the staff at Signal Mountain Lodge, the rooms themselves, their commitment to sustainability, the food in the Trapper Grille (we ate there for two dinners, a lunch, and a breakfast), and the toiletries, believe it or not. I ended up hunting them down online and ordering them. The room was pricey for my standards ($374/night), but it was for our anniversary and it was worth it. I'd save up to stay there again in a heartbeat.
Thursday morning we took a scenic cruise ($70/PP) on the Snake River run by guides from Signal Mountain. Chris was informative and funny. We were on the cruise with a couple of ladies from Kentucky who were smart and witty and a retired guy from Long Island who was a freaking forensic scientist when he worked. I tried to keep the CSI/Criminal Minds questions to a minimum as he was out trying to enjoy nature and not discuss dead bodies, but I couldn't resist a few. He did say Patricia Cornwell has it pretty realistic. Anyway great group, lots of conversation, plenty of laughs, and phenomenal views.
After that, MFD suggested we do a little hike. We ended up taking the boat across from Jenny Lake and hiking up to Inspiration Point. We are novice hikers. I thought I'd die on the way there. But we did it, and we made the boat back by the skin of our teeth. It was exhilirating and really tiring. I took zero pictures the entire time but MFD snapped a few. At least the views were really beautiful when I had to pull over and rest every 50 yards. High altitude is no joke. I don't do well in it. I loved how I felt at the bottom though - loose and on a natural high.
Boat ride over / me at the top of Inspiration Point / Jenny Lake
We tooled around after that, stopping at overlooks to marvel at the grandeur of the Tetons from all angles.
We headed out of the park to get to Mormon row. The infamous barn roof is under construction as you can see in the first shot. Can you imagine settling in the backyard of the Tetons? Yeah this spot looks good.
We ended the day by driving up to the summit of Signal Mountain. Wonderful views of the valley and glimpses of the sun setting behind Grand Teton.
And saw this show back at our room:
On the way out we stopped at the Menor homestead and saw a moose! MFD almost crapped his pants he was so excited. I had tears as we were leaving. I was just so grateful for everything on the trip, and to end it in a place of stunning natural beauty was just the absolute icing on the cake.
Last photo bottom left - Moose! Directly next to that is the cabin where Grand Teton National Park was voted into conception, and the rest of the photos are Menor's Homestead
The Dirty Details:
Days 7 & 8: Grand Teton
Hotel: Signal Mountain Lodge Upper Lakefront Cabin ($374/night tax included)
Day Nine: Teton checkout and day in Jackson
Hotel: Elk Refuge Inn ($207/night)
I definitely expected things in Teton and Jackson to be further apart based on how far things were in Yellowstone. That was not the case. We definitely could've stayed another night at Signal Mountain and made our way to the airport relatively easily, although it's a little less of a straight run than it was from Jackson. It is also definitely feasible to stay in Jackson and go to the park each day without missing much in terms of drive time.
If you've read the road trip series all the way through, thanks for traveling along with me. If you're considering any portion of the trip and would like to discuss hotel or money particulars, let me know. I am going to do an overarching National Parks trip blog about things that were important for me to know or things I didn't know and wish I did sometime in the future, so look out for that.
MFD tagged me in a post with this quote on Facebook, and it can sum up this trip perfectly:
“The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to experience an exotic landscape, to risk the unknown.” ― Paul Theroux
If this was a travel blog I could easily write a simple and clean post every day for a month straight on Yellowstone and still not run out of material. For the past week I've dreaded writing this post and with good reason - as you will see below, it lacks cadence. I should've written it when we were there, because now that we're back I lack the time and discipline as a writer to describe the experience in words.I don't feel like the pictures I took were adequate enough to really show what it was like in front of my face, so I actually didn't take as many photos as I thought I would. I will use what I have to share trip snippets.
There are some things in life that should just be lived, and this leg of the road trip is one of them. How many times can I say it was cool or amazing? Infinity. If you get a chance to go to Yellowstone, please go to Yellowstone. It was the coolest and most fun science class I've ever been to. Sometimes I looked at what was in front of me and wondered if I was still on earth or if I slipped onto another planet.
The days were long and full but the daylight hours seemed to have a fluidity and rhythm that allowed us to do and see more than I thought we'd be able to. Yellowstone seems like the type of place that you could go to every day of your life and never discover everything there is to discover there. You have to be open to receive the gifts of the universe that are in front of you - the fleeting glimpse of a wolf far off in a field in the late afternoon, a mule deer eating quietly to your right in the early dawn - and let the day happen.
Here are some of our happenings.
Northeast Entrance/Lamar Valley
We drove in this way under a sky so pretty it looked fake. MFD got in with some wolf watchers immediately in the Lamar Valley. It felt like such a different world already.
Canyon
We drank strong coffee and watched the sunrise over the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We marveled at the upper and lower falls and delighted in finding an artist painting at Artist Point.
On the ride from Canyon to Mammoth, we passed the Calcite Springs and pulled over further on for a little hike. We split up on the path so I could indulge my obsession with photographing the dead trees and MFD could read every plaque along the way. It was before noon and the sun was warm. We were surrounded by nothing but air and sky and intense quiet. And a herd of buffalo.
Mammoth
We drove out through the Northeast Entrance to see the Roosevelt gate under construction. We wound along the Gardiner River on the way back and parked to take it in.
We also saw the 45th Parallel.
The Travertine Terraces rose before us like something out of an ice age Star Wars.
Hotel rooms in Yellowstone have no TVs. So our nightly entertainment the night we were in Mammoth was the elk rut. I sat in the middle of a field at a picnic table. I had to dodge eight tons of elk poop to get there. As I watched the Bull elk charge cars and people who were too close to him, terrorize other males who tried to enter his territory, and screw all the females in the vicinity, I felt like I was in the middle of an animal soap opera. When they say step cautiously around buildings in case wildlife is in the area, they definitely mean the Mammoth cabins we stayed in.
Norris
Just south of Mammoth on the way to Norris we saw The Golden Gate (rocks that make up the canyon walls shimmer like they have gold in them) and the Hoodoos (massive boulders that are pieces of a mountain that have fallen over the years).
Norris Geyser Basin and the Paint Pots, where we encountered our first tons of steam. We attempted to walk over to the Obsidian Cliffs but a tatonka didn't want to allow us to pass.
We took the Firehole Canyon Drive to see the beautiful Firehole River and Firehole Falls. MFD climbed down to the rapids, of course. I sat at the top taking photos and idly wondering what I should do if he fell in.
Madison
This is what I came to see. Grand Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin. I must have taken 100 pictures here. It was like seeing an oasis and is definitely the coolest thing I have ever seen in person. It looked different every time the wind blew. It was mind blowing. If I could've seen nothing else in Yellowstone aside from this, I would be okay with that.
Old Faithful
If you go, make sure you go in and look around the Inn. It's pretty cool. By the time we got here, I ran out of steam on the day and wasn't looking forward to the 1.5 hour drive to Lake for the night. We had lunch in the Dining Room with 800 tour bus people, then did a little bit of walking around the OF Geyser Basin, but not too much. I think I may have said how many times can I stand and wait for geysers to blow today? Old Faithful is going off on the first photo below. We stood in the back to watch it and it was awesome and not crowded. The picture of the buffalo in the front of it is where you'd see it from one of the crowd areas.
MFD hit his head quite hard on the wooden horn on the bottom right on his way into lunch. That's what you get for walking while looking at your phone.
For those of you who like video, here's Old Faithful:
Lake
After a 1.5 hour drive and a room change, we found ourselves dining with a view at the Lake Hotel, which is definitely the most civilized accommodation in Yellowstone. We thought it was too stuffy. I did enjoy my first half hour of alone time during the trip and it was bliss.
After sunrise on the lake and a proper breakfast, we stopped at LeHardy's Rapids on the Yellowstone River.
Mud Volcano area...I freaking saw mud bubble in the earth. It was totally awesome. The insane smoke is what I think broke my camera, prompting a roadside shitfit after I took the last two photos in the bottom left.
Luckily MFD had a shitty old spare camera with him so I wasn't totally screwed. We carried on through the Hayden Valley, spotting wolf along the way, and wound back to Sulphur Cauldron and ended up in the Fishing Bridge area for lunch.
The rest of the day and sunrise time the following morning was spent just being at Lake Yellowstone. We were down at the Lodge end and it was pretty deserted.
Forgive my inability to do right by you in writing, Yellowstone. Thanks for seeing us out the south entrance with Lewis Falls.
The Dirty Details If you are contemplating a National Parks Trip - be prepared to book and put deposits on rooms IN Yellowstone a year in advance if you want rooms in the park. All Yellowstone lodging options can be accessed via this site, but you should call and talk to them. They're nice and really helpful. Things in the park are farther apart than you think they are.
Day 3: Drive from Sheridan, WY, stopping at Little Bighorn. Take the Bear Tooth Highway into the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone. About 1.5 hours to the hotel from the entrance.
Hotel: Canyon Lodge Western Cabin ($194/night)
Day 4: Canyon to Mammoth via Roosevelt. Out the North Entrance to see the Roosevelt Arch and check out Gardiner, MT; Mammoth Hot Springs (45th Parallel, Boiling River, Travertine Terraces)
Hotel: Mammoth Hot Springs Cabin ($173/night)
Day 5: Mammoth down to Norris - Norris Geyser Basin. Madison - Grand Prismatic Spring. Old Faithful Area. About 1.5 hours to Lake from Old Faithful.
Hotel: Lake Hotel ($221/night)
Say 6: Yellowstone Lake, Hayden and Pelican Valleys, Mud Volcano, Sulphur Cauldron, Fishing Bridge,
Hotel: Lake Lodge Western Cabin ($221/night)
Day 7: Exit Yellowstone through South west entrance (see Natural Bridge, West Thumb Geyser and Lewis Falls on the way out) into Grand Teton.
Tooling around South Dakota and Wyoming, I felt the spirit of America out there. Not the politics or the government or the bullshit - but the beauty of the land that America the Beautiful describes in its lyrics, the old and true wisdom of the Native Americans, and the spirit of the frontier - the enterprise, the work, the cunning, the determination. It was like sitting next to the heartbeat of America. I kept imagining what I'd think of the news out of the big cities if I grew up there, and I couldn't really wrap my head around it. But that's a post for another time.
Both of us were astounded by the beauty of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. I guess it's just not something we think about much over here on the east coast, but the landscape we saw on the road for 10 days made my heart swell. Simple and complex, vast and empty, mountainous and flat, stark and open, so many different kinds of beauty.
Every time I plan a trip, I need to account for some MFD wild cards. This trip was no different but this day stretched us. The original plan was to leave the Badlands, see Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse, and drive about 3.5 hours to our hotel for the night to get a good rest before getting up early and getting to Yellowstone. When I do my itineraries, I estimate times we'll spend in places and use Google maps to see how long travel will take. Here's the story of how this day went down much differently than planned.
We left the Badlands a few hours earlier than anticipated but had to stop by the side of the road so MFD could work where there was cell service a few times. We got to Mt. Rushmore in about the time we thought we would (2 hours from the Badlands) and spent about 20 minutes in there. You really don't need more than that unless you hit it at night, when they do a ceremony and light that baby up.
While we were on the way to Rushmore, MFD got a wild hair up his ass to get to Deadwood. I was all what the hell is in Deadwood? but said okay, this is what road trips are about - side trips off the route. We figured out the route and proceeded to Crazy Horse from Mt. Rushmore. It's right down the road, not even a half hour away. If I had to do this again, I would've photographed it from the side of the road, which you can absolutely do. We wandered in the little museum (lots of contemporary pieces in there, not old stuff) and were out in about 15 minutes.
We proceeded on to Deadwood, which took us about an hour and a half from Crazy Horse with a few stops. We had to take in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota a little bit. The drive is so pretty it doesn't even feel long. No drive out there feels long in the daytime, there's so much to look at as you're driving.
Pactola Lake, Black Hills
We arrived in Deadwood to the entire town under construction, it seemed like. It was a dirt road all the way in. We paid $5 to park, walked through some buildings, and came upon a fake looking Main Street. No wonder it's fake, the town has burnt almost totally to the ground and been completely flooded since its inception and had to rebuild both times. We did a tour in the Number 10 Saloon where Wild Bill was shot and killed. It was so awkward, just a few of us in a basement room with one of the workers telling stories, while wearing a corset costume, seemingly reluctantly.
We wandered around town for a little and got some coffee, but it felt sad there. Like a lot of drinking and gambling and pretending to be old west sad. So we headed back to the car.
MFD pressed ahead with another wild card: Devil's Tower. An hour and a half from Deadwood, it was worth it. The light was perfect and you could feel that it is a sacred space. We spent some time here, walking up to the lookout to see the valley. It was awesome.
HOWEVER...when we got down and out, it was like chasing daylight. It was over 2.5 hours to our hotel. We saw open road and the sunset on the side of nowhere, Wyoming.
We stopped at Hertz in Gillette, WY, to add further collision to the car because good Lord the animals out there in the pitch black night. This relatively short drive felt like it took forever. I had the wheel in a death grip and was afraid to do the 80 MPH speed limit because I couldn't see jack shit. It literally felt like we never got any closer to our destination. When we finally did arrive, I made MFD go inside and just had a moment alone out in the parking lot. Sometimes you need a few deep breaths - harder to get in the higher altitude - and a minute alone.
We hadn't eaten lunch or dinner, so we ended up eating vending machine food in the hotel room at 11 p.m. That's life on the road, man, when you're in a hurry to see see see and forget to eat. That was the last time we made that mistake.
The dirty details - if you'd like a full trip itinerary, please comment below or email me at lifeaccordingtosteph@gmail.com
Day 2: Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Black Hills, Deadwood, Devil's Tower. Continue on a few hours into Sheridan, Wyoming before calling it a night.
Hotel: Hampton Inn Sheridan in Sheridan, WY ($137/night using AAA rate)
See Roadtrip: Badlands National Park
Up next: Little Big Horn and the Beartooth Pass into Yellowstone
When we stepped outside at the Rapid City, South Dakota airport, I thought huh...there's really nothing here. That's true and it's not. South Dakota sits back, secure in its beauty and the sites and secrets it holds, and waits for you to come to it. It does not come to you. It doesn't attempt to seduce you with fancy brochures. But you find yourself imagining a life as Laura Ingalls Wilder soon enough anyway.
Our first stop was in Wall, at the infamous and tacky Wall Drug, a must for the tourons out there. About 45 minutes from the airport, Wall is a one horse tourist trap town with meh food in the Wall Drug cafeteria but plenty of people watching opportunities. I adored its little stone library, and there was a little free library rack outside too.
Then it was on to the Badlands after we stocked up on gallons of water and some jerky, nuts, and protein bars. There was a temporary road closure, so we cut through to the back end of the park on a dirt and gravel road (Sage Creek Road). We immediately encountered a shit ton of prairie dogs, some antelope, and some buffalo...and not much else. Wide open spaces, indeed. There weren't too many other people around the first three or four hours we were in the park.
The Badlands are harsh, lonely, and beautiful. It was like being dropped into a prehistoric era except we had electronics and a car. It is not a place where man is king. Weather, animal, earth, and sky are king there. Standing up on the bluffs, I felt how vast the world is, how old the earth is, and how insignificant this life is in time and space. There are very few times when it's good to feel small. This was one of them. To visit this place is to be instantly humbled and aware of your tenuous grip on a tiny strand in the universe.
We stopped at overlooks around the loop road of the park before pulling off to do some hiking at Pig Dig, an archaeological site. We kept it relatively short and took a lot of water with us - it's like the Sahara out there. We saw a lot of interesting rocks, awesome colors, and heard the telltale rattle of a snake so we beat feet the other way. We did some climbing (MFD more than me, of course) and really enjoyed being pretty much alone in the middle of the Badlands.
We continued to loop around the park and checked into our hotel as we got closer. When it comes to National Parks trips, you are limited with your hotel and dining selections if you're staying inside park boundaries. We lucked out with this one. Great views, quiet, and not a bad room.
The food at Cedar Pass Lodge wasn't bad either - the bison burger and ice cream (made at South Dakota State University) were awesome. But enough about the food - here's the sunset.
We were up and out by 7 the next morning to stop at the few places we wanted to see but were unable to get to the day before. On a trip like this, you can't be lounging around wasting your mornings. When there's a lot to see, you're just burning daylight.
MFD did some more climbing and I just stood on a rock taking in the enormity and the silence and the skies that changed by the second.
I know MFD felt like he could spend more time there, but I feel like we got a good overview and that it's definitely doable in what amounts to about a 10 hour day. I loved staying overnight in the Badlands - the stars were incredible and I saw the freaking milky way, right in front of my eyes. My neck hurt from looking up. I'll keep that photo stored in my mind's eye forever.
The day we drove out, actual tumbleweeds were flying across the road. Laura Ingalls Wilder, can you hear me? I made it. Next up: the day we saw everything. The dirty details - if you'd like a full trip itinerary, please comment below or email me at lifeaccordingtosteph@gmail.com
Day 1: PHL - Rapid City, SD with a layover at O'hare in Chicago. Arrived in Rapid City at 10:23 a.m. Rental car from Hertz, picked up right in the very tiny Rapid City airport. Stopped for lunch in Wall then on to Badlands National Park by 1.
Hotel: Cedar Pass Lodge in Badlands National Park
Day 2: Badlands until 9 a.m.
In my head the whole time?
Light's out tonight Trouble in the heartland Got a head-on collision Smashin' in my guts, man I'm caught in a crossfire I don't understand
But there's one thing I know for sure, girl I don't give a damn For the same old played out scenes I don't give a damn for just in-betweens Honey, I want the heart, I want the soul I want control right now
Talk about a dream, try to make it real You wake up in the night With a fear so real You spend your life waiting For a moment that just don't come Don't waste your time waiting
Badlands, you gotta live it everyday Let the broken hearts stand As the price you've gotta pay Keep pushin' till it's understood These Badlands start treating us good
Linking up with Kristin and Joey for Stuff & Things
