For so many reasons, today was a pretty great day…
Sunrise at Schwabacher Landing – This iconic location is a pretty special place to watch the sunrise as it illuminates the Teton range to the west. I arrived just as the tall rocky peaks were turning pink with sunlight. A short walk from the parking area provides hundreds of great vantage points, many with a reflection of the mountains in a series of beaver ponds. I even saw a couple of elk on the way out of the parking lot!
Continue readingDo you ever have a day where things don’t go exactly as planned but it ends up being a great day? Today was one of those days.
My plan for today involved hiking to Taggart Lake (and maybe adding on Bradley Lake). Well, *somebody* didn’t check the weather forecast for today. And that same somebody didn’t look outside before leaving the hotel for the day.
Continue readingRide ‘em, cowboy! Any guesses as to what I did tonight? (Hint: it involves horses, bulls, barrels, and lassos.) You’ll have to keep reading to find out the answer.
Today’s post will be short and sweet because I didn’t really do too much. I decided at the beginning of my vacation that this would be a “no rules” trip – I would see and do what I felt like doing and not feel pressure to do things if I wasn’t interested or didn’t feel like it. So after my float trip this morning when I felt like coming back to my hotel room and doing nothing for the afternoon, that is exactly what I did.
I spent a lot of time in the car today. I packed up my hotel room in West Yellowstone this morning and hit the road for Jackson, Wyoming. The highlight of the day was visiting the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
I got soaked by a geyser this morning! The experience was worth every second of the two hours I waited to watch Great Fountain Geyser erupt. And just like seeing the bear, I couldn’t stop smiling afterwards. You’ll have to keep reading to find out how it happened (no, it wasn’t planned!).
Geysers galore! I spent the day wandering around the thermal areas of Yellowstone’s Upper Geyser Basin today. To be honest, I’m a little geyser-ed out at this point. Read on to hear about the highlights!
I saw a bear. End of story.
Just kidding. But I really did see a bear today. It was relatively close to me and super exciting as I was the first to see it and got to point it out to other people. More on that later.
The last time I was in Yellowstone National Park was 15 years ago. On that trip, I had detailed lists of everything I wanted to see and do and what time of day to go to each location for the best lighting. By contrast, on this trip I have only a vague idea of which direction I want to head each day and am leaving the rest up to whatever I feel like doing at the time. Spontaneity isn’t usually my style, but I’m learning to embrace it!
Today I flew two-thirds of the way across the country, crossed the Continental Divide three times, admired deep turquoise and emerald geothermal pools, and watched a couple of small geysers erupt. Yes, it was a great start to the next week and a half in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks… but I am exhausted, so this first blog post will be short and sweet!
Traveling with Laura 