Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Waterfalls of Yellowstone


Yellowstone has many amazing water features, including so pretty awesome waterfalls.
The Yellowstone River runs through the park
creating the Upper Falls
and the Lower Falls
(Where's Papa?)
We checked out:
Lewis Falls,
Virgina Cascades,
Gibbon Falls,
and Tower Falls.
Some require a bit of hiking, while others are just off the road.
(We were a bit worn out by the end of this day).
Either way, we recommend checking out the awesome power of Yellowstone's waterfalls.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Yellowstone

Next up on our National Park Tour was:
Yellowstone!
There is so much to see and do at Yellowstone.
We checked out:
Old Faithful
(Lucked out on the timing and got there just before the steaming water shot into the sky- awesomely powerful).
Fishing Bridge,
(it was a fairly easy 3 mile round trip hike, peaceful through meadows and forests).
Yellowstone Lake,
(132 sq. miles, the largest high altitude lake at 7,733 ft above sea level, but it does freeze over in the winter).
Midway Gyser Basin, with amazingly colored pools.
Grand Prismatic Spring,
(I love how you can see the colors of the pool in the steam)
(amazing colors made by living microbs, that like the different warm- hot temperatures).
Bubbling pools of sulferic mud (stinkkky).

Mammoth Hot Springs.
Even played baseball at the Continental Divide.
(We played a lot of baseball).
Treking around the park, over so many geological wonders, you feel as the earth below your feet could erupt at any moment, definetly on the edge!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Grand Tetons National Park

The first National Park of our tour:
The Grand Tetons.
Absolutely stunning. Mountains jutting straight out of the valley floor (no foothills to disguise the grandeur). 
Waterfalls bring the snowfall down into pristine mountain lakes.
Storms that move in and our with amazing swiftness.
We explored the drive through the park,
played some baseball by the lake,
saw Moose (real and fake)
and found a nice place to camp.
"wake up AK, time to play"!
The next morning we really wanted to be out on the water, 
so we rented a little motorboat for a few hours and did some great exploring from the water.
AK really enjoyed the boat ride,
I would have liked it better if I didn't have to wear that bulky life vest.
But just give me some food, and the bumpy waves put me right to sleep.
The Grand Tetons are stunning and amazing, if you're heading to Yellowstone, take the short drive down to the Tetons, very worth it!!!
More to Come, JB!