You thought THAT was snow, plus the un-beautiful game - when sport isn't a delight

From Awesome David

Saturday, 23rd September

Off we went, goodbye Yellowstone and another one of those LONG drives, this time through the potato fields of Idaho. They just stretched on and on, until we hit the border with Utah, and decided to take a detour into the City of Logan.

We had some lunch and then went looking for signs to take a photo of Logan with. Unfortunately, there weren't any great signs, and Logan was wanting to get moving so we arrived in Salt Lake City with plenty of time to get to the stadium for the soccer game between the Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake.

Logan standing under a City of Logan sign

Logan standing next to the Logan Visitor Information sign -
the visitor information wasn't open on Saturdays!

The drive between Logan and Salt Lake City was beautiful, we drove and drove and the mountain ranges loomed... and then the city traffic appeared.

Shear patterns in the rock, North of Salt Lake City

Beautiful colours in the rock

A Ford F150 pickup pulling a caravan and a trailer of ATVs on the freeway

We didn't really get an opportunity to see the city, because our accommodation was up in the mountains nearby. We were staying in the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics Lodge, and unseasonably, we had a blizzard of snow!

The snow is falling

Logan, Jonty and I had a soccer game to get to, so after agreeing with the boys that they would be my navigators to the game, we carefully wound our way down the mountain and entered the city in heavy rain.
It wasn't too hard to find the stadium. Parking was a different issue! We drove around and around, got in trouble with the police for stopping on a crosswalk, while throngs of people walked around us.
Finally, I played the tourist card and mentioned how far we had travelled to get to the game. The lady managing the parking very kindly let us into the permit-only parking area, and we entered the stadium a couple of minutes after kick-off.
By this stage, it was pouring with rain. It took us another five minutes to find our seats and we sat down drenched in our outside seats.
To sum up: it was cold, it was wet, and the Sounders did not play a good game. We were Sounders fans among a sea of Real Salt Lake fans, and when the Sounders went down 0-2, it wasn't a great experience.
The drive home was terrifying, because we couldn't see the road markings - it was now dark and there was heavy rain in the city, and then the blizzard on the mountain and the danger of black ice.

We all fell to sleep cold and exhausted, but safe.

On a positive note, I found out that the boys are great navigators. Thanks guys.

Grand Tetons, grand indeed.

From Astonishing Jane

Friday, September 22nd.

We woke up, it was snowing, and the sky was grey and cold and miserable. But, with only one day left... We thought we'd at least drive to the Grand Teton National Park, to have a look and try to see a bear or a moose or something. Two hours later we made it through the gates. When the road sign said bumpy, wow it means off road, bounce, bump, huge pothole, and Jonty saying, go faster Dad!

Wondering if we picked the best way, all fears were allayed once we saw a long line of cars pulled up on either side of the road and two Rangers. What's going on? Bears!

So long as we could pull over with all wheels off the road we could have a look. We saw trees rustling and ears popped followed by a little black head. Bears!

  

One of the bear cubs in the tree!

Photos taken, memory card run out, back in the car, bounce, bounce and finally a real road appeared.

We joined a ranger to do the Taggart Lake walk. It was really awesome and a chance to reflect upon nature and a great reminder not to just be on a race to see that next thing you saw on a blog of ESSENTIAL things to see. It was an area carved by glaciers. Metamorphic rocks abounded. The colors of the trees, rocks, forest floor, the sky... Amazing.

Snowy covered tetons

This is the Grand Teton (the big one)

Glacier fed streams with HUGE weathered boulders

The colours were amazing.

As one of our tasks on the Ranger led walk, we were given a  different colour to try and find as we walked, and then name it in a Grand Teton way.
Jane - Hiker t-shirt Green
David - Autumnal ground cover
Eliza - Glacial Blue
Logan - Burnt rock Petunia
Jonty - Sunny blue skies

 The walk was great as it moved between stream to low grass land to mountain terrain. It was wet to flooded in some places, thanks to the recent snow. The rocks were beautifully weathered, and stunningly coloured and it was a delight to see so many metamorphic rocks - gneiss especially.

Taggart Lake

The mountains from which the glaciers came

Grace, our Ranger, signing the kids Junior Ranger books as doing a ranger lead programme was an essential part of getting the badge.

Me and Logan working on his Junior Ranger booklet.

Autumal leaves are spectacular and delightful.

More mountains, more lake.

 The walk was so lovely, and so breathtaking that we lost all track of time and made it helter, skelter into the next ranger station 15 minutes before they shut up shop, with Eliza and Jonty far from finished the essential items to complete the Junior Ranger work.  Extremely graciously, all were awarded their badges and/or patches.

We then went further up the park to try and spot wildlife. Another ranger (with spectacular eyesight, it appeared) was set up with a mighty telescope and binoculars, but it wasn't all that exciting with too many people all trying to spot the same two elk and one bald eagle.

Worried that the snow would mean more roads closed in Yellowstone, we headed home. No one had a real idea of what roads would be open, it was too isolated to get any internet info. When we checked as we left that morning you couldn't get from one side to the other.

The map we checked time and time again over the week at Yellowstone. 

The top of Grand Teton connects to the Southern Yellowstone gate, and we needed to get to the West entrance. Driving in Yellowstone at night involved snowy mountain passes and roads potentially harbouring large mammals such as bison and elk. One travels slowly, alert and carefully.

It's majestical!!

 From Awesome David

Thursday, 21st September
The snow was falling in the morning again, so the family took a while to get out of the door. Also it was clear that new jackets would be required for the children to agree to further outdoor activity. Fortunately jackets and gloves could be obtained without too much difficulty or cost from West Yellowstone.

With three much happier children, we continued our journey towards the Grand Canyon Falls of Yellowstone.
Oh... my... goodness. The enormity and beauty of the canyon was breath-taking. As we carefully made our way down the trail; we could hear the roar of the falls increasing; we could feel the snow flurries fall from the needles of the Lodgepine pine trees; and we could breathe in the fresh, crisp air; building our anticipation of the final panorama.

The upper canyon falls in the distance from the top of the trail

Eliza, Logan and Jane standing at the top of the Canyon Falls trail

The upper Canyon Falls

A now-warm and lovely looking Eliza standing before the upper falls

Lodgepole pine forest growing from the eroded walls of the canyon,
oxidised red by the canyon river

The immense, beautiful walls of the Grand Canyon

Jonty before the canyon river

Jonty and Eliza at the lower Canyon falls as we look down the canyon

The lower Canyon Falls seen from above

Awed by the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Looking up from the bottom of the trail

The top of the lower Canyon Falls 

Snow melting on a twig of a Lodgepole pine

We then continued our way around towards Yellowstone Lake and had the fortune of passing the Hayden Valley - a large flat plain, created by a glacier. I had watched a documentary in the past that showed bison migration across this valley.

Seeing the valley in person, covered in snow was awe inspiring.

The Hayden Valley

As we drove alongside Yellowstone lake, we stopped briefly to check out the boiling mud

Surging, heaving mud that sounded like ocean surf

The Black Dragon's Caldron (sp.)  sounded just like a boiling witch's pot

The snowflakes got so large at this point that I had to put away the camera

Continuing our drive around the lake, we were so excited to see a couple wolf cubs walking along the side of the road - clearly having wandered too far from their mother.

We had no plan for dinner at this stage, and still needed to drive for a couple of hours to get out of the park. As a hungry family, we were so happy to pull into Grant Village, and stop for  a fabulous dinner at the Grant Village Dining Room.

After a dark, snowy drive home, and watching the eerie blue eyes of the bison staring from the fields, we collapsed into bed.

Cornhole KING!!!

15/9/17
By:Amazing Logan

Today we drove from shoreline for four hours until we got to Spokane, we went to Spokane because 1 we wanted to see our cousins and 2 we needed a place to stop off at for a couple of days. The drive was long and occasionally we stopped of at rest areas to stretch our legs. When we were our at our cousin Cole's house they brought out the cornhole game boards and beanbags. Before dinner of delicious soft tacos we decided to play a couple of rounds of cornhole. Every single game I played I won, sinking that small beanbag in the tiny hole at least 5 times every game. The aim of the game was to try to get the beanbag in the hole, if you get it in the hole you get 3 points but if you get in on the board you get 1 point also you are allowed to cancel points by landing it on the board or getting in in the hole. My toughest challenge had to be my mum. At one point I gave away 6 points. Nearing the end the score was locked at 13-13, then mum got 1 point to make it 14-13 at the end of the game it was 14-15 to me. I am the CORNHOLE KING!!!!

This is a corn hole board

    

Movie vs Reality

From Splendid Eliza and Awesome Logan

Red barn, white fences. Everything is like the movies; you are the only car on the road you see irrigation machines that are more than a mile long and there are hay bales every where, like every farm you see will have like a million hay bales. When I say there are no cars there really aren't any cars. You probably think that there are no cars just for filming, and if you thought that you are wrong.    

We didn't get a picture but this is what it looks like on the american country roads

Also when driving the roofs are so sloped because of the snow, again just like the movies.

I feel the earth move, under my feet

From Awesome David

Wednesday, 20th September
Today we headed further into the park, and experienced even more. No additional snow had fallen overnight, so we felt excited as we drove towards Old Faithful. 

The drive on the road was an opportunity to see more of the wildlife, so we were thrilled when a bison bull crossed the road ahead of us. 

The bull as we drove past

Bison bull after having crossed the road

It is enjoyable to just slowly drive along and stare in awe at the sights.

Old Faithful is somewhat more of a tourist attraction; however, there are some absolutely stunning sights once you begin walking around the boardwalks.

The ground moves when the geysers erupt; we see the steam and feel its warmth; we smell the volcanic gases; and we are in awe of the vibrant colours that are generated by the different microorganisms that are able to survive and thrive at different temperatures.

The Steaming Pool (note the bison footprints all around)

Jane looking at Old Faithful erupting (taken from the Steaming Pool)

Mineral runoff from a hot spring

The Grant family on the Old Faithful geothermal field

Eliza standing next to the Spasmodic Geyser - an
interconnected thermal system

The entrancing beauty of The Old Tardy Geyser

Logan and the Old Faithful (top left) field - taken from the Observation Trail

The Solitary Geyser (minutes before it erupted)

Logan and the Heart Geyser

A bull bison near the hot springs

The strange siliceous sinter deposit pattern gives the Anemone Geyser its name

After a very full day of walking around, we began our journey back home. Everyone made me turn around to stop at the famous Grand Prismatic Spring, and it was worth it!

Also the kids got very excited when a bull bison walked out in front of the car.
Yellowstone is a truly moving place!

Jonty and the Excelsior Geyser

The Grand Prismatic Spring - note how the steam acts as a prism to refract the colours in the pool

Jonty and bacterial mats surrounding the Grand Prismatic Spring

Bacterial mats surrounding the Grand Prismatic Spring

Jonty and the Opal Pool

,

The Grant family and the Turquoise Pool

Jonty and the hot spring runoff from the Excelsior Geyser

The earth speaks in languages not understood;

yet the creatures in this vast ecosystem

can understand its meaning -

a land alive,

groaning and worshipping,

in prayer to its divine creator