ardilla on 43 Things

Majestic! Far too much snow to camp here in early May, but the hiking along the base was still amazing, standing so close to these giants and feeling minuscule in contrast to forces much more powerful than our feeble species’ wildest dreams. Definitely a place worth coming back to at a more appropriate time of the year (or with better gear). Jackson Hole was a pretty cool place to visit, though, and I enjoyed spending time there—and eating the ubiquitous Mexican food, of course!

Jun 17, 11:05PM PDT | 2 cheers | 0 comments

visit 43 national parks (and take lots of pictures) (read all 12 entries…)

Yellowstone National Park 2 weeks ago

I know I say this every time, but what an amazing place this is! It truly honors its title as First National Park in America.

What I loved most about this park was the diversity of landscapes & ecosystems. There’s a canyon of bare yellow earth (from which the park derives its name), big falls, the geisers & springs for which it’s better known (a geological paradise!), high-altitude plateaus, big lakes, forests, creeks & rivers, mountains, exposed-rock mountains… and tons of wildlife everywhere… Most notably, I saw quite a few bison (buffalo) & elk, a few black bears and my very first grizzly FAR closer than I cared to see :)

The Terraces at Hot Mammoth Springs were truly remarkable, as was the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Falls, the Geyser Basins, and, of course, Old Faithful. I camped out at Hellroaring Trail right next to the river in an 8-mile hike from the road and a 600-ft descent. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much in the Wild after passing a couple elk carcasses that had been stripped of flesh to the bone by bears & wolves. Really reminds you that we were once part of the food chain and our place in it. I hiked the 20 mi to Gardiner, Montana the next morning right along the Yellowstone River, which was a great hike. There’s so many things to do that I’d have a hard time putting them all in an entry, which is why you should go and check this place out for yourselves :)

After a few days of “roughing it”, I went down to Old Faithful and treated myself to a meal at the Lodge (excessively overpriced and terrible quality—most expensive microwaved food I’ve ever had). Breakfast was pretty good though, and I did enjoy having a few drinks at the bar with the locals (i.e. resort employees). It was a lot of fun to hear the stories of how people from all over the world ended up working there, plus the bartender was hawt! and nice & cool, which is a pretty rare combination, at least in South Florida.

Anyway, I would suggest you make your plans after the 2nd week of May, as there were a few roads closed, quite a bit of snow on the trails, most of the higher elevation areas south of Mammoth were covered in over a foot of snow. A few geysers & pools were also closed. Overall, though, it was completely worth it and judging by how many people were there on the low season, I don’t want to imagine how congested the high season must be like.

Sadly, I forgot my camera so I was only able to take a few shots with my BlackBerry, but you can check those out here

Jun 17, 11:00PM PDT | 3 cheers | 3 comments

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