Rocky Mountains

TL;DR: Ventured into Wyoming and toured around Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks 🏔️, watched a territory fight between grizzly bears 🐻, hiked mountains and explored geysers 🥾, got Phoebe bogged 🚐, entered the Midwest and explored the Badlands National Park in South Dakota ⛰️, found wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota 🐴, headed west and made a quintessential campfire 🔥, traversed Beartooth Highway pass in Montana 🗻, visited the City of Hayden in Idaho 🙋🏼‍♂️

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For those catching up, the first blog was in Southern California, and second in the American Southwest. We pick up the action below in Wyoming…

Wyoming

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For context, Yellowstone is America’s (and the world’s) first National Park and is still an active supervolcano. With the last eruption ~640,000 years ago, we liked our chances at missing the next one! So when the gates swung open for the first time since COVID-19 restrictions closed the Park, Sarah and I raced into Yellowstone with giddy excitement. We were both immediately taken by the vivid landscape and were eager to explore as much as we could of the park, which spans a massive 9,000 square kilometres!

Just to the south of Yellowstone sits Grand Teton National Park, which was an unexpected gem for Sarah and I. The incredible sawtooth spires of the Teton Mountains towered over Jackson Lake. They culminated in the 4,200 metre Grand Teton which delighted us daily.

Below are some of the highlights from our time in these two adjoining National Parks.

Geysers

As Sarah and I walked through the cantankerous landscape of the Geyser Basins, which takes its name from a natural hot spring with unique plumbing that causes the periodic eruption of boiling water into a towering display, it felt like we were traversing another planet! Yellowstone contains half of the world’s geothermal features, so there was much to explore. Highlights of the Upper Geyser Basin included “Old Faithful” (erupts 32,000 litres of water 50 meters in the air every 90 minutes), Grotto Geyser, and the Morning Glory Pool. We were fortunate enough to time our hike to see the Grand Geyser erupt – a fountain geyser that threw water 75 meters into the air for 10 minutes! As we hiked Geyser Basins from the safety of the human-made boardwalks, we did feel torn that this was not how nature intended the experience of the geysers.

The Norris Geyser Basin – the hottest basin in Yellowstone – was unlike most other geysers due to the acidic rather than alkaline waters. This resulted in porcelain-like colour patterns which were novel and a joy to hike around. The nearby “Artists Paintpots” spring certainly lived up to its name. At the time, I thought I’d even be able to come up with a half-decent work of art with the melting pot of colours at my disposal! A favourite of ours was the Grand Prismatic Spring – the third-largest hot spring in the world and largest in Yellowstone. Sarah and I sat for hours and waited for a gust of wind to hold the steam at bay long enough to reveal the full beauty of the landscape. The fiery orange, gold and brown thermophiles radiated in a full circle from the yellow-rimmed blue hot pool, a view we truly savoured. The Mammoth Hot Springs reminded us of Inca terraces with its travertine stairs, only white due to the limestone deposits. The earth has worked tirelessly for thousands of years create beautiful experiences for us to enjoy.

Our senses truly came alive when we explored the geysers of Yellowstone. The earth’s surface bubbled, oozed, gushed and steamed around us at sporadic intervals. The sulphur smell which early explorers referred to as the “Smell of Hell” was ever-present, but worth enduring.

Grizzly Bears

Yellowstone and Grand Teton are known regions for bears, so we were well and truly in bear country, which put Sarah and I on high alert. It also gave us a heightened sense of anticipation as an encounter with this wild and intimidating creature, whether a grizzly bear (a subspecies of brown bear) or a black bear, would be an unforgettable experience. We always had the camera at the ready, right next to the trusty bear spray – an aerosol can that operates similar to a mini fire extinguisher!

We were incredibly fortunate to see a dozen or so bears, all grizzlies, in the week we spent in Yellowstone and Grand Teton! Our first experience was in almost darkness as we drove to camp on our first night – we sat and watched the bear munch away by moonlight and whispered to each other how special the moment was. Whispered being the keyword, we were conscious of startling the bear and disrupting its natural environment. Each morning, Sarah and I woke before sunrise returned to the same general area as the first bear we sighted to have breakfast. This area affectionately became known to us as “Bear Alley”, and we enjoyed the company of two small male grizzly siblings on two other occasions.

The bear experience of a lifetime came as we drove to camp early one evening after a day’s hike in Grand Teton … a close encounter with a grizzly bear and her two cubs! With absolute presence, we watched the family happily eat the green grass on the side of the road. And we could not have predicted what happened next … a territory fight and chase scene between the mother bear and a rival female! Phoebe safely shepherded us along as the chase weaved through the forest and up and down the hills. Phoebe somehow managed to park us up several times right where the bears came out in the open and near the road again. The videos we captured are a better snapshot of the experience than photos. Regardless though, the memories created will stay with us forever.

Sarah and I felt so fortunate to be able to experience these bears in their natural habitat. It also reinforced our belief the protection of the environment is paramount so we can co-exist, and the balance of nature can continue for generations to come.

National Park Hikes, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Hayden Valley, Lamar Valley, got Phoebe bogged

Between the two National Parks, there was over 2,000km of trails to hike – so plenty of options for Sarah and I to plot our way around. The most memorable hitout was a trail in Grand Teton called “Hidden Falls to Inspiration Point”. The 15km round-trip with 500m of elevation change, certainly lived up to its name, with an incredible summit high above the blue waters of Jenny Lake.

Sarah unexpectedly provided her own memorable moments on the hike. As I like to be prepared, I packed my trekking poles whilst she didn’t. This turned out to be a terrible miscalculation by her, as snow covered the trail (and trail signs!) halfway up the mountain range. So the hike quickly became an off-piste adventure. I loved the crunch under my shoes and the challenge to carve our path up the mountain, the entertainment Sarah provided with her lack of traction was just a bonus! After getting my fill of entertainment, I very generously gifted her one of my poles, and we made our way back to Phoebe with no significant injuries.

The freedom Phoebe provided us to experience remote locations was one of her best qualities; whether it was sunrise/sunset over Yellowstone Lake, to give way to local traffic (i.e. bison), or simply to ensure the coffee with breakfast was always hot, and the evening beer was cold when venturing through Hayden Valley. My namesake valley was where Yellowstone resembled the land beyond the frontier, as herds of bison, elk, and pronghorn meandered through. Hayden Valley is named after the geologist who led the first survey of the region and convinced US Congress to establish Yellowstone as a National Park. We felt privileged to experience what felt like the real wilderness and raised a beer in gratitude to the early pioneers for carving the many paths that we were able to follow.

The Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona was unfortunately closed due to COVID-19 restrictions when The Grand Tour passed through; lucky though we still had the “The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone” to experience! Carved from erosion by the Yellowstone River into a classic V-shaped valley, it greeted us with a spectacular rainbow over the Lower Falls as we explored the South Rim and hiked the North Rim. Sarah carried a tree branch on this hike for what she figured was extra bear protection. However, its only use was to give her a massive scare when she forgot about it and thought the rustle of the branch was an actual bear. I provided little comfort in this situation as I laughed so hard I was almost in tears!

Lamar Valley, in the northern part of Yellowstone, felt like America’s Serengeti given the abundance of wildlife. Sarah and I watched the bison, pronghorn and elk graze peacefully on the grass, which was a nice break from the continuous driving. We hiked the valley, constructed bridges to cross tributaries of the Yellowstone River and then found ourselves right next to a herd of bison. But the absolute highlight of our time in Lamar Valley was an encounter with the once extinct grey wolves. Hunted to extinction in the early 1900s, the wolf restoration program reintroduced this magnificent creature back to Yellowstone in 1995. It was fantastic to see the result of this conservation effort with our own eyes, and what a sight it was.

Sarah and I camped in the National Forest just outside the Parks each night. We found a beautiful spot with panoramic views of the Teton Mountains. We watched elk cross the river, wild horses roam the valley and birds of prey circle. Each night, I drove Phoebe a little further off the beaten track to get deeper into nature. My confidence in her grew, and I was now sure that she could take us anywhere! However, a snowstorm on our last night in the area resulted in the first (and only, I might add) time Phoebe got bogged on The Grand Tour. This was certainly no fault of hers, as we weren’t equipped with heavy-duty snow gear. Phoebe would rightfully have been disappointed in us.

I should have noticed the writing on the wall when I had to powerslide the Big Girl through mud to get into the camp spot for the night. I reassured Sarah with enough subtle throttle control, I could extract her in the morning. The heavy overnight snow foiled my brilliant plan, and while I was able to navigate Phoebe out of the camp spot successfully, her four tonnes of momentum took over and carried us off track and into deeper mud. I dug and toiled for a couple of hours as Phoebe slowly gained traction. Sarah expertly acquired sticks and rocks to continually jam under the back tyres to further solidify her footing.

We almost had Phoebe out when some locals in an F250 truck burbled down the muddy track. They had camped nearby and also found themselves bogged. The predicament we had embroiled Phoebe in was somewhat vindicated by this! The locals offered a tow, so with snatch strap attached, she gracefully finished her extraction process. I gave them a typical Australian thank you, beer, and Sarah made me promise never to get Phoebe bogged again!

The sheer diversity in wildlife and landscape we were fortunate enough to experience is the memory we will hold on to most from our adventure here. Thank you, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, thank you.

State of Wyoming

The drive north through Utah, Idaho and into Wyoming provided a few memorable moments, such as being stuck the middle of a cattle muster, the world’s largest elkhorn arch and our picturesque camp 75km south of Jackson. It was an idyllic spot with Phoebe parked up next to the Palisades Reservoir. The snow-capped mountains across the water painted a beautiful backdrop and reminded us we were deep in the Rocky Mountains. Jackson Hole was one of our favourite locations to refill Phoebe’s vitals – water, fuel and propane. The vibe of “J-Hole” really resonated with Sarah and I. It felt like a quintessential ski town, oozed cuteness and provided lots of tasty treats, chief amongst them our first BBQ of The Grand Tour.

Between the East gate of Yellowstone and the frontier town of Cody was a drive that, for both Sarah and I, was utterly mesmerising. It is known locally as the North Fork of the Shoshone National Forest, and Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt once called that stretch of highway the ’50 most beautiful miles in America’. I found myself in complete agreement with Mr Roosevelt, as the road flowed effortlessly through mountain ranges, thick forest, and green valleys carved by the Shoshone River.

We continued east towards South Dakota and spent an afternoon immersed in ~180 million-year-old Dinosaur tracks from the Middle Jurassic Period. Called the “Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracks” they were predominately made by Theropods (three-toed dinosaurs) on what was once the shore of the Sundance Sea. I felt like a Scientist for a day as I placed my hand on the limestone next to this snapshot of history, and preceded to analyse and hypothesise what the dinosaur tracked represented.

Devils Tower National Monument was the last significant adventure in Wyoming. The 265m butte was formed around 50 million years ago as magma from the Earth’s mantle welled up between sedimentary rock, cooled and then condensed into columns. It is, therefore, an igneous rock formation. It boggled my mind it wasn’t visible for millions of years, only as water and wind slowly eroded the landscape did the intrusion emerge. If I had my rock climbing kit with me / Sarah would allow me to “Alex Honnold” it, I would have climbed Devils Tower, but instead settled for a circumnavigation of the structure.

South Dakota

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Again, Sarah and I felt like we were on a different planet, this time in The Badlands, which is the translation from “mako sica” or “land bad”, the Native American name for the area. It was a place of contrast for us, in daylight the twisted spires and pinnacles looked grey and faded, but in early morning or evening light, pale yellow, deep burgundy, and light pinks emerged. I guess that’s why photography enthusiasts called this period of daytime “golden hour”! With a degree of trepidation from Sarah, I parked Phoebe up on the edge of a cliff to soak in the incredible views over the vast landscape (reminiscent of The Lion King), and we were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow one evening!

As we explored the corrugated walls and the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States, there was little evidence of humankind. This situation naturally called for a singalong, with The Lion King’s “Circle of Life”, the obvious choice. I’m sure the perfectly sung harmonies alone carried Phoebe through this leg of the trip. We enjoyed a 20km loop hike through the open plains and bizarre formations. We sat and watch a family of mountain goats climb and play in what seemed to us a precarious situation, but the sheer drops on either side didn’t seem to faze them!

Wind Cave National Park, State of South Dakota

Wine Cave was the first cave in the world to be designated a National Park, but it was just a lot of hot air to us as there wasn’t a breath of wind around! It’s also one of the longest in the world with 250km of explored passage and the strong wind gusts at the small natural entrance is how the cave got its name.

A road trip through the Rocky Mountains wouldn’t be complete with a visit to the nearby Mount Rushmore to see Messrs Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. Crazy to think that four hundred peopled toiled for 14 years to create the monument. Finished in 1941, they produced a solid piece of craftsmanship which has stood the test of time.

In my mind, Phoebe was brilliant in every way possible. If I was pressed to find a limitation, it was the limited supply of potable water she could carry. This meant very short, lukewarm showers, so a swim at Cascade Falls, a natural hot water spring was a welcome change for us!

North Dakota

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Sarah and I were big fans of Teddy’s park, as grasslands and badlands collided around the Little Missouri River. The land’s native grasses supported an ecosystem of bison, prairie dogs (which are basically extra-large rodents who constantly have a good chin-wag with their neighbours), elk, and some rare wild horses. The hoodoos and pillars with capstones, formed by eroded sandstone and soft clay, of the badlands landscape provided the perfect juxtaposition and scenic camp spots.

It was the wild horses that captivated us the most. There was just a raw beauty to them and clearly an excuse for me to play an Australian anthem, Daryl Braithwaite’s “Horses” on repeat (video of singalong available on request). We had it on good authority from a “local expert”, there are only 125 wild horses in the park, and Sarah and I reckon we saw just about all of them!

Montana and Idaho

The camp Sarah and I made in Southern Montana the night before we tackled the epic Beartooth Highway was one of our most memorable. We navigated the forest terrain to a secluded spot right next to a cascading river, fuelled by snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains. The steep gradient down to the river called from some innovative chocks – firewood and granite rocks did the trick! With Phoebe level on her “stilts”, the American sized beer in our camp chairs by the river never tasted so good. And I had plenty of it to consume as well! I’d purchased a few cans of what I thought were regular-sized from a local brewery. As it turned out, “regular” in this part of the world meant tins the size of my head! To cap off this perfect situation, I made our first campfire of The Grand Tour. Primitive emotions stirred that evening as we sat and enjoyed the simple pleasure of the fire created with our own hands.

Beartooth Highway is a 110km section of US Route 212 only passable in summer months due to heavy winter snowfall. As we drove East, I tried to convince Sarah that Phoebe handled like a sportscar to give her confidence as we tackled the steep switchback route with a sheer drop the entire way up. After 2,000 metres of elevation change in just 20kms, we felt like we reached the rooftop of the Rocky Mountains! It was the right way for our time in this part of America to come towards the end because we continued East towards the Pacific Northwest with one essential stop along the way. Tucked into the state of Idaho was a quaint city called… Hayden! I loved what I had done with the place, and I’d even built a lovely lake for a spot of fishing.

Up Next on The Grand Tour…

After the Rockies, Sarah and I went on to explore the Pacific Northwest and then trace the Pacific Coast Highway south to California. Blog posts of these adventures will come soon, but first, we need to skip ahead to Greece, the next destination on The Grand Tour to share some exciting news. So watch out for that in the next post!