After a bit of driving we came to Rocky Mountain National Park. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but the road going through the park is quite amazing. Also, the park has more alpine area than any other national park. We took a short walk at the top with epic views in every direction. It was cold in the middle of August and during the winter it must be an incredibly hostile environment.
From Yellowstone we went south through Grand Teton National Park and camped about an hour south of Jackson, Wyoming. The next day we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park by way of smallish highways through southeastern Wyoming, a bit of Utah, and quite a lot of Northern Colorado.
After the Beartooth Highway we camped by Cooke City in what would turn out to be one of my favorite campsites of the trip. The next day we drove across the northern part of the park to the Boiling River, which was open to the public (Unlike when I was there with my sister Rebecca a few weeks earlier) They were doing some work on it though as the Boiling River had apparently “changed course” a little bit.
From Mammoth we went south to one of my favorite spots, the Old Faithful area, where we spent a decent amount of time making fun of how big of a deal Old Faithful is made up to be. We skipped waiting for Old Faithful in order to see the more interesting features nearby.
My old friends the geothermal features were still looking good, as always. I am a big fan of the concept of revisiting places. I’m specifically talking about the natural world but as I sit here in Asheville for the first time in 8 months I think this idea applies to cities as well.
Things are constantly changing with the day to day weather, the seasons, and just the random changes that constantly occur in the universe on any given number of levels.
One of the first things we did on the drive back to Asheville was head east on I-90 for a short while, then turn south onto the Beartooth Highway down to the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park.
From north to south the road goes from the small town of Red Lodge, Montana, to the way smaller town of Cook City, Wyoming.
I had heard a lot about this road but living in Bozeman it isn’t on the way anywhere so I hadn’t been on it yet. It was an amazing way to begin what would be a fairly epic 3000 mile journey back home.
Davy and I did some rock climbing during his brief stay in Bozeman. We climbed Gallatin Tower, 3 fun pitches in the Gallatin Canyon. It was only Davy’s second time climbing outside (the first being when we went the day before) and he handled it like an old pro.
My brother Davy drove an epic 950 miles from Lake Tahoe, California to Missoula, Montana last Sunday. The following day we hiked up to the “M” (putting letters on hillsides is a big thing in Montana) and watched the sunset from Sentinel Mountain.
Starting tomorrow Davy and I will be starting the drive back to North Carolina. It’ll be the first time I’ve been to Asheville since Christmas.
Went for a bike ride yesterday in the Missoula Valley along the Clark Fork River. I brought along the old point and shoot almost as an afterthought, and I’m certainly glad I did. One thing is for sure, you ain’t gonna be takin’ no pictures if you don’t have a camera with you.
We intended it to be 2 or 3 hours and it ended up being about 8. We got a little lost, but I think that is part of the fun of riding a bike sometimes. We’d brought along a decent amount of food and water, but we definitely stopped at the first gas station we saw coming back into town.
Our rides were two newly purchased Long Haul Truckers, the first steel-framed, as well as the first brand new bike I’ve ever owned.
Rock Creek is about 20 miles east of Missoula. It is a nice place to do some car camping, even if you forget your sleeping bag.
The following inspirational message comes from this site.
I stumbled upon the picture yesterday on Reddit, one of my favorite websites as of recent. It is a decent source for news as well as that very special randomness generated by the great provider of the modern era, Ye Olde Internets.
All silliness aside, I do think it is good to keep on dreaming.
(As does Gary Spivey)
Yesterday in Bozeman we had a couple of short but serious storms. In summer the weather around here is typically dry but yesterday was an exception.
I had my camera for the 2nd storm.
These were all taken the same day as the previous post, but unlike the previous post they are not in chronological order.
After a big winter the Going to the Sun Road finally opened a week or so into July.
My sister Rebecca and her boyfriend Scott came to visit me. It was a most excellent time.
Here are some pictures of their first full day here. We drove down to Yellowstone.
