Teton Village tram revisited

We made plans to meet with our ex-neighbor Paul who moved south of Jackson, WY several years ago. We had lunch at The Granary, a beautiful restaurant with delicious food and an amazing view of the valley below.

Here we are on the balcony overlooking the valley.

After lunch we drove to Teton Village for our second trip up the tram to the top of the mountain. Fortunately this time the day was clear, and we were able to see the beautiful sights all around. As a bonus we saw a mama moose and baby as we went up and again going back down the mountain. Unfortunately we couldn't focus in and get a picture. The tram goes up about 4,000 feet to the top at 10,450.

It was an awesome view looking all around. We could see the Grand Teton from the east side.

As we were enjoying the view we saw several tandem paragliders making their way down the mountain. I thought that would be a very exciting thing to do.

After the tram ride to the bottom we inquired about the price of paragliding. Sticker shock syndrome hit us when we saw the sign - $275 for the flight or $375 for flight with dvd. This was for a 20 minute glide! So that's an adventure we'll pass up this summer.

Since we were driving back through Jackson, another cowboy town, we decided to walk around the city and stay for the 6 p.m. shootout at the town square. We enjoyed seeing the stagecoach going through town.

They closed off a section of the street and about a dozen actors portrayed a skit about the good guys and bad guys getting into a fight as may have happened in the frontier days.

One of the cowgirls did some shooting.

And of course the bad guy was shot.

We enjoyed the show and then made our way north through the Grand Tetons back to Old Faithful which was about 100 miles away. We really enjoyed the day.

Hike to Tomato Soup Hot Spring

We saw a notice on the bulletin board from a man from another store who was taking a moderate hike to Tomato Soup Basin. The name intrigued us and with the word "moderate" in the description we decided to give it a try. When we got to the meeting point there was a total of 14 people from all over the park ready for the hike. We took three of the young folks from Taiwan with us on the 5 mile drive to the parking area. There wasn't actually a trail so you had to know where you were going to find the Tomato Soup spring. We would never attempt it ourselves. We started out walking along Rabbit Creek.

We passed some very colorful water. We were told the color comes from bacteria and algae.

We came across a few little waterfalls.

All along there were hot springs of various sizes and colors. Our guide called this one twin ponds.

And this one was named lattice pond where trees had fallen in different directions.

It was interesting that not too far from the cool creek were other areas with water bubbling.

We had two hills to climb to get to our destination. This is the first one.

And this is the view from the top.

We rested for a bit and enjoyed the scenery and then climbed the next hill. We had to make our way through pine trees and were glad that our leader knew where he was going. Along the way were beautiful wildflowers.

We were amazed at how many hot springs appeared here and there as we walked along. There were probably many more that we did not pass.

We finally found our way to Tomato Soup and yes it did look like a big bowl of bubbling soup. There were lots of comments about crackers and grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it.

The trip back down the hills was much easier. We followed a different path and saw many other beautiful sights. This was one colorful hillside.

And a dragon fly sat still long enough for us to get a picture.

It was an interesting, enjoyable, and exhausting 4 mile hike, and we were glad that we got to see scenery that we would have never found or attempted to find on our own.

Videos of Ziplining

Here are the videos of our ziplining adventure. If you click to view full screen, press esc to get out of it. If you have any trouble viewing please email and let us know since we are just rookies at this. The first video is Dan's first zip.

Next is Diane

This one combines the previous one and walking up to the last platform.

This one is Dan's last zip over the river.

This is Diane's last zip over the river.

Ziplining at Big Sky, MT

We decided in the middle of the week to go ziplining at Big Sky, Montana with another couple. On Saturday morning it was cloudy and the weather forecast was for a 60 percent chance of scattered showers. It wasn't the bright sunny day we were hoping for, but we took off on our adventure. As we drove north the clouds were thick in the distance. Big Sky, Montana, about 100 miles north of us, is a winter ski resort and also a summer resort with every outdoor activity imaginable. When we arrived we were sent to the gear room where we got outfitted for the adventure.

There were three guides who explained the whole process of what we would be doing, and showed us the three zip lines that we would be going across. We would be harnessed at all times. We felt safe and were ready to go. After we climbed to the first platform I looked down and said "Who's bright idea was this?" We all laughed and felt a little less nervous. There was a family of four with us and they went first so we got to watch. Then it was our turn. We could either step off or jump. I chose to step off the first time, but Dan jumped. That little spot in blue is Dan.

One of the guides was at the other side to help us land.

For the next zipline we walked up a long straight ladder to another platform. From that platform we saw the ladder that we would be climbing up next.

So we zipped across the second line. That time I jumped off. Since we had straps across our legs we were actually sitting on them so we didn't need upper arm strength. We held on to the straps in front of us, and they guided us along. If we wanted to turn in one direction we had to turn the strap in the opposite direction. But the ride went so fast that I didn't have time to remember which direction I wanted to go! After everyone completed the second zip we made our way up to the last platform. I made sure I didn't look down and told myself "one step at a time." The last zip was the most fun probably because we got familiar with the process and we were going across the Gallatin River. (This is where the movie A River Runs Through It was filmed.) When I went down I brushed the top of one of the trees. What a thrill!

Here I am at the end.

Then it was Dan's turn.

We congratulated ourselves at the end. We made it and didn't get drenched by rain.

Our friend Bob took some videos, and we attempted to insert them in this blog. So far we were unsuccessful but will continue to try and post them once we figure it out.

After the zipping we drove to a park and had a picnic lunch by a babbling brook. We then drove to Ousel Falls where we were planning to hike to the falls. Our luck with the weather ran out, and it began to pour so we drove back to Old Faithful.

On Sunday we took a hike to Tomato Soup Hot Springs. I wanted to add it to this blog but ran out of time. I'll post a blog describing it the next time I have a chance.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

On our day off we decided to stay in the park and explore the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone which is about 42 miles northeast of Old Faithful area. The trip over was uneventful with several sightings of bison and elk. The canyon began 640,000 years ago when a huge volcanic eruption occurred in Yellowstone. About 13,000 years ago glaciers contributed to the carving of the current V-shaped canyon. Here is a map of the area with the north and south rims taken at Inspiration Point at the end of our trip.

We parked at the South Rim and began our hike down Uncle Tom's trail which was 500 feet down the canyon. As we went down I remembered the signs at the Grand Canyon National Park which read "what goes down must come up." The going down part was easy. There were a series of metal steps and landings for resting and viewing the falls.

When we reached the bottom, we were across the Yellowstone River viewing the 308 foot Lower Falls. What a magnificent sight! With the sun shining two rainbows were formed at the bottom of the falls. We were not able to capture the photo clearly in the mist. Here we are at the falls.

To the right of the falls we could see people who had walked down from the north rim to see the top of the falls.

After enjoying the view for a bit we took off our sweatshirts and started the climb. It was quite a struggle for me to get up the 346 steps but with many stops along the way we finally made it. Our next challenge was to hike along the south rim to Artist Point about a mile and a half away. This is said to be the spot where the famous Thomas Moran painting was completed.  Fortunately it was mostly level with only a few hills to climb. All along the way we could look back and see the falls with the Yellowstone River below and the beautiful canyon walls around it. When we finally reached Artist Point it was very crowded with visitors. After a bit of waiting we were able to get a clear shot of the falls and river.

We retraced our steps back to the parking lot and drove to a picnic area where we enjoyed our lunch. When we have a day off and are not going to the employee dining room for a meal we can order a lunch. We have choices of bread, meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, celery, carrots, fruit, cookies, chips and drink. The food is quite plentiful and good.  After our picnic we viewed the Upper Falls which comes before the Lower Falls. It is shorter (109 ft) and wider. The bridge at the top of the picture is where we crossed the river on our way to the South Rim.

We drove over to the north rim but didn't do any hiking. We stopped at Inspiration Point which gives an outstanding view of the river and canyon around it. We had to go down 50 steps to the point, but I had recovered enough from the hike to take the challenge. Probably at a later date we will hike to North Rim.









Trip to Cody, WY

Since we couldn't get cabin reservations at Buffalo Bill Village in Cody for Saturday night we chose Sunday instead. They have a special rate for Yellowstone employees that friends told us about. As it turned out Cody was celebrating Stampede Days July 1-4 and had special rodeos during that time. We left Sunday morning after church for the 120 mile trip to Cody. Before we exited the park there were several areas where people were stopped mostly for bison. Dan's expression "big freakin' deal" made me laugh. We have seen so many bison that it's no big deal to us, but we remember how exciting it was to see them for the first time. The scenery along the way was beautiful. We remembered it from our trip two years ago. At that time we camped at Wapiti (Indian word for elk) and drove into the park each day. As we traveled along the road we passed ranches, houses on the hillsides, cabins for rent, and campgrounds. The area is definitely for people who want to get away from it all! Here's a sample of the scenery.

A few miles before Cody is the Buffalo Bill reservoir and dam. We toured it previously and remembered how difficult it was to build. We drove through several tunnels through the mountains in that area.

Cody, population around 10,000, is neat western town, a little touristy, but mostly authentic. The cabin we rented was simple but had all the comforts of a motel room.

The inside was done in Buffalo theme including a stuffed buffalo on the bed.

Our main purpose for the trip was to see the rodeo which we attended that evening. According to the information we read the Stampede Rodeo attracts over 650 top contestants from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. The announcer stated that the winnings that would be $500,000 making it one of the richest rodeos in the world. Little did we know that we would see the best of the best. Also we felt a little out of place without a cowboy hat! The grounds were not as impressive as I expected, but what do I know? This picture was taken when we arrived early before the stands filled up.

Before the rodeo started a group of about 30 high school girls from Cheyenne, WY performed. We were very impressed with their riding abilities and how they maneuvered through their routine weaving in and out and crossing each other in different patterns. They were every bit as good as the professionals we saw at the Dixie Stampede.

 Before the program began a group of 4H folks carried out a large flat flag and everyone stood to sing the Star Spangled Banner. The song was led by a ten year old girl (in the yellow shirt) who was blind from birth. Her singing gave me goosebumps especially when she hit the high notes.

Then the rodeo began. We were seated across from where the cowboys mounted the bare back bucking broncos so we saw them come flying out of their gates. After each ride the cowboy got a score for the competition. I have no idea how they judged. I would have given each one a 100 for staying on the horse for 8 seconds! Most of them scored in the 70's.

The next competition was bringing down the calf.

Then came roping a calf.

Then there was another event where the cowboys rode saddled bucking broncos.

Throughout the show there was a comedian running around and making jokes with the announcer. He even did some clogging.

When we arrived around 7 pm the temperature was 95 degrees, but the breeze was blowing and it wasn't too bad. After the sun went down it dropped to 75 which was really comfortable. After sitting on the metal bleachers for three hours we were pretty stiff and decided to call it a night. So we don't know what other attractions followed or who won. We're not sure if a normal rodeo would have fewer contestants, but there were so many in each category that it seemed to drag on. But their abilities were outstanding.

On the way back to Yellowstone the scenery was beautiful again. Here is a sample.

Something that amazed us was seeing trees growing out of hillsides of rock. There must be some soil and water inside for this to happen.

Along the way there were many beautiful ranches set in the hillsides. We remembered this house from our previous trip and were surprised that it was still there. I'd love to know the story behind it.

Our jobs continue to go well and we like the people we work with. The weather has been sunny and in the 70's during the day and down in the 40's at night. We worked on July 4th, but it wasn't too busy, and they served delicious steaks for dinner. They gave everyone blue shirts with red and white printing of Yellowstone General Stores, July 4, 2012 which we wore to work. It was kind of a fun day. Yesterday it rained which was the first precipitation we have had since it snowed in early June. Tomorrow we hope to visit the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and hike around the waterfalls.