Grand Teton National Park (American Safari part 1)

On Wednesday we took a tour of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks with a guide which was arranged by the hotel. It was totally worth it since the guide was a naturalist and had tons of information about the park and its wildlife, and was a cool guy as well. We learned tons more than we would have otherwise.

This here is a pronghorn deer. An amateur mistake would be to call it an antelope, since the area is called antelope fields.


We saw a mother and her young, and the baby deer were really cute, like large rabbits. The deer can run about 60 mph sustained.

We saw tons of wildlife on the trip, hence the concept of the American Safari. Particularly impressive were the bison, which as you all know is a subset of the buffalo species. Here are some bison in beautiful surroundings.



I really like this picture because of the lighting and bison.


The mountains are pretty in this picture. Plus it contains a large bison. It is the very Platonic expression of the term 'eyeing warily.'


Here's the gratuitous beaver shot. You knew that was coming...

Okay, so it's only a beaver home, but I'm sure it has beavers in it.

This is Two Ocean lake which is fairly secluded and definitely not something you'd stumble across. It gets its name from the fact that two rivers flow out of it, one of which flows east down the Rockies towards the Mississippi and the other flows west into the Colorado River. So if you drop something into the lake you don't know which ocean it will end up in, which is a pretty wild concept.

We did not test it of course.

Here's a picture of a grizzly bear that we saw.


And here's a picture of the mob of people we saw it with.

A park ranger showed up to push people back. People get mauled by bears every year in the park. Our guide told us about a couple that tried to put their kid on a bear to take a picture of the kid riding it. It did not end well...

Here's a picture of a lake with the Grand Teton Mountains.


And here's our full color version of the famous Ansel Adams picture of the Tetons.

Maybe there is something to be said about using obsolete technology like black and white film...

One last point about the Teton Mountains. They're formed by the western tectonic plate going over the eastern one, so what you are really seeing here is the _side_ of the western plate. The western slopes of the mountains are far shallower, since that is the top of the plate. I find that concept incredible.

Jackson, WY

Trip miles 4037
Daily miles 109

On Tuesday we took it easy and hung out for most of the day in Jackson. We had been doing a lot of driving and wanted to relax.

The car hadn't been washed since Dallas so I needed to get it cleaned to remove the Bug Sematary from the nose. There was quite a collection of insect parts all over the bumper and some nearly whole ones in the intakes. Additionally there were small bloodstains all over the front - many of the insects had feasted on humans, cows, deer and who knows what other types of animals before meeting their end. Even Craig Venter's group would have had trouble sorting all of the DNA out.

There was a shop in town that took care of it, and then the urge to explore overcame us. We checked out Teton Village where the ski resort is.

After that we drove into Grand Teton National Park, and that was spectacular. We also did it as part of a tour on Wednesday, so the majority of pictures will be from that day. Here's a taste.


This sign isn't kidding. There was a lot of wildlife to be seen on this trip.

We did 109 miles without even trying.

The run to Jackson, WY

Trip miles 3928
Daily miles 485

We drove from Moab, Utah to Jackson, Wyoming on Monday. This was a great run and we made it extra scenic by taking the back roads rather than the interstate as maps might suggest.

We took route 128 to I-70. Then we took I-70 into Colorado and shortly thereafter took Route 139 up the western side of the state. It starts off in the foothills and definitely gives you the feeling of wide open space.

It then goes into some more mountainous terrain with some pretty substantial drops on the side.

Easily the coolest sounding town this part of the trip was Dinosaur, Colorado. Imagine having that as your address! Unfortunately this picture came out a bit blurry but you get the idea.

The locals take the dinosaur theme seriously.

The town gets its name from Dinosaur National Monument which I imagine has lots of fossils and tracks to look at. We did not have the time to stop.


Colorado certainly does not have a monopoly on the dinosaur theme. The road crosses back into Utah shortly after Dinosaur, and again you have the feeling of open country.


People are serious about their ordnance.


After Vernal we took Rote 191 north into Wyoming, which was also spectacular.

We took this sign seriously.

The route passes through some pretty spectacular scenery, especially in the Flaming Gorge area. Unfortunately it was raining so I have no great pictures of it.

The road right before Rock Springs had some of the best driving of the trip.

There was just nothing in southern Wyoming.



As we got closer to the Jackson we could see mountains in the distance.


Which were then spectacular up close.

Dead Horse Point

Trip miles 3443
Daily miles 152

We finished Arches and then proceeded to Dead Horse Point Park, a place neither of us had ever heard of before. We are so glad the concierge told us about it - it was spectacular.

Legend has it that it gets it's name from the 19th century. The point is an outcropping of rock into the Colorado River basin that is almost completely surrounded by thin air, much like Guano Point on the Grand Canyon. Cowboys used to herd wild mustangs onto the point from which they couldn't escape. They would then take the ones they wanted and leave the rest to die of thirst, hence the name. I'm not sure why the horses wouldn't go back from where they came after the humans left, but anyway that's the explanation, which if true is pretty sad.

The approach to it is pretty impressive since you know you are driving one one of those mesas you usually look up at. You see the ground receding as you get closer to the edge. It's a very similar effect to approaching the lip of the Grand Canyon.


There is a really nice observation area with 360 degree views around.

It does take some skill to drive there, so we were impressed. I'm not sure how he can reach the pedals.



The views are simply breathtaking.


This is a picture of the Big Bend (aiiiigh!) in the Colorado River. It's incredible that the river carved such deep canyons over the years.


This pic is somewhat redundant, but I simply had to put it in because it is so majestic.

I was blown away by the place. I find it incredible that it is almost the equivalent of the Grand Canyon (within a thousand feet probably) and yet I've never heard of it. We went there almost as an afterthought after Arches (and I had heard of that) and in many ways it is more impressive. It's simply amazing how much awesome stuff there is to see in America that no one has heard of.

Arches National Park

Before getting into the core of the day's sightseeing, Arches National Park, I should mention that Junior Nomad redid his return flight schedule in the park itself. As a result you will have more pictures from this trip than if he had left the following day as originally planned. His decision was swayed by the incredible beauty of the place.

Anyway, Arches is an amazing place, but not without its risks...

The single biggest risk is dehydration. We consumed something like 12 bottles of water, which were vital in 100+ degree heat and 7000 feet altitude. A lot of the pictures we got we had to hike for.

Here's another frieze.

Here are some ruined sculptures. Someone dropped a rock and broke it and they seem to be pointing at it. I think they're trying to work out who's liable.

As mentioned in earlier posts it's amazing how your mind tries to fit what it sees into an existing framework to make sense of things. Or at least mine does...

I bust out laughing when I saw this.

I mean, come on! I have no idea how it remains standing. It would be number one on my list of comedy rock formations.

Here's one of the very best place names in the park.

It's not Burning Steppes or Searing Gorge, but comes close. At least we know where some designers could be getting their inspiration.

Here's my attempt at still life photography as art.

Please feel free to print it out and frame it.

This was a formation called Sand Arch or something, but I think of it as the Foyer of the Gods. It reminds of the intro to the Martian Chronicles TV show where the people are moving through what looks like pyramids or temples and they are dwarfed by them. There are no people in this picture but if there were they would be tiny.

This is the definitive arch of the park. We hiked about a km to get there and back which was flat and easy except for the heat.

This the the Delicate Arch. It's cute and tiny. We hiked about a km to get within range to see it properly, except this time it was uphill. BTW, the heat was still on.
You can't really make it out but there's a chasm separating the viewer from the arch, and the arch itself seems glued to a pretty steep face of rock.

Here's another ridiculous construction which seems like it should topple at any minute. The picture is at a slight angle so look at the foliage to orient yourself. Or just tilt your head about 15 degrees to the left.

To close out here's a shot of another random arch.

The park is definitely one of the high points of an excellent trip.

The Hotel in Moab

We went to Arches National Park and Dead Horse Point Park on Sunday.

Before going into the details of the 2 parks I must share with you our hotel in Moab. I think it's the most spectacular hotel I have ever stayed at (and as a nomad I have some experience with them...).

The amenities themselves are what you would expect of a good hotel. The setting however is just ridiculous. Essentially it's scenery you would expect in Monument Valley or the Grand Canyon, but instead of being distant it's right in your face.

Here's the view from our room in the morning:


Note irrigation system in the foreground. They grow their own biofuels...

This is a view of the pool. Note the Colorado River next to it on the left.


Here's the hotel parking lot. You can park your ride for $35 a night. That's pretty expensive - it must include some biofuel...


Here is a shot of the canyon gouged out by the Colorado River. It's similar to the Grand Canyon, just a couple of thousand feet shallower. It's every bit as spectacular as you drive around and sometimes partially under these structures.

The Shimmering Flats (Park City to Tahoe)

Trip miles 4955
Daily miles 595

On Friday I drove from Park City to Lake Tahoe - Incline Village, NV to be exact. As you would expect, western Utah does not have a lot of stuff in it.


I-80 passes a whole lot of barren nothingness. I did see this however.

I have absolutely no clue as to what this is, it was just by the side of the road. I'm guessing it's a set of microwave transmitters or antennas - the shape and size are roughly the same as others I've seen, but I've never seen them painted before. Or it could be a weird art installation, since there are pieces (shells?) on the ground. I don't know why you'd put it in the middle of nowhere though.

The high point of the run was unquestionably the Bonneville Salt Flats, which is where high speed car tests are performed, including the supersonic ones. A couple of things stand out. The rest stop when you first see the flats is definitely one of the coolest rest stops in the world.

I like the fact they put in a foot wash, practically inviting you to walk onto the salt.

Secondly, there's this is the sign for the next exit, so of course I had to check it out (there is no cure for curiousity).

You then drive parallel to I-80 along a two lane blacktop and the road just comes to a stop. There's a sign here.


Note the evolution of cars on the flats at the top of the sign. Here's a closeup of the configuration (ignore the bullet holes).

I was completely intrigued by the concept of the oval and the speedway track, but couldn't make anything out by looking from that vantage point. Note the town of Wendover in the lower left for later in the post.

Absolutely nothing precludes you from just driving onto the flats.


I debated whether or not to drive onto the flats myself. I decided against it since the surface is uneven and really is salt.

I don't know if you're allowed to just get on the flats and cane it, but I imagine the effects on a car would be similar to that of driving on a layer of sand. You would kick up tons of spray which would hit parts of the car and be murder on the tires and suspension. Furthermore, I know what a road looks like in winter after tons of salt have been put down, and subjecting the car to a multiple of that effect didn't seem like a good idea. I was definitely tempted though.

The access road had its own charm...


I stopped to tank the car in Wendover. As you saw earlier the town straddles the border between Utah and Nevada. It was really funny to see that line actually painted in the street. The Utah side has some gas stations and modest stores, along with a sign for a historic airfield. The Nevada side has a couple of huge casinos, performance venues, and an amusement park. The juxtaposition between sober Utah and wild Nevada could not have been more striking.

The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. Northern Nevada is just desert and none of the pictures I took were worthwhile. I drank plenty of water.

I was really happy to see Reno and then Tahoe, for it meant that I was approaching the inhabited and developed coast and civilization. Worrying about not finding gas for 60 miles or not having cell reception in case of an emergency receded.

I enjoyed a nice dinner on the lake itself, but it was pretty dark by then so no interesting pictures there either.