7/27/1991 - Saturday

John:  We headed out about 8AM and got into Yellowstone in about 5 to 10 minutes.  We snarfed on a camp spot ASAP.  We then drove 114 miles within the park.  We did “the longer loop”.  We decided not to go to the Northern Loop as there isn’t that much up there.  We saw all the Yellowstone features... such as Yellowstone River and a lot of the spectacular waterfalls, the many hot geysers, mud pots, Yellowstone Lake, and saw Old Faithful blow up twice.  We stopped at a visitors center and listened to a park ranger give a talk about Yellowstone’s wildlife.    We then viewed a video about the 1988 Yellowstone Fire.  You can’t believe how many acres or should I say miles & miles of burnt forest there is.  What a waste.  It’s really sickening.  In our travels, we ran into several bison jams, saw elk, deer, bald eagles, pelicans, and a marmot.

ODOM: 31303

Summary:  After six weeks, we’ve spent a total of $3590 cash, plus 550.78 on gas credit cards for a grand total spent of $4141.  Total miles driven = 7441

Deer among Yellowstone's burned trees

Large Mud Pot

Upper Yellowstone Falls

Upper Yellowstone Falls

Bison Jam

Bison

Pelican

Butterfly

Indian Pond Lilies

Indian Pond Lily Closeup

Karen, Kari & Susan at a small waterfall

John, Susan & Kari in front of a geothermal feature

Bubbling Mud Pot

Susan & Kari in front of a geyser

Susan & Kari in front of the burned forest

Grand Prismatic Spring

Road through the burned forest

Blue Star Spring

Susan & Kari pose in front of Old Faithful

Old Faithful

Very clear hot spring water

Old Faithful

Susan & Kari in front of the second eruption of Old Faithful

7/24/1991 - Wednesday

John:  We took a leisurely drive up Logan Pass to the west side of Glacier Nat’l Park.  There are some very tight and narrow places on the west side of Logan Pass.  Very nice scenery and water falls.  We saw a deer in a river along the way.  The water in the rivers here are so crystal clear!  We stopped early at the Apgar Campground (in Glacier N.P.)  and got a very private level spot.  We took a walk to check out MacDonald Lake and stop at a little grocery store.  While walking, I saw a Colorado plate, then I saw the driver for a moment... I said to Karen, “That guy looks like Herbie”... I turned and saw the Colorado Volvo put on it’s brake lights and it whipped around and came back.  It was Herbie!!!  I couldn’t believe it.  He was coming back from visiting his daughter in Seattle.  We talked for a little while then headed out.  I still can’t believe it.  We decided to eat out at a little cafe and go swimming in Lake MacDonald.  The water was crystal, crystal, crystal clear with a bit of a nip to it temperature wise.  We all (except Karen) swam from 2 to about 5:30.  Karen swam for about an hour.  You had to just jump in as the water was a little chilly.  It was very refreshing.  Susan found out the lake was almost 500 feet deep.  There are great mountains on the opposite end.  The day was very sunny and hot all day, so the cool dip was great... so great, that if it’s nice tomorrow we will stay here and do it again.  We’re writing this outside on the picnic table next to our nice small campfire.  We drove 45 miles today.

While Susan was lying on the dock, she spotted two monster fish under the dock.  They were 18-20 inches long or more!  We all saw them.

ODOM:  30752

Karen, Kari, Susan & John (I believe this is at Glenns Lake)

Waterfall

Deer in Stream

Susan, Karen & Kari by a Stream at Glacier National Park.

Susan, John & Kari swimming in MacDonald Lake.

Kari swimming in the crystal clear waters of MacDonald Lake.

Karen, Susan & Kari testing the waters of MacDonald Lake.

Kari getting her sun on!

Dinner at the campground.

7/23/1991 - Tuesday

John: We were camped only a few minutes from Glacier National Park entrance.  So we went in and stopped at the visitor’s center.  The ranger said that the camp grounds start filling up by 11am, so we drove into the park to snarf on a spot.  We found one in the Rising Sun Campground.  We paid for it and put an occupied sign on it.  We then headed up Logan Pass for lunch.  On the way we bought reservations for a boat ride around St. Marys Lake.  We took the option of taking a 3 hour hike with a “naturalist” ranger.  We hiked after the boat took us most of the way to the other end of the lake, then hiked to St. Marys Falls.  Such crystal clear waters.  Didn’t see any major critters.  It was another beautiful sunny day.  We drove only 33 miles today.

After supper we went to the camp ground amphitheater to listen to an interpretive ranger discuss the native Black Foot Indians of this area.  A white tailed young buck strolled right into the amphitheater and stayed around munching on the plants and leaves.  As I am writing this (an hour later), that same deer walked by between us and the spot next door.

Kari:  We saw a white tail deer & it was hanging around.

ODOM: 30707

St. Mary's Lake Boat

John, Kari & Susan Hiking

Kari & Susan at St. Mary's Falls

John, Kari & Susan taking a break from hiking.

Susan, Kari & John in front of the boat.

7/22/1991 - Monday

John:  Nobody came around this morning with change, so we split the scene... with a night of camping on the Great Province of Alberta... We continued down the road, but after five or ten minutes, came to the end of the road... in other words, we were lost in the wilderness.  There happened to be a place with a green eyed blonde cleaning the outhouses.  So I asked her where the hell are we?  She told me where we went wrong... (Remember the right turn on the blacktop?) We should’ve turned left... the dumb thing about this is there was a sign just before this turn that said “Important Intersection Ahead”... And we blew it!  Guess that’s what happens when you’re tired and it’s late!  We spotted 5-6 deer and another coyote...  We did see some bison and a lot of “wild beef” (as the area is open grazing land).  We saw more great views today.  We also drove through Waterton Lakes National Park.  we took the forestry trunk road off of Rt. 40.  It’s about 65 miles of dirt road... It was a pretty good road and went to Crowsnest Pass.  We went through customs and are back in the USA!  We are camped at a KOA in St. Mary’s, Montana.  Guess we have to get used to the campgrounds in the lower 48... For instance, this KOA cost 14.58 with not too many amenities... firewood cost 4.00 for like 4-5 pieces (up north wood is free and camp spots cost anywhere from free to 8 to 10 dollars... plus they are very clean).  We drove 228 miles today... we spent our last Canadian money on Gas... a total of $7.71.  That way we didn’t have to mess with finding a bank and converting back the US money.  We will go to Glacier Nat’l Park in the morning.

ODOM:  30674

Lost in the wilderness

Bison

Bison

Waterton Lakes National Park