July 12, 2012 -- Yellowstone National Park

Starting early, we took off for Yellowstone National Park. The roads are shaped like a figure-8, and we started at the northwest entrance. The first thing we saw was Mammoth Hot Springs, a tall hill with hot water bubbling out of the top and bottom.

They had walkways at the bottom, so you could see the hot water trickling down the hill, and the other formations that had grown over the years from the minerals.

Looping around southwest, we saw many interesting signs by the road. The most common were “Rocks fall on cars here” and “Road collapses under cars here”. Luckily neither happened to us that day! Here is another useful one:

And, of course, there was wildlife. The tatanka, or buffalo, liked to wander across the roads, probably because they could. (Redford there is our navigator.)

Yes, there were bears, too. Some were far away, and some enjoyed the roadside travel path. Yes, that second one's a grizzly bear walking beside our truck! We could see his clawmarks on every tree beside the road, so he was just making his daily rounds, checking for foolish hikers.

The park also had some elk. They are more skittish, but they still hang out near the roads.

There were also some very cool (figuratively!) geological phenomenon often found near hot springs. Here's a mud volcano, a boiling spring, and a close-up of some bacteria that lives in the boiling spring. Life, it seems can survive and thrive in many places.

Finally, after a lunch beside Lake Yellowstone, we made it around the bottom loop to Old Faithful. This is where the bus tours stop, they have benches to hold hundreds, and a huge gift shop to one side. Old Faithful is currently erupting every 75-90 minutes, and we got to see it twice by relaxing for a while with coffee on the gift shop porch. Water is trickling into a hot spring chamber far below ground, and when there is enough of it and it's hot enough, out it comes! Both times it erupted for a good 4-5 minutes, so we had time to watch it happen.

Leaving Old Faithful, we continued back up the bottom loop to one of Theresa's most desired stops: the Prismatic Springs. This is the most colorful place in the park, due to a huge variety of bacteria growing in the hot water. Excelsior Spring is first up the walkway, and then a wonderful view of the Grand Prismatic Spring. The orange/brown colors come from thermophiles – heat-loving microorganisms that make a thin layer over the rocks. Signs say not to touch them, because they are very fragile, and maybe because the water they live in is 160 degrees F.

Finally it was time to head out. But on the way, in the northeast section, we encountered some very familiar rock formations embedded in the canyon walls. These are volcanic lava columns, looking exactly like the ones forming Devils Tower. I wonder if anyone else has ever noticed?

July 11, 2012 -- Billings, MT to Emigrant, MT

Other than a couple hours' drive and setting up camp at the foot of the Rockies, this was a quiet day. Laundry, lounging, and saving up our strength for tomorrow's trip to Yellowstone. There was a small amount of excitement when a rather loud, wet thunderstorm struck shortly after we arrived. The wind gusts rocked our little boat but no harm was done.

Montana smells really good, by the way. Fresh, piney, breezy ... very invigorating.

July 10, 2012 -- Devils Tower, WY to Billings, MT

Finally! The Rockies are coming into view:

July 9, 2012 -- Rapid City, SD to Devils Tower, WY

Devils Tower (which you may remember from the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”) is every bit as captivating as you might expect. We arrived in the late afternoon and took some nice shots of the tower from far and near:



After a night in the Devils Tower National Park, we took some more photos and were stunned at the difference in the feel of the place. Here are two photos taken about 12 hours apart, from the same spot in front of our campsite (fabulous view, yes? and for twelve bucks!):

July 8, 2012 -- No. Activity. Whatsoever.

Why? See July 7.

July 7, 2012 -- Mount Rushmore, Evans Plunge, Custer State Park Wildlife Loop and Needles Highway

We started our day by visiting the big guys on Mount Rushmore, electing to photograph the sculpture from outside the Visitors Center compound. Going inside the gates doesn't get you close to the mountain without a mile-long, Ranger-guided foot tour which didn't sound like a lot of fun. So here's a photo:



The road from the Visitors Center gates then leads around the backside of the mountain, where this even more impressive view awaits:



Confession and Disclaimer: These photos are totally nicked from the Interwebs, because ours came out terrible. But we really were there. (If you own these photos, please do not sue us; we are not seeking any profit from their use except the satisfaction of making our families and friends smile.)

From Rushmore, we rushed to Evans Plunge, a mineral bath in Hot Springs, SD. There are no pictures since we were submerged in water most of the time, but the place is really really cool. Evans Plunge is an indoor water park of sorts, built on top of a mineral spring (not really a hot spring, as it's only a little over 80 degrees F). There's a huge swimming pool with river rocks on the bottom, slides, ropes, and a giant alligator for climbing on. (We stuck to the dog-paddle lane with the old folks.)

Refreshed from our dip in the spring, we proceeded to Custer State Park to see what we could see.



Truth in advertising:



To get this last pic, Scott held the camera up and said, "Peekaboo!" Mr. Deer was happy to oblige us with a smile. Sweet.

But the best was yet to come, because we drove over a grassy hill, and there they were:



Tatanka!

Suddenly, they were everywhere. Buffalo, on the hillsides, in the road. There were all ages, sizes and colors (okay, all shades of brown, but anyway). We were so close that we could hear them nomming on the grass by the roadside. The little ones were curious about the cars on the road, but the adults completely ignored us, which was 110% A-OK. Here are some shots we got from inside the truck:



Now, you would think that after all that ungulate-related excitement, that would be enough for two tired tourists. But no, we just had to go and tackle one last thing: Needles Highway, which is named from the tall, skinny rocks which protrude from the mountain. These culminate in the very impressive "Needle's Eye" formation:



(Our first vertical panorama. When we buy a more expensive camera, maybe you won't be able to tell that it took 6 exposures to photograph the whole thing, but until then, bear with us.)

We were also called upon to "thread the needle" a couple of times, by driving through progressively narrower tunnels along the highway. The smallest of these was 8 feet 4 inches wide, maybe. But with a little grease on the sides of the truck, we got through no problem.





Oddly enough, Frodo, Sam, and Gandalf were nowhere to be found.

July 6, 2012 -- Crazy Horse

Our first view of Crazy Horse. Even from a distance, the carving of the great man's face is impressive.

One of the most fascinating things about Crazy Horse is that it is a work in progress. Also that it is not going to be just a face on a surface of the mountain, but a sculpture from the entire mountain. It's hard to imagine the scale of it without being there. In this photo, Scott is standing two-thirds of a mile from the monument:



Here is a photo of the mountain with the outline of the planned sculpture:



On the grounds at the Visitors Center, there are several models of the finished sculpture, so that the suspense won't kill you while they work:



... annnd, here's one with the big guy in the background.

This project has been going on for decades, requested by Standing Bear and a council of Native American elders, to represent all Native American tribes and their achievements. It started with one man, Korczak Ziolkowski, his wife and 10 children, who have continued the work after he passed away. It has many, many years to go, but we hope to see the finished product. :-)

This video tells the story of the monument in Korczak's own words (which, we note, are delivered in a very charming Boston accent).