- There were 5 fires in Yellowstone while we were there, one of the larger ones was only a couple miles from West Yellowstone so you will see a lot of smoke in some of the pictures.
- If you see a picture of Cohen holding an iPad he is not playing Pokemon Go but taking pictures, both the kids got pretty excited about taking pictures on this trip.
Day One: Chilliwack to Moses Lake - 490km
As if often the case for our longer trips we left after work on the Friday with the intent of staying in the Moses Lake Wal-Mart parking lot for the evening. We use the Allstays Camp and RV App which allows you to filter which Wal-Marts allows over night stays and which dont; that being said we have stayed in some that say No Overnight Stays and had no problems; this is a great app with more than just Wal-Marts and a must for any frequent road tripper. Doing a few hours of driving after work allows us to get across the border and do some driving on the boring familiar roads without wasting a day off; this give us more time to enjoy the new destination when we arrive. We stopped for dinner in Snoqualmie (I think that is what its called) on the west side of Snowqualmie Pass. We must have been in the new part of town as all the houses we saw seem to have been built in the past 5 years as did all the retail space and restaurants located in the area where we ate.
Once our bellies were full we made our way to I90 which is the interstate where we would be doing most of our driving. It was after 7 by the time we got back on the road but the drive was nice as once you got over Snoqualmie Pass the roads were pretty straight. One hicup on the way to Moses Lake involved my timing of getting gas; I dont like to let the gauge get too low but it was getting there when I turned off at a town to fill up only to find the only gas station closed for the night! My heart skipped a beat but we headed off down I90 again and found an open truck stop within 20 minutes just as the low gas light came on. It must have been after 10 that we arrived in Moses Lake and it is always comforting to see other rigs in the Wal-Mart parking lot, something about safety in numbers I guess!
Day Two: Moses Lake to Missoula, Montana - 483km
My biological clock got me up at 5:30, or maybe it was the excitement of what was ahead. Regardless, when camping I really enjoy getting up before the family and having a coffee as the day gets warmer - even when I am sitting on a camping chair in a Wal-Mart parking lot. We were fortunate to have a Starbucks near by so I walked over there for my morning brew. After enjoying my coffee, fixing a flat tire on my mountain bike, walking through Wal-Mart and buying Chelsey a coffee I decided 8:30 was the time to wake up the family...
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| Not a road trip without a night at Wal-Mart |
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| Breakfast on the tarmac |
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| A quick leg stretch before the next haul |
From Moses Lake to Missoula we took a quick detour into Spokane so Chelsey could grab a few things from Trader Joes as its always a treat to go there as we dont have any in Canada, the kids and I hung out at the trailer...
From Spokane we crossed our first state line into Idaho. From Snoqualmie Pass in Washington and to the state line the driving was pretty easy as they terrain was mostly flat but once we hit Idaho it got a little tougher again as we wound our way through a couple mountain passes. The truck is fine pulling through these slopes but its always a little more stressful with the winding roads. Once we got through the passes in Idaho the roads opened up into Montana and we were treated with some great scenery. Driving through Montana is awesome as you cruise on through the high plateau with open fields everywhere and high mountains off in the distance, it is one of the nicest areas I have ever seen. This stretch that we were on crossed the Clark Fork (a tributary of the Columbia River) numerous times which just added to the awesome scenery. Our goal was to ensure we didnt keep the kids in the car driving for too long and with less than 500km scheduled for the day we had ample time. But, to make sure time wasnt wasted I made sure all pee stops were at a gas station, even if I didnt need gas I would still fill up just to ensure we didnt make any extra stops. It was around 3:30 when we rolled into Missoula and we had the trailer parked and we were ready for fun by 4:00.
While we were only staying at this KOA for one night we were super happy with it. They had tonnes of friendly staff, the sites were long enough that I didnt need to unhook the truck and the facilities and surroundings were all super clean and well kept - the only weird thing was that it seemed to be surrounded by a trailer park - I would go back.
Our first stop in Missoula was to REI as we needed to get some bike tubes. After a quick trip there on the bikes we headed back to the KOA for a quick dinner. After dinner we decided to ride our bikes into downtown Missoula to get a gander of what it looked like and there was a carousel Chelsey wanted the kids to ride. Missoula is a pretty bike friendly town with good bike lanes throughout and a path that runs parallel to the river. The ride into town from the KOA is around 10km round trip and quite flat (https://www.strava.com/activities/683216202) perfect for a jaunt with the kids. After the bike ride was done it was time for a quick swim in the pool at the KOA and then off to bed to get ready for the next days drive.
Day 3: Missoula to West Yellowstone - 425km
After once again rustling the family awake we embarked on the leg of our trip that will take us into Yellowstone, boy were we excited. This drive started off how the last one ended through the awesome Montana country side. We made a quick stop in Drummond for a pee and gas and I realized how many towns in this state have a sign with the first letter of the town up on a hill. Drummond was a small town but a great place to get gas...
Our route from the I90 was to take the 287 south. Around the town of Cardwell we got off the I90, took some back road and was on the 287 in no time. We headed south on the 287 and then came over a little pass where we took a quick stop for some pictures and a nice view.
This pass took us into the Madison River Valley which is by far my favourite part of Montana, the wide open plains were still there but the mountains were closer and we were now following the Madison River which I later learned is a Montana gem! After the pass we drove through the town of Ennis, which is a cute little town (we stopped here on the way back for a walk down main street and a good coffee). After following the 287 further south, a quick jump through part of Idaho again and a drive over Targhee Pass we were in West Yellowstone!!!
Before long we were at the KOA in West Yellowstone. There are two KOA's in the West Yellowstone area. One is considered a "Journey" more for people driving through and the other, closer to the park, is more of a resort style KOA with a pool, eating facilities, etc. We stayed at the later and if you are looking for full hookup's while camping around Yellowstone I would recommend this place. Everything was clean, the staff was plentiful and polite, the store was well stocked and the ribs were phenomenal (more on these later). The one downside is it is about a 10 minute drive into West Yellowstone and then a further drive from the gate through the park in order to get to a lot of the "attractions" within Yellowstone. It took us about 45 minutes to drop the trailer, get everything set up and we were ready for our first drive into the park. We were pretty anxious to see some animals and geysers so we hoofed it pretty quick. We stopped at the Ranger station in West Yellowstone to get our pass into the park and it was here that we signed the kids up for the Junior Ranger program which gave them some activities to do while walking around the park.
Since it was already after 3 we had limited time as we needed to make the kids dinner so we made our first stop at the Norris Geyer Basis. On the drive out we spotted our first wildlife which was some elk grazing along the other side of the river; we were pretty excited to see our first animals!
When we turned left at Madison heading towards the Norris Geyser Basin we saw our first sign of volcanic activity, while the bubbling water was small relative to what we would see later in the week it was still exciting to see the bubbles coming out of the lake. There was even an elk sitting in the grass by the boardwalk - we stayed 100 yards away at all times!
After that stop we continued to head north in the park and made a brief stop at Gibbon Falls...
Then we made it to Norris Geyser Basin and our first real experience of the Geysers. It was so cool to see all the steam and water coming from the ground and the whole area was so neat. The smell was something else but the scenery was unreal.
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| Forest Fire Smoke |
It was now time to head back to the campsite and make some dinner. On the way back as we headed along the Madison River we saw four more elk and of course had to stop to take some pictures and do some more work in the Junior Ranger Books.
Day 4: Old Faithful, Mud Volcanos and The Hayden Valley
Day 4 would prove to be the most exciting of all days as it is when we got to see some of the most iconic spots in Yellowstone. Like most mornings it stated with me getting up early for a quiet coffee and reading time outside and then waking the family up as I got bored waiting for them to stir. Once organised and with our lunch packed we made our way into West Yellowstone where we visited the book store and grabbed a coffee. We also took a stroll down the main drag and I made my way into Bud Lilly's Trout Shop for a fishing license and some recommended flies! Once we were done we made our way back into the park. The camp site was full of fire smoke when we left, to the extent it made your eyes water, but by the time we reached Madison Junction the sky was clear. As we were heading towards Old Faithful we drove down a couple of the side roads to see what they contained, the first one took us to a view of Firehole Falls.
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| The kids with Firehole Falls in the back ground |
When I was in Bud Lillys I asked the guy where the fishing was good and he recommended some of the tributaries to the Firehole River, one was the Nez Pearce and as we left Firehole Falls on our way to old Faithful we came across another road that ran parallel to the Nez Pearce so we scooted down to check it out, at a parking lot we did not encounter many people but we did see our first bison and the kids were stoked! Our goal in Yellowstone, like most people, was to see bison, bears, wolves, any other animal, geysers and for me was to fly fish on the Firehole River; so when we saw our first bison everyone was ecstatic.
The next leg of the day brought us to the iconic area where Old Faithful is! Parking was pretty tight but we realised that if you go where the staff housing is you can easily find a spot, a hint for future travellers. Old Faithful is the main tourist trap of the park with a good visitor centre, gas station, The Old Faithful Inn, restaurants, etc. While we worked our way around the visitor centre the Beehive Geyser blew which gave us our first true geyser experience. The Beehive Geyser can actually have a bigger "eruption" than Old Faithful but as it is not as frequent and predictable it is much less known...
From the visitor centre we embarked on our first hike which took us to Observation Point and the Solitary Geyser (https://www.strava.com/activities/685599205). This was by no means a hard hike but it provided an awesome view point to see Old Faithful blow away from the crowds.
The walk from Observation Point to the Solitary Geyser is pretty easy...
They say the solitary geyser erupts about 4 feet every 12 minutes, we sat there for a while and it was closer to 4 inches. I guess you cant predict mother nature, especially in a place like Yellowstone!
The walk back to Old Faithful brings you back onto the boardwalk which circles many different geysers and springs around Old Faithful.
Once we got back to the main tourist trap we got some frozen yogurt which was phenomenal. The kids also partook in a Park Ranger led program on wildlife safety where they learnt about safe distances, what to look out for and how to react around various wildlife; this was part of the Junior Ranger program. We also got to experience Old Faithful "erupt" up close and it was quite the sight to see.
Since we visited the park the day we arrived and already saw the Norris Geyser Basin we had some extra time on Old Faithful day. It was around 3:00 that we were finished in this area so we decided to take a drive around the grand loop which would take us past Yellowstone Lake, the Mud Volcanos and into the Hayden Valley before returning back to the campsite. I was telling the kids that our best chance of lots of wildlife was in the Hayden Valley or Lamar Valley so our hopes were quite high, at this point we had only seen one Bison and a few Elk. As we drove south and along Yellowstone Lake we started getting glimpses of the Grand Tetons which is an awesome mountain range. There was another massive forest fire burning in the area which limited some of our view (the fire ended up closing the road to the south gate for about a week as the flames jumped the road) but even with the limited visibility you could see how awesome this area is. I have a theory that everything looks better in the winter covered in snow and I would love to visit both Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons during this time of year. Jackson Hole is in the Grand Tetons and is definitely on the wish list for either a winter or summer road trip. Unfortunately it was also at this time that Chelsey decided she could no longer take a straight picture...
After passing past the lake and heading north again we turned into the Mud Volcanos. There is a story about seismic activity at most of these areas but the mud volcanoes actually had pictures of what the area looked like before and after an earthquake struck the area; I dont have the pictures here but it is an interesting read for any visitor....The area was quite active though with the mud constantly boiling.
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| I was constantly scanning the landscape with the binoculars looking for wildlife |
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| Bison Poo |
From the mud volcanos we continued north to the Hayden Valley. For most of the drive we had meandered through forests and along the lake then out of nowhere you hit this massive clearing which is the Hayden Valley. As you can see below the Yellowstone River flows through it and the scenery is amazing...
At this point we had still only seen the one Bison but as we continued driving north we saw some cars stopped ahead. Typically cars stopped at the side of the road is a good sign of wildlife and what we saw when we arrived was awesome. When we rolled up we saw a few bison to the left but then we looked right and saw a herd of close to 50 grazing. Having been excited by one you could imagine how we felt at so many; Cohen was the happiest and it was nice to see that our trip was becoming worth the experience for the kids. As we left the area we got to experience the iconic Yellowstone bison experience by having them cross the road in front of you!
The sun was setting so it was time to exit the park for the day but we had to stop again to see the elks along the Madison River. We also took a quick shot of the fire, there were spots along the road where this blaze, called the Maple Fire, was coming over the ridge by the road and was probably a 3 wood away
Day 5: The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Tower Falls and The Lamar Valley.
Day 5 started off cold! West Yellowstone is over 2000 meters above sea level and parts of the park are above 3000 meters; when I woke up for my morning coffee it was -3 in August! Day 5 would also prove to be the most scenic day. Once the family emerged from their cocoons we headed into the park towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We started off at a lookout on the North Side which gave us a nice view of the lower falls. We then made our way to the South Side and did a hike from the parking lot by Toms Trail along the South Rim Trail to Artist Point and back. Once again the hike was relatively easy (https://www.strava.com/activities/689073129) but the views were some of the best I have ever seen. I will let the pictures do the talking...
These first few pictures are of the lower falls from the North Side...
And onto the south side and some of the views from the hike
This is the view from Artist Point and no picture can do it justice
The Upper Falls from close to the lookout.
From the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone we made our way past Mount Washburn towards Tower Falls. We stopped up a road by Mount Washburn and checked out the hiking trail to the top, the trail ascended a few thousand feet and was recommended you take 5 hours to complete; this is a hike I would like to do but we thought it may have been too much for the kids - throw in the forest fire smoke in the area and Cohens asthma and there was no way...Next time hopefully. As you can see from the pictures below the area was hit in the past few years from a pretty bad fire.
Our next stop was Tower Falls which I must say was disappointing after what we saw in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. I guess I would recommend seeing Tower Falls first!
From Tower Falls we then made our way into the Lamar Valley. They say the Lamar Valley is the Serengeti of Yellowstone and we were fortunate to see many more Bison and an Antelope. The fire smoke did dampen our view but we took some time to hang out on the Lamar River. I talked to one of the locals asking about seeing wolves and bears and she said you best bet is to arrive early or close to sun down and wait, no guarantees but that is your best bet. Obviously we cant sit there for 5 hours with the kids as they would get bored, hopefully when they are older and appreciate this stuff more we can take that opportunity. That being said you can see the bears anywhere as in the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Centre that we visited on day 6 they had a list of recent sightings and they were scattered throughout the park, not many sightings but they were there.
Day 6 : The Bear and Wolf Discovery Centre, Grand Prismatic Springs and Fishing the Firehole
As we were striking out on seeing bears and wolves inside the park we had to go see them in captivity. The Bear and Wolf Discovery Centre is a non-profit educational facility in West Yellowstone. It contains a great amount of information on both animals, there way of life, the history of the interactions with humans within the park, the way human perception has changed and much more. While you may think it is cruel for these animals to be in captivity the reality is, for various reasons, these animals would not have survived in the wild. Many of the bears lost their mums when they were still cubs and lacked the skill and strength to survive on their own which is how they ended up here. There is a lot you can learn by visiting the centre and reading the exhibits and various newspaper articles. We went in the morning, went into the park after lunch and before we headed back to the campsite went back into the centre.
After our morning visit at the Bear and Wolf Discovery Centre we went into the park to see the Grand Prismatic Springs. This link shows the color of the springs in many pictures taken by others; we were unfortunate when we visited as the temperature and wind were in such a way that the steam off the springs prevented us from any real good looks. We saw many glimpses through the fog and the tease showed us how awesome this area is.
After our visit at the springs we found a nice bank along the firehole river to stretch out and give me a chance to try my fly fishing skills. A year ago I read an article in a magazine about fishing the firehole river in Yellowstone and it was something I really wanted to do, even though the dude in the tackle shop said there were other places to go I just really wanted to fish in this river, I took a fly fishing course this past winter to try and learn to do it better. I can honestly say that I hooked a fish on the fly in the Firehole and I am stoked about that. But, and this is one of my regrets, when we were on the way home we stopped in some very small one street town in Montana as we saw a store called Montana Valley Bookstore advertised on the side of the road; we have developed a habit of visiting used book stores so we couldn't pass this one up. Anyways, as I was looking around I found a book written by Bud Lilly and if you recall I bought my license etc. from Bud Lilly's Trout Shop (he hasnt owned the store for years). I picked up the book and had it read before we got back to BC and in it I learned that Bud Lilly was and is a leader in the conservation of wild fish and streams in Montana, pushed for the catch and release system that many are familiar with today and I also read a lot about how awesome the Madison River is. My regret is that I didnt read this book before we went as I probably would have asked more questions in the fishing shop and I think I would have spent more time fishing in the area and on the Madison River for sure. While I am horrible at fishing, and even worse at fly fishing, I thoroughly enjoy being out there and even more so in "special" places...based on reading A Trouts Best Friend by Bud Lilly I think I missed an opportunity to fish one of the greatest rivers in the west.
And back to the Discovery Centre...
For whatever reason we didnt really take a lot of pictures after we left Yellowstone, this is one of my regrets as we still had another 4 nights camping ahead of us...
When we left Yellowstone we ventured home the same way we came. Our first stop on the way back was Ennis, Montana. This was a cool little town and a great place to stretch the legs. Lots of "home" stores and very much a "montanta woodsman" feel to the place. This town, if I am not mistaken, is in the heart of the Madison River Valley so fishing was a prominent theme in many stores. Once we left Ennis we made our way to Butte for the night.
Butte was a cool town as it has an open pit copper mine right next to the historic district, it is something else to see a mine this close to a city but I guess that is how the city was built. You cant really tell the scope of the mine from these pictures but the mine is still operational and is quite large. The "tower" things you see in the pictures are actually decorations now, the mine used to be an underground mine and they used these to lower tool, people, etc. into the mine - now that its an open pit mine these arent needed but very much a part of the cities heritage.
We stayed at the KOA in Butte and it was the worst of the 3 KOA's we stayed at. The grounds were not very well kept (the Missoula one had green grass everywhere) and it is probably a result of the lack of staff, both the Yellowstone and Missoula KOA's had staff everywhere. The pool is Butte was also pretty bad, tonnes of sand at the bottom and leaves all over the place, it looked like it hadnt been cleaned in a week but this didnt stop the kids from taking a dip...Chelsey and I passed.
Once we parked the truck and trailer in Butte we grabbed the bikes and headed up the hill to see the town. While Missoula had quite a few bike lanes Butte had nothing. It was still a nice ride up the hill into the historic district and we were happy to kill an hour in another used book store.
After the night in Butte we were back on the road to Farragut State Park in Idaho. On the way there we took the stop into the used book store that I mentioned above and if you like to read and like used book store I recommend the Montana Valley Bookstore. Back on the road we made it to Farragut State Park and when we arrived we were in awe of the place; this state park made our provincial parks look like dumps. The sites were huge and well spaced out, it came with water and power hookups which is unheard of in BC and the bathrooms and showers were meticulous - the place was awesome.
Once we got everything set up we jumped on the bikes and went to explore the lake (no pictures!!). The trail system around this park were awesome and perfect for the kids to mountain bike on. We cruised our way down to the lake and the kids had a little dip before we scooted back up to the campsite to make dinner.
The following day when we woke up we drove into Coeur d' Alene to see what the town had to offer. We made it to the "downtown" and once again it was an awesome place. There is a massive lake here and the prior week they had an Ironman competition roll through so it seemed to be a good vibe around the place. Lots of cool coffee shops and restaurants and craft beer seems to be popular here which is obviously a good thing. We found a cool place that served both cold brew coffee and craft beer; I could have stayed there all day but we just took the coffee. Walking around we found a little toy store that had a tiny carousel in the back that Chelsey made sure the kids rode.
Once we got back to the campsite Chelsey and Cohen had a nap as Cohen was puking the night before. Kyah and I took this opportunity to go for a mountain bike ride along the trails, as I mentioned before its a great place for cruising trails with kids, they even had one trail that went up to some lookout and was recommended for more experienced riders; I didnt do it and that is another regret. After half the family napped they were all ready for Silverwood which is a "mini" theme park. It has a bunch of roller coasters, two which are wood, a waterslide park and a bunch of other rides. The line ups were a tad long but we all had fun and as you can see from the picture below the rides are not scary at all. We spent about 5 hours at the park and while the place is lots of fun I think that is about as long as we could handle this late into our trip.
Since we got home so late we were finally able to see good stars. One night in Yellowstone Cohen and I had driven in to the park to look at the stars but the smoke covered a lot of them and Cohen was a little scared being in the park when it was so dark and not many people around; while we saw a few it was nothing like what we saw at Farragut. As soon as we looked up we saw a shooting star and it was probably one of the best "star nights" I have even seen; I was super stoked that Cohen got to see them...Kyah fell asleep in the car and wanted nothing to do with it. And thats it!
Random Thoughts From a Canadian Perspective
- I guess the law states you do not need to wear a helmet while riding a motor cycle in Montana and we saw a tonne of people not wearing a helmet. Science proves the safety of a helmet, just because the law states you do not have to wear one why would you not wear one for your own safety?
- There were forest fires burning all through the park yet they still permitted smoking inside the park and camp fires were still allowed; why increase the risk, would it not be smarter to ban both? The amount of burn marks, some sizeable, we saw when we were travelling along the I90 from people starting fires by throwing their cigarrettes out the window proved the common sense of many, I would hate to think some body would be that stupid inside the park but I half expect it.
- I read in the local paper that somebody accidently shot off their gun in the washroom at Old Faithful, why you need to walk around and go to the washroom with a fucking gun in an area full of familes and kids baffles me, but what do I know? I am just a dumb canadian living in a country with stricter gun laws that also happens to have a fraction of the gun deaths per capita that the U.S. has!
Regrets
- I dont know how it happened but we forgot to go inside the Old Faithful Inn! This is an American landmark that was almost burnt by a forest fire a few years back, I am a little disappointed we didnt go inside.
- See paragraph above the fishing photos
- We kind of stopped taking pictures after Yellowstone. We still had 4 days on our trip and saw some great spots but the picture taking kind of petered off; I wish that didnt happen!
- When we camp I always struggle with wanting to ride my bike and spending time with the family; I rode my bike a lot in the summer when we were away and I felt I shouldnt as much this trip. But, at Farragut they had that one trail I really wanted to ride, I could have ridden it in the morning and my sleeping family would not have known either way - I didnt and I regret that.
What I think We Did Right
- Most days were less than 500km driving which limited car time to around 4.5 hours. When the kids have iPads and DVD players this amount of time in the car goes fast. This also allowed us to stop at a few random spots (Montana Valley Book Store & Ennis) and view points without having to rush too much. It also ensured, if we left the previous campsite at a reasonable time, that we arrived at our destination with lots of time left in the day. This gave us the opportunity to ride our bikes around Missoula and Butte, spend more time in Yellowstone and many other things.
- Had a plan but didnt really stick to it; we were pretty flexible with how things rolled. Other than getting annoyed when everyone was sleeping in too long for my liking I think the flexibility worked. Based on the plan I didnt think we would make it to the Lamar Valley but we did.
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