Breakfast at 8 once again so up earlyish. Good breakfast, a great bunch of guests who shared their experiences. One couple, Californian of oriental descent and a Kiwi, lived in NZ in its summer then California in its summer, so they haven't experienced winter for a long time, anyway their grandson, Jared Payne, is playing for Ireland in the Rugby World Cup so they are watching proceedings closely. We all swapped stories about the moose' visit and our travels and got on very well, unfortunately we were leaving so were unable to develop our brief friendship.
So, back on the road,we headed to Jackson Hole, a small town, calling itself the gateway to the Grand Teton. Interesting, but seemingly geared to tourism, very few older buildings untouched by the tourist trade. Back on route 89, we headed north towards Yellowstone, but had to pass through the eastern side the Grand Teton NP first. Wide open sage-bush semi-desert, the road followed the Snake River higher and higher, we didn't see any wildlife, but good views of the Tetons. A beautiful sunny day, but more clouds over the mountains, we pulled off the highway to follow an unpaved road to Two Oceans Lake, so-called because the waters from the lake split and either flowed into the Pacific or the Atlantic. Anyway, the lake was beautiful and we had our lunch, sitting in the sun overlooking the lake, it was only 57F but it felt perfect.
Back to the highway and we stopped again at the oxbow lake (on the Snake River) where moose frequent, but not this afternoon. So, now quite a long drive, out through Grand Teton NP, along the John D Rockefeller Memorial Parkway and the Snake River to the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park. We had enjoyed Grand Teton NP and the Sassy Moose Inn, both quite different from places we'd been to before, but we still hadn't seen a bull moose or any bears!
So, Yellowstone NP, is huge, some 127 square miles and it was 90 miles still to go to get to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel where we were to spend the next five nights. Elevation at the Park entrance is 6,886 feet and rises to 7,988 at the continental divide some 30 miles away. The road followed the Lewis River up to Lewis Lake which sits just inside the Yellowstone Caldera, the 30 by 45 miles remnant of a huge explosion 2 million years ago. Lewis Lake is pretty and road runs along one side and gives good views of the lake and surrounding forests. On and up through the forests to the Continental Divide before easing onto the central plateau, and on to West Thumb, an arm of Yellowstone Lake. The road follows the edge of the Lake until Lake Village, we were going to stop but everything had shut down for the winter!
We continued north into the Hayden Valley, made by the Yellowstone River,a wide expanse of sagebrush and grass and the habitat of bison, though we only saw one or two isolated bison. Along the way there was a geothermic area with mud volcanos and hot springs and a large sulphur cauldron, but phew, the smell.....
We stopped briefly at Canyon Village to loo at the falls, but decided in view of time to press on and return later. Onwards, heading west through mile after mile of coniferous forest, mostly Lodgepole Pine we were told, we came to Norris, once again all the facilities were shut for the season, so northwards to Mammoth. There were warning about long delays due to roadworks, but the alternative was avert much longer drive so we went on. Well, there were delays, we waited about twenty minutes for our lane to be allowed through. Finally we reached our hotel. It had been a beautiful drive, a warm sunny day (64F max), but we were glad to settle in to our room and relax before dinner.
The hotel rooms remaining were built in 1913, the rest were pulled down and the complex rebuilt in 1936, our room is in the old part, high ceilings, some original features but it is still a bit antiquated. Beds are comfortable though.
Dinner at the hotel dining rooms as everywhere else is shut. A bit like canteen food but ok - we had bison burgers as we thought that would be the only dish the Americans couldn't mess up. The burgers were OK.
