Jadyne and I had last visited Yellowstone and the Tetons more than fifty years ago. It was time. We added Glacier National Park to the list, planned to drive our Tesla to Montana, drop down to Yellowstone, then the Tetons, then head home. We didn’t. We couldn’t find enough ways to charge the car in northern Montana, so we opted to fly to Bozeman, rent a car, then drive. We chose September 10th to leave, knowing that all schools were in session, and the likelihood of an early autumn snowfall was remote.
We began at Glacier.
On our last day we drove the “Going to the Sun” road, which goes from West Glacier to East Glacier, a 56 mile drive that takes almost an entire day.
Along with the majestic scenery we were able to find hidden waterfalls.
And one of the last remaining glaciers.
The drive to Yellowstone took us down two-lane highways and across the Montana that I had always pictured in my mind.
Jadyne drove while I shot out the window.
On the fourth day we arrived at West Yellowstone, the home of the Stagecoach Inn and its two flat screen TVs, both tuned to FOX news. We entered the park the next morning, passing by the Madison River. It was 7:30, 31 degrees. I stopped along the road.
Signs warned us of road construction on the 30 mile drive to Old Faithful, so we weren’t surprised when we stopped. Thirty minutes later Jadyne became impatient and went out walking, thinking that when traffic started to move again I could pick her up. She returned after a few minutes, out of breath. “Buffalos!” she said, and so I was off, walking up the road, past the stopped traffic, cameras in hand. Where everything changed was when I saw that the bison weren’t off the road; the entire herd was crossing the road. and I was among the herd. A ranger in a pickup truck spotted me. He shouted, “You’re going to get killed! Get back in your car!” Funny, my car was about ten cars behind me, in the same direction that the herd was going. I knocked on the door of a car in the middle of the herd, and they let me in, but not before I did what people would expect me to do—check camera settings, focus carefully, and hold the camera steady.
After surviving the herd we saw the usual cast of characters—geysers, hot pools, mud pots, and of course, Old Faithful.
It’s only a hop, step, and jump to the Tetons and our Heart Six Ranch.
Short on room amenities, the Heart Six Ranch more than made up for its shortcomings. 115 horses, an unobstructed view of the Tetons…the disappointments were bearable.
Too many photo opportunities. On the last day we caught the first snowfall on the Tetons at sunrise.
I’ve deliberately kept this post short. The trip was extraordinary, way above expectations. It was time to get out of our California bubble, even if the alternative was FOX news and a thousand Dodge RAMs.
I have posted about sixty images on my website, far too many to post on a blog.