Eye of the World

I had the pleasure of not only visiting the first National Monument, but also the first National Park, Yellowstone! Yellowstone wasn't necessarily set in the 'itinerary' but just in case, I did a little research on it knowing that we would be nearby and oh my was it worth a trip! I have heard many great things about Yellowstone but I had also heard nightmarish stories of bumper to bumper traffic, crowded trails and overbooked campsites etc. so I wasn't 100% committed to the idea (especially since I originally planned on being farther Northwest). But cruising West on Hwy 287 towards Jackson, WY was just so sublime, from the scenery to the overall contentment, and as if a sign that the best was yet to come, as twilight set in I ran right into (nearly!) a baby moose and mamma! 

So the first picture is one of the many above ground geysers at Yellowstone, same as below. The geysers are so bright and interesting with such a wide range of colors, some of which I found out are caused by pollution, like with the Morning Glory pool (second down) fading from bright blue to green. I'm such a little kid when it comes to the geysers, stopping to look at each pool and seriously having to restrain myself from walking up to/touching - I want to examine them up close! But of course all the fun stuff is seriously dangerous, and of course detrimental to the overal purity of the area. But come on, doesn't this look like a seriously banging hot tub?!

I took some small pleasure in the fact that Old Faithful wasn't so faithful this time! The time of the next eruption is estimated every hour and a half, give or take 10 minutes. As the minus 10 minutes nears, everyone casually starts scoping out a good spot to sit and watch. We wait the 10 minutes, eruption time. Nope, and the plus 10 minutes begin. There are a few spurts here and there in which everyone hilariously (myself included) raises their cameras and starts filming only to immediately be disappointed and then laughs trying to figure out whether that was it or not.  We are now sitting about 8 minutes outside the estimated 20 minute window and at this point we are all thinking that this go around may just be a dud, when suddenly, tharrr she blows! The eruption lasted a good 5 minutes, just streaming straight into the sky and turning to steam almost instantly. Everyone cheered and once again a strangely universal experience occurred, something I don't always think about until after it happens. For me, being able to connect on a natural level, being able to share an experience with someone and hear the same experience from a different perspective or hearing of another venture and feeling it's human connection is one of my favorite things about traveling and sharing stories!

The treehouse inside the Yellowstone Lodge

Upper Geyser Basin, where Old Faithful and Morning Glory are, is a great place to start and if you walk around the boardwalk you will see Old Faithful erupt more than once. What I didn't quite realize until actually driving around is that Yellowstone is HUGE area wise, so needing to account for driving time is a must. Because of this we accidentally missed a few other geysers we had wanted to see, like the Grand Prismatic pool but that's ok, it just means something new for next time! We did take a nice hike down to the crest of the lower Yosemite River falls which gushes out and down the yellow walled canyon known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Leaving the park was magical and totally unplanned, but the route back took us directly through Lamar Valley at evening time which is also apparently one of the best times/areas to view wildlife. There were herds of bison, pronghorns and elk grazing through the valley towards the steams. The shoulders of the road fill up quickly with wildlife photographers (um, lens envy much?!) so it can be hard to pull over and watch but driving through was not even remotely disappointing and it was the same through Willow Flats, more moose! And to think I was actually worried about not getting to see wildlife in Yellowstone, but once we saw bears near the campground I was actually worried about getting too close!

Devils Tower - The OG

Seven sisters and their brother were playing in the woods one day when suddenly the brother began to grow coarse hair, sharp claws and long teeth. The sisters ran and the bear brother pursued them, growing larger at every step. The girls climbed the tallest hill and climbed to the top of the tallest tree but it was not enough. They prayed to the Great Spirit to help them and the Great Spirit answered. The hill began to rise, shooting straight up out of the earth with the girls on top and the brother down below. But the bear brother began to climb the sides of the tower, growing larger with each moment, clawing and scarring the mountain. As night came, with nowhere left to go, the sisters held hands and lept into the night sky where they became stars together. Although they left bear brother on Earth the sisters can still be seen in the night sky over the tower.

This is one version of a Native American etiological story, although there are many similar explanations, describing the physical appearance of the tower and the star cluster we now recognize as Pleiades. Devils Tower National Monument was actually the first National Monument named so by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906! The columns made from bear brother's "clawing" are mesmerizing as you walk around the tower, often laying crumbled or partially fallen at the base of the tower. There were tiny specks of people climbing the tower and I felt an overwhelming desire to do the same. Mostly because, what's up there? The curiosity and satisfaction of reaching the top, a place shared only with the birds, the clouds and the occasional climber, over 1,200 ' above the landscape - climbing this laccolith just made my bucket list.

I really enjoyed that in this park pamphlet (I told you I went geeky over these things!), next to the etiological story is the real, scientific explanation which I won't bore you with but I will tell you that most of the columns are actually hexagonal! Did anyone else spend a week in geometry talking about hexagons in nature? From the base of the tower, not a bad view!

Driving up to the tower! Also, I mark this place as officially being back in the wild wild West, but sadly this point also marks going on three weeks and nearing the end of this fantastic road trip. Much more to see and so many great things to look back on!

My Lands Are Where My Dead Lie Buried

The Black Hills in South Dakota brought on some conflicting emotions, especially while visiting Mount Rushmore. There is a very deep Native American history centralized in this area, tainted with sadness, and it was difficult for me to feel patriotic towards Mount Rushmore knowing in my heart that what was done here was wrong. The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota, and other tribes, so not only did the American Government violate their treaty (the Treaty of Fort Laramie) but they drove it home by carving into the sacred mountainside. Unfortunately what's done is done and for me personally, the only way to honor that history is to learn it, respect it, appreciate it and share it. The idea of Mount Rushmore is good, four presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln to represent the first 150 years of American history but the museum does a pathetic job of honoring the true history of the Hills and the controversy of the monument. However, during the evening lighting of the mountainside I did indeed fill with pride as the Ranger who led the ceremony did acknowledge the Lakota people, the history of this place, the men who made the mountain, and she reminded everyone that to be strong we must look for the commonalities among us and not the differences. Obviously I've paraphrased as what the Ranger said was much more beautiful but every bit as truthful.

Ok, the heavy stuff aside there are just two things I have to say about Mt. Rushmore. 1) It's total BS that as a "National Memorial" Mount Rushmore is excluded from the NPS interagency pass and 2) it totally looks fake. I don't know what it is but it looks tiny and fake. There, I said it. Maybe it was like the Mona Lisa, it's built up in your mind as this great, amazing painting but in reality (although no less the things you thought) it's surprisingly small! Also, sorry for the unstable night shots!

The nearby Custer State Park is beautiful and also an animal reserve, home to around 1500 bison! As we were driving through the park, we ran right into the herd! I've seen buffalo (Golden Gate Park has a few!) but never this close and never this many! Some people were getting out of their cars (BAD IDEA!) but I enjoyed from the car, watching a little baby cross the road with mama.

 

The title of this post comes from the Oglala Lakota leader Crazy Horse, and was the inspiration for sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski as he began the Crazy Horse Monument at the request of Henry Standing Bear who wished for people to know that "the red man has great heroes too." Although this monument has it's fair share of controversy as well, I have high hopes for the completed monument which will include (and has a great deal accomplished) cultural and educational programs and services, like the Indian Museum of North America. In contrast with paying extra fees at Mount Rushmore, I was happy to pay entry as well as donate to the Crazy Horse Monument. The project is NOT federally funded (meaning no government money, aka your taxes) to ensure that the beliefs outlined at the projects inception will remain true for all future generations.

 

 

Bad Lands

A lot of driving, a lot of flat space. Even after we entered the Bandlands National Park, the plains sprawled out for miles, beautiful and grassy. Suddenly out of nowhere the plains look as if they are falling away as you stare at them to reveal layers of history. Standing here, the Earth feels as if at any moment it will slip away into these strangely eroded crevasses. Erosion is King here, creating these gorgeous formations, deep canyons, pinnacles and spires, and revealing one of the worlds richest fossil beds. Evidence of the sea that once covered the area, the Yellow Mounds' paleosols contrast beautifully with the greys of the surrounding cliffs.

 

I have to admit, I was unsure about camping here, but once I saw the campground I was totally in love!  Maybe it was just because evening had began and a light warm breeze tickled the wildflowers surrounding the tent. It was probably because each site had a wooden wind breaker covering the picnic tables, I want one of my own! Pictures are: The campsite, the campground, mountain view over an empty site, sunset view, and the sun illuminating my tent - dome light! Also, say hey to the camping trunk, heyyy! That trunk has been through a lot!

There are hikes in the Badlands, the boardwalks with informational plaques are especially nice, but there also seems to be an open space policy. If you can be smart and respectful you can sorta walk around wherever you like...you want to go walk down that canyon over there, ok yeah, keep an eye out! I definitely would love to come back and continue exploring this place - there is a hike-in campsite that you could see from one of the points and I think I'll have to check it out next time!

After leaving the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky, we saw a very interesting billboard advertising a place called "Wall Drug." Some miles later we saw another billboard, "The Free Ice Store!" Then another, then another. For nearly 900 miles (yes, I calculated it), yes, 900 miles..this "Wall Drug" advertised with billboard after billboard (in hindsight I really should have taken more pictures of the signs!), each unique and advertising something different. Upon leaving Badlands you are basically fed right into Wall Drug and after 900 miles of dedicated advertising how could we not check it out?! The sign on the door cracked me up, I felt like it should say "Glad you finally made it!" Let me just give a tip of the hat to Wall Drug, it was pretty amazing. I proudly put a "Where the heck is Wall Drug??" bumper sticker on my trunk. What is it? I'll leave it for you to discover one day!

Mammoth Caves and the Midwest

The Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky is the longest known cave system in the world! We stayed in the park's campground and I tried, tried, tried to capture the fireflies but was not successful. Our camp spot backed up to a wooded meadow area, with dozens more fireflies that I'd seen in Memphis, I'm still so amazing and in love with them! Mammoth Caves offers many different tours depending on skill and what you want to see. Sorry the pictures are so terrible but I was in a CAVE! The first one is the "Frozen Niagara" and the second is a specific type of cave formation known as "cave bacon!" The tours were great (if you plan of taking a major tour you definitely want to arrive early before they sell out), and our main ranger was really passionate about the caves and sharing his experiences with the tour. At one point on the tour while everyone is sitting in a huge cavern, they turn off the lights! There is no light, at all, not even enough to see your own hand in front of your face - just complete and utter darkness. At first there is no sound, and for a moment in the soundless dark you feel like you are floating in the infinite. Then slowly, as your ears are straining for something, come the dull thumps of your heart and blood pumping through you and people shifting uneasily in the dark. Fun fact: there is enough butane in one bic lighter to get you out of the caves, that is, if you can find your way!

From the Mammoth Caves and Kentucky it was Westward ho! This was probably the longest leg of driving on the trip and wow, is it flat. I was super excited to drive basically right under the St. Louis arch and I'm glad to have not been on a wagon, although Oregon Trail jokes and games make for great car entertainment. There's not a whole lot to see in this flat land but I kinda dig on the "graphic farmscapes" like this one of hay bales in the field.

Now this last picture is extremely special to me in one of those strange ways that's hard to explain but you've probably experienced something similar. A goal, a dream, a desire - something that you just have to do for either no reason at all, or a very drawn out weird one. Like visiting the Goonies house in Astoria, OR because deep down you knew you were a Goonie too. Here is another one of mine - my first time at a real White Castle. We don't have these on where I'm from so needless to say, it made me happy. As Kumar says, 'I want that feeling. The feeling that comes over a man when he gets exactly what he desires.'