A Quick Look at a Long Journey

Brian and I just completed a pretty excellent road trip to and from Montana. We crossed a lot of new territory, visited old friends and spent lots of time in very close quarters. For a road trip of its length and breadth, things went remarkably smoothly.

Our impetus for the journey was the marriage of our friends Drea and Guillaume. We left Thursday after work, and managed to get four hours on the road in before deciding to camp for the night near the western edge of Iowa. Unfortunately, the site was crowded and buggy and our tent was a tiny two-man backpacking affair with no floor. Not ideal, and we did not sleep well, but we carried on early in the AM. After fourteen hours in the car (and one brief stop to buy a more robust tent) we made it to our destination. During our two nights in Bozeman, we stayed with our other friends Sukha and Margaret. It was great to catch up with them, and the area was very neat, though we somehow neglected to take our camera out and snap a single photograph until the morning of our departure. Oops.

The wedding was great fun, and the next morning we attended a brunch with the family and friends before hitting the road.

some guests on the lawn at the brunch

We left Bozeman and went to Yellowstone - another new place for both of us. We had a tricky time there navigating the crowds. I must say it was one of the oddest experiences of my life, being somewhere simultaneously so remote and so choked with people.

We started with a look at some of the hot mineral springs that ooze boiling water onto the earth and a sulfurous stink into the air. The colors and textures left behind are pretty incredible.

some neat steppe areas and a pool

taking a close view

We left the area as it started to rain and drove on, finding ourselves in some high, beautiful valleys. At one point we found a little side-road and decided to hike, but upon leaving the car were immediately descended upon by mosquitoes with the bulk of bumblebees and the aggression of rabid terriers. We immediately dove back into the car and drove on, itching.

Eventually we found another area of geysers and mineral pools. This too was crowded and the first bit was frustrating, but eventually we discovered a side path no one else seemed to have noticed and got some time to ourselves.

the ground was hot and things were erupting and sending scalding water into the air rather frequently

We walked around for a while, feeling we'd somehow stepped onto another planet; a very safe one with wooden paths to lead us everywhere interesting.

the colors in the pools were something else

Finally, we left the pools and geysers and drove on, eventually arrived at a canyon and leaving the car again. There we found some beautiful views once again clogged with veritable droves of people. We poked around some, and this time we found a trail-head marked by a warning sign, telling tourists the path was uneven and rough. We proceeded down the trail eagerly, and soon found ourselves hiking along the rim of the canyon. It was an incredible view and left me feeling woozy and tiny.

the canyon below the falls

us, all alone, on the rim

We left the canyon and returned to the car feeling energized and ready to check out a mud volcano that the map told us was nearby, but we continued through some more upper valleys and then found ourselves in a serious traffic jam. We were stuck for over an hour, traffic moving mere inches at a time, watching as the line got longer behind us and wondering what was going on. Finally, we reached the crucial point and discovered human movement had been all but shut down by the movement of the bison. A few hours before we'd been in a near accident because of bison. Maybe I'm just a hardened cynic, but to me the presence of a big undomesticated cow by the road doesn't warrant slamming on the brakes on a wet, slick road so the person behind you has to skid and slide to a stop, but I appear to be a rarity among Yellowstone visitors. The numerous massive bovine park inhabitants attract all sorts of enthusiastic attention. So, although the herd was crossing only one at a time at fairly long intervals, people were sitting in their cars staring and snapping photos while the line of cars piled up behind them.

a buffalo, in the road

After the traffic jam, it was getting late and we were well ready to get away from the crowds and the traffic, so we skipped the last couple of things we intended to do in the park and took the quick route out. On a quiet road, we skirted an alpine lake at sunset, with the surrounding peaks capped in storm-clouds, and proceeded through a mind-blowing pass. We were too busy staring to take photos.

Free of the park, we drove into national forest, and made camp at our first opportunity.

our first camp on the road home, in the morning

We woke early, and proceeded to load up and resume our journey. We hadn't been on the road long when we came to a stopped car on the small highway. From my side of the vehicle we could see a man waving a flag. We couldn't figure out what was going on, but a moment later it became apparent.

cowboy before the sun - that's a couple horses in the lower right-hand corner

Soon a whole herd of horses, led by a mounted cowboy, came loping up the road and crossed over to Brian's side of the car.

the horses, followed by another mounted man

It was only a few moments before we moved on, but it was a neat start to the day.

We made it to Spearfish, South Dakota by early afternoon, which was good, but our afternoon hike plans got rained out, so we mostly drove around and checked out some other towns in the area and explored the Black Hills a little. It's a pretty incredible area.

Finally, tired of driving, we found another dirt road in national forest and set up camp again.

our tent and rain fly, drying from the night before

We passed a nice evening with some light rain showers and some beer.

Brian and me, happy to be out of the car

In the morning we woke, loaded up and drove for another eleven hours. Back in Iowa City, we are ready to stay here for a while (I've spent more of July traveling than home). But, in spite of rain every day and lots of hours in the car, we certainly saw some incredible sights and racked up a few good stories.