The Wilderness Multiology – Part 1 - Atilla, Marie and the joys of an outdoor refrigerator

Snappy title huh?

Our longest holiday yet – 2 secret, for now, destinations and Glacier National Park with the specific aim of travelling the Road to the Sun from East to West Glacier via Logan Pass.

First stop Minneapolis St Paul in Minnesota, the Lancashire of the USA. State animal, the mosquito. Having forgotten it is the Land of 10,000 Lakes I was relieved to be in a hermetically sealed legionnaires hatchery as opposed to being out in the elements of a balmy, wet Minneapolis St Paul.

It was comforting to know that as menopausal amnesia descends I could comfortably make my home in the state whose official saint is St Anthony the patron saint of lost causes as within 10 minutes there were 6 announcements of people having left items behind - including the totally lost and disoriented woman who is likely to be sacked( if she ever finds her way back) from the DFW metroplex tourism office for losing all her copies of "Come to Texas" monthly, the official mosquito photographer and his tripod and Mr William's and his mobile.

Altough we never got beyond the hallowed portals of the airport lounge I can't help feeling that St Paul was not necessarily buzzing, given that the Bookclub for Ladies in Comfortable Shoes seemed to have opted to have the June meeting in the French Meadow bakery and cafe declaring it to be the most delightful lunch ever. The volume suggested they had known to ask for absinthe from "below the counter", all it needed was for Anais Nin, Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas and the chorus line from Moulin Rouge and  the French salon atmosphere would have been complete.

Back up in the air, a couple of aerials which lulled us into a false sense of meteorological security

    

and we land at

 the size of Humberside airport....and that's all I've got to say about that.

Dinner at the McKenzie River Pizza Company and the first great

On the next phase of our trip some subtle hints that maybe not all was green in my valley

Then …..

here we come. Which was why I mentioned secret locations because the faithful would know we did this trip last September. Our plan was to leave it a year before we came back, but stuff has come up. It was a different experience not least mainly because of the weather so please read on..

The location of the first campsite..Tower Falls

And close up or as close as you could get as there had been a landsllip and you were not allowed to take the path to the bottom.

We set up camp rushing to beat the rain. Note the new wind proof (see Big Bend and Palo Duro Blogs) bijou, 3 man residence shot in sun the day we left Tower Falls.

Not only have we invested in a posh gaff weighing only 5 lbs we have added to our extensive camping range..a tarpaulin for extra insulation, two Walmart $2.99 subtle orange and lime green inflatable beds as they fitted better in a case than our roll mats. The unforeseen drawback between them being on land rather than water is that the whole campsite can hear you move or else thinks there is a wheezing old git sleeping next door.

First evening we went for a bit a walk and saw a wolf tearing at a carcass except that my camera can't compete with the camouflage of the countryside and the zoom lenses of the mumbly people who feel they only communciate effectively with animals and the Yellowstone STASI.

First night, Ranger Smith came to move a carcass from the back of the campsite so that bears, wolves and Canadians didn't come looking for dinner. I was a bit miffed as I thought it I would have made up for lost shots..

We met Jessica (originally from Scarborough) and Scott from Reading who were coincidentally going to drink wine and play shithead (a card game). Over the course of which a series of mumbly type people came over to see what was going on and regale their sightings of bears over the last 30 years in reverential tones.

Anyway - Day 2 Hayden valley which we didn’t see last year

Then we didn't see in the rain either...

The bottom of Dunraven Pass which we hoped to walk up but it was closed because it still had large snow drifts which you can't see because half of it is shrouded in clouds..a repetitive story this year. Now concentrate and screw up your eyes; to the right of the left hand pine tree . …a grizzly mother and two cubs - honest. 

And so to Yellowstone Lower Falls, this shot taken by P as I don't do edges and am always on the verge of tears when P goes near them too.

And the view down the valley

Taken on a dull day. It is difficult to provide scale and no-one will volunteer to throw themselves in front of the camera to give perspective so this next shot look on the right hand side of the picture there is a giant staircase which might help... more of that later.

It would have been useful to have a lollipop lady in a bright green coat standing on it too but there you go.

I was also hoping that if we returned I would get a shot of this finally falling away but it didn't happen.

Next stop the Upper Falls

On our way back to the car, humans get many warnings about gettin near buffalo....

Sometimes you are not given the choice

And on the return to Camp Run Amok  me trying to be artistic - well all the colours were so vivid:

Then we turned a corner and Mother Nature produced this!

So 2 nights of wet and cold and we wake to sun but our valley rain was snow on Dunraven Pass road where we had been the day before and  left 2 inches of ice on the road so we had to do an 70 mile round trip to our next campsite Canyon Village, still in Yellowstone but not our original choice as that is still shut because of the ....begins with s and ends in w 1 syllable.

On the way we get to see a pronghorn or two:

Next day  back in the sunshine to the Lower Falls and the view from the top of the staircase above. The path you see is the path we took down to the top of the Lower Falls...dizzy yet?

Then Sharman is a big brave girl and takes this down the stairs...I was going to go down that stairs. Those of you who know me will know I hate walking across bridges and piers where you can see the water swirling below so this was a big thing.

My bravery rewarded

The colours further down the valley were great too.

And looking back down to the falls again

For a litigious society to look over the edge with no rail always seems contradictory

I think I said before Yellowstone gets 5 million visitors a year but it is a common factor that walk ten minutes from the central attraction in any of the national parks and the traffic is reduced by about 85% which means you come across serenity and the wilderness it strives to achieve

And miniature versions of the bigger attractions

It is obviously more difficult to find an animal manicurist here - it was only about 7 inches long so just a youngster.

Sitting duck?

An eight mile walk and back to the campsite chiller for aperitifs

Another cold start. Plans to walk another pass which is higher than Yellowstone Lake

Requires another re-think.

On the other side of the road a geyser and mud bath is merrily bubbling and steaming. Proceeding around the ice floe we meet a Konglommeration of Kamouflage Kenny Kodaks because of:

A young female grizzly, who takes a little walk but then decides that a post deer calf lunch requires a snooze

She then hears Disney is looking to do a real version remake of Winnie the Pooh

Anyone up for tickling my tummy?

Ranger Smith is freaking out about the volume of cars and people standing outside of them in danger of a mauling so we leave for a chat with this guy

Does he look cross to you? Well it's because we stopped taking photgraphs of him and started chatting to a Millwall fan...from Bradford. He resorted to chittering at us very loudly....... not the Millwall fan.

We finished off our walk on Yellowstone Lake  beach which had bubbling and festering activity, yes the  lake that had ice on it.

And here almost endeth the Yellowstone leg which almost coincided with the end of the life of the Grandma who decided that at the start of the dead quiet hours (10 pm) she would become Kansas' answer to Jackanory regailing the adventures of Abigail to Aaaambrrrr for an hour. When a good night depends upon you falling asleep before you realise that you are still that cold despite sealing your goosefat doused body in thermals, jogging top with a hat inside, a sleeping bag which is designed for below 30 and your new cosier two man tent degrees especially when you know that you will be waking up at 6 trying to convince your bladder that it really doesn't need emptying yet because it will be the coldest part of the day and your arthtiric hip requires you to crawl oyour hands and knees, possibly into a faceful of overnight snow.

All of which becomes irrelevant anyway because the party behind you decides to break camp at  5.30  which is 2 and half hours before end of camp quiet hours anouncing

- wake up Grandma (a ifferent grandma),

- Atilla, Marie stop your yowling (a gender confused dog)

The rule....is always ask for a loop on the campsite that does not allow motorized homes or find a little campsite where they are NOT ALLOWED AT ALL!!!!!

Alternatively smear the outside with baked beans and watch the wildlife come to  peel the van open just like a bean tin.

Next stop ...it's a secret.