The Memories

Its been 49 days or 6 weeks and 2 days traveling in US. We covered over 8000 miles or 11,000km. We saw bisons, deers, elks, marmots and a sole big-horn sheep, all which we have not seen before. Wished we saw a bear, though. We drove through and stayed in little-known small towns like Sparta in Wisconsin and big city like Indianapolis. We tried fast food that you don't get in Manhattan like Chick-fil-a, DQ and Sonic. We met many friendly people and hope we will keep in touch with some of them. We had beautiful weather, freezing weather, dusty weather, thunderstorm, snow and rain. All part of the experience in America's diverse national parks. We went to places with crowds that reminded me of NYC and then escaped to remote areas where we skinny dipped! We were turned back by the snow time after time consistently at over 8500ft. We lost the side bumper of the car. We got creative with our cooking with TJ's bacon-wrapped egg breakfast sandwich. We rigged up our outdoor shower and tried out the porta-loo.

We are now back in the city, the familiar sound of traffic, honkings, buildings and crowds.

Groundhog Day

For those who have seen the movie, Groundhog Day, you will know where Punxsutawney is and what is Gobbler's Knob. We are spending our last night on the road here in the home of Punxy Phil, the weather-predicting groundhog. TJ has always wanted to visit as Groundhog Day is one of his favorite movies. I have watched it quite a few times. So here we are, in town for a night. To be frank, there is really nothing exciting here except for the one day a year, Feb 2nd, where Punxy Phil gets all the attention and predicts whether its going to be 6 more weeks of winter. Otherwise, Gobbler's Knob is a field with overgrown grass and weeds.

Looking for Punxy Phil

Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse - South Dakota

We added this part of the trip specifically at my request. Ever since watching the movie, Richie Rich, I have wanted to see the face sculptures.
We stayed at a BnB called Dakota Dream in Custer. The drive to Mt Rushmore takes less than an hour, through the Custer State Forest.

The 5th face

There is also another sculpture in progress of Crazy Horse. It is the world's largest mountain carving. The project started in 1948 and is due to be completed by ......….
There is a model of the finished sculpture at the viewing veranda.

Progress since 1948

The 1/34th scale model

Driggs

We can now add Idaho to our list of states visited. We left Yellowstone and drove to our next destination, Driggs. Its a small Mormon town. After all our outdoor adventure, we are now on a food adventure. Idaho is not only known for its potatoes but also huckleberry. We don't know if its only in Idaho or in other parts of US but the first we have heard and could get them is in Idaho.

First was in the town called Victor. We had a huckleberry milkshake. In Driggs, we found places selling huckleberry sauce, soda, martini etc. It taste and looks like blueberry. For dinner tonight, I had salted caramel, bacon and pretzel sundae. Its salted caramel ice cream with bacon bits and pretzels. I quite liked it but TJ is undecided.

We went to the Warbird Cafe for lunch. Its an interesting place as its located in the airport and we were seated right next to the runway. The airport is for small light planes and we saw them taking off and landing right next to us! We also saw a couple of gliders and one landed on the runway. Another interesting experience.

Less than halfway pose

We decided to try hiking up the Table Mountain about 30 mins drive to the trailhead. It was a steep uphill all the way for about 4km. At about halfway, I decided to stop. We have also started to hit more snow, which we expected. TJ continued up to try to get a view of the Grand Teton from the top of the mountain. He did get the view.

Kayak Day 4

It was time to leave the lake and back to civilization. We woke up early and again the lake was clear and glassy. We enjoyed the morning with a cuppa, taking in the view for the last time.

 It was going to be a few hours of paddling back to the boat ramp. The wind wasn't in our favor, unfortunately. We headed straight into it in both lakes. We finally got onshore around 1pm and unloaded. That's the end of our trip and it really has been perfect, particularly the weather.

Ducks along the channel

Kayak Day 3

Calm morning

There was a passing thunderstorm in the night. In the morning, we woke up to glassy water. It was remarkable footage to see calm, clear glassy lake.

After a breakfast of scrambled egg and hash burritos, we paddled a few km to the Shoshone Lake Geyser Basins. It was an area of largest geo thermal concentration. The area is remote, accessible only by the lake or a couple of days by foot. No mass tourists.

Landing at the basin

Hot spring

We spent a couple of hours exploring the hot springs, geysers and steam vents.

Kayak Day 2

Sunset from our camp

Our own beach

What do you do when you are in a remote area, with no one around, a clear lake and a warm sunny day? Skinny dipping! That's what we did when we got to our 2nd camp site, 8R2 on day 2. Having paddled for a couple of hours, we got to the camp site lunch time and it was perfect for a quick dip. The water is chilly under 10C, so it was really just a few seconds in the water. Enough to give you the pins and needles. Our camp spot was better than the first, high up with a view of the lake.

Our bear hang

Kayak Day 1

Map of the lakes

We embarked on our 4-day trip across Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone. Met our guide, Kevin at Lewis Lake, the starting point. It took us more than an hour to load up 2 kayaks, with TJ and I taking a tandem. It is surprising how much you can fit into a kayak. We had 4 days worth of personal stuff plus food and cooking utensils including a stove.

Paddling hard in the channel

Lunch stop pose

The day started cold but soon warmed up shortly after we left the ramp. It was good timing after the past week of snow and rain. We paddled out to Lewis Lake and through the channel to Shoshone Lake. Paddling in the channel was hard work as the current was against us. It got a bit easier once we hit the lake. Our first camp spot was 8Q9 at about 4pm, after about 4 hours including a lunch stop.

Artist Potholes

Bubbling mudpots

Mud spring

 It snowed today, right from breakfast to lunch. We took the day easy with bacon-wrapped egg and cheese sandwich, our trademark breakkie and headed out to Artist Potholes. Its an area with boiling/bubbling mud patches, geysers and springs. Then its off to shower, laundry and prepare for our 4-day kayaking trip.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Palette Spring

It was rain on and off day. We decided to head to a big tourist village called Mammoth to check out the thermal basins. Although it was popular, the basin was worth checking out. We took the opportunity to do our backcountry briefing from the park's office, which is required if you camp backcountry. We had to do it for our kayaking trip in 2 days.

Mound Terrace

The weather cleared up a bit and we took our bikes out to Osprey Falls. It was a 4 mile ride out to the trailhead and then a steep 1.4 mile down to the fall.

Osprey Falls