Wednesday 31st August / Thursday 1st September 2016

Day 0/1 - Home to San Francisco

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Day 0 - Wednesday 31st August - Nailsea to Feltham. & Day 1 - Taxi to station, easy check in and boarding. Flight uneventful so far. We are in seats 4 rows apart, so not chatting on this trip to each other.....we land at San Fransisco Airport, at 17:30 or 01:30 UK time, with the runway very rough and after being directed to a faster route through customs make good time.

We get the hotel shuttle bus and arrive for 19:15. Tomorrow we start the tour!

Day 2 - Friday 2nd September

San Fransisco to South Lake Tahoe.

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Enjoyed a US throw away style breakfast and then a taxi to collect the car. We end up with a Kia Sorento V6. Nice motor.

So we set off out of the Airport area and soon go over a massive bridge across the bay.   The bridge, whilst thankfully is joined, is in two parts. The first section is the normal up and over bridge so boats go underneath, we then go onto a bridge / causeway only some 5 metres above the water. Spectacular drive across.

We continue to head east. We soon come across a fruit growing area, peaches, plums, grape vines, apples and more. We stop to buy some local produce in an Aladdin's  cave of a supermarket.

During this time we are climbing, following route 88. The mountain range is part of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This was part of an old pioneers trail looking for gold in California. Many of the settlers did not manage to survive the journey across these mountains.

We stop at a vantage point just above Jackson, look across at the lands towards the mountains and spot old gold mining structures and a gold mining ranch we think still in operation .

We continue to climb and climb, eventually peaking at 8000 feet and start the descent down to Lake Tahoe, past a small lake and eventually make our way to our motel in South Lake Tahoe. We settle in, then it's only a 5 minute walk to the beach, freshwater lake surrounded by mountains with a course sandy beach.

We walk back into the town, enjoy our evening meal and see the sunset from a distance.

Good day, lovely weather and great scenery, although much of it very dry from the effect of the sunshine state! Nice to have such good weather after our previous Californian experiences.

Mileage 224 miles

Day 3 Saturday 3rd September

South Lake Tahoe. 

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Although not very sunny when we first got up, the sun soon came out and we had yet another glorious day, starting with our breakfast on a first floor patio area. We strolled up the street and made our way to the Heavenly village to buy tickets for the gondola up the mountain. The cashier told us we had to get off at the first station to enjoy the views, as the gondola didn't stop there on the way down. We would then continue to the top. She asked us if we would like to then go on a chair lift up further at no extra charge. Of course we said yes, and so we had to sign a disclaimer, including filling in our names, dates of birth and a name and contact number for someone not with us! It seemed a but extreme, just to ride a chair lift, but worth it!

And so we started off up the mountain. The views from the platform at the first stop off were absolutely fantastic, looking out over Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area.

We the preceded up further, and the top of the gondola ride was in a sort of basin, and so no views. We went straight on it in the chair lift, which took us further up again, and back to views. From this point, the intrepid could ride a double zip line back down, needless to say we didn't! After a wander around, we got back on the chair lift and went down, and back up and down again! And after a break for a drink, we went around a couple more times. There were a lot if adventure activities available in the basin area, smaller zip lines and high rope courses - different levels of tickets were available when you bought your gondola ride. So by early afternoon we made our way back down.

We went back to our room for a while, and the decided to drive a short distance around the bottom of the lake to Emerald Bay. Although the traffic had eased from earlier in the afternoon, it still took us quite a while to go about 12 miles along some quite twisty sections of road, and also it was still busy enough that it wasn't easy to find somewhere to park. However, once we did the view down on  Emerald bay was lovely.

When we returned back to our accommodation, we decided to walk down to the beach to see the sunset again, as last night. This time we dressed up warmer, although it was still quite chilly sitting there. We got something to eat in a small place right on the beach - with a lovely view up the lake. The sunset, although not spectacular, was still good to watch as we ate our dinner.

Mileage 44.

Tomorrow we take the loneliest road in the US!

Day 4 Sunday 4th September

South Lake Tahoe to Ely

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Well, today has been a day of colours! Yet again the 'sunshine' state lived up to its name, and we woke to a sunny day with clear blue skies. Leaving Lake Tahoe, after a short time with a few glimpses through the trees of the stunning blue waters, we travel over a high mountain pass and then drop down to Carson City. While not at its best with roadworks all down the Main Street, this gives us a flavour of a casino city. We take the opportunity to fill up with petrol - just as well as there are not many more on our way across the Nevada desert.

From here we take Highway 50, the 'loneliest road in America', which is following the old Lincoln highway and Pony Express - the postal route of the 1800s. We soon leave the busy 4 lane road behind and it is not long before it lives up to its name, and we have many stretches where there is no one else in sight. The terrain is varied, with vast stretches of flat open desert, with miles after miles of straight road, interspersed with mountain ridges that the road navigates over in a much more twisty manner.

However, it is the varied vegetation and rocks that have made today so colourful. The ground has been white with salt deposits, sandy yellow, grey gravel. The vegetation has been a mixture of irrigated green pasture, yellow grasses, grey and sage scrub, some with bright yellow flowers, dark green bushes and trees. The rocks have changed from pink, orange, red to grey, green, black and even purple. Sometimes there has been miles of similar colours together and at others a mixture of all together.

Our route took us through a few small towns. First of all Fallon,  mainly made up of a Naval Air Station. We stopped at Walmart for some essentials - water and cookies, and to use the facilities. Then on to Austin. This very small town was peculiarly set half way up one of the mountain ridges on a series of hairpin bends, and almost a case of if you blink you miss it!  Next came Eureka - slightly bigger, but not a lot there. Finally we arrived at Ely - having passed beneath a huge open cast mine on the way in. We checked into our motel, went for a short trip back up and down the Main Street to check out the murals, and then got something to eat at the casino across the road.

Mileage 363 miles

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Well today has been much of the same as yesterday, in terms of landscape and vegetation, but with much more! We set off from Ely in bright sunshine, and headed towards Baker and the Great Basin visitor centre. Looking around this gave us more information on how the landscape evolved - it is one of four deserts in the USA, but it is a 'cold' desert because of it's altitude, - and on the people who have lived and passed through the area. We then set off to do the 12 mile scenic trip up Wheelers Peak, having driven the few miles into the National Park. This route has a 35 mph speed limit and no overtaking or stopping - with a couple if pull ins at view points. It climbs up yo over 10000 feet, from a start point of about 6000 feet and has lots of twists!!  We stop at the Mather overlook and then at the Wheeler Peak overlook.

At this point, although not quite to the top, caution takes over as we realise we are getting quite low on fuel, and don't know if there is anywhere in Baker to refuel - although if there isn't we may well be stuck! So, we decide to turn around and make our descent.

On reaching Baker, a very small shanty town we were in luck, and found a fuel station, although unmanned - card only. We have experienced before that our card often cant be read in these places, and again this was the case. However we were in luck as a couple of pick ups arrived, father and son, and they very kindly used their card for us and we gave them cash, and a bit more for a drink!. So, at least we were able to continue our journey.

On again, through similar terrain, to Delta, passing Sevier Lake on the way. Around here there was more areas being irrigated and some farms. Going on from Delta we headed to another Eureka. By this time it was getting later afternoon, and there was a lot more traffic, although in reality not masses, mainly very large RVs, and caravans and lots towing trailers with off road buggies - heading home after the Bank Holiday weekend. We had also seen lots off these parked up over the last two days as well.

Our final stretch before reaching the outskirts if Salt Lake City was travelling beside Utah Lake, another large salt mass, with quite a bit if farming in the area. We had noticed on Saturday, looking down from the Heavenly mountain that the green irrigated areas looked circular, and now we knew why... The watering arms were on a pivot and went around in a circle!

As we neared the end of the Lake there was masses of new building happening.....lots of new houses of varying sizes and styles. Not long after this we were in the urban mass of Salt Lake City, and needed to follow the directions of the Sat Nav to find our hotel, right next to Temple Square.

Phil is looking forward to no driving tomorrow, a wander around in the morning and a booked tour in the afternoon.

Mileage 312 miles

Day 6 Tuesday 6th September

Salt Lake City

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We started today with a gentle stroll around Temple Square, admiring the lovely flower beds and being reminded how much we enjoyed being here last year. We wandered through the City Creek shopping mall and sat by a lovely fountain and enjoyed a cold drink. We then returned to our hotel to await our pick up for the sightseeing tour we had booked. 

Our tour took us to the Salt Lake and then the Kennecott Copper Mine, owned by Rio Tinto. First of all we were picked up in a bus - there were 16 of us, and we had a very chatty driver, who seemed unable to tell us anything without also using his hands! On our drive to the lake, we stopped to see some prong horns (small antelope)  in the fields. We then drove along the shore of the lake to the Marina, seeing some of the processing parts of the mine at the same time. Unbelievably, the tall chimney stack we could see is taller than the Empire State Building!

At the marina we had a wander around, down onto the salt bed as well as seeing informative plaques about the mine. After our stop here 9 of us got onto a smaller coach, with the same driver for the mine part of the tour. Well, they certainly weren't kidding when they said it wasn't for people who don't like heights, and that it would be steep, bumpy and twisty - all this with the driver expressively using his hands to talk as well as drive!

He took us on a circular route, up through one side of the mountain where camping, shooting and hiking are allowed. We were soon on a very rough track, and sitting at the back of the bus was extremely bumpy! All in all we climbed from the Salt Lake at about 4500 feet to the top of the mountain at just over 9000 feet. Needless to say there were plenty of hairpin bends, and at times very steep drops! The young lady in front of us had a very expressive face and was not enjoying the views much, spending a lot of the time with her eyes covered up!

On reaching the top of the mountain we had a spectacular view of the copper mine - it is so big it is visible from space. Looking at the photos one section should stand out as different to the rest.... Instead of steps down, it is a v shape. This is where the visitor centre and museum used to stand, but 3 years ago there was a massive landslide, and they lost both both buildings, along with 10 huge trucks, but luckily no one was hurt. Since then the public is not allowed into the mine, and so the only tour to see it is the one we were on. It was a little disappointing not to be able to see the turquoise lake at the bottom of the pit, as seen in all the photos we had seen, but the mine is so deep we couldn't see the bottom - the only way to see that is to fly over it.

Day 7 Wednesday 7th September

Salt Lake City to Jackson

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Having decided last night that we would change our route from our original plan, see map, we set off this morning and went just a short distance up the Interstate - I-15. We then turned off and went through the mountains, lovely scenery and a popular ski and snow sports area in the winter.  We travelled up quite high, through quite a wooded area and along a ridge, and then on our descent down came upon a real live cowboy on a horse, herding some cattle down the road.

Once back down in a large flat bottomed valley, it was quite agricultural, a lot of cattle, mainly black, and lots of large hay stacks. 

The next point of interest was Bear Lake, that straddles the borders of Utah and Idaho. This large lake was a stunning blue, and very clear. It is clearly a very popular place for recreation, although not many people around today.

Our route took us just a few miles through Idaho, a new State for us. At one point there was a small section of road being resurfaced, and we had to stop at a hand held sign, and then follow a 'pilot car' with a flashing sign saying 'follow me' through the road works, just like in F1!! We stopped in Montpelier to visit the National Oregon/California Trail Centre. The main exhibit to see was a series of paintings that had been commissioned to celebrate the Oregon Trail. They had been painted by an artist who visited each spot described in diaries of pioneers, and the scene painted in situ, with his historian wife reading the memoirs. Each painting included a self-portrait in some form or other, his wife's name - BEV, and an Indian hiding behind something. These were very difficult to pick out, but very clever. There was also a museum of local history.

We passed the Lander cut off and travelled quite some distance in the Star Valley scenic byway. In Afton we saw our first Elk horn gateway - there are more to come in Jackson. Carrying on through a large valley, we could see smoke from what looked like a large forest fire up on the mountains to our left.

At Alpine junction we start to follow the Snake river up to Jackson. This river is obviously a very popular one for canoeing etc and there are lots of landing areas marked off the road. On reaching Jackson, the central square has an Elk horn archway on each corner, no doubt we will get photos tomorrow of this, as it was too late to do this, this evening. We find our accommodation, the Elk Refuge Inn, a little way out of Jackson. Looking forward to exploring this area tomorrow.

Mileage driven - 287

Day 8 Thursday 8th September

Jackson - Grand Teton National Park

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We set off in good time this morning - but not early enough to catch the sunrise! Our plan was to do a large loop around the National Park, which we pretty much achieved, although have left the final part, including the Aerial Tramway for tomorrow.

On our route around there were lots of pull offs for viewing, and they also had information boards about what you were looking at and some history. 

One of the first bits we looked at was Mormon Row, which has some barns and other buildings - the remains of one of the first settlements in the valley.

We set off in good time again this morning, and drive through Jackson and onto Teton Village, and the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. We take the Aerial Tram, which goes up a vertical 4139 feet in 12 minutes. It opened in 2008 and cost $31m. It was a lovely ride up, but certainly cold at the top. We had a wander around and then had 'breakfast' as suggested of waffles in Corbets Cabin. I had 'The Trad' a waffle with brown sugar butter, and Phil had 'The Englishman' a waffle with lemon fondant and icing sugar.  On our way back down in the tram we were lucky enough to spot a moose - not sure I managed to get a photo though.

We then continued onto Moose (the place) which completed the circuit we started yesterday. It was then back up the road we came down yesterday to Jackson Lake junction. We did a little sidetrack back out to Oxbow Bend, for a last glorious view of the Teton mountain range and the Snake river in front.

We then set off up past Jackson Lake and towards Yellowstone. At the top end of Jackson lake we could see smoke from quite a few fires, and there were lots of signs up to say they were known about. It seems the policy now is, it is a good idea to let them burn, as this renews the areas, clearing areas of old trees and regenerating growth.

We enter Yellowstone National Park by the South entrance and cross the Snake river for the last time. We follow the Lewis river, alongside Lewis Canyon and Falls and eventually reach Lewis Lake. Then onto Grant village and our first glimpse of Yellowstone Lake. During this time we crossed the Continental Divide three times.

On our drive around to the West entrance we went through a long stretch of thermal activity. Near Old Faithful, which we didn't stop to see today, we saw a bison grazing. We stopped at the Midway Geyser Basin and went on the boardwalk, seeing the Excelsior Geyser Crater and Grand Prismatic Spring. With the evening sun the colours were fantastic, and the shadows very long!

The drive out to West Yellowstone, where we are staying, was very slow, quite a lot of traffic, and lots of people looking for wildlife by the river. We saw elk on 3 or 4 occasions, down near the river. Also a lovely sunset!

Mileage driven 147 miles

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Wow! What a day! Let's start with listing all the wonderful wildlife we saw today....

• Bison - 3 on their own and a small herd,
• Elk - lots at various times, including some large males with fantastic antlers,
• Pronghorn - a few,
• A Heron and a Grouse
• A Wolf - within 20 yards of the car - I didn't even have to zoom in too much! We later discovered it wasn’t a wolf but a Coyote – still fantastic.
• And to top it all this evening ....
• A Black Bear!

Well, let's remember what else we did....We didn't set off as early as originally intended, as we realised last night when we went to charge the camera batteries that we had left the charger at our last accommodation! What a pain! Anyway, our waiter last night told us of a shop where we should be able to get something, so we found it after breakfast - within walking distance, and managed to get a universal block battery charger, including car adaptor which was great news!

So finally we set off back through the West entrance, again quite a slow journey, stopping off to see a bison and some elk by the river. On reaching Madison Junction we turned up towards Norris, and stopped off to do another board walk around the Terrace Springs. We then follow the Gibbon river and see the falls. Next stop is the Artists Paintpots, another walk, some gravel path and some boards. This does a loop through some more geothermal areas, with mud being erupted. It was just after this that we saw the wolf (Coyote), really close to the road.

Next stop is the Norris Geyser Basin, and we walk the loop past Steamboat Geyser and amongst lots more as well. This was quite a hot and dusty walk, again some on gravel and some on boards. We continue North, through Golden Gate, a spectacular canyon with the road built out from the edge on a sort of bridge. As we descend down from here we take the drive loop out through the Upper Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs.

From Mammoth Hot Springs we take a detour out to the North entrance of the Park, to see the Roosevelt Arch, built to commemorate the opening of the first National Park. At one time all the traffic going into the Park had to go through this, but not any more - it is purely for show now.

Back into Mammoth and we continue on our loop to Tower - Roosevelt. We take the road to Canyon Village, and pass Tower falls, look down into the Canyon and see some wonderful rock formations up from the road - looks a bit like the Giants Causeway in places.

Next is Dunraven Pass, which is a beautiful climb up thorough the pines. A lot of this area has obviously reseeded following fire, and the ground is covered in smaller pine trees, with the dead trunks sticking up way taller. It was along this section that we saw the black bear, rounding a corner and seeing lots of cars parked up and a couple of Park Rangers keeping watch. It really was wonderful to see the bear out in the wild, just wandering around feeding on pine nuts.

By this time it is getting quite late, and the sun is starting to set, so we make our way onto Canyon Village, across to Norris and so completing our loop. It is then back to Madison Junction and onto West Yellowstone. As we make our slow way back out to the west entrance, we can see lots of smoke to the north of the road, being lit up by the setting sun. This smoke has been hanging in the air all day. It seems to have made the skies very hazy most of the day, and we could also smell it at times. Not quite sure where the fires are, but it was evident in West Yellowstone this morning as well.

All in all a fantastic day, with lots of different aspects of Yellowstone seen. Looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.

Mileage driven 141 miles

Day 11 Sunday 11th September

Yellowstone National Park

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This morning, after smelling smoke a bit in our room overnight, we come out to West Yellowstone and nearby in a complete fog of smoke, lingering over the town from the nearby fire.

We made our way back into the Park, and the smoke soon cleared, and it was a beautiful morning, as we had managed to get going in good time. We stopped at the first Ranger station we came to, at Madison just after it opened at 9am, to enquire about the Old Faithful geyser eruption time. They seem to be able to predict these within 10 minutes either way and post the times at various places. It was predicted for 10.02, and we were about 30 minutes away. So, we set off for there, without stopping off at any points along the way. This proved to be a very good move, as we arrived in plenty of time and it wasn't too busy.

After parking easily in the very large car park, we strolled over to the geyser area, and were surprised to see 2 rows of seating in a circle around the geyser. We managed to get front row seats, and sat and waited. When Old Faithful finally erupted, it was worth the wait, very impressive and went on for about three and a half minutes! It was quite different to the geyser we have seen erupt in Iceland. It was very windy, and the spray was blown a long way - glad we weren't sitting in that direction

After the eruption we went and had a look at the very impressive gift shop - and needless to say bought some stuff! It was then about half an hour to the next eruption, but we decided that would be another hour and a half gone, and we had lots else to see.

So, we continue on today's loop of the Park, towards West Thumb and Yellowstone Lake. We pull in to see the Kepler cascades, an impressive waterfall. On reaching Yellowstone Lake, we find a good pull off with a good view and had lunch. It was very windy, and there were small white horses on the Lake, and the tall pine trees were swaying very noisily.  A little further on we tried to go on a short loop road nearer the lakeshore, but not long after the start, were stopped by a Park Ranger and a fallen tree over the narrow road. It is amazing how quickly they seem to be at any potential problem. He told us a crew was on its way to cut the tree up and move it and we could wait or turn around and return to the main road. We decided to do that and continue on our way.

Our next stop was Lake Village - there were lots of cabins, a very grand hotel, other lodges and a general store - that sold a bit of everything, including ice cream - that seems to have been in short supply so far this trip! So, we decided to have a one scoop cone - it was huge! And very nice.

Next we followed the road up to Canyon Village, stopping off to see the Sulphur Basin, more gloopy thermal areas. Next we go through the Hayden Valley and see lots of bison (American buffalo) this time in herds, rather than solitary.

Next is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and we do the road on both the South and North rims, having good vantage points to see the canyon and both the Upper and Lower falls. It was very impressive.

By now it was about 6pm, and we decide we had better start to make our way back, so we complete today's loop on the same road as yesterday. On our way back we catch a glimpse of a coyote, as well as some more bison and some elk. We had a very slow journey from Madison junction out towards the West entrance, we think a Park Ranger was controlling the speed of the traffic with a 'control car' ( top speed in the Park is 45 mph ) and we took about half an hour to go about 7 miles.

Yet again a lovely day exploring Yellowstone. Throughout the park there is much evidence of fires and regeneration of trees. The ground in these areas is coved in fallen trunks, all jumbled on top of each other like a game of pick a sticks. Amongst the new trees are burnt, dead trunks poking high into the air. The altitude throughout the Park ranges from 6600 feet to nearly 9000 feet. The terrain ranges from dense pine forests, open 'meadows', rivers, falls, lakes and mountains and of course lots of thermal activity sites, with geysers, steam vents, and springs. The wildlife is fantastic and all in all it is a wonderful place.

Mileage driven 142 miles

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Well, what a difference a day makes! From wonderful sunny weather over the last 2 days in Yellowstone, we woke up to a wet, cold morning with low visibility. As we drove into the Park, there was evidence that the forecasters were right and it had snowed! As we progressed, as you will see from the photos, it got snowier - very pretty, but not so good to drive in.

We took the route in from the West entrance, and on reaching Madison junction, took a slight detour to go on the Firehole Canyon Drive - well worth it to see the falls, and it then started snowing.

We then retraced our exit route from the last two nights, back to Norris, not too bad weather wise, and then onto Canyon Village, which we later found out that stretch of road is known as 'the hump'. It goes up quite high and the weather just got thicker and thicker with snow, such a difference from less than 18 hours before!

We then took the route back to Fishing Bridge, again the reverse of yesterday, and saw several herds of bison in the snow, where yesterday they were in glorious sunshine. We stopped at the Visitor Centre at Fishing Bridge, and were told that the East route to Cody, was ok to travel - thank goodness, although it was also very snowy across the Sylvan Pass. It was here we realised we had made a grave error in judgement on getting dressed this morning, and we both put on jeans instead of three quarters! We had at least worn trainers and not sandals.

We were extremely lucky during our time in Yellowstone. We came in on Friday on the Southern entrance, that was closed from mid afternoon yesterday, and we later found out had been closed the previous week as well. The route  from Jackson in then becomes a very long detour through Montana and Idaho, about an extra 3 hours! Also today the road from Norris to Mammoth was closed and the Beartooth Pass from the North East entrance was also closed. So, all in all, although we had some snowy road conditions, at least we were able to go where we intended.

The road out of the Park to Cody, should have given us some wonderful views, but all we saw was snow and low cloud. Still interesting though. On exiting the Park, we entered the Shoshone National Forest and followed the river all the way to the Buffalo Bill National Park and reservoir. The river was very low, and so was the cloud, so we couldn't see the tops of the mountains all around us.

By this time, it had stopped sleeting, and we could see a little further, although it was still bitterly cold. At the end of the reservoir is the Buffalo Bill dam and visitor centre. We watched a very informative video on the construction of the dam at the beginning of the 20th century. We then made our way into Cody and found our accommodation.

Looking forward to exploring Cody in the morning.

Mileage driven 139 miles