Thunder and Brimstone

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Let's start by saying thanks to The Apple Valley Marshals for putting on a great match for the SASS 2015 Northwest Regional in East Wenatchee, Washington.

This years match was based on the John Wayne film, Big Jake.

Well pilgrim Thursday was a hot, hot, hazy day, “still, that's the only problem” We headed out at midday to watch the last of the warm up posse's get through and then at 2pm we commenced with 4 stages of Wild Bunch.

“This will take a harsh and unpleasant person” for the task. It was hotter than hell but we had 3 posse's of keen, sweltering shooters that buckled up and had a great time under the direction of Sunrise Bill.

 

“I go with the sheep” on Friday and with an early start (hopefully avoiding the majority of the heat) we get into our first 6 main match stages. It was pleasant and cool in the morning “dog” but there are fires in the areas north of us and the smoke is blowing in, making the view of Wenatchee close to zero visibility.

 

The heat wasn't going to stop us, “not one bit”. Back to the hotel for a swim! That night was a potluck dinner and the soiled dove contest which quite “proficiently father” raised money for the SASS scholarship.

“The hell there aint “ a better posse we could have been landed with. Cowichie Kid, Fire Opal, Helena Bucket, Jack Straw, Jackaroo, Jocko, Joe Cannuck, Kathouse Kelli, Pedernales Jake, Primrose n Proper, Reo Diamond, Robert I Plantem, Ronghand Wright, Rusty Wood and Texas Cherokee. We all worked, all shot well, laughed much and had a great time meeting new cowboy's and cowgirl's.

 

“Not hardly” finished and we are ready for another fabulous lunch by Grill Master and plenty of visiting with folks before we headed back to the hotel to cool off and get ready for the banquet.

In our finest, the banquet got underway with costume contestants appearing before the judges, drinks with friends, friendly banter and practical jokes. We tucked into a beautiful banquet consisting of salmon, ribs and trimmings.

Side matches were then awarded along wih costume, both working costume and best dressed. Jackaroo won Best Wild Bunch Costume for his Rough Riders outfit, Best Dressed Lady for my blue and grey walking dress and one for Wild Bunch overall ladies – I think I'm going to enter the men's traditional at smaller shoots as I don't have many fellow Lady Traditional competitors. Congratulations to JT Wild, Men's Overall Wild Bunch.

Clockwise from top left: El Gordo Hombre as Big Jake; Jackaroo; Kathouse Kelli & J.T. Wild; Saginaw Sue & Wild Horse John; Sly Puppy & Jackrabbit Joe; Twelve Mile Reb & Agnes.

We both made it into the Shootout for Sunday morning, however that was short lived. Too funny.

Congratulations to Fast Enough and Belinda Belle for taking out the Top Gun Shootout honours.

Lunch, prize draws and awards followed. I placed 1st in Lady Wrangler with congratulations to my fellow competitors in 2nd place, Tillie Dyes and 3rd place, Sandy Charm.

First cowboy overall and NW Regional Champion went to Lunger. First cowgirl overall was myself, Kathouse Kelli, with the delightful little Ivy Hills the ladies NW Regional Champion for 2015.

Again a huge congratulations to all involved.

Kat xo

The lines I couldn't work into my post?

“Dead? The next person who says that I'm gonna shoot, so help me.”

“Newspaper clippings. I killed a man for newspaper clippings.”

“I'm gonna blow your head off.”

And 'dog' was the line for two stages.

Sun, Aug 16

http://applevalleymarshals.com

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenatchee,_Washington

Now We Are In The Evergreen State

Posted on by kathousekelli70

A casual breakfast this morning and on the road again heading for Wenatchee. The views are changing again and over the hill we finally come into the reason this is called the ‘Evergreen State’.

 

We visit the town of Leavenworth, a Bavarian Village just north west of Wenatchee. The inner child has come out! It’s like a little Christmas village in itself! Would love to see it at Christmas time.

The artwork on all the buildings is just gorgeous and all signs, even Macdonalds, Subway, gas station etc are all old style Bavarian scrollwork etc.

 

Of course where would we be without a visit to the Kris Kringle Christmas shop! We spent nearly an hour in there and had to get out. Too many choices, can’t make a decision. They are the biggest Christmas decoration store in Washington state and possibly the biggest in the Pacific West.

 

Then where would you be on a hot day than in the beer garden at Icicle Brewing Company, getting samplers of their different ales.

 

Crosscut Pilsner – Golden and suave

Bootjack IPA – hoppy and composed

Dirtyface Amber – malty and unadulterated

Dark Persuasion – German chocolate cake ale

Yum! What else would you do on a hot day in a Bavarian village right?! OMG! Of course the Dark Persuasion we had last was divine, dessert in a beer. Awesome!

 

Oh and by the way there is an Australian Store here! Check it out $7.99 for Tim Tams and $11.99 for the jar of Vegemite plus tax! Anyway we had a good chat with him. And no, did NOT buy Tim Tams, they stayed there at that price.

 

Onto München Haus for German sausage and another pint of Dark Persuasion. Chicken with basil and garlic for me and Curt’s Currywurst for Jack. Sensational!

Then it was a quick trip to the Nutcracker Museum. As you do! There is anything from current day to antique, original to civil war series, scouts, Cowboys etc. from centuries old artists, many dating back to as early as the 14th century. Just incredible.

 

Of course it couldn’t be left without finishing off with ice cream and they had licorice! Oh yeah, black tongue, lips – had to be done!

 

A little bit of Bavaria!

Kat xo

 

P.S. it didn’t take long to wear off, was gone before we got out to the range!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leavenworth,_Washington

http://www.nutcrackermuseum.com

http://iciclebrewing.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along the Oregon Trail

Posted on by kathousekelli70

A quick jaunt down the Main Street of Baker City this morning checking out some of the old buildings.

 

We stopped in at the Geiser Grand Hotel, once known as the 'Queen City of the Inland Empire'. As the historic district sign says 'Built in 1889, the hotel soon earned a reputation for offering the finest accommodations between Seattle and Salt Lake City'. It went under furnish net back in the 1990's.

 

Just 5 miles outside Baker City is the Oregon Trail Interpretive Centre and we sure were glad we decided to hit the trail, so to speak, and check it out. There displays and detail in them were spectacular.

 

The Oregon Trail was a wagon route from East to West, beginning in Independence, Missouri taking many eager frontier, men, women and children across a 2,000 mile stretch of often treacherous land to the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

 

Along the way they would cross through Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming and Idaho. A 6 month trek with most travelling on foot as the wagons would be loaded with personal effects, food and other supplies.

 

The trail originally founded by fur traders as early as 1811 and the first migrant wagons ready to head out of Missouri around 1836.

Later trails also used the eastern part of the route before branching off to California, the Mormon Trail into Utah, and later the first transcontinental railway in 1869 would make it quicker, cheaper and somewhat safer to travel out to Oregon. The Pony Express Route also followed part of this trail as well.

Of course all of this was preceded by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1806.

 

Back on the road and we later crossed the Blue Mountains summit 4,200ft, a bit different to our Blue Mountains in western Sydney, Australia however they still sit at around 3,900ft at its highest (unnamed peak). I'm guessing the oils (as we've always been told in Australia) are what give it it's bluish appearance. Eucalyptus trees for Australia and Ponderosa Pines for Oregon, maybe oils from the pines?

 

We crossed the Columbia River and the power producing McNary Dam into Washington – The Evergreen State. Bit of an oxymoron at the moment?! 🙂

 

But soon these rolling brown hills turned into valleys of green and more green! As we entered into Grandview and other towns – for miles and miles there are vineyards and orchards! This wine and fruit country.

Then it's back into rolling hills of nothing but impressive road structures – still bewildered as to how they ever made it in wagons, I'm telling you – and pop out into valleys of rich farmland.

 

Tonight it's a quick overnight stop in Ellensburg, Washington before getting to Wenatchee tomorrow.

Cheers!

Kat xo

Tues 11th Aug

http://www.geisergrand.com

http://www.blm.gov/or/oregontrail/

 

Old Idaho Penitentiary, Boise

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Leaving Twin Falls this morning we are headed up Hwy 84 towards Washington.

Boise, Idaho – land of the potato. We stopped here for lunch and a quick trip to the Old Idaho Penitentiary State Historic Site.

In the 1870's with the gold mine boom, crime began to be on the uprise and so with nowhere to house these criminals the Territorial Prison came into being.

The turnkey building or administration building (the entrance to the penitentiary museum) was built in 1893. He turnkey guard made sure other guards attending the yard and inmates could keep an eye on how long guards were out there and if they had been out there too long would go to find out where and if anything had happened to them.

 

He also controlled the wait/walk and gate entrance for prisoners who were seeking entry for visitation.

1870's with the mining also brought more crime, so the territorial building was built in 1870.

Over the 101 year history there were 500 hundred escape attempts but only 90 were successful. If they didn't get out of Idaho Territory as per Al Priest (?) then it wasn't considered successful, even though he was more than some 200miles west of the penitentiary.

 

The 2 House (North Wing) was built in 1899 but held no prisoners until 1911. If I have it right, the 3 House (South Wing) also built in 1899 only housed prisoners in the early 1920's.

The first was your more 'rustic' prison experience. Two per cell, one chamber pot also known as a 'honey bucket' (eeeww!) in those days. No sanitation or plumbing it housed 160 inmates, so 80 honey buckets, that could be thrown at guards if they weren't careful and 4 floors, low railings, guards had to be on their guard of being pushed off the balcony also. Heating and cooling was next to non existent.

The second gave prisoners a more comfortable feel with amenities including plumbing and heating. Pastel colours to the cell walls were introduced in the hopes of having calming effects on prisoners.

It also included a private barber cell so inmates didn't have access to scissors and razors etc if out in the open. The guards would have to let each inmate in and out of the barber cell, pat them down before allowing to re enter the general cells.

 

The dining hall built in 1898 was designed by inmate George Hamilton. It was said that if he did a good job for the warden he would obtain an early release. Of course he did do a beautiful job. It contained a plunge bath for 6-8 men at a time, storerooms, a bakery and the main dining hall.

The dining hall in those days contained long dining tables. Prisoners were not allowed to speak to each other or even turn their heads and was the same into the early 1900's when they changed it to round tables and allowed conversation.

Hamilton got his release but was told he must leave Idaho and was never to return again. Now whether he got out and the. Realised he didn't know what to do outside of prison life, or the thought of not returning to Idaho it is said that the day before he was to catch a train after being released, he actually committed suicide.

 

Where the rose garden is now situated, used to be the gallows. Ten executions by hanging were carried out at the penitentiary and six were carried out in this garden.

The building known as Siberia was for prisoners put into solitary confinement. If you ended up there you were stripped of all clothing except for felt slippers. The hole in the floor was the toilet and the hole in the ceiling was your only air and light. It's narrow about twice my width and prob 6ft in length. The longest confinement was 7 months. An inmate was given his oatmeal one morning and when dishes were taken away he kept a his spoon and wouldn't give it back. So the guards said he would stay in until the spoon was returned. Seven months later he gave the spoon back and was allowed out.

 

The youngest inmates to serve here were 10 and 11. The 10yr olds father owned a bar and got into a fight with a patron. When his Dad asked for his gun the kid decided he could do one better, got the gun and actually shot the guy. The Warden took pity on him, so instead of being in with the general population he was allowed to live with the Warden's family on the prison grounds. He became a good baseball player on the grounds and I think the tour guide said that when the warden left the prison the young man was not re incarcerated. Missed the last bit of that part of the story.

In the 1950's cell block inmates were able to have a little more freedom, they were allowed their choice of colours (if all 4 inmates could agree) on their cell walls. They also had better access to leather crafting and woodworking tools, hence the padded headboards and toilet seats etc.

They had a basketball team and a baseball team. The 'away' games ceased after one inmate jumped from a train during an away game so after that their were only ever 'home' games. Both teams were the 'Outlaw's' and that name still stands with one of the parks or stadiums today.

 

Anyway after the outlaw jaunt in Boise we made a pit stop in Nampa. We were going to go to the Warhawk Museum but of course it's Monday! Bloody well shut! Hopefully we will get back there to see it. So headed onwards to Baker City, Oregon. The home of the Oregon Trail and a hundred historic buildings.

 

This is where we will spend the night before heading up the road further and into Washington by tomorrow night.

See ya!

Kat xo

http://history.idaho.gov/old-idaho-penitentiary

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Idaho_State_Penitentiary

http://www.warhawkairmuseum.org

 

 

Magic In The Valley

Posted on by kathousekelli70

This years Idaho State Championships hosted by The Snake River Western Shooting Society presented Magic In The Valley – Magic Medicine Show.

 

One of their members Idaho Calliope Kid built a little medicine man wagon and the ladies, Missy Mable (also Match Director), Sweet Harmony and a few others (I'm sorry I don't have their names) came up with some priceless medicinal labels for bottles of varying shapes and sizes which became the side match and costume prizes.

 

The stages were well written, based around various medicinal concoctions and remedies from back in the 1800's. There were little signs almost everywhere and their decorating of stages definitely added to the atmosphere.

Thursday was side match day that started with a 1911 match, then we had speed events and onto warm up match. After shooting the 1911, hands were back into single action mode and ready to go.

 

Friday's 6 stages went well, great weather, great posse. Our Posse – Allen Street Contessa, Colter's Girl, Idaho Bad Company, Idaho Dusty Dawn, Idaho White Rider, Jackaroo, Kathouse Kelli, Kid Colter, Li'l Shotz, Marshal Stone, Missy Mable, Pintail Bandita, Silver Shadow and Twelve Mile Reb. Clean for me and 1 miss for Jack.

After lunch we had couples – real and odd – and then a four man team event. Jack and I won the couples, Colorado Blackjack and I were 2nd in the odd couples. Jackaroo, Waddell Red, Sweet Harmony and Idaho Shady Layne won 2nd place in the team event.

 

Friday afternoon we hung around, cleaned guns and the car whilst waiting for a visit at the airport. Airport? You ask. Well here's why.

One of the cowboy shooters, Lefty Way, works for a company called Airpower Unlimited, and is part of a restoration team for old planes.

Yes, I'm talking Corsair's, Mustang's and more.

He took a handful of us to go see a Corsair they have been restoring. There is also a Mustang sitting in the shed. Well pilots, and wanna be pilots drool. The guys loved it and asked all the technical questions and even for Second Fiddle Sue and I, it was a sight to behold.

The Corsair is one of around 30-40 Corsairs left in the world, (most were used for the series Baa Baa Black Sheep if you've seen it, we haven't) having spent most of its time in Hawaii it didn't actually see war time as such. Now it is privately owned and once fully restored will go back to its owner in Washington (?) to his museum and personal flight enjoyment.

 

It is also one of the last models of the series to be made with 3 blades. Her paint work has been colour matched and finished to the original Fed specs/technical order. During WWII there were around 12,000 made.

Lefty said it is one of the most complex aircraft they work on, even compared to the Mustang's. They've been working on this one on and off for 11 and a half years – approx 38,000 man hours so far.

It was spectacular, thanks Lefty Way! As you can imagine Jack thoroughly enjoyed it and had to get a picture with the Mustang as this is what his Dad flew during WWII in England.

 

Anyway, back to our featured program.

Saturday and we get into the last day, 6 stages. Same finish, Jack 1 miss and me clean! Yippee! Only 3rd clean match ever, actually maybe 4th, think I had one clean match at Chisholm Trail (AUS).

 

Saturday night was banquet and awards.

Jack finished 3rd in Senior, congrats to 1st Place, Jeremiah Jonathon; 2nd Place, JT Wild; 4th Place, Gem Hunter and 5th Place, Mizpah Pete.

For Lady Wrangler, I finished 1st Place and a big congratulations to 2nd Place, Sweet Harmony; 3rd Place, Ruby Q Hammer and 4th Place, Colter's Girl.

Top honours overall went to Colorado Blackjack 1st Place, Kuna 2nd Place and the Idaho State Mens Champion and Twelve Mile Reb 3rd Place. I finished 1st Lady overall in 9th place and Jack finished 11th overall. Finishing 17th overall and Idaho State Ladies Champion is Belinda Belle. Congratulations to all who played!

 

Sunday was the shootout won by JT Wild for the men's, Tadpole for the juniors and myself for the ladies.

However, I am embarrassed to say that it should have been Missy Mable. The video ref says so when Jack and I watched it back (I nearly died), an absent minded moment which should have been called on by the spotters and declared by myself, so I put in a call of apology to Missy Mable. That's what cowboys and cowgirls should do, it's the cowboy way. 'Nuf said.

Once again a hearty congratulations to all those with the Snake River Western Shooting Society for putting on an entertaining, well put together match. We thoroughly enjoyed it and the perfect shooting weather! It truly was magic!

Cheers

Kat xo

http://www.idahocas.com

http://www.airpowerunlimited.net

 

Twin Falls, Idaho

Posted on by kathousekelli70

It was good to unload the whole car now, re-sort everything and get settled for the next 5 days. A lazy evening in with a little sewing done!

This morning it was up, do a workout and then head to the visitor centre for some truly spectacular views of the Perrine Bridge and golf courses in the canyon.

 

We hung out for base jumpers to jump off the only place in USA that doesn't require a permit. We saw one jump off the bridge and there's about another 5 packing and sorting their chutes ready for a thrill.

 

Then we headed to Shoshone Falls, created by the Bonneville Flood that ripped and formed the canyon some 15,000 years ago. Shoshone Falls is known as the 'Niagara of the West', at a height of 212ft it is actually 50ft higher than Niagara Falls.

 

The falls were passed by undiscovered, overlooked or discovered in part by various non-native parties since 1811. In 1875, a young 19year old Charles Walgamott came to the area, enchanted with the falls he thought it could well be a tourist attraction. He bought up surrounding land on both sides of the canyon and by 1886 had built a hotel on the south side.

In 1932 it was donated to the city of Twin Falls by Frederick and Martha Adams.

After a few financial struggles the hydroelectric power station came under Idaho Power's control and a series of improvements began in 1921. It is now undergoing some further improvements to the hydroelectric facility.

Reminded me of Cotter upgrades.

After a massive downpour it was time for lunch and a trip out to the range.

Looks like a great set up. Great looking bays, targets and stages.

Tomorrow is Warm Up.

See ya.

Kat xo

Wed 6th Aug

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_Falls,_Idaho

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshone_Falls

 

 

A Hop, Skip and a Jump

Posted on by kathousekelli70

We left Jackson this morning and made a brief detour through Teton Village. The we headed across the border into Idaho and hit Idaho Falls by lunch time. They are quite beautiful and a neat little roadside park. These falls are right in the centre of town basically. A gorgeous spot for a workers lunchtime stroll or sit and eat.

 

In our usual unconventional style we headed for an optional route across to Arco wanting to visit the Craters of the Moon. We happened across EBR-1 Atomic Museum.

Curiosity killed the cat and we headed in to check it out. It's a bit like a Roswell landscape. Sparse, nothing for miles in between yet there are a number of facilities that form part of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

Now, again, I will remind you that the following is from a hurried notation during a guided tour by the lovely Jen at the centre.

 

Sitting on a portion of the 89,000 sq miles of land is EBR-1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor-1), The Worlds First Nuclear Power Plant. A huge parcel of land back in the day, more for precaution if anything should go wrong.

There are 3 reactors of non commercial variation that carry out experimental works and where scientist can work on their patents etc. They also made the battery for the module that just went past And took photos of Pluto.

They also have a Naval Nuclear facility and Land Management division. All under the banner of US Dept of Energy. There are around 3000 employees working across the site that are bussed in each day.

In Dec, 1951 the plant became the first in the world to produce electricity using atomic energy. A whopping 400kw actually, enough to run 4 large light bulbs (I know, I jest). Until its decommissioning in 1964 it generated enough electricity to supply all the power for its own building whenever the reactor operated.

Now for a little bit of science. Something about atoms, neutrons, splitting, fission and breeding. How's that! You thought I was going to dazzle you with technical brilliance, lol! Nope not today.

Suffice to say the picture tells it all. The breeder uses uranium and plutonium to cause the energy.

 

A reactor can not explode like a nuclear bomb but can have a steam explosion or meltdown but double boilers prevent this from happening. He nuclear fuel was created by a fission chain reaction.

Heat is carried from the reactor core by liquid metal which then heats a secondary system. The liquid metal is called NaK a combination of sodium (Na) and potassium (K).

 

They use Idaho power now which is mostly hydro and wind, so this original sign is now lit for historical purposes only.

 

The bricks from the breeding blanket were pure uranium 238 and weigh 100pds each.

You are protected by concrete, lead and shields to view. This is the primary cooler.

Dosimeters are present in the building to ensure no one is exposed to any traces.

Mineral oil between each of 35 layers of glass to protect them from harm whilst using the manipulator arms in the 'hot cell'. When you run a light through it you can see all the dots as it goes through the glass like a light sabre.

 

There are roughly 104 plants that use nuclear energy today.

Outside, these large engines were to be nuclear powered engines for planes.

There is a lot more I could go on about but won't. Thanks Jen for a good tour.

Onward we go, making our way via Craters of the Moon. In short, looks like a sudden field of oversized ploughed up dirt or like massive numbers of dump trucks have dropped loads in uneven piles. In actual fact, it is volcanic rock of various forms.

 

That's it. Will see what's happening in and around Twin Falls. Oh and we will be here for the next 5 days for the Idaho State Championships. Yee haa!

Kat xo

Tues 4th Aug

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Breeder_Reactor_I

http://www4vip.inl.gov/ebr/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/EBR-1-Experimental-Breeder-Reactor-I/1598254117097677

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_Falls,_Idaho

http://www.nps.gov/crmo/index.htm

 

 

Jackson Hole, WY

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Spent two nights in Jackson and a full day of just walking the streets, wandering in and out of shops. It really was just a nice casual couple of days.

Jackson has a town square like a lot of old town districts in other places. Jackson however has its four unique arches at each corner entrance. A popular tourist photo destination.

 

The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is a must to stop at. We ate there both nights.

If only to partake in the bar, grill, beer, and sit astride one of the saddle stools at the bar. Or you could play at one of the pool tables. Jack beat me real good this time.

 

The Cowboy Bar has a restaurant downstairs also and is renowned for its line dancing and entertainment. In the past they've had Hank Williams Jr., Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings to name but a few!

Is was one of the recommended places to eat by the hotel owner, as well as 'The Local' and 'Town Square Tavern'.

We met a couple of young Aussie's from the Central Coast in the Tavern around lunchtime, heading off to Vegas for the 2nd last leg of the their East to West coast experience.

There are endless places to eat though and a stack of art galleries, shops and souvenirs to take in. We were within walking distance of the town square but Jackson is quite a big place and there is lots to choose from.

 

And then there is the unusual fur purchases. Anyone for beaver underwear?!?!

 

This place must be jumping during ski season! It was busy enough now in the summer.

Cheers!

Kat xo

Mon 3rd Aug

http://www.milliondollarcowboybar.com

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson,_Wyoming

 

Yellowstone Day 2

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Driving into the park this morning we round the bend on Sylvan Lake and it is literally like glass.

The park is beautiful and covered in wildflowers of various shade of white, yellow, red, pink, purple to blues.

Yesterday I found there is an app tour guide that you can get, so remembering to download it this morning we now have our own in car tour guide by GyPSy Guide.

So we hit the Grand Loop and our guide starts telling us where to go, nicely. Lol!

 

This is a fantastic app. Gives you information for points to stop, scientific, physics and geological information as well.

Our first stop After crossing the Continental Divide again is Kepler Falls.

 

Our guide suggests a stop at Lake Village and a visit to the historical Lake Hotel that was built in 1890. Are we sure glad we did the detour! It's huge and grand in its decor. And there are cabins and a whole other separate wing you can't see in the photos. Small balconettes were added to windows at the lake side and for many years it was referred to as the Lake Colonial Hotel. In 1929 the dining room and sunroom were added.

 

Onto West Thumb Geyser Basin we go to view bubbling holes of spectacular colour that sit right beside the lake. Back in the day the guide said that fisherman were known to catch a fish from the lake, swing around and drop it in the boiling water beside it.

 

From here we headed along the route learning about thermal springs etc and made it to Old Faithful Geyser. Just in time actually to grab lunch and watch it blow! They said 1.30pm give or take 10mins. Well some small eruptions from 1.20 and sure enough spot on 1.30pm it goes off for almost 2 mins. Amazing! Steam and boiling water shooting up to 100ft in the air.

 

Now the guide had also said we should go stick our head in the Old Faithful Inn and at the last minute we turned into the car park to run in and see it. Another glad we did moment! This is like the ultimate of log cabins!

 

We headed North stopping at Biscuit Basin, Firehole Falls and back along past the swimming hole along Firehole Canyon Drive.

 

We reached Madison and turned around to start our trek back south and down through Grand Teton National Park to Jackson. Heading back past Kepler Cascades and still in search of wildlife, I did get to see a wolf! But no turnouts to get a pic 😦 We didn't see any other wildlife today other than little birds but it has been an incredibly colourful day that's for sure!

Kat xo

http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

http://gypsyguide.com

 

Yellowstone National Park

Posted on by kathousekelli70

Into Yellowstone National Park we head, winding through some spectacular scenery and hoping for a day of wildlife spotting!

 

We passed Sylvan Lake where a deer was down at the waters edge.

 

The smell of sulphur is starting to permeate the nostrils as we get nearer to Yellowstone Lake. We stop at Steamboat Point for a view of the steam rising from vents in the rock. You can hear it escaping. The water is absolutely crystal clear.

We stopped at the Dragons Mouth and Boiling Cauldron and it's a pity I can't turn photos into scratch and sniff, the sulphur is rank, I'm sure it has some healing properties right?!

 

Then!! What we've been waiting for, a buffalo out on his own taking in the fresh air lol!

 

As we rounded the bend after, we got the whole herd! Excited much!

 

A truly magnificent sight!

The next lake scenery changed again. Still waters with four white swans gracing it that slowly changes and flows into rapids.

 

Continuing to Canyon Falls, spectacular, spectacular! The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone!

 

Saw a few more deer and more herds of buffalo before making our way out the North eastern entrance of the park. We hit Silver Gate and Cooke City in Montana before back into Wyoming's Shoshone National Park heading back to Cody.

Didn't get to see any bears or moose but there is always tomorrow!

A long scenic day!

Kat xo

http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm