Before I begin, I first want to say that my heart goes out to all of those affected by what can only be described as a massacre in Aurora, Colorado. Sheer senselessness. As more details emerge, I'm even more disgusted by what this terrible person did to so many innocent men, women and children. Reports out here--as I'm sure they are everywhere--are pretty startling, and folks in the area are understandably shaken. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and I hope that the gunman is brought to swift justice.
Moving on...
It's been a while since I last posted, but I spent most of the last week out of reliable service range in eastern Washington, Montana and Wyoming. In that time I was in Seattle for a bit, then made the turn eastward towards Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. From there, it was a long trek across Wyoming to get down to Colorado on Wednesday, made worse by a stomach bug that knocked me for a loop. All in all, I'm regaining my strength, and the week was pretty awesome.
I'll share some quick thoughts on Washington (Mt. Rainier and Seattle), then elaborate a bit more on the Parks (with lots of pictures, don't worry). This post will be mostly pictures, as I'm still chewing on a few thoughts from the long drives. Perhaps more to come later.
Mt. Rainier / Seattle, WA
I departed Portland on Thursday morning heading north towards Seattle. Before I headed for the Space Needle and Starbucks, though, I wanted to check out Mt. Rainier. The scenery was gorgeous driving up the mountain, which is one of the highest points in the continental U.S. I got out and hiked around a bit, taking in the sights. Here's some of what I saw:
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| Well, when you put it that way, I guess the choice is easy... |
From there, I drove further north to Seattle, arriving late that evening (despite the general proximity, it is not a short drive from Mt. Rainier to the city).
All in all, I thought Seattle was a pretty cool city, with definitely some interesting spots to check out. I particularly liked the Market area (where they famously throw fish) and spent a bunch of time wandering through there checking out little vendors and taking in the scenery.
I did find my way to the Space Needle, which was fairly impressive, and made my way to the top. However, once up there I was a bit underwhelmed by the skyline to be honest...it's somewhat ironic--the one defining feature of the Seattle skyline--the Seattle skyline--isn't actually visible when you're standing in it...
On Friday night I took in a Mariners baseball game at Safeco Park, which was pretty awesome. It's a relatively new park, and fairly modern. The team isn't great, and the stands were far from full (there's no way there were 23,000+ there, despite what the announcers said), but the experience overall was pretty cool. I'd been wanting for a while to take in a baseball game on the road, and thus far the various "home" teams were always either off or away.
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| Just one of many beautiful--and fascinating--pieces of art at the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum in Seattle Center. |
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| Cool view of Safeco Field, where I saw a Mariners-Rangers game. |
Yellowstone National Park:
From Seattle, I made the turn eastward towards Montana. After camping just off the highway in the middle of nowhere Montana Saturday night, I spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the Park, taking in the wide variety of sights from Old Faithful to Mt. Washburn.
The vastness and diversity of the Park was truly remarkable. A few brief thoughts below.
First, there is absolutely no way to see even 5% of the park in 3 days. I'm convinced that you'd need a month to check out a good sampling of the hundreds of trails the Park has to offer. And that, as a Camp Ranger told me, would only show you the "front country." The word huge really doesn't do the Park justice.
Second, I saw a bunch of different wildlife, though not many close enough to get a great photo. Marmots, chipmunks, squirrels, deer, otters, beavers, and other smaller animals galore. The larger animals--moose, elk, bison, bear, etc.--generally tended to make themselves a bit less visible. Well, with the exception of elk and bison...let's just say I was close enough to make a few new friends while in the park.
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| I think his name was Gus... |
Third, the campground facilities at the Park were awesome. For $14 per night, I had a great spot in a comfortable campground with everything I needed and nothing I didn't. The staff was super pleasant and made the experience just great all around.
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| Pretty awesome spot...even better under the stars... |
Fourth, the diverse nature of what you see in the Park was really cool. There were mountainous areas with lots of interesting "above tree line" sights; there were wide open meadows with beautiful wildflowers and swift-moving streams; there were rocky areas chock full of bighorn rams; there were woodland areas with all sorts of trees; and there were areas with geysers and other primordial soups which appeared no different than when the earth was forming. The Park was full with enough variety within those categories to keep you busy for days on end. And it was all super fascinating...took me back to science class for sure.
Here are some of my favorites...many more to be posted on Picasa and Facebook soon.
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| Might be one of my top 5 favorite shots of the entire trip... |
Grand Teton National Park:
I must start by saying that I only did a quick tour of Grand Teton on Tuesday after leaving my campsite in Yellowstone. A couple-hour drive through this Park, which is due south of Yellowstone and ends in Jackson Hole, WY, yielded some beautiful views, which I'm sure were only made better on the many hiking trails throughout. I'll leave you with some photos of the beautiful, snow-capped peaks over Lake Jackson.
That's all for now...more to follow in the coming days. From here, it's on to Denver tomorrow to meet up with some buddies, then Mt. Rushmore on Sunday/Monday, then on to the Great Lakes for the last leg of the trip!
DRB
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