January, 2020
Barbara and I are incredibly blessed to have so many family and “old” friends following the blog of our adventures “on the road.” We have made so many new friends along the way, many of whom find our journey interesting enough to subscribe to our blog as well. We appreciate each and every one of you, look forward to your support, and as our travels continue, we find that knowing you enriches our lives. So thank you, thank you, thank you.
A special thank you to Gloria, Karen, Kea, Landa, Neil and Penn State Rich for being our blog reviewers. Little did they know that through their comments, suggestions and emojis they had subscribed to that all important role!
And a big shout out to Penn State Rich for comments he recently made; what he has to say enhances what we have shared for almost 2 years now (123 blogs, but who’s counting?). I asked if it was OK to use his thoughts as one of our blogs, and he so kindly gave permission…check it out…
“I will say you (meaning Barbara and Brian) have neglected to mention the best part of your journey – after you visit you don’t have to return to work and spend two months catching up!
I visited Yellowstone and Glacier NP in September and for anyone considering following in B&B’s footsteps here are some key learnings I took from their travel log that helped me with my trip.
1. I used B&B’s accounts and pics to develop a list of must sees and want to sees at each park since I was on a limited time frame.
2. Using my target list I visited the National Park websites and ranger stations (visitor center) when I first arrived to map out my plan to hit the desired areas in the most efficient manner. I’d recommend allowing more time at your must sees than you might think, hoofing it deeper into some of an attraction yields some really great experiences besides the primary, heavily trafficked scenic areas. Doing a deep dive into a few spots can be more rewarding than trying to do everything – most parks are just too big for that – especially if you only have 3-5 days.
3. Check the weather and dress appropriately. I couldn’t count the number of people who put fashion ahead of function in terms of footwear. Nature is not paved and not often a groomed trail. If it is a cooler time of year – layer before you hike. It is always cooler at higher elevations and in the early morning regardless of elevation. As the sun passes the noon solstice the temperature will rise. Layers will allow you to add or remove clothing as needed during the course of the day.
4. Warning signs are there for a reason – I kid you not! I was at the hot springs/geyser area of Yellowstone – where you see bubbling water with steam coming off – where signs warn you of the water being extremely hot and dangerous. Well, some knucklehead had to learn by experience – while I’m watching he sticks his hand in the water – and quickly jerked it back out – only slightly (sic) redder!
5. If you are going to the most popular parks (too many tour buses!) or parks that have a limited season – as B&B recommend – get there early or finding parking at key attractions/parks can be difficult. I scheduled my visits after labor day, and while the crowds were reduced from summer both parks were still fairly crowded.
6. By nature I’m a bit of a procrastinator – and one of the things I put off are these kinds of vacations – this site became a reminder to have a little sense of urgency and see these wonderful parks and nature areas. I’m not a big fan of the federal government, but the national park service is one thing they do right. So many people never make the time – and doing so while your mobility is still good is a huge factor in what you get out of your visit.
7. You can’t control everything – sometimes all the planning in the world gets knocked sideways by Mother Nature, Kismet, Karma, or mechanical failure. You just have to adjust as best as possible.”
Much appreciation to Rich for his advice. See you on the road!
Barbara and Brian
Aimless Wanderings 
Great advice. I love reading the blog!
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dig the zoolights?
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Awwww – you guys are so sweet. I love catching up on your blog. (I try to check back daily, but occasionally the busy-ness of the day to day gets in the way.)
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This story actually took place about a year and a half ago but between work, the pandemic and my tendency to procrastinate I just got around to finishing it. It’s long but hopefully it provides folks a chuckle or two.
When you plan a vacation to the areas B&B have shown us, you can research the times the park may not be so crowded, you can plan an efficient route to see as much as possible but one thing you can’t plan – is the weather. It was my last day in Glacier NP, the weather had been sketchy all week, overcast frequently, one day just rain all day – really a bummer when you are looking to get some of the Brian and Barbara type photos we all enjoy.
Well on my last day it was “if not now, when?” to see the Hidden Lake. At the Western Entrance to park weather was a mild 60 F with pretty decent visibility but there was a forecast of fog at the peak of pass that splits park on the Going to the Sun Road. I was hoping maybe a morning fog that might burn off by late morning. As I drove toward up the switchbacks of GTSR I was pleasantly optimistic that – even as I was gaining elevation visibility was still good. On last switch back about a quarter mile to parking lot for Hidden Lake the visibility dropped to about 25 yards. Now this road has barely enough room for the two lanes of opposing traffic and about a six inch shoulder. The switchbacks are some hairy shit you really don’t want drive in poor conditions. But my last day – got to do it. I get to the parking area and apparently it was a lot of people’s last day. Parking lot is completely full – what is wrong with these people.
I end up having to drive another quarter to half mile past the parking lot until I reach a pull out – which is right next to a several hundred foot drop off – before I can park. I cross the road as I really don’t want to tight rope a sheer drop in the fog while watching for oncoming traffic. The other side wasn’t a whole lot better – again next to no shoulder – so if oncoming traffic clips me and combined with the fog and the 42 F temp they probably find me frozen the next day when fog clears. I truck up to the visitor’s center and mull around for an hour hoping the fog would clear and it would warm up some – given I am wearing shorts and a light jacket (which had been fine all week). Well the fog is settled in like your unpleasant aunt into your favorite recliner on a holiday weekend when the game is on – it ain’t going nowhere.
Well I figure this is it – I will take my chances that by the hour plus time I hike to the lake surely the fog will have lifted. So off I go. The start of hike is very easy – a wide, groomed, mostly flat path to an overlook where one can enjoy the postcard worthy views that B&B have posted. Or in my case you get another awesome view of fog. Now comes the time to decide if I am all in – do I hike two miles to the lake front – down a 2000 foot descent on a narrow, ungroomed path – with potentially worsening weather in the hopes that fog finally lifts or cut my losses and go back to west end of park where weather was clear – but I’d already hiked. Well I’m an Orioles fan so naturally I choose to continue the suffering and on I march.
Shortly into the trek I come across this squirrely looking guy who looks like an odd mix of a survivalist and a three time drug rehab drop out. I do notice he has bear mace and I am not seeing many other people as foolish as us to take this trip so we start talking. Turns out he knew the park well as he worked there in the commissary – and I commented that I guess cooking eggs for a living was probably more fun in a National Park than in any given town – that’s when he informed he now cooks eggs in Portland and he was on his way to Florida to take care of some family business. That’s when I knew that my job surely did not afford me enough free time. We venture on and come across two younger guys – Indian guys from Britain so they have the cool British accent. They are stopped on the trail because someone told them they had seen a bear. They ask if they can join us – sure no problem, and we press on. I soon notice these three young, prime of their life men – and one with bear mace – have let me take point – and I’m like “Oh I guess it’s OK if the bear gets the old guy, I’ve lived long enough right” – freaking millenials. I also notice our pace is slow and we are having to stop – not to look at anything because the fog is still crazy thick but the one British guy is really slow. And it is because he had rolled his ankle the previous day hiking – and it is fairly swollen. So he figured a 2000+ descent and ascent and an overall 6 mile hike was therapy? Eventually a young couple catches up to us – two young professionals from DC area who had recently got engaged – we are a regular exploration party now and as we nearly reach the lake front we encounter a park ranger. Who was checking out the area due to the bear report.
And as the fog mists and collects on my damp clothes it finally occurs to me as I take inventory of my newfound companions – I am in a Friday the 13th movie. Seriously, it’s now just time to figure out who the killer is and in what order the rest of go and who ends up being lone survivor. And being the old dude who know one in the audience is going to care about – I ain’t the killer or survivor and probably pretty early on the kill list. Damn.
Well we reach the lake. Sketchy transient guy goes off by himself to fish. The ranger keeps scouting the area and the rest of us notice we still can’t see a thing because of the fog. We stand around for about 15-20 minutes chatting and the engaged couple ask me to take a few couple photos for them that will likely not make the photo album – unless they have a thing for fog – and they announce they are going to split. I figure – oh they are the first ones to on the kill list. It’s too easy to pick transient guy to be killer but I’m thinking the plot twist is – it’s the Ranger – he’s got some back story in regards to the park and he is actually not a Park Ranger but a Friday the 13th type dude who wipes out unworthy tourists. The British guys ask me to wait until they go back – either to be the bear bait or to carry the chucklehead with the messed up ankle.
That’s when things get weird. Park Ranger remerges and I’m looking to see if he has that girl’s engagement ring pinned to his kerchief. The two British guys are snapping photos non-stop – of what I don’t know because you can’t see 50 feet beyond your face. They alternate sitting by the lake adopting the kind of poses professional photographers had five year old do for portraits back in the 70s. Thirty minutes of this and meanwhile the weather is getting colder and it’s starting to drizzle. The ranger comes over and he ends up wrapping the one British guy’s ankle because the hike actually didn’t make it better. I still don’t know where the sketchy guy got to – catching fish or gutting tourists – but I do know I am unhitching my wagon from these other two idiots.
And back I head – and ascending steep inclines on narrow, ungroomed paths in foggy and light mist/drizzle isn’t as joyful as it sounds. The one thing I do know – the ninety minutes it took me to get pack to the visitor’s center was undoubtedly far less than had I stayed behind with the crew. The adventure wasn’t over – I still had to navigate the fog, lack of shoulder and traffic back to my car – and I could barely see across the street so I was really hoping I didn’t miss my car. But I got there – navigated the death ride of switch backs back to the lower elevation and west end of park. There I stopped in the visitor’s center and got some cold ones. Drove to the beautiful lake by the parks entrance – which I could actually see – popped some colds ones and enjoyed the view.
Any day you can spend in these Parks, Monuments and areas Brian and Barb have chronicled is a treasure. I thank them for this blog. Last couple years I’ve been to Great Sand Dunes, Gunnison, Yellowstone and I just finished Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains NPs – were he sun shined non-stop. Keep on trekking.
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Wonderful story, and thanks for the shout out Rich! Hope all is well, and that your new normalcy is, well, normal!
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Well gyms are finally getting back to normal, the Orioles we in last and 15 out by Memorial Day – so yeah things are getting back to normal. I’ve heard many of the more popular NPs are ridiculously crowded – that’s why I love your site – gives me ideas to get out in the wild w/o being shoulder to shoulder with people. Stay safe and keep on trucking.
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