Western Trip Day 7 - Boulder, Brainard Lake, & Gold Hill

Our first full day in Colorado brought us to some more incredible places.  We visited Boulder,  a city outside of Denver that always intrigued me.  Stephen King has written frequently about it,  and symbolically used it as the good and polar opposite of Las Vegas,  which he fittingly  - and accurately - identified with the bad. I  found that many Coloradans seemed to mostly agree with that sentiment,  and were impressed by King's ability to see this.

Boulder is,  in many ways,  the ideal American city. It reminded me of some of my first trips to the west,  especially to the Pacific Northwest. Here in the Boulder area,  you see an approach to life that seems far more positive and reflective of what the country could be on a national level,  rather than what it presently is.

This is a very clean and vibrant city that feels young and optimistic,  and it is surrounded by incredible natural beauty.  It is close to the majestic peaks of the Colorado Rockies, although from the downtown,  you mostly still only see the foothills that essentially hide the taller,  more impressive mountains.

As we made our way outside of Boulder and deeper into the mountain country,  we saw a ton of people parked along the side of the road and either hiking,  climbing,  or both.  Obviously,  this area is a virtual paradise for the outdoors enthusiast.

We went through Nederland,  the last seeming town of significant size, before we were really into hardcore mountain country. The mountains,  and the views which they offered,  grew increasingly more impressive.

We had learned about Brainard Lake, which is not so much a well known tourist destination,  although it easily could be. This was a park in Ward,  Colorado,  which gives out on some breathtaking views of snowcapped peaks.

Ward itself is rather interesting.  Of course,  it is blessed by the idyllic Rocky mountains that it is at the heart of,  but the residents,  mindful of the strong appeal of the place,  wanted to do something to avoid getting priced out, knowing that the threat of being forced out by wealthy people was very real. And so,  what they did is line the roads of the town with old,  dead cars. Some of them are painted to become interesting in their own right,  and clearly lend this place a feel of being for free spirits,  a virtual paradise for hippies and free thinkers.

Close by is a similar community,  and one of the most unbelievable placesthat I have ever been to.  It is called Gold Hill,  and as the name suggests,  it had it's roots in the old days of the gold rush.  The town still retains much of the original look and feel of an old western town,  yet the residents live modern lives. We ate at the Gold Hill Inn, which serves locally produced food for a six course meal (so bring a good appetite after mountain climbing). You eat your meal  while music (mostly activist) plays. It was one of the most unique dining experiences of my life.

What a first full day in Colorado! On the way back to Boulder,  the moon looked positively beautiful,  hovering above the lights of the greater metropolitan area.  Not sure if my cellphone picture captured it in all of it's glory,  but I figured it would be worth adding nonetheless.

Beatles History - First Performance of 'Hey Jude' 50 Years Ago on This Day August 26

Photo by Luiz Fernando Reis (Bealtes cor 36 on Flickr) 

Creative Commons License -https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Image courtesy of niteprowl3r Flickr page -  beatles: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sreichenbach/3025971406/in/photolist-5BoTSN-6Kp6DG-9oQPyZ-6Kp8vw-6Kp9oJ-6KjXm4-6KoV2S-6KjVca-eC4tTE-6Kp3Qm-6Kp3hq-6KoWdy-6KjLZg-6Kp5yf-6KjUgt-6Kp6TN-6KjXdM-6Kp45N-6Kp1WY-6KoUGs-6KoVYG-6KoUx9-6Kp153-6KoX3q-6KoZUu-6KjLoH-6KoVv9-6KoXvh-4vA8mP-6Kp4SW-6KjWq6-6Kp4xm-6KjVXZ-6Kp4hS-6Kk1G6-6KkdtD-6KjMRH-6KoVS5-r1ZqRn-6KjZfx-6KjMrx-6KjZue-6KjYzt-6Kp7D9-bCr2k3-aWjPYX-6KvxqP-6Kp7R7-aUXW5n-6KjZW8

Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Meant to publish this yesterday, when it was the actual anniversary.  But better late than never.

It has been a bit strange, thinking about all of those huge events that took place in the 1960's, and realizing that they happened half a century ago, through the course of this decade. It began with the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, and then went on from there.

Now, I realize that I was not personally around back then. And growing up, some of the events of the 1960's felt like they had happened an impossibly long time ago, even though I was born less than five years after the 1960's ended. Still, the black and white imagery, and the sheer number of things that occurred, as well as just how monumentally huge some of them were, was a bit overwhelming. They continued to have an impact for many, many years beyond just their immediate times. My parents talked about them regularly, and they were not the only ones. Plus, my grandparent's home in upstate New York, which we as a family lived in for roughly one year, felt a bit like it was trapped in some kind of time warp, where the 1960's sometimes felt like they either were still here, or had just happened. I was still listening to some rock lp's from then, because those were some of the few music albums available there that appealed to me. So, the sixties felt strangely both near and far in my own life, even though I was born well after they ended.

Still, it has been fascinating to see the 50th anniversary of these events and, through them, to relive them, and come to understand their full impact better in that regard.

The 50th anniversary of the Beatles arriving in America was both impressive and a bit humorous to see all of those images. It seemed amazing that two of the members of the Fab Four are still with us, and still touring and making music.

Then, there were the 50th anniversary of the release of certain albums, and seeing how the band progressed so quickly, going from "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" to the more experimental stuff in remarkably short time.

Today marks another 50th anniversary milestone. It was on this day exactly 50 years ago that one of the greatest songs in rock history was first performed. The Beatles first released this great song on this day, half a century ago!

Yes, the album, and the song with the same name, when the Beatles reached their psychedelic peak was released on this day, half a century ago!

Yes, that's right. It has been half a century since the Beatles released what is arguably their best and/or most famous song.

Western Trip Day 6 - Last Morning at Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons, and the Drive to Colorado

So our time at Yellowstone National Park was just about up. It was time to pack up and head down south to Colorado.

First,  we took much needed showers.  We had left early on our first morning at the first campground, and never returned.  So, we had not gotten to shower.  Then our second campground,  which we stayed at for two nights had no showers. Clearly,  we were ready to hit the showers,  and they felt just great!

Before leaving Yellowstone,  it seemed a good idea to make one last visit to a point of interest.  Along the way,  we saw more bison,  although not nearly as much as a couple of days before.  But there was a large number of them at the Mud Volcano,  which is what we wanted to see. This was an incredible place as is, but seeing buffalo so near to steaming geysers felt somehow surreal,  and added to the pictures,  I feel.

We then headed back towards the Grand Tetons,  which were on our way out.  It was a sunny day,  and I assumed  - mistakenly as it turns out  - that they could be viewed more clearly than on our first two visits just days before.

We went through Jackson Hole again,  although our visit this time was purposefully short.  I noticed that the Idaho border was not far,  being roughly around 20 or so miles,  and figured that this would be a good opportunity to go into the town of Victor,  Idaho. We made it,  but just barely,  as the rental car revealed for the first time that it's ability to navigate steep mountain roads was,  at best,  questionable.  After all of that,  Victor was not like Gardiner or West Yellowstone. It was limited in terms of points of interest,  although the mountain scenery was simply incredible. We snapped some pictures,  but then quickly got going again.  We had a long day of driving ahead of us.  By then,  we had already driven more than three hours from Canyon Campground,  and still had over 500 miles to go to get to the Denver area.

So,  we got going. At first,  it was a picturesque drive along the mountains, with some streams and creeks adding considerable charm and beauty to the drive.  We were listening to good music,  it was a beautiful day,  and we had thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Yellowstone.

But before long,  the landscape changed. It remained pleasant farmland at first,  but became a largely barren landscape of rolling hills of shrubs that is common for much of the open space out West. It was not too bad at first,  but after a few hours,  you really start to want to get to where you are going already,  you know?

We did get there,  though , and along the way,  we stopped to take some decent pictures of the surrounding scenery once we got back into Colorado.

Western Trip Day 5 - Firehole Canyon. West Yellowstone, Fountain Paint Pot, Midway Geyser Basin & the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Day 5 was just as busy as the previous days, which was not a surprise. There is just so much to see and do here at Yellowstone,  and we only had the four days to try and fit everything in.  So we needed to crowd everything in.


We awoke after both of us had a decent night's sleep. For such limited time here,  I felt like we had already seen and done much. On the first day, when we arrived at the park,  we had stopped at the Hell's Half Acre on the long drive from Cheyenne to Casper (where we picked up a small tent) and through the Grand Tetons just as the sun was setting,  before finally arriving at Yellowstone National Park.

On our second day,  we tried a more thorough visit of the Grand Tetons,  and then took a side trip to Jackson Hole,  Wyoming,  in hopes that it might be a bit cheaper than Yellowstone National Park in terms of places to eat,  gas prices,  and souvenirs. Instead,  it proved at least as expensive,  if not more so. Don't get me wrong,  it's beautiful.  But not as beautiful as either of the major parks that it is close to,  and so there seemed no real reason to prolong our stay. So we went back to the Tetons,  and then back to Yellowstone,  where we visited Old Faithful,  and the Upper Geyser Basin.  On this day,  we had seen a coyote,  as well as elk.

On our third day at Yellowstone,  we visited The Sulphur Cauldron first,  on our way to Hayden Valley,  which is where most of the top attraction wildlife can be found. When we got there,  we were both awestruck to see literally hundreds of bison grazing.  We saw babies,  we saw them rolling around in the dirt,  drinking,  eating and resting. Such privilege! If there was one animal that I had wanted to see the most,  it was buffalo. Seeing hundreds across the grassy plains,  it suddenly became easier to imagine how the center of the country once was dominated by these beautiful,  majestic creatures. Pp I feel so grateful to have shared this experience with my son.

Feeling very satisfied,  we then headed to Norris Geyser Basin.  This was perhaps the most amazing and striking landscape yet, just completely unlike anything that I had ever before seen or experienced. There were pools of stunning blue that,  at least at first glance,  looked so inviting. But the water inside is boiling and filled with gases,  and so those appearances are obviously deceiving.  There were also so many different colors on display on the ground,  caused by all of the microorganisms that reside there. And there was the Rainbow Geyser,  which is (or can be) the tallest geyser in the world.  The ranger giving a talk mentioned that just the day prior,  unexpectedly,  it had a major eruption that sprouted water 400 feet in the air.

After that,  I thought it would be best to head up north to Mammoth Spring Junction,  which is an astonishing cliff of almost steps of rock that change color due to the sulphuric water pouring down. White seems to be the dominant color, to the point where the top cliff looked almost covered in snow.

Before that,  we first went to nearby Montana,  which was just five miles away.  We visited the town of Gardiner,  which actually had a bit of charm, and was not so cost prohibitive as Jackson Hole had been.  We found gas was far cheaper,  and got some food and supplies at the local market for much cheaper than we could have inside of the park proper. We drove a few miles in, and saw some elk again,  although they were behind fences. And,  of course,  we saw and took pictures of the Roosevelt Arch.

We drove back to camp satisfied,  feeling that this had been as perfect and idyllic a day as we could have asked for. Yet,  it was not done. We were looking forward to a campfire with toasted marshmallows,  to end the night on a great note.  But first,  we saw a buffalo on the side of the road,  just walking casually.  Obviously,  we slowed to a crawl,  and took pictures. My son took an amazing video,  which I will try to post here when I get back.

Again,  simply amazing! We both were on a high, and enjoying the trip immensely,  falling in love with Yellowstone.

So, how could we follow up on such an amazing day?

Well,  it would be tough,  for sure . But there was still plenty that we had not yet seen. And we had to make the most of the time that we still had, with only one full day left. We would be leaving on Saturday,  but likely would not have much time for visiting on that morning,  as the drive from our campground for the last night  (Canyon campground) was over 600 miles away from our next destination of Denver.

We got a decent night's rest,  and took the tent down.  We were able to get going by roughly 9:30 or so.  We really wanted to swim in the hot springs, and had been told by one of the campground employees that Firehole Road offered one, and that it was the only one which she knew about,  although she herself had never actually been in there.

So,  that became our first destination. We drove down Firehole Canyon Drive,  where she had told us that we could find the hot springs. But the road itself offered some incredibly picturesque views. We kept stopping to take pictures and soak it all in.  Just incredible!

As it turns out,  there were no hot springs that we could swim in.  Not there,  nor anywhere in Yellowstone,  which kind of surprise me.  But that is what the rangers at nearby Madison visitor center informed us of. It was a bit disappointing,  but that drive had been so beautiful,  that we could hardly could feel let down.

We then went to West Yellowstone,  Montana.  I needed to call Enterprise regarding some issues with the rental car,  but had almost no reception anywhere in Yellowstone,  so it was important.  Also,  we hoped that it might be like Gardiner had been,  with more affordable options for food,  gas,  and souvenirs than inside of the park.

We ate at a place that felt like a slice of the old West,  and my son tried buffalo meat for the first time. It was fun, and the town was a much needed respite.  We (mostly I)got carried away and spent just way too much time there. After roughly two hours,  it was time to go.

And so we went back to Yellowstone,  passed Madison,  and went to the Fountain Paint Pot, which was short, but spectacular.  More colorful landscapes and pools,  and with awesome and intensely blue pools that almost looked inviting.

Midway Geyser Basin was next. This had a kind of waterfall of boiling water going into the river,  and different colored rocks underneath.  On top was a huge pool of the same,  also with an assortment of colors underneath steam that provided that now familiar smell of rotten eggs.

Then,  we went to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone,  which is a major site in the park. I had long wanted to see it.  But it was worth the wait.  Indeed,  it reminded my son and I of the actual Grand Canyon.  Obviously,  the Grand Canyon is more wide open and overwhelms you with its sheer enormity.  This one is not nearly as spacious,  but it is long and deep and extremely colorful. It is especially colorful within the first couple of miles of the waterfall.

The famous Uncle Tom's Trail on the southern rim was closed,  as was Inspiration Point on the northern rim. But we still got some amazing views, and headed to our nearby camp feeling happy with our trip to Yellowstone National Park.

It was time to end the night on a positive note,  with another campfire and some Smores.

Western Trip Day 4

Western Trip Day 4