KAA: Wyoming, I Care!

Wyoming, I care! A bold statement, from a bold man.  I once ran across a t-shirt that suggested otherwise, and you know what?  I was foolish enough to believe it.  Not anymore!  Not after my awesome day in Wyoming, read on...

Let's start with just getting to Wyoming, the drive eastward from Idaho Falls is not only scenic, but also exciting, full of dangerous curves through mountains and what not.  I knew I was going to Yellowstone, but I didn't know getting there would be half the fun!  Jackson, WY is the gateway to the national parks, and it is a beautiful resort town.  Place was packed due to tourist season, but I still took in the town's old west style downtown.

The Grand Tetons, America's boobs.

Originally I had no intention of actually going into Grand Teton National Park, thought I could get some great views and cool pictures from the adjacent road, I mean its not like I'm in any condition to hike or anything.  Well those clever rascals in Wyoming had other plans.  First of all, the view of the mountains from the road simply isn't good, on top of that, there really isn't anywhere to pull over on the road.  My plot to be cheap had been foiled!  Then, I made a rookie mistake, deciding to buy just entry into Grand Teton (GT) park instead of a combo package, this decision would bite me when I realized the sum of the fees for both GT and Yellowstone was more than the combo, D'oh!

Driving through GT is something else, its just gorgeous, and there's places to pull over all over the place!  As a total n00b, I was pulling into every single stop.  At some point, the fact that I was just photographing the same mountains just from slightly different angles dawned on me, then I became less paranoid about running out of places to check out the scenery.  I wish I could tell you at which lake camp I stopped to have my protein bar lunch, but I lost track, doesn't matter I still photographed the crap out of every single little body of water I came across, its the least I could do.  I'm glad I stopped at GT!

The first thing I noticed when I got to Yellowstone, is how less forested it is than GT, I blame the bears.  I guess less trees makes it easier to spot these godless killing machines.  The lack of places to stop and check out allowed me to regain my laser focus on seeing hot water shoot up from the ground.  Getting to Old Faithful was a pain in the ass, mainly because there is quite a bit of roadwork being done inside the park, I was worried it would be nightfall by the time I got there! :(

Lucky for me, it was a long summer day, and eventually the roads cleared up.  I got to Old Faithful (OF) with plenty of light, unfortunately for me, OF was on an off schedule and I had to wait about 45 minutes to enjoy the show, I could've gone and screwed around with some of the younger, less faithful geysers!  The place was pretty packed, so being there early allowed me to get primo seats.  To witness OF go off was awe-inspiring, I mean there I was, witnessing a miracle of nature, it really made me think.  After about 45 seconds of being 'deep,' I went back to taking as many pictures as possible, such an event must be chronicled, you never know when it may happen again.

I stopped to take in more of the sights of Yellowstone, I'm not 'nature guy' but I couldn't help just pulling over and taking in all the natural beauty of the park.  The risk of a bear attack was at an all-time high, would I be ready to fight back?  Leaving Wyoming was as exciting as getting there was, if not more.  Getting out of Yellowstone is one of those fun, mountain drives full of deadly curves, but the catch was it was night, I didn't need to go very fast to get a rush from the drive!  No animals were harmed during my Yellowstone getaway, though several really tried.  What's your problem, deer?  Then your Hero drove off into the night, not knowing if he would ever return to WY...

Steamy!

Old Faithful doing its thing.

Why am I being so nice to WY?  Well, Texas plays Wyoming this Saturday, all pleasantries are about to go out the door, Hook 'Em Horns! \m/

Your American Hero,
-AK