Saturday, June 30, 2018
Day 11: 6/29
Our last day on the road. Did a quick run along the "Cowboy Trail" that goes through Valentine. It's actually a really good running surface and great scenery. Ran to and across the Niabrara river so there was even trees for part of it. Didn't get going too early though, so the sun really started cooking by 10.
En route to Monevideo, we made another pit stop at yet another brewery; this one in Hendricks, MN. Bank brewing has actually been around for 5 years and had good beer (not as too as Bolo in Valentine though).
Made it to Montevideo which was kind of the end of the road. Good to be back.
Thursday, June 28, 2018
day 10 6/28
Woke up for a much more pleasant run on the exact same loop I had done yesterday on 93 degree heat. Kate came with for the first 20, the. Turned around. While the bike system is great, it’s all concrete, which is significantly worse for runners. There are however, numerous dirt trails close to the city if you were willing to drive a little.
Got breakfast on our way out at a smoothie place and “peace, love, and little donuts” that did a sort of mini doughnut with tons of different toppings. They were amazing. Probably 25+ flavors to choose from.
Hit the freeway and started the weave back to mn. Rather than the freeway, we took a collection of backroads that brought us through Scottsbluff, alliance, and eventually valentine.
Found a cheapish motel, and their new brewery “bolo” with actually had outstanding beer. We’ve made quite the rounds on beer this trip, maybe 7 breweries when it’s all said and done.
Dinner at the peppercorn steakhouse which delivered all that you hoped they would. A burger large enough to make you a little sick at a good quality and solid price.
Got breakfast on our way out at a smoothie place and “peace, love, and little donuts” that did a sort of mini doughnut with tons of different toppings. They were amazing. Probably 25+ flavors to choose from.
Hit the freeway and started the weave back to mn. Rather than the freeway, we took a collection of backroads that brought us through Scottsbluff, alliance, and eventually valentine.
Found a cheapish motel, and their new brewery “bolo” with actually had outstanding beer. We’ve made quite the rounds on beer this trip, maybe 7 breweries when it’s all said and done.
Dinner at the peppercorn steakhouse which delivered all that you hoped they would. A burger large enough to make you a little sick at a good quality and solid price.
Day 9 6/27
we've been all over the place with timeline for heading back. The original plan was to stay a couple days in Fort Collins, but the pull for heading home was growing and Jenni had to work 12-8 today, so we had though about heading home. After a breakfast downtown and drive out to the resevior, we decided to stay for a swim and some beers. Swam out at the resevior, then I gotten out s run in 93 degree heat. Quite dry at least, but in combination with the altitude it was pretty draining.
Rented bikes in Fort Collins dockless bike system In the afternoon and went to rally king brewing, then o’dells. They have a robust bike trail system and though the dockless bikes are new, we talked to a guy that helps manage it and said they were growing fast,
O’dells is the real deal, nearing the size of surly and an awesome patio. They even had a stage for a live band, and though a band was there, they were already taking down by the time we got there. Jenni said that all the breweries close early to try to encourage people to go downtown and support the bars. Ate a corn dog there, then went to agave blue for tacos. Not sure how I fit those in my stomach, but they were good.
Got some ice cream at walrus to top things off. Another good day.
Rented bikes in Fort Collins dockless bike system In the afternoon and went to rally king brewing, then o’dells. They have a robust bike trail system and though the dockless bikes are new, we talked to a guy that helps manage it and said they were growing fast,
O’dells is the real deal, nearing the size of surly and an awesome patio. They even had a stage for a live band, and though a band was there, they were already taking down by the time we got there. Jenni said that all the breweries close early to try to encourage people to go downtown and support the bars. Ate a corn dog there, then went to agave blue for tacos. Not sure how I fit those in my stomach, but they were good.
Got some ice cream at walrus to top things off. Another good day.
Day 8 6/26
continued our trek toward Fort Collins today, sadly leaving the Rockies in place of the Wyoming plains/desert. Holy cow is it desolate out there. We drove for nearly 100 miles on us 191 before we hit a town over 300 people and it was rock springs at that. Then once on the freeway, we drove another 100ish miles before starting to see mountains again (the medicine bow range). Kate’s foot is a little dinged up right now, so I hemmed and hawed about whether the detour was worth it, and in fact it nearly always is, so we exited again bound for Saratoga, wy (not much to that one either) and the medicine bow mountains. Another grand mountain pass road where you weave up and up into alpine meadows and conifers. Even though we’re quite a bit south now, there was still snow at the pass (10,000 feet and change). The hike up to the peak isn’t long or particularly strenuous, but I hesitated again the point in having Kate hang and hiking it solo. Again, the answer to that question is usually to go for it, especially with an attitude of getting as far as I could, conditions permitting, then simply turning around. There are precious few times in our lives as midwesterners that we actually get to leave the tree line behind; you have to take them.
It’s only 2.7 to the summit and while there were periodic snow piles, nothing worse as to what we had done previously. I made good time and clipped to the tree line (2 miles in) in 45 min or so. Began the now drastically steeper hill and was getting close, but hit another snow field to cross, this one at a much steeper pitch down and a heck of a lot farther to slide if things became unsettled. It’s not awesome stopping before the top, but figured I had pushed my luck enough and left it maybe 100 vertical feet from the top 12,000 perhaps. Soaked in the view of colorado stretching before me and headed down,
Only a couple hours later, we we in Fort Collins eating dinner with Jenni, one of Kate’s collage friends that’s made the move out here. She lives a cool life. Got to meet her fiancé who seemed awesome as well. Made it for a drink downtown after dinner and even beat Ben and Jerry’s closing to a begrudged employee that just wanted the day to end. Another fine day on the road though. Hard to complain.
It’s only 2.7 to the summit and while there were periodic snow piles, nothing worse as to what we had done previously. I made good time and clipped to the tree line (2 miles in) in 45 min or so. Began the now drastically steeper hill and was getting close, but hit another snow field to cross, this one at a much steeper pitch down and a heck of a lot farther to slide if things became unsettled. It’s not awesome stopping before the top, but figured I had pushed my luck enough and left it maybe 100 vertical feet from the top 12,000 perhaps. Soaked in the view of colorado stretching before me and headed down,
Only a couple hours later, we we in Fort Collins eating dinner with Jenni, one of Kate’s collage friends that’s made the move out here. She lives a cool life. Got to meet her fiancé who seemed awesome as well. Made it for a drink downtown after dinner and even beat Ben and Jerry’s closing to a begrudged employee that just wanted the day to end. Another fine day on the road though. Hard to complain.
day 7
Our last day in the Tetons. We headed to two oceans lake for a trail run on a trail that ended up being a little more rugged than we had hoped. And the mosquitoes were Minnesota vicious. Coupled with a disappointingly muddyish dip in the lake afterward and I’d give it a hard pass to a prospective Teton traveler.
Headed into Jackson next for lunch at snake river brewing. Good beer, only decent food. We walked around Jackson for a little while, but too many tourists/gift shops for my liking. Really ritzy/expensive at times too. We wandered into an art gallery trying to sell landscape paintings for 10,000$ +.
Headed south from Jackson to Pinedale, wy which also was a little bit touristy. Pit stopped at wind river brewing to pick up a 4 pack (which we are bringing back) and headed out to a National first campground at Fremont lake. A great stop and an awesome price at $12 for the night. Up in a pine forest with a view of the lake.
Headed into Jackson next for lunch at snake river brewing. Good beer, only decent food. We walked around Jackson for a little while, but too many tourists/gift shops for my liking. Really ritzy/expensive at times too. We wandered into an art gallery trying to sell landscape paintings for 10,000$ +.
Headed south from Jackson to Pinedale, wy which also was a little bit touristy. Pit stopped at wind river brewing to pick up a 4 pack (which we are bringing back) and headed out to a National first campground at Fremont lake. A great stop and an awesome price at $12 for the night. Up in a pine forest with a view of the lake.
day 6: 6/24
A couple of backfill notes:
1. It’s way harder to journal via internet out west for less with less WiFi/cell service
2. It’s way cooler to toad trip west with the expansive prairies, snowy peaks, and lack of WiFi.
What a fantastic day. Had the alarm set for 5:45 which I quickly shut off and rolled over to. With that said- the mattress in our cabin is harder than tent camping, so with that as the limiting factor, I was up at 7:30.
We didn’t exactly slay it on departure time, but got to Jenny lake in time to get a parking spot and rode the rather expensive ($15) but joyful ferry across the lake to the trail head.
A man on our hike yesterday had struck up a conversation with us and had said that this was the best looking/favorite mountain range on the continent. I’m not sure if it’s fair to rank such things as they’re each unique, and I also wanted to stir the pot a little so I mentioned how much I liked the big horns, but the guy isn’t probably right the Tetons might be unparalleled.
We slung our packs and set out at 10, hoping for lake solitude, but realizing that there was a good chance we wouldn’t make it all the way due to time. The first mile has massive conifers reminiscent of the west coast. Gradually, you transition to meadows and sparser pine forests with great views of the peaks on all sides.
The first 4.5 flew by with pretty fresh legs and great scenery any time you looked up. Came to the fork in maybe a little over 90 minutes and abruptly ran into a pack of people and reports of a bear on the trail right ahead. We approached cautiously and saw them indeed right off the path maybe 50 meters. The initial person had said it was a grizzly and black bear, we sounded kind of bullshit although anyone mentioning a grizzly still gets you a little nervous. once we got closer, it was rather apparent that it was a cinnamon and normal colored black bear. A group of 4 in front of us decided to go for it and we latched on. *side note- these people ended up being French and likely had no idea of the risk assessment they were making. Either way, we came through alright and continued on.
Another mile brought the beginning of the snowfields. Each one was perhaps only 100 meters to cross, and not particularly dangerous, but difficult walking and increasingly made you question if it was worth it to keep going. The problem is the farther you get in, the more connected to the goal you become, generally pushing on with the attitude, “well if we’ve came this far, we might as well cross another”.
The final push was significantly steeper and we sat a few times considering to turn around, but ultimately decided to push on knowing the lake was right at the ridge,
After a finally gentle hill, we came to a spectacular view of a still frozen(!) lake lying in a snowy, rocky bowl. A solid lunch stop, albeit short as we we getting anxious about the return.
The first, steep ascent had make us anxious as to how we’d get back down and it was amazingly easy. Kate literally slide down in a groove made by a few hikers right before us, I half ran/slid down and had no problems.
We hooked on with a solo traveler for the hike back. A hedge fund manager who lived in New Jersey and was visiting his first ever national park. He wasn’t much of a hiker but played hockey and had no problem rolling 2+ mph all the way back with us. What a cool risk to take in all of his firsts. Very interesting to talk to.
Upon suggestion of a visitor center volunteer, we ended up at dormans eating amazing pizza, and drinking good beer on a roof top patio nearly touching the Tetons. A fantastic day and easily the best of the trip yet.
1. It’s way harder to journal via internet out west for less with less WiFi/cell service
2. It’s way cooler to toad trip west with the expansive prairies, snowy peaks, and lack of WiFi.
What a fantastic day. Had the alarm set for 5:45 which I quickly shut off and rolled over to. With that said- the mattress in our cabin is harder than tent camping, so with that as the limiting factor, I was up at 7:30.
We didn’t exactly slay it on departure time, but got to Jenny lake in time to get a parking spot and rode the rather expensive ($15) but joyful ferry across the lake to the trail head.
A man on our hike yesterday had struck up a conversation with us and had said that this was the best looking/favorite mountain range on the continent. I’m not sure if it’s fair to rank such things as they’re each unique, and I also wanted to stir the pot a little so I mentioned how much I liked the big horns, but the guy isn’t probably right the Tetons might be unparalleled.
We slung our packs and set out at 10, hoping for lake solitude, but realizing that there was a good chance we wouldn’t make it all the way due to time. The first mile has massive conifers reminiscent of the west coast. Gradually, you transition to meadows and sparser pine forests with great views of the peaks on all sides.
The first 4.5 flew by with pretty fresh legs and great scenery any time you looked up. Came to the fork in maybe a little over 90 minutes and abruptly ran into a pack of people and reports of a bear on the trail right ahead. We approached cautiously and saw them indeed right off the path maybe 50 meters. The initial person had said it was a grizzly and black bear, we sounded kind of bullshit although anyone mentioning a grizzly still gets you a little nervous. once we got closer, it was rather apparent that it was a cinnamon and normal colored black bear. A group of 4 in front of us decided to go for it and we latched on. *side note- these people ended up being French and likely had no idea of the risk assessment they were making. Either way, we came through alright and continued on.
Another mile brought the beginning of the snowfields. Each one was perhaps only 100 meters to cross, and not particularly dangerous, but difficult walking and increasingly made you question if it was worth it to keep going. The problem is the farther you get in, the more connected to the goal you become, generally pushing on with the attitude, “well if we’ve came this far, we might as well cross another”.
The final push was significantly steeper and we sat a few times considering to turn around, but ultimately decided to push on knowing the lake was right at the ridge,
After a finally gentle hill, we came to a spectacular view of a still frozen(!) lake lying in a snowy, rocky bowl. A solid lunch stop, albeit short as we we getting anxious about the return.
The first, steep ascent had make us anxious as to how we’d get back down and it was amazingly easy. Kate literally slide down in a groove made by a few hikers right before us, I half ran/slid down and had no problems.
We hooked on with a solo traveler for the hike back. A hedge fund manager who lived in New Jersey and was visiting his first ever national park. He wasn’t much of a hiker but played hockey and had no problem rolling 2+ mph all the way back with us. What a cool risk to take in all of his firsts. Very interesting to talk to.
Upon suggestion of a visitor center volunteer, we ended up at dormans eating amazing pizza, and drinking good beer on a roof top patio nearly touching the Tetons. A fantastic day and easily the best of the trip yet.
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Day 5 (6/23)
6/23
Not a bad rebound day for Yellowstone. Slept in, made some banana pancakes, and headed for old faithful at a leisurely 10:30. Packed as expected, but honestly a bit underwhelming. Like a less obnoxious Mount Rushmore, it’s good to see it and I don’t think I need to go back for another 10-15 years.
The hike we did was pretty cool though. Fairy falls, which starts past a bunch of hot springs and then over to 100foot waterfall. Ate lunch there, the. Made a loop of it through a meadow that also had a bunch of hot springs and we had the trail to ourselves. The falcon hiking guide book tagged it as quintessential Yellowstone and they were spot on. Even a couple buffalo lying a few hundred meters away to top it off. The trail actually went through (between) hot springs with water that had come off them. Made you wonder if it was safe, but the footprints indicated people had done it before us, so why not.
Swung by the headwaters lodge near our cabin for a happy hour. Cool to talk to the servers about life on the fringe of Yellowstone. Brats on the stove tonight after yet another rain shower. Hard to complain about the meal though and washed it down with an ipa from Sheridan, wy.
Day 4 (6/22)
6/22
Despite the feels of progress, graybull is quite a drive to Yellowstone. Lots of desolate landscape in between the two. Stopped in Cody, wy to get coffee, we both got drip (regular) coffee and ended up with steamed milk on top of what was likely coffee. Not sure how they do things out in Cody, so we rolled with it, but it was curious at best.
Upon entering Yellowstone, we got a rather intense welcome by coming within 4 feet of a Buffalo with our car. It turns out this isn’t an unusual occurrence, but cool none the less. Got our bearings after a few stumbles when trying to get a trails map/groceries and did a quick trail run along the Yellowstone river. It is flooded right now with all the rain they’ve been getting and it abruptly ended our trail run when we came upon a flooded creek. No matter as it’s down time for me anyway. We had intended to try to head up to the boiling river today, but came to realize the scale of the park we are dealing with. If you are staying on the south side, you don’t do things on the north side of the park. That’s for another trip. Made it was far as the upperfalls where we had lunch and headed for the south entrance.
Overall, not a great first day I. Yellowstone, but happy to have made it. Lots,of people and lots of driving and it’s rained literally every day of the trip at some point during the day. With that said, we were fortunate to have chosen the camper cabin over camping and while it’s pricey for what you get, it sure is nice to have a roof over our heads and a stoop to cook on.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Day 3: hiking the bighorns
up early to try to make the most of the day. Still didn’t break camp until a couple hours after I was up as some members like to sleep longer than others. No matter- we set off for misty mon lake by 7:45 which was good enough. The scenery here is outstanding. Rocky Mountains with less than 10% the people. The trail wavered between alpine meadows and pine forests with consistent views of a stream and snowy peaks on all sides.
We did Ford the stream that held us back yesterday. I went barefoot to save getting my boots wet, Kate brought her Chacos. It was chilly and rocky for sure, but we got through it both ways alright. The destination is a string of mountain lakes. Helen was the biggest and first and had a few groups camping on it. There was actually a decent amount of snow to navigate here and there as we traversed the shire towards the path for Marion lake. This was smaller and had no one at it. Pretty quickly, the trees started to fade and we soon reached misty moon. It was amazing. Mountains on all sides with cloud peak looming off the the north east. A little bit of a bummer we didn’t take a run at it, but it’ll be there next trip and this is certainly a place worth returning to.
Back in the car, we wound our way back down the gravel road and headed west again on 16. Barely touched the gas on the way back down the pass toward the town of tensleep. The canyon was gorgeous as well. Lots of cars pulled over and we couldn’t figure out why as it didn’t look like people were out taking pictures, until we realized they were all rock climbers. Must be a hot spot.
Tensleep has 260 people in it on the edge of the mountains and near desert. I joked that if there was a brewery, we were stopping. Amazingly enough, I soon saw a sign for a brewery on the edge of town. Wow- right up there with the most desolate breweries I have ever seen. They’ve actually been open 5 years and brewed good beer.
We did Ford the stream that held us back yesterday. I went barefoot to save getting my boots wet, Kate brought her Chacos. It was chilly and rocky for sure, but we got through it both ways alright. The destination is a string of mountain lakes. Helen was the biggest and first and had a few groups camping on it. There was actually a decent amount of snow to navigate here and there as we traversed the shire towards the path for Marion lake. This was smaller and had no one at it. Pretty quickly, the trees started to fade and we soon reached misty moon. It was amazing. Mountains on all sides with cloud peak looming off the the north east. A little bit of a bummer we didn’t take a run at it, but it’ll be there next trip and this is certainly a place worth returning to.
Back in the car, we wound our way back down the gravel road and headed west again on 16. Barely touched the gas on the way back down the pass toward the town of tensleep. The canyon was gorgeous as well. Lots of cars pulled over and we couldn’t figure out why as it didn’t look like people were out taking pictures, until we realized they were all rock climbers. Must be a hot spot.
Tensleep has 260 people in it on the edge of the mountains and near desert. I joked that if there was a brewery, we were stopping. Amazingly enough, I soon saw a sign for a brewery on the edge of town. Wow- right up there with the most desolate breweries I have ever seen. They’ve actually been open 5 years and brewed good beer.
Landed in graybull, wy for the night at a historic hotel downtown. A snap judgement as we pulled over, went in, asked how much it was (65$) and went for it. Ate at a Mexican joint across the street for dinner, which was owned by first generation immigrants and subsequently quite good.
Not a bad day.
Day 2: big horns bound
Woke up in spearfish to pancakes and coffee from brad, our Airbnb host. The guy couldn’t have been nicer. Super personable, full of stories, and not a negative vibe. We shoved off around 8:30 bound for the bighorns.
More rain on the drive, intermittent up until the lunch stop even. We grabbed a few supplies in Buffalo, which looks nice. Another year perhaps. The up seemed to last forever as we wound through he bighorns on 16, rain the entire way. Finally hit forest road #27 and continue the trek up a dirt road. The scenery is gorgeous in the bighorns. It doesn’t seem insanely touristy either. Would absolutely come back for a backpacking trip in the future.
We got to the trailhead and it became quickly apparent that we would not be backpacking into the lake. Rain still threatened, and cold temps combined with Kate not bringing a hat or gloves made it a rather easy decision. We instead threw on day packs and hiked up the trail a little. Almost a mile in, you had to cross a stream, likely high due to all the rain. We trekked up a while looking for a better stop to cross with rocks but came up empty handed. Chalk up another fortunate reason to have not backpacked.
Headed back to the trailhead and did another short out and back on a different trail. Stumbled upon the coolest waterfall and just soaked up the scenery for a while. Made you wonder why this isn’t a national park, but I guess they and we are lucky as there’s hardly anyone here.
We are sharing the campground with one other group. There were a few others on the road up, and a number of cars parked in the backpacking lot, so what people are here are quite dispersed. The site is right on west tensleep lake with views on the snow dotted mountains in the distance. Quite phenomenal. The plan as it stands not is to get up early, and give it a shot to day hike up to misty moon lake where we had originally hoped to camp. It’s chilly, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings. On the grand scheme of things, I should be happy to have temps 40-50 degrees cooler than what we left behind in the cities. And I am. It’s pretty great.
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Day 1: a familiar route
Oh man, what a first day. I’ve probably headed west through mn and sd 5+ times, but it’s still a great feeling each new time. Got up at 5:15 in order to catch the future gusties at the running camp for their morning run at 7:30. Made it just in time and we each went with a different pace group for a half hour run or so. St. Peter has changed so much the last 9 Years, more growth than I thought on the fringe of town. It was great seeing Brenden and dale, even if for a little while. Definitely got the rosy eyed memory of missing the college life.
Swung by river rock for a latte and a scone on our way out of town. This is Kate’s favorite coffee shop, thus making her happy as a clam. Throw on a bonus that she got to hear the famous “Minnesota Avenue, walk 5 dogs across” from the automated cross walk and her day was made.
There’s a lot of markers of “heading west”: like eating our lunch under a giant cottonwood, or seeing a prickly pear cactus in bloom at blue mound, or the first wall drug sign, but I don’t think anything quite does it like seeing the Missouri River stretch before you. We actually stopped briefly at the rest area for the view, and subsequently wall drug as well, if only to reconvicne ourselves that it’s really not worth it. Way to many people plotting around at half a mile and hour perusing crappy t shirt racks and raising the average bmi our the country by substainal amounts.
Seeing the badlands is another mark west and a stop we should make some day. Not this year though, we zipped right through to the black hills. Rapid city also see,s to have grown a ton every time we pass through.
We landed at crow peak brewing a little after 6 and savored a beer and likely one of the longest travel days complete. We had planned on camping, but rain looked certain and didn’t seem enticing. We ended up conversing with a guy at the bar, and he quickly mentioned that he had an Airbnb and a room not being used tonight. After briefly talking it over, we decided just to go for it.
So we cooked our brats and potatoes in a random family home in spearfish and are sleeping in the basement. Both the hosts are super personable and interesting to talk to. They are empty nesters that opted for giving air bnb a shot rather than downsizing their house. They had two other couples spending the nice as well. Two of them are also teachers from the cities. What a way to end the day. Never a dull moment in life.
*(afterward note: Brad and Lynn 3034 Meadow Ln, 605-645-1957)
Swung by river rock for a latte and a scone on our way out of town. This is Kate’s favorite coffee shop, thus making her happy as a clam. Throw on a bonus that she got to hear the famous “Minnesota Avenue, walk 5 dogs across” from the automated cross walk and her day was made.
Made some ground south on 60, which is 4 lanes more or less the whole way. I don’t travel this part of the state often, so it’s always interesting to see the lay of the land. Pit-stopped at blue mound state park for lunch. This is still one of the coolest for me even though we did little more than eat lunch and check out the view. Lots of good prairie birds present though: field sparrows, kingbirds and dickcissels; in fact 28 species day 1 if you’re keeping score. Not bad at 70 miles and hour and a short lunch stop.
Seeing the badlands is another mark west and a stop we should make some day. Not this year though, we zipped right through to the black hills. Rapid city also see,s to have grown a ton every time we pass through.
We landed at crow peak brewing a little after 6 and savored a beer and likely one of the longest travel days complete. We had planned on camping, but rain looked certain and didn’t seem enticing. We ended up conversing with a guy at the bar, and he quickly mentioned that he had an Airbnb and a room not being used tonight. After briefly talking it over, we decided just to go for it.
So we cooked our brats and potatoes in a random family home in spearfish and are sleeping in the basement. Both the hosts are super personable and interesting to talk to. They are empty nesters that opted for giving air bnb a shot rather than downsizing their house. They had two other couples spending the nice as well. Two of them are also teachers from the cities. What a way to end the day. Never a dull moment in life.
*(afterward note: Brad and Lynn 3034 Meadow Ln, 605-645-1957)
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