Days 35-39: Yellowstone, Big Horn Mountains, and Home

For our last day in Yellowstone on September 11, 2007, Day 35 of our Alaska adventure, we drove the upper loop. The day was sunny, warm, and beautiful, although it had frosted during the night. We were hoping to see wolves and moose, but all we found were coyotes, buffalo, and antelope. We did see a small band of elk come out of the woods in Hayden Valley in the evening, but they were too far away for good pictures.

Coyote

Pronghorn Antelope

Yellowstone Traffic Jam

We left Fishing Bridge RV Park in Yellowstone on the morning of September 12, 2007, Day 36, and went out Yellowstone's east entrance, beginning the final leg of our journey home.

Along the East Entrance Road of Yellowstone National Park

After a stop in Cody, Wyoming, to get an oil change for Harvey, we took Highway 14 out of Cody and went up through Greybull and the Bighorn Mountains to pick up I-90 at Ranchester. We stopped for photos along the way and spent some time at the Shell Falls viewing area, giving Harvey a chance to cool down after climbing the mountains. A nearby forest fire provided some good photos of helicopters gathering water to carry back to the fire, which was somewhere out of our sight.

Big Horn Mountains

Big Horn Mountains

Firefighting Helicopter in Big Horn Mountains

We had supper at a McDonald's in Sheridan, Wyoming, then drove on to Gillette. It was after dark by the time we reached Gillette. Motels were full, so we looked for Crazy Woman Campground, which we had seen listed in our Passport America directory of campgrounds.

We saw a police car parked in a driveway and stopped to ask the officer where the campground was. The officer said that Crazy Woman Campground was right next door to were we were. When Doug asked if there was a Walmart nearby, the police officer almost seemed relieved and told us that we might be better off camping in the Walmart parking lot. He said it would be free and that there was frequently trouble at this campground. We had seen an ambulance pulling away from the area as we approached, but we couldn't say for sure that it had come from the campground. Anyway, we took his advice and parked for the night in the Walmart parking lot.

It wasn't a very restful night for Doug. With no electrical hookup, he wasn't able to use his CPAP machine; and a semi had pulled in and parked near us, with its diesel engine running all night. The noise wasn't so bad, because it helped drown out other sounds; but we could actually feel the vibration.

September 13, 2007, Day 37, was a pretty boring travel day, with no sightseeing stops. We camped that night at Ron Dee's RV Park in Mitchell, SD. After registering at the RV park, we went to Marlin's, a local truck stop, for supper, before hooking up.

Ron Dee's was a nice, clean, and quiet RV park. We slept in a little on the morning of September 14, 2007, Day 38, getting a bit of a late start on that travel day. We made it to East Moline, Illinois, where we spent the night in a room at a Comfort Inn and Suites. The desk clerk told us the rate would be $109, plus tax; but then he wound up giving us an upgrade to a suite and charged us only $85. Go figure. Later, though, we discovered that the suite's air conditioning didn't work. Maybe he wasn't being as nice as I originally thought.

After a very restful night at the Comfort Inn and Suites in East Moline, we set off for home on September 15, 2007, Day 39 of travel to Alaska and back, making it home by early evening.

For those who might be wondering, we sold Harvey three weeks later. After completely cleaning, polishing, and servicing everything that was potentially problematic on him, we listed Harvey on eBay. At the end of the auction, he went to his new home in New Jersey. And Doug heaved a big sigh of relief.

Thus ends the saga of our Great Alaska Adventure. Thanks so much to those of you who have hung in there with me while I wrote this series of posts. What loyal friends you are!

Day 34...Continued...Yellowstone National Park

Yesterday's post covered part of the 34th day of our Alaska trip, which involved a visit to Yellowstone National Park on our way home from Alaska. This post is a continuation of that one.

The day was September 10, 2007; and we were touring Yellowstone with our friends, Larry and Jeannette, who just happened to be visiting the park at the same time. In addition to our sightings of elk, a black bear, and coyotes, about which I posted yesterday, we also visited the Yellowstone Canyon overlooks.

Yellowstone Canyon

Yellowstone Canyon and Lower Falls

Of course, there was also a visit to Old Faithful. At the Visitor Center there, we learned that Riverside Geyser was due for an eruption at 10:40 a.m., give or take 30 minutes. It was then 10:10 a.m., and Riverside was a walk of a mile and a quarter away. It took us a half-hour to get to the geyser, but we were in time to see the eruption, which lasted about 20 minutes.

Riverside Geyser

The walk back to Old Faithful was slower. We went to the cafeteria for lunch, then watched an eruption of Old Faithful from the porch.

Old Faithful Geyser

And then there was this large and in-charge buffalo to close out the day's sightseeing.

Days 33-34: Yellowstone National Park

We entered Yellowstone National Park at the north entrance at Gardiner, Montana, on the morning of September 9, 2007, which was Day 33 of our Alaska trip. We made telephone contact with Larry and Jeannette, friends from home who were visiting Yellowstone at the same time, and agreed to meet them later in the day.

As usual, there were lots of elk at Mammoth Hot Springs. We drove down the west side of the upper loop, then across the middle of the figure eight to the Canyon Village on the east side. It began snowing while we were there, so we decided just to go on down to the Fishing Bridge RV Park and get checked in.

Buffalo in a snow squall

By the time we had done that, the snow had stopped, and the day was getting pretty again. So we decided not to linger in the campground. We drove to Hayden Valley to try to spot some wolves. We did see a white one that the ranger in attendance said was the alpha female. We saw her moving around in the distance as we pulled into the turnout, but then she lay down and was hard to see. The ranger had a spotting scope set up and was letting people look at the wolf through the scope, but even with that magnification we could see only a white speck where she lay.

Larry and Jeannette were just exiting the campground when we returned that evening; but they spotted us and circled back. We parked Harvey; then we all went together in their truck to have supper at the Lake Lodge Cafeteria.

The next day, Monday, September 10, 2007, Day 34, was just a wonderful day. Larry and Jeannette had invited us to tour the lower loop with them, and we decided to take them up on it. That meant Doug had a day off from driving, and that made him very happy.

We hadn't gone far before we saw a grizzly, with what appeared to be a yearling cub, not far off the road.

Later, we saw elk and a black bear that seemed almost to be playing with part of an animal carcass. He would grab it and start to drag it, then turn and run away from it. Doug thought maybe he was stealing the carcass from another animal, probably a grizzly, and was afraid of being caught. Or maybe he was just afraid of all the human bear watchers. But, whatever, it was a special treat to watch him. We also saw a coyote, close to the road; and, of course, there were the ever-present buffalo.

Bull elk napping in the woods

Black bear, apparently studying how best to steal an elk carcass

He would drag it a ways, then run off as if being chased, always to return and drag it a little further.

Here, he had dropped the carcass and run and jumped up on this log, looking back as if to see whether anything was chasing him.

Coyote

Our day was filled with even more experiences; but, rather than try to share them all in this post, I'll save some for the next one.

Days 31-32: Calgary, Alberta to Great Falls, Montana, then to Gardiner, Montana

We left the Calgary West Campground about 9:00 a.m. on Friday, September 7, 2007, which was Day 31 of our Alaska Trip, and headed on into Calgary on our way south. Calgary is a city with a population in excess of one million, and Friday morning traffic was terrific; but we made it through to Fort McCleod, then to Lethbridge, where we stopped at the visitor center to be sure we were on the right road and to take some pictures of the High Level Bridge.

High Level Bridge at Lethbridge, Alberta

The High Level Bridge was built between 1907 and 1909, to carry trains over the Oldman River. It is over a mile long and 314 feet above the riverbed.

Storm Along Canada Highway 4, Between Lethbridge and the U. S. Border

From there we headed on down to the U. S. border at Coutts, Alberta. We arrived there a little after 2:00 p.m. and found ourselves in a long line of cars and trucks, waiting to be checked through Customs. It took about 45 minutes to get through.

Then we were on our way to Great Falls, Montana. We had considered pushing on a little further; but we encountered some incredibly strong winds just outside of Great Falls. Plus, it had been raining during the last hour of the drive. So we decided to treat ourselves to a night in a motel. This was only the second night in a motel during these 31 days of travel, and Doug deserved not to have to hook up in the wind and rain.

We checked into the Hampton Inn, then went across the street to a Golden Corral for supper. Back in our room, taking advantage of having cell phone service, which had not been available in Canada, I made a few telephone calls to friends and family.

We slept well at the Hampton Inn. It was very clean and nice. The next morning, September 8, Day 32, we left Great Falls and drove to Helena, where we did some shopping at a Walmart Supercenter. From there, we went on to Bozeman, Livingston, and then to Gardiner, Montana, which is at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

South of Great Falls, Montana, on Highway 15

In the previous picture you can barely see this bridge. 

This shot was taken from the same place but with a higher zoom.

Butte, Montana

The "Devil's Slide," near Gardiner, Montana

When I talked to our friend, Pat, the previous night, and told her that we were planning to visit Yellowstone National Park, she said that Larry and Jeannette, mutual friends, were in Cody and planned to go into Yellowstone on the 8th. Well, she must have then talked to Larry and Jeannette about our plans to visit Yellowstone, because Jeannette left two messages on our phone. They were staying at Fishing Bridge RV Park, inside Yellowstone National Park, with full hookups. So we called and got ourselves a reservation there for the next three days.

We stayed that night at Yellowstone RV Park, a very nice campground in Gardiner. The campsite was so level that Doug didn't even have to put leveling blocks under Harvey. It had been a long time since we'd done laundry, so we took care of that chore at the campground laundromat.

Day 30: Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta, Canada

September 6, 2007, Day 30 of our Alaska trip, was another beautiful travel day, once we got past the power outage at our campground in Grand Cache. The power went off at 6:00 a.m. and hadn't come back on yet by the time we pulled out three hours later. It meant that our electric heater wouldn't work, but the furnace took the chill out so we could crawl out of our warm beds and get dressed.

The day's travel was all in the province of Alberta, as we drove from Grand Cache to Jasper National Park, then to Banff National Park, and on to Calgary. The drive between Jasper and Banff on the Icefields Parkway was just awesome in its beauty. So many startlingly beautiful peaks, lakes, and rivers in such a small area. Following are some pictures from that part of our drive.

We stayed at the Calgary West Campground, a huge campground with 325 campsites on a hill overlooking Calgary, a city of well over a million people. It was a bit of a culture shock after some of  the tiny campgrounds we'd been staying in...like the one with only five RV sites on Day 28.

The view from our "dining room" window at our campsite in Calgary West Campground

Days 27-29: Homeward Bound...Whitehorse, Yukon to Grand Cache, Alberta

We drove from Whitehorse, YK to Toad River, BC on September 3, 2007, Day 27 of our Alaska trip, most of it in rain and low clouds, although it started out to be a beautiful day. We saw some buffalo along the Liard River, including one big herd of them just south of the suspension bridge over the Liard River.

Buffalo, South of Liard River Bridge

We considered camping at Coal River but decided to go the extra 120 miles to Toad River, where we had stayed on Day 12 on our way north to Alaska. It was a beautiful drive, or would have been if the clouds hadn't obscured our view of the mountains; but we were both ready to stop when Toad River finally came into view. We had supper in the lodge's restaurant before finding our campsite and hooking up Harvey.

The next morning, Day 28, was bright and sunny, a welcome change from the rain and dreariness of the previous day and night. Our goal for the day was Fort St. John. The drive from Toad River to Fort Nelson was beautiful and packed with abundant wildlife, including caribou, moose, and deer.

Along Alaska Highway, Near Stone Mountain Provincial Park

Caribou

Summit Lake

Caribou

Caribou, not caring that Doug and Harvey were in a hurry.

We stopped at Fort Nelson for gas and some Subway sandwiches. Not finding a convenient place to stop for lunch, we ate our sandwiches on the fly. We saw more deer and a large black bear on our way from Fort Nelson to Fort St. John. No pictures, though. Doug and Harvey were pointed towards home.

We stopped for the night at the Shepherd's Inn, north of Fort St. John. They had a restaurant and motel and about five RV spots. We took one of the RV spots. We had supper in the restaurant, and it was very good. Then we returned to Harvey to take our showers and relax for a few hours before bedtime.

We got off to a slow start on September 5, Day 29, deciding to have breakfast at the Shepherd's Inn restaurant. That, of course, took longer than our usual breakfast in Harvey. Then we filled up the gas tank, also at Shepherd's Inn; and a problem with their credit card machine held us up another 10 minutes or so.

We drove on into Fort St. John, to the Walmart there, and did some shopping before doing any serious driving that day.

The weather was good all day, except for a few brief light showers. Changing our home-going route a little from our northward journey, the day's route took us from Fort St. John, British Columbia to Dawson Creek, British Columbia; then to Grand Prairie, Alberta; and on to Grand Cache, Alberta, where we stayed at the Grand Cache Community RV Park.

Scenic Overlook Near Grand Cache, AB

Days 25-26: Homeward Bound...Talkeetna to Border City

We started for home the day after our fly-in to Denali National Park. It was September 1st, Day 25 of our trip. Considering the lateness of the season, we knew the likelihood that many of the services on the Alaska Highway would be closing soon. There aren't that many services to begin with, and we didn't want to take a chance on not being able to get gasoline for Harvey when needed.

We left the Talkeetna Camper Park that morning and drove to Wasilla to get an oil change for Harvey. We also filled the gas and propane tanks and bought some Subway sandwiches and cookies for our lunch.

The scenery on that day's drive was beautiful, although some rain and clouds made photography a challenge. We were surprised to see how much the fall colors had come out during our short time in Alaska.

Matanuska Glacier, with yellow aspen showing among the evergreens in the foreground.

Slana River from Tok Cutoff

Doug managed to get more speed out of Harvey, once we were turned toward home. We made good time and arrived in Tok about 6:00 p.m. We called ahead to Border City RV Park and were able to reserve a camping space there for the night. Then we ate a quick pizza at Fast Eddy's in Tok before driving the 90 miles to Border City. We arrived at the RV park about 8:30 p.m. There was a computer available to guests, so I used that to check and send e-mails while Doug was getting Harvey hooked up.

The next day, September 2, Day 26 of the trip, we left the Border City RV Park about 9:00 a.m., after dumping Harvey's tanks at the dump station, and crossed the border into Canada about a half-hour later. The border guards just asked how many were in the vehicle and how long we would be in Canada, then waved us through. We immediately lost an hour as we moved from Alaska Time to Pacific Time.

We stopped for coffee and baked goodies at Buckshot Betty's in Beaver Creek, Yukon, then continued down the highway...very slowly because of the bumps and frost heaves, which plagued us all the way to Destruction Bay. After that, we could pick up the speed a little.

Here are some pictures from the day's travel:

Buckshot Betty's

A Bald Eagle

Pickhandle Lake Rest Area

At Pickhandle Lake Rest Area

We stopped in Haines Junction for gas about 4:00 p.m., then drove on to Whitehorse, Yukon's capital, where we camped at Hi Country RV Park.

Haines Junction Town Monument

Along the Alaska Highway between Haines Junction and Whitehorse