Mt. Rushmore (South Dakota)

sadfas
After Devil's Tower, I drove 125 miles east into South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore. The area around Mt. Rushmore has an amazing amount of things to do. Very family oriented. There are man caves to explore, there's a reptile house, Old McDonald's farm, a very cool wild animal "zoo" containing bears, coyotes, mountain lions, buffalo, etc., the Crazy Horse monument, and, of course, Mt. Rushmore.

I visited Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and a cave called Jewel Cave.

Mt. Rushmore was amazing. Hard to describe in words. It is such a great reminder of where this country has come from. There was a short trail that allowed a little closer view, and I took some pictures from there.



As I left the monument, there was this really cool view of George Washington in profile:



After Mt. Rushmore, I went over to the Crazy Horse monument. This thing is huge: the figures of Mt. Rushmore can fit into Crazy Horse's face:



This has been under construction for over 50 years, and there's many more years to go! It is entirely privately funded. It is a very cool story.

Anyway, after a short visit there, I went over to Jewel Cave, the second longest cave in the world at 136 miles! We took an elevator down 300 feet and did about a half mile loop in the cave. It was pretty cool.

Anyway, it was a really good, short visit. I saw this really old structure on my way back to the campsite:

Devil's Tower National Monument (Wyoming)

From Yellowstone and Bighorn National Parks, I travelled east, almost crossing the entire state of Wyoming. I stopped in Gillette, Wyoming, about 50 miles from Devil's Tower. The weather turned nasty, and I wound up staying in a Walmart parking lot for 3 nights waiting for the weather to clear before heading out to Devil's Tower. It even snowed on me for a few hours. In all, very cold, windy, and nasty.

I finally drove out to DT, even though the weather hadn't quite cleared. On the last 20 miles of the drive, I saw an incredible amount of wildlife, including a flock of wild turkey, numerous herds of antelope and deer, a Golden Eagle (he flew right across my windshield), and a bunch of prarie dogs.










Devil's Tower was really cool. It's 1261 ft about the surrounding terrain, flat on top, and has these "columns" running up and down its sides. I spent about 2 hrs there, hiking around a 1.3 mile trail that circles the tower. I really enjoyed seeing this.

Bighorn National Park (Wyoming)

I left Yellowstone on Thursday, Sept. 14, heading toward Devil's Tower, in eastern Wyoming. On my way, I went through a town called Cody, named after Buffalo Bill Cody, who was a very famous guy at the turn of the century. Just before reaching Cody, I stopped at a very cool dam, called the Buffalo Bill Dam and Reservoir:



I've got some good pictures of the dam at my photosite: www.tomsphotosonline.com

I spent a good part of the day in Cody, at the Buffalo Bill museum. It was a huge place, housing 5 different museums, including the largest collection of firearms in the world, one dedicated to Buffalo Bill, and another dedicated to Western art. Those are the 3 that I looked at, and it took me over 4 hrs to do it! It was interesting to learn about Buffalo Bill and I also enjoyed the art exhibit as well. The gun collection was also very cool, but a bit overwhelming.

I left Cody the next day, and travelled through the Bighorn National Park, which was unexpected. A very beautiful drive! The scenery ranged from towering, jagged cliffs, to enormous canyons, rivers, waterfalls, and, in general, very georgeous scenery. I was going to try to get to Devils Tower this day, but with all of the pictures I took, I had to stop at a place called Gillette, Wyoming, about 60 miles short of Devils Tower. Anyway, here are some pictures of Bighorn:

Yellowstone National Park

After Glacier National Park, I drove about 450 miles south to Yellowstone National Park. There was still some haze in the air, preventing a lot of far-away scenic shots, but Yellowstone had so much variety other than the scenery to look at. There were many areas of burnt forest (from a huge fire in 1988), waterfalls, wildlife, geysers, hot springs, rivers, and lakes to see. I'd highly recommend making a trip here.




















A Prong-horn antelope checking me out




















Gibbon Falls...really beautiful




















One of many hot springs




















Some funny-looking waterfowl




















The colors from the hot springs were incredible

























Old Faithful




















More beautiful colors from a scalding-hot spring




















A bull elk standing peacfully in the water




















In the town of Mammoth Hot Springs




















A Bison, or American Buffalo



Some beautiful geologic features



End of a perfect day

Glacier National Park

Well, on Sept. 5, I crossed back into the United States, into Montana near Glacier National Park. It was not without mishap, though. One of the border agents told me that I was leaking some kind of fluid in the back of my coach. It looked and felt like antifreeze, but my temperature guage was reading fine. I continued past the border for about 20 miles, the temperature gauge continuing to read fine. I stopped for lunch, inspected the leak (which was still dribbling out), and continued up a rather large (and long) hill. My temperature guage finally started to creep ever-so-higher, so at that point I knew that I wasn't going to make it. I pulled over and called a tow truck, which took 3 hrs to arrive.

He towed me 150 miles to a repair shop which had closed by now. The tow bill came to....$1,100!! However, being the smart traveller I am, I had purchased tow insurance only two weeks prior (after the Alaskan towing incident), and the towing was completely free! The next day, the mechanics at the shop promised me that they would at least look at it that day (they were really busy), and perhaps get it fixed by weeks end. I sat in the coach for about 2 hrs, waiting for them to come over. I got tired of waiting, changed into some grubbies, and went looking for the problem myself. I thought that it might just be a cracked hose, so I poked around a suspect hose for a problem. To my surprise, a hose-clamp securing the hose to the radiator just came off in my hand! I got a new hose clamp, filled the radiator, and I was on my way by noon!

My campsite was about 30 miles away, right near the entrance to Glacier National Park. I had planned a number of hikes, however the scenery was marred by thick haze in the air, caused by the many wildfires that were burning in various parts of the west. I had to settle for driving a very cool road, called Going-to-the-Sun highway, that winds 50 miles from one side of the park to the other. All of the pictures below were taken along that road and from hiking in a bit from time to time.

This would have been a spectacular place if the haze wasn't around. I've seen many pictures of the beautiful lakes and mountains in this area, and I will have to come back (maybe in the spring) to really appreciate the beauty here. Anyway, enjoy these shots (more at www.tomsphotosonline.com):



Lake McDonald

Banff, Alberta

After Jasper, I traveled about 160 miles south to the town of Banff. Even more beautiful than Jasper! Again, the prettiest snow-capped mountains and aqua-blue waters. Amazing! Both Jasper and Banff are a must if you are thinking of making a trip to the outdoors.



























An elk right near my campsite





















































Moraine Lake and the Valley of the
Ten Peaks



















Moraine Lake again



















Bow Lake














Bow Lake Summit (yes, the water really was that blue!)

















The Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise

Jasper National Park

After Dawson Creek, I headed south for about 280 miles to get to Jasper National Park, located in Alberta, Canada. What a beautiful place this is! I am recommending this place very highly for anyone who is interested in amazing natural beauty, second only to Big Sur, California. This place is surrounded by snow-covered mountains, lots of wildlife, and beautiful aqua-colored lakes and streams. Here are some shots:








A giant bull elk immediatly after passing through the park's gates













Amazing scenery!














Pyramid Lake and mountain













Best photo of the trip(?)