Day 19, Flight home

We're home. Got in around 8:00pm.

Day 18, Craters of the Moon NM

We started the day sleeping in longer than we have in this whole vacation. Hallelujah! We then drove an hour and a half to Craters of the Moon National Monument. The volcanic lava flows and calderas made it seem like we were on another planet. It was neat to see the way the lava had dried, in wavy ripples and sharp rigid chunks. We even got the chance to hike up a giant cinder cone and get a 180-degree view of the volcanic fields around us, which was pretty cool. With all the craters that you find here it’s no wonder why it was named Craters of the Moon.

I was totally at ease until Dad mentioned that the rangers had said, “This place explodes every 1,000 to 2,000 years and it’s been more than 2,000 years, so it’s due to explode at any moment.” Wonderful, another place that can explode in our faces! With spatter cones, which are just miniature volcanoes, all over the place and multiple volcanoes along the Snake River Plain, the desolate beauty of it all makes it worth the trip. Despite the hot temperature of the day, we even found a pile of snow and ice at the bottom of one of the cinder cones.

We then headed to some caves that were formed by the lava which once flowed beneath the surface. When we walked the .8-mile trail to Boy Scout Cave and saw that we needed flashlights, we reluctantly headed back to the car to get our tiny camera flashlight. When we finally got back to the car Dad decided that we would only hike the trail to Indian Cave, because the cave-ins made it possible to navigate without the assistance of flashlights. When we finally got to Indian Cave, the largest cave in the area, we climbed down the stairs and made our way through the giant lava tube. Having to scramble over fallen rock piles at some points made the experience even more fun, and even though I was a little grumpy about having to hike the trail twice, I still enjoyed the cave.

After spending 3+ hours at the Monument, (longer than we had planned) we headed back to our hotel around dinnertime. Hungry for a variety of foods, we decided to eat at a Golden Corral, which we got a discount on thanks to our hotel. The food was delicious and we had no trouble filling both our plates and our stomachs. Towards the end of the meal a balloon artist came over and made a T-rex for me (which I named Rex) and a monkey for Jessie (who sadly remanded nameless). The artist was really funny as he sculpted our creatures, and whether he intended to be amusing or not we still had a good time talking to him. These balloon animals were the coolest things, and I was amazed at this guy’s wicked skills. Once we got back to the hotel, we took pictures outside the lobby with them so we’d still be able to have a souvenir long after they deflated. Later that night, after Dad mentioned that we wouldn’t be able to bring them on the plane, Jessie gave her monkey to a little girl in the hotel pool when she and Dad went swimming.

It was an easy, slow-paced day, but it’s something that we will never forget. Even with our vacation winding down we have still managed to have a blast out here as we continue to explore the Northwest. A lot of the places we’ve visited are locations that I one day hope to bring my children too, so that they have as much fun as I have while they explore and learn about these awesome parks.

Day 17, Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs

With today being the last day consisting of National Parks, what better way to go out than with visiting parks such as Yellowstone and Grand Teton?

Yellowstone came first and took up most of the day. We had been here a few years ago, and saw sites like Old Faithful as well as the Upper and Lower Falls, but today we entered through a different part of the park with some news site programmed into our GPS.

We first stopped by Mammoth Hot Springs. The whole place smelled like rotten eggs but it was really neat to see some of the springs bubbling and spurting water out their tops and down the sides of the formations. There were so many in the area, and they all came in different sizes and colors. Some areas were a deep orange color while other were as white as snow (ironically those were the hottest spots).

Our next stop was at the Upper and Lower Falls of Yosemite. This was a location we had been to before but it was nice to get some pictures to compare with our younger selves. The hike to Upper Falls was short and easy and brought us right next to the massive falls that pounded through the gorge and over the cliff. They were so powerful and the scene reminded me of a smaller version of Niagara. Off in the distance though, we could the balcony lookout for the Lower Falls and decide to head over there, seeing as we get a better, full-length view of both the falls. The hike down to the Lower Fall however was much more strenuous, but it did have another great view. Though there were lots of families at the upper balcony, by the time we hiked down to the lower one, we found the lookout deserted. Wanting to get a nice family picture, we had to wait several minutes before another family met us at the bottom, but eventually one finally came.

The last stop in Yellowstone that we made, not counting the numerous times we pulled off the road to get some pictures of wild bison and elk, was at Artist’s Point. The ranger at the Visitor Center told us that this was the most photographed spot in the park, and when we walked up to the overlook, we could instantly see why. The whole gorge was painted with different colors of rocks, ranging from golden yellows to bluish grays to dusty purples and greens. It was absolutely beautiful, and the Yellowstone River that cut its way through the bottom after flowing over the falls, along with the scattered trees and puffy white clouds from above made the pictures even more magnificent. We took lots of pics here, wanting to capture every inch of the view in our cameras.

After Artist’s Point we were on our way out of the park and onto the Tetons. With the day winding down, we would have a few hours to spend in this National Park. We asked a ranger at the Visitor Center of his recommendations and he directed us to an overlook on top of a mountain, and a one-way scenic drive alongside Jenny Lake, which bordered the enormous and glorious Teton Mountains.

The overlook on top of the mountain, didn’t have a great view of the Tetons. Instead it looked out over the grassy plains of the park and we had to pull over at a turnout on our way back down and walk a short trail in order to get the view of the Tetons we wanted. Unfortunately, the sunlight was all wrong and we had trouble capturing the magnificence of the mountains in our pictures. Despite the poor lighting, we still took tons of pictures, especially when we were at Jenny Lake, because the glistening waves that rolled below the mountains made the view even more spectacular. As we drove out of the park we also made several stops where we looked back and snapped a couple more pics. The Tetons were without a doubt the most awesome mountains I’ve seen, and probably will ever see. From the moment we drove in the park, to even after we left I found myself gazing up at them in awe. They were like mini Everest’s, towering over all that surrounded them. I really wish we could have spent more time in the park, but if we were planning on making it to our hotel before midnight, then we had to leave soon.

Though the drive was long, we passed an old, abandoned schoolhouse that overlooked some distant mountains as it sat alongside a set of gravel crossroads amidst the prairie fields and thunderclouds. The structure was old, and had plants growing out of its windows, and the black and white pictures we captured it in only added to its beauty.

After a good twenty minutes though we were back on the road and heading to our hotel for the night. This was the night were we could finally sleep in as long as we wanted, and I planned to take advantage of that opportunity with great pleasure.

Day 16, Lewis and Clark Caverns SP

Entering the final days of our vacation, all the major hikes were now behind us. Today especially was a pretty easygoing day, what with only two relatively short stops to make. Our first stop of the day was a tour through the Lewis and Clark Caverns SP in Montana. We had assumed that this would be a site that wasn’t too popular, but after leaving the parks Visitor Center and heading up to the trailhead we quickly discovered that this would not be the case.

Our tour group through the caves consisted of about thirty or so people. Our tour guide first talked to us about local rattlesnakes and a couple of park rules before sending us up the trail and meet her at the entrance of the cave. Everyone walked at their own pace, but since we were the Howland family, we had to walk at a pace that was closer to running than a leisurely stroll in order to claim bragging rights the imaginary gold medal over the rest of our group.
Once the rest of our tour group had caught up, our guide went over a couple more rules such as NO TOUCHING ANYTHING, no flash photography around bats and all that good stuff.

The hike through the caves was so cool. There were several large rooms that we walked through, all with stalactites and stalagmites that took on the form of figurines (for which our guide had plenty of stories and jokes). In some instances we had to duck really low, or even slide/waddle our way under the low ceilings as we moved from room to room. In most cases though we just walked down some stairs, taking pictures of all the interesting calcite formations and pillars. The 2 mile tour lasted about two hours and before we knew it, we found ourselves walking out of the cave and wishing we could do it again. Photo shows the Brown Waterfall formation.

Our second and last stop of the day was at the Missouri Headwaters State Park. At first we stopped by the riverside to take some pictures of the water and adjacent windblown fields. Then we hopped back in our car and drove over to Fort Rock, a trail that lead us up on top of this massive rock formation and alongside the upper ridge of the park which looked out over the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers. The trail was only about a mile long, at most, and being the only ones walking through the rocks made the atmosphere extremely tranquil as we experienced some good family time.

The last stop of in the park and of the day was at the exact headwaters of the Missouri, where the three rivers came together. While we only spent a couple minutes here, taking a couple pictures and walking through the prairie grass by the side of the river, it was defiantly the main part of the park and the reason we came. We left the park soon afterwards and took the long drive to our hotel, having enjoyed another excellent day of our vacation.

Day 15, Glacier NP

This morning we started off our day with the experience of a lifetime. On our way to the park, we passed by a helicopter tour station and decided to check it out. Since the tours were at a discounted price we scheduled ourselves in for the soonest flight possible that would take us through the mountains and valleys of Glacier NP. It was absolutely exhilarating! With huge windows on every side of the chopper, we got amazing views of all the mountains, lakes, and forests as we soared over the park. Our tour was a half hour long, but the minutes flew by as we stared in awe out the windows and snapped picture after picture. It was also really fun wearing the headsets because it made us feel like official pilots. Roger, roger!

When we finally entered the park, after waiting in line behind at least 50 other cars, our first stop was at the shores of Lake McDonald. Here Jessie and I waded through the refreshing water collecting interesting rocks as Dad took pictures of us and the mountainous background. With lots of stuff to do though, we were back on the road after a little while and onto hiking some trails.

Unfortunately, the park was so crowded that we had trouble finding a parking space everywhere we went. Not wanting to waste too much time circling the lots we settled on taking a shuttle bus up to Logan’s Pass, the major trail in the park. The bus passed spectacular waterfalls and gave us terrific views of the mountains and a couple snow caves. However, having not brought any of our hiking supplies on the bus, we thought it best to take the bus back down, collect our stuff and then just drive back up the mountains and try our luck with finding a parking space.

After a quick lunch we drove back up, with a short delay because of some roadside construction. While I went into the Visitor Center to buy some postcards, Jessie and Dad circled the lot in pursuit of an available space. After numerous circles, they finally managed to park our Dusty Bullet in a relatively close spot to the trailhead.

The Logan’s Pass trail we took went on for at least 20 miles, but we only hiked around 5 miles roundtrip. Though the hike was easy, the trail was pretty narrow and had us walking right alongside the edge of the cliff, which was pretty nerve-racking in some spots. But the panoramic views were defiantly worth the trip. One of the day’s biggest highlights though came walking down the trail as we took a family picture. Trudging along the gravel path as if it were a person, a mama mountain goat and her kid passed within a foot of us. They were so close, we could have reached out and pet them, but seeing as they were wild and the mama had a full set of horns, we decided to step back and be cautious. Once they were out of view, we continued our hike, walking all the way until we reached a waterfall about 2 ½ miles from our car. Here we took a break, snapped some pics, and cooled our water bottles in the ice-cold stream that flowed down the side of the mountain. After about ten minutes here we began our way back to the car. To our surprise, we encountered the mountain goat family again. They were standing right in the middle of the path, and several groups, including us, had their cameras out and ready to go. When they began climbing down the steep edge of the cliff, Jessie and I were able to walk behind them and have Dad take a really cool picture of us with the goat and her adorable kid.
Then, within the next ten minutes as we were walking along the last 200 yards of the trail, we spotted several rams grazing in behind a bundle of small pine trees. As they moved out in to the open field to the side we counted seven fully-grown sheep, all with giant curly horns. We couldn’t believe the luck we had with all the animal sightings. First we saw elk, then a baby bear, and now we had mountain goats and big horned sheep to add to our list.

We ended the day driving to our hotel and making a couple of quick stops alongside the road to take some pictures of fields of hay and wheat. Our hotel turned out to be really nice too, and with no major plans for tomorrow we will all take advantage of the luxury of sleeping in tomorrow morning, something we weren’t not able to do today. This day was without a doubt my favorite part of this vacation, and we will surely have tons of stories to tell everyone when we get back home.

Day 14, Steptoe Butte

We awoke early in the morning and ate our breakfast quickly in order to get over to Steptoe Butte SP in time for some good sunlight. The drive to the park was incredible – field after field of golden wheat and hay patched the ground like a giant quilt. Steptoe Butte was just a large, rocky hill that seemed very out of place as it emerged upwards in the middle of all these farm fields. There was a paved road that spiraled all the way to the top, so we were able to have yet another break from hiking. There were several other people at the top too, taking in and admiring the view just as we were, but within after awhile they all cleared out and we had the park to ourselves. The view was even better at the top of Steptoe. Though the sky was a little hazy off in the distance, we could still see for at least 30 miles in every direction. We probably spent the better part of an hour in the park, taking tons of pictures and walking over to the giant boulders that were scattered alongside the mountainside. It was so quiet and peaceful – the perfect place to just sit on a rock, gaze out over the fields and enjoy the tranquility of it all.

With Steptoe being the only thing on our to-do list we began the long drive to our hotel in Kalispell (haha the name makes it sound like a magical place). The 360-mile drive to Kalispell took awhile, and by the time we arrived in the town, checked into our hotel and got settle in it was about time for dinner. We decided to eat at a local pizza place, known as the Mackenzie River Pizza Company. The ordered some delicious chips and salsa along with a family sized pizza that really hit the spot.

While looking for a place to eat, we had passed a theatre and looked into seeing Toy Story 3. I was originally going to see the film with my friends back in Sycamore before we left, and now that we had the opportunity to see the 3D movie in a newly opened theatre in Montana I was all for it. We had heard nothing but good reviews about the movie and after seeing it, I agreed with all those positives remarks. Pixar did an excellent job creating this movie and I would say it’s a MUST SEE for everyone – even if you’re not into animated films. Jessie was even a little skeptical at first, but as we walked out of the theatre, still holding our 3D glasses and our giant bag of popcorn leftovers, even she couldn’t think of one negative thing to say against it. I absolutely loved Toy Story 3 and can’t wait for it to come out on DVD, because then Dad will be able to see it on our Netflix. Since he was extremely tired, and didn’t want to risk falling asleep in the theatre after buying a ticket, he decided to go back to the hotel and pick us up when the movie ended. The whole car ride back Jessie and I were going on and on about how much we loved the movie. It was a great and easy-going day, one I can say with confidence that we all enjoyed.

Day 13, North Cascades NP

The first thing we did after stopping by the Visitor Center and getting our park map stamped was to head over to see the Gorge Falls. While the side falls were running low and hidden by giant pine trees, the Gorge Falls were an awesome sight to see. However, in order to get a good view of the Falls you had to walk out on a see through bridge, which was a little intimidating and reminded me a lot of Royal Gorge from a couple years ago. It was really fun though, and I had a good time teasing Jessie by saying “Shaky…Shaky, shaky shaky!” as we walked across the bridge.

The only trail we did in this park was a two-mile loop to Rainy Lake. The trail was handicap accessible, with little elevation change so it was a nice, easy walk through the woods. Though there were tons of bugs flying in our face the whole way down, the view at the lake was well worth all the swatting.
The lake was made up of beautiful, clear blue water that was surrounded by snowy mountains. There were also several waterfalls that cascaded down the steep slopes and poured into the lake below. It was amazing to see, and though the trail was short we still felt secluded from the rest of the park as we looked out and walked through the water within this tranquil location. We could have stayed there for hours, but we still had a schedule to maintain, and we didn’t want to fall behind on our plans for the day.

Our last stop in the park was at Washington Peak, where we hiked half-mile trail along the cliff of the mountain. With nothing but a wooden rail between ourselves and a couple thousand foot drop off the side of the cliff, I didn’t want to stand too close to the edge. But, even standing back a few meters I was still able to enjoy the magnificent view of the up-close mountain ranges that towered into the clear blue sky. We took tons of pictures, and even got a couple of good 3D shots in there too, but I doubt that any of the pictures will do the mountains justice.

The only thing left on our agenda was a quick stop at Grand Coulee Dam. It’s always neat to see how dams are able to hold back so much water, especially when some of the spillways are being used. While it the overlook had a good view of the both the city and the dam we only stayed here long enough to get in a couple pictures before we were back on the road again.

We were also thinking about doing Steptoe Butte SP that day too, but seeing as it was way out of our route to our hotel, and that the day was nearing its end, we decided to call it a day and drive to our hotel.

The hotel we stayed at was nice, and it even had an old golden lab that was really cute and extremely friendly. We also got some delicious complimentary cookies and ice-cold milk. Though we didn’t do too much hiking, we did a lot of driving and were all tired by the time we arrived in our room. Luckily we were able to settle down and relax for the rest of the night and prepare ourselves for the next day, which would be another long day of driving as we continued to travel from park to park.