An American Roadtrip

On July 27th, I flew to Bozeman, Montana to spend a weekend with my brothers, do a triathlon, and see some scenery driving back through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks.

The scenic photography started on Saturday when my brother Steve and his new puppy Dudley drove my father and I up to Hyalite Canyon Reservoir. We were short on time, so we enjoyed the views and took a quick hike to Palisade Falls before returning to town to take care of some triathlon business.

Click on any photo to enlarge

                         

After the triathlon on Sunday and some goodbyes on Monday morning, my parents and I embarked on a road trip back to Colorado by way of Yellowstone and the Tetons. After driving underneath the Roosevelt Gate, we stopped at Mammoth to stretch our legs and snap some photos.

Since my lucky brother Zack spends a lot of time doing science research in Yellowstone, he had taken my mom to a hidden hot springs at Mammoth a few years ago. With the help of a park ranger who was headed to the same place, we found the Narrow Gauge Terraces almost entirely dry, which the park ranger regarded as bizarre since they had been flowing heavily only a week before.

                    

From Mammoth, we made our way to the always fun Old Faithful Geyser Basin, which, as far as I’m concerned, has some of the best people-watching in the country. The hot springs and geysers aren’t half bad, either.

As the sun began to sink in the sky, we made our way south to Grand Teton National Park, and we were treated to an awesome sunset while driving on the shores of Jackson Lake.

              

The next morning, I intended to go on a ~9 mile run to Hermitage Point, a peninsula that juts into Jackson Lake. I took a wrong turn at one point, so it turned into an 11.5 mile run, but the views were well worth the work to get there.

After the run, I met up with my folks, and we drove to Jackson for lunch, and then a long drive back to Colorado, where I met up with Collin for a final American mountaineering mission in the Elk Range.