Notorious B and G: Five Parks in Five Days

Greetings from somewhere in Southeastern South Dakota!

We've had a busy few days since our last post as we've been in five national parks in three states.

Our last few days in Glacier consisted of a lot more great hiking and a little more cold misty rain. We hiked the highline trail, which runs right alongside the continental divide. It was 40 degrees when we started our hike, but nice and clear. After a couple of hours the cold misty rain came. The cold, rain and wind got worse as I suggested a detour to a glacial overlook that had us hike 1000 feet up in just under a mile (Gina was less than pleased with this decision). We were able to warm up as there was a little lodge with a fire where we were able to eat our lunch and thaw out (Gina started speaking to me again after she defrosted). After the long cold day of hiking we somehow stumbled into a really good Mexican restaurant, which was quite a nice surprise in the middle of Montana.

Hiking the Highline Trail

Do you see Gina?

Overlook of Grinnell Glacier

Camping at Two Medicine Lake

We were going to leave the next morning, but when we awoke to a clear day we decided to hike up to Dawson's Pass, which gave us a perfectly clear view of the mountains in Glacier. We were very close to Triple Divide Peak. From the top of that peak water can flow to the Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. After our hike we drove across Montana and made it to Mammoth Hot Springs, on the north end of Yellowstone.

Yes, it was cold

Hiking along Two Medicine Lake to Dawson Pass

We made it to the top!

View to the south from the pass

In Yellowstone we took a dip in the Gardner River where the Boiling River flows in. The Gardner is a forty degree snow melt river and the Boiling River is much like the name suggests. The trick is finding the perfect intersection, which after some trial (cold!) and error (hot!) we found a nice balance. We did a quick walk around the falls at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and drove around the whole park, which is quite an endeavor, as Yellowstone is bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Lower Yellowstone Falls

Jenny Lake (closest thing to a shower in the last week)

Don't worry Tetons, we'll be back

We didn't get to spend as much time in the Tetons as we would have liked, but did get to walk around Jenny Lake and got some great photos of the Tetons. One of the most pleasant surprises we've had so far was the drive across Wyoming, which included many beautiful mountains, rock formations and rivers. We were also close enough to Denver to pick up the Giants on the radio and listen to Bumgarner's near perfect game and Posey's home runs. It also contained very few cars which was helpful for making good time. Towards the eastern side of Wyoming we ran into a lighting storm, which was at first really awesome to watch from a far and then terrifying to drive through. By the time we got to South Dakota there was lightning striking all around us and thunder shaking the car. Our savior was a big Safeway truck in front of us that provided an easy target to follow in the rain and we assumed an easier target for the lightning to strike. After making it through the storm we arrived at Wind Cave, but not before South Dakota tried to kill us again by sending a heard of bison stampeding in front of our car. We slammed on our brakes just before finding out who wins a Suburban vs. Bison collision. So our first hour in South Dakota felt like we were trying to survive the hunger games (cue lighting, cue bison attack).

Driving through Wyoming

Near Togwotee Pass

Wanted: Assault on a Suburban

Our next day in South Dakota was exponentially more pleasant as we explored the caves of Wind Cave National Park (sixth largest cave system in the world), visited Mount Rushmore and drove into the Badlands, where we camped last night.

We spent today hiking around the Badlands, and exploring all of the cool rock formations. Now we're cruising across the middle of the country with the goal of reaching Chicago tomorrow. We'll spend the weekend in Chicago (Wrigley Field and architecture boat tour are already booked), before completing our first cross county trip in Portland, Maine next week).