July 4 to July 14, 2013 Western Vacation: Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and South Dakota

For our western vacation in the Summer of 2013, we wanted to go to Wyoming since we had only been to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone in the winter. Then we added on the Little Big Horn National Monument in Montana and Mt Rushmore in South Dakota. We circled back to Jackson and spent a few days in Teton National Park.

We flew into Jackson, Wyoming and stayed in the Buffalo Motel. When we checked in this guy was lounging on our bed. A cute little Buffalo rug that was hard to pass up!

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It was the 4th of July when we arrived so we watched the fireworks from our hotel balcony. The fireworks show was set off at the Snow King Mountain Resort a ski lodge near town.

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The next morning we got up and headed over Teton Pass into Idaho. Our first stop was the Craters of the Moon National Monumment in central Idaho. On the Idaho plains we passed this sign.

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Craters of the Moon is a national park centered around a vast expanse of lava flows, cinder cones and small plants and sagebrush. Barry is on a walking trail through some of the most interesting lava flow areas.

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There are mostly small plants and lichens growing and mostly from crevices. Here was a beautiful flowering bush.

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A tree grows in an ocean of black lava. It leans into the wind, which seemed to be always blowing. Other small vegetation is also visible. It was very hot and dry here in July.

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Barry and Kevin climbing to top of a cinder cone.

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Barry took this picture from the top of a cinder cone using a fisheye lens. There were seemingly miles and miles of lava flows and mostly black ground. It wasn't as fine as soil or even sand. It was more like finely chipped rock.

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While at the Craters of the Moon Monument we watched a storm roll across the landscape. It must have been some distance away as we never encountered the rain.

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Our next destination was Yellowstone National Park. We stayed on the historic Pehaska Teepee Resort on the eastern side of Yellowstone. This lodge was originally built by Buffalo Bill Cody around 1900. The original lodge is still there and has quite a colorful history. This is our more modern accomodation.

We selected this location for its historical flavor and for the dark skies. Barry had wanted to try to get a time lapse video from this location.

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Time lapse video of the night sky from the Pehaska Tepee Resort. This was our first night and we set up just outside our cabin. The clouds moved in and we stopped it after a few hours.

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Yelowstone's wildlife did not diappoint. We saw an abundance of buffalo and many calves.

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The calves are just too cute!

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And then there are the full grown male buffalo. This one was big and way too close to the car in front of us.

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We also saw an number of elk. This one had a nice set of antlers.

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Time lapse video of the night sky from the Pehaska Tepee Resort. The second night we set up further down the trail into the forest along the river. Barry let this one run from dusk til dawn.

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A pair of ducks on Yellowstone Lake. We took a drive around the lake and it was quite beautiful.

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Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River. From the viewing area you can look up to the top of the waterfall.

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Some of the beautiful wildflowers that were blooming around Yellowstone.

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A geyser on the verge of erupting.

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There she blows! Old Faithful erupting.

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Yellowstone river racing through a canyon. This river could be wide and lazy or it could be wild and fast depending on where you looked!

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We spent several days at Yellowstone, exploring the North and South rim drives, the geysers and of course, the hot springs with their dramatic colors, geology and smells.

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This one with its greens and yellows looked other-worldly.

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This spring is deceptive as it looks like an arctic pool surrounded by snow, but its temperature is closer to boiling and the white is mineral salts. Still the blue is amazing!

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Another variation of the Yellowstone hot springs. This one had a sulfurous odor - like rotten eggs!

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Our next destination was Cody, Wyoming - home to everything Buffalo Bill including the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a huge museum complex consisting of the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indian Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Draper Natural History Museum and the Cody Firearms Museum. Each one is a fine museum in its own right and you could definitely spend days going through them. The Cody Firearms Museum has the most comprehensive collection of American firearms in the world. The Buffalo Bill Museum has a collection of artifacts from his life and shows. The Plains Indian Museum has a wonderfully curated collection of Plains Indian artifacts from the reservation period.

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One thing we all really wanted to see was one of the wild mustang herds of Wyoming. There was one that supposedly hung out southwest of Cody and we went in search of them. We never saw the mustangs but we did find some breathtaking vistas.

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Kevin looking for mustangs in the valley.

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We never spotted any mustangs but we did see this guy lounging in the grass. He is a pronghorn antelope.

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Our next stop, after a drive up to Montana, was the Little Big Horn National Battlefield. The only tours available were conducted by descendents of the Northern Plains Indians who were at the Battle. Here is George Armstrong Custer's grave.

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Barry at Little Big Horn.

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Little Big Horn Cemetery. Many of the graves are scattered through out the battlefield. However this was an area where a number of Custer's cavalry soldiers are buried.

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A monument to the horses who were essential in the Battle of Little Big Horn.

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A monument to the Plains Indians who participated in the battle.

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Next stop: Devil's Tower in the northeast corner of Wyoming. It is an interesting geologic formation of uncertain origin and because of the large number of vertical cracks it is a favorite among crack climbers.

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We stopped on the pretty approach to Devil's tower and got a picture of Barry and Lori with it as a backdrop. The tower is pretty spectacular as it dominates the landscape.

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We drove on from Devil's Tower and arrived in Keystone, South Dakota to spend the night before our visit to Mt. Rushmore the next day. It is a town right out of the '60's with a small very fun, touristy downtown area.

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After dinner we strolled through the downtown shops and had our picture made at one of the old-time western photo places.

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At night Mt Rushmore was lit up and could be seen from Keystone. It is a very dramatic image.

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As we were driving to Mt Rushmore, we saw this magnificant cloud on the horizon.

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We have all seen pictures of Mt Rushmore but it is so impressive when you see it in person as it towers above you and dominates the skyline. Everyone should visit this National Monument once in their life. The presidents depicted are Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln. The project was supervised and carved by Gutzon Borglum from 1927 to 1941 in the granite rock face of Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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This is the entrance to Mt Rushmore National Monument where you walk through the archway and are immediately treated to a view of the faces.

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Near Mt Rushmore is a stone carving to commemorate Crazy Horse, the famed Olgala Lakota warrior. It was commissioned and started in 1948 and has not been completed. It was intended to be Crazy Horse, mounted and pointing in the distance. So far only the face and part of the head have been completed.

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From Mt. Rushmore we took a southern path through Wyoming back to Jackson where we spent several days in and around Jackson. Here is a view of the mountains in southern Wyoming.

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We arrived back in Jackson and checked into the Jackson Lake Lodge in Moran, Wyoming which is in Teton National Park. It was a beautiful setting at the northern end of the park. Unfortunately we ended up driving down into or near Jackson almost every day and it was not the best choice of lodging for our activities. Our first stop was an overlook on the Snake River to snap a copy of the iconic Ansel Adams picture.

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At the small parking area where we took the Ansel Adams photo, there was a wonderful sampling of Wyoming wildflowers. These were particularly pretty.

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Another place we visited was the National Elk Reserve in Jackson. This is also a wonderful place to see buffalo, coyotes, big horn sheep and other animals. This coyote is hunting near a prairie dog village.

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A prairie dog village in the National Elk Preserve.

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Looking across the National Elk Preserve at the Grand Teton Mountains.

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The buffalo herd in the National Elk Preserve grazing in the shadow of the Tetons.

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Back at the Teton Village Ski area Barry and Kevin are suited up to ride the lift up the mountain and mountain bike back down the ski slopes.

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One afternoon, while we were in Jackson for lunch, we wandered around the square and looked in the shops and art galleries. Barry stopped for a rest and to chat with Honest Abe.

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Barry and Kevin were inspired by the clouds forming over the Tetons and moving into the valley that we spent part of an afternoon taking images to make a time lapse. We parked along US Highway 91 near Gros Ventre Rd.

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Then we participated in one of our favorite activities in Jackson - the hunt for the elusive Moose. We were very lucky this year and saw a Mama Moose and her calf.

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It turned out that she had two calves and Barry got this great family portrait.

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And we also saw a bull moose.

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It was a very good day when we saw yet another bull moose.

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It had been a great trip and we had gotten to see a lot of really fun and different places and wildlife.