Casper, WY

My Uncle Steve is on a 50-state marathon tour, and finished number 19 today in Casper, crossing Wyoming off of his list. Pretty cool goal. I came over from Jackson and spent the day with him and my Aunt Diane. Really great to catch up. Not a lot to speak of in Casper, it is a small down with a 2-block downtown and an oil mining heritage. We walked through Fort Caspar and its museum to learn a little history about the settlement in the mid-1800s.

Edit: Forgot to mention, we had a nice dinner at Poor Boy's Steakhouse. Steve and I tried Bull Fries, which are sliced bull testicles, breaded and fried. It was fine, tasted like breaded chicken (more breading than meat), and dipped in cocktail sauce was really quite edible. My mind was ready for the worst, and I was really surprised that it was nothing, just normal meat dish.

Death Canyon, Teton, WY

Took a day hike up Death Canyon today. Stunning view of Phelps Lake from 7200 ft with a glassy morning surface. Was fighting to get over snow here and there, and eventually lost the trail in an impassible, sheer, deep, steep snowbank, where trying would have meant a certain slip, and landed me in the churning and swollen snowmelt river. Prudence won the day over certain death. Still a 4 hour hike, plenty of steep terrain.

You know it’s a good sign when…I didn’t get a shot of the previous sign, RVs and Trailers forbidden, winding and narrow road.

Yellowstone National Park, WY

Wednesday the three of us drove up to Yellowstone and visited the geysers and hot springs (to look at, not bathe in). It is a stunning landscape there, and one of the largest supervolcano calderas on the planet. When it erupts, it will take out the middle half of the American continent. But it may be another million years that happens.

The highlight of the visit was catching Beehive geyser erupt, and walking through its spray. The steam was hot, the water frigid snow melt. Really cool.

Artists’ Paint Pots

Old Faithful / Sun through Beehive plume

Grand Teton National Park, WY

After Badlands I settled into a 10 hour drive to Grand Teton, one of my most favorite vistas in the world. I met up with Zaid and Greg at Signal Mountain Lodge late Monday. Tuesday morning we took a hike around Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls, but the route to Inspiration Point was still closed due to lingering early-season snow. Then a drive into Jackson for a walk around town (lots of leather and tourist shops) and dinner at the The Gun Barrel Steak and Game House. Excellent meal (I had the game sampler, the guys each got a 16 ounce beef prime rib), and a cool interior of taxidermy.