13 September 2015, Sunday We are up at about 6:45 to break camp. The temperature is 38 degrees F.It feels balmy. We bid farewell to Wayne, our neighbor, drive throughthe upper loop of Mammoth Hot Springs and proceed to Gardiner forbreakfast. Although there are still many tourists around, there arenot many places open for breakfast. Many restaurants lose their staff once theschool year begins. After breakfast we head north along the
12 September 2015, (Shana Tova) We are up at 7:15 am. It feels colder than yesterday morning, but O’swatch reads -3.8 degrees C. Once again, with many layers on, we cookup breakfast and once again, by the time we are ready to go explore,it is warm enough for just a long sleeved shirt over a T-shirt. Today’s goal is further exploration of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Weplan to drive to
11 September 2015, Friday This morning topped yesterday morning. The temperature at 7 am is -4.3degrees C. We kept our long underwear on and put on jackets as weemerged from the tent. The good news is that we continue to stay warmwith our sleeping system despite the sub-freezing temperature. I mix up some oatmeal pancakes for breakfast, and O fires up the KellyKettle just so we can pour hot water into our
10 September 2015, Thursday I guess Yellowstone is not so warm in the morning. Nor is it quiet (atthe moment) at night. When we wake it is -1.3º C. Although thetemperature is colder than at Glacier, it does not feel as cold,likely due to the lower humidity. We have a shortcake and ourblueberry yogurt for breakfast, along with apple slices. As to peaceand quiet, it turns out there is major construction
9 September 2015, Wednesday Yellowstone it is! I spent part of last evening checking on which campsites fillthe latest in the day at Yellowstone. Turns out Indian Creek, whichis about 15 miles south of the North entrance is a good candidate,and because generators are not allowed, it is very quiet and good fortent campers. We woke about 5:30 am today so that we could get an early breakfast and getJazz to
8 September 2015, Tuesday It’s cold, breezy and cloudy this morning. I was hoping for a little morewarmth and sunshine for our last breakfast here, but I guess theweather is part of what makes this Glacier National Park. As we arepreparing breakfast some people stop by and ask if we are leaving.They like our campsite. We let them put their tag on our campsitepost and give them recommendations for day hikes.
7 September 2015, Monday, Labor Day We emerge from the tent about 7:30, and there is a strange bright lightin the sky! We haven’t seen the sun since Wednesday evening, Sept 2.We cook up a bacon bit-cheese-potato cake for breakfast, and then packfor a trip up to Ptarmigan Tunnel in which we will gain 2300 feetover the course of a 5.4 mile hike. On our way to Iceberg Lakeyesterday we met
6 September 2015, Sunday We were encouraged last evening to see the clouds breaking up and a littleblue sky, but it started raining again as we were getting in thetent. A steady downpour continued all night. It was about 40º Fin the tent, even colder outside. Although we tried to sleep inlate hoping for the rain to stop, it outlasted us. We got up around 8and baked a biscuit with dried
5 September 2015, Saturday It rained steadily all night long. It’s actually quite pleasant lying inthe tent snug and warm and listening to the rain on the fly. We didnot have any snow in the campground, but there is new snow on thetops of the mountains surrounding our camp. O’s thermometer reads 5degrees C at 8 am this morning. We are cooking up a huge pot ofoatmeal with brown sugar, cardamom,
4 September 2015, Friday Today is another “administrative” day, and a good one for it. It is coldand wet. We sleep in and then have strawberry scones and strawberryjam for breakfast. Then it is time for showers. They are clean andthe water is delightfully hot. After showers – laundry. I type myblog onto the computer while we are waiting. In the background peopleare coming and going. A woman who somehow manages