Yellowstone and Beyond
Taking US 191 and 6 the next morning, we picked up I-15 and were soon cruising by what was left of Salt Lake City. North of Ogden, the Great Salt Lake flooded the freeway to about 2 feet. At first, we made it through by my getting out and wading up to my knees ahead of the truck with Lisa driving. And then, I realized that the snow markers for snowplows on either side of the highway were a good indication of water depth. I got back in the truck, and watching those markers carefully, guided Lisa and didn't have to wade the 5 miles ahead until we reached dry pavement again.
From the location map I had, it looked like the lake had doubled in size. And probably lowered its salinity to half what it was before. Perhaps enough to allow fish to once again thrive. But, we didn't stop to see or fish. What we did see were thousands of migrating birds stopping off to either taste the brine shrimp or feed on the ample vegetation that was blooming everywhere where it hadn't before… Inevitably propagating algae and flies that the birds sought for food. The front of the truck was a mess of smashed flies. We had to clean the windshield twice on that stretch along the lake.
We finally stopped outside Idaho Falls at an obvious potato growing operation along the Snake River. Not only did we find diesel fuel to top off the tanks, but we found an underground lava tube with a huge storehouse of potatoes. Bulletholes gave evidence of someone trying to break in the steel door. It had been weakened enough so that the winch did the trick.
We gathered a few gunny sacks of potatoes and loaded them into the trailer. I doubted if they would make it all the way back to Arkansas before completely sprouting, but I thought they would add to our potato plants when we did. Roasted potatoes sure made a fine compliment to rattlesnake for our evening meal that night before we settled in under a starry, starry sky with the sound of coyotes and owls providing night music.
By noon the next day, we were in West Yellowstone. The place was considerably built up and destroyed from when I had seen it as a child. Already, we had seen bear and small groups of elk grazing as if nothing had ever happened. There were stands of larger trees that had escaped the fires that periodically ran through the park, including the big one. We had the place to ourselves; sharing it with all of the animals that seemed to be so attracted to Yellowstone's wonders and resources. We spent the night in Mammoth Springs. Grateful for having the sleeper because grizzlies and wolves were about. We saw and heard them everywhere. Growling or howling, take your pick. To hear them when you were on foot in the dark was frightening. But terrifying was when you were in a tent and they were so close you could hear them snuffing loudly as they nosed your campsite coming otherwise, silently, trying to find out where your food was. Makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck just writing about it.
But enough of those thoughts. That is what the sleeper was for. And it did a very good job of keeping predators at bay at night. We left in early morning and drove slowly through the park, stopping frequently to see sights like the obsidian cliffs where signs still pointed but no one saw or looked except us. If anything, from my memory, even without many tall trees, the park was more beautiful because there were more flowers and animals everywhere. Once again, the benefit of all of the fallout from dust from everywhere in the world carried thousands of miles and dropped, indiscriminately, in places like this, to regenerate and spread unimaginable beauty and food for insects, birds and other wildlife. We took pictures. Like when I was alone, I often wondered what it would be like to have others see what we were seeing. It was not to be. Sorry that I got back on those thoughts again. They crept into my mind often in these days. Lisa was my consolation, my comfort… Helping me overcome those thoughts back then.
That night, we parked in Canyon Village. The many surviving cabins there were rapidly being occupied by wildlife. They provided exceptional shelter from the harsh Yellowstone winters. The falls were unchanged from my memory. Taking the trail down to the river, we saw families of otters cavorting on the riverbank, unafraid of us. I hadn't seen that before and it was wonderful to watch. The next morning, we arrived at Yellowstone Lake early and made camp there. Nests of eagle and osprey lined the lake's banks and swans graced its waters. The cutthroat trout seemed eager to grab almost anything we threw out to them--even twigs. By evening, we had a few nice ones in the refrigerator, a few frozen to eat later, and the rest, tacked out to dry in the sun on the boards that I had anchored to the trailer for drying fish and meat.
Unfortunately, in the middle of the night, the smell of fish drying was overpowering for bear. Fortunately, it was cool at night there and I had the windows cracked so that Lisa, first, and then I, could hear them coming and we used flares to send them running. It didn't hurt that we were on the move again the next morning.
We saw a moose, small herds of bison, groups of antelope and mule deer as we moved from new growth forest to grasslands and riverbank. We saw swans, otter, beaver, and many birds in the waterways and bobcats, coyotes and even a mountain lion fleetingly moving through the tall grass, very green at this time of the year, in contrast to their tawny coats. Wildlife here were more abundant than I'd seen anywhere. Perhaps, it was always so.
We drove on to the park's icon, Old Faithful. The lodge was burned to the ground, but a short wait had the geyser keeping time like it always did. We stuck around to watch it cycle twice and then moved on looking at the colorful mud pits and pools of chemicals, salts and algae. More timeless reminders that there were things that existed much longer than us and unaffected by our actions.
Before we left the park at the East Gate we encountered a couple of places where the road was greatly displaced and huge cracks remained in the landscape. There were also hot pools and hot streams where there hadn’t been before. All evidence that the super volcano under Yellowstone was active and changing the park like it always did. The only thing worse than the apocalypse we were in, would've been for Yellowstone once again to blow up like it had 60 million years before. I had read scientific articles that reported that the next eruption was overdue.
That night we made Cody, Wyoming. Even with the destruction, the legend of Buffalo Bill was evident. The fact that he had been one of those that nearly wiped out the buffalo by shooting them to nearly the last one, was overshadowed by the herds we saw the next day with lots of young stock from the spring birthing. The next day we saw small groups of pronghorn and mule deer, once again, flush with young—many twins. Nature's way of replenishing species when they've been through trying times.
We spent the next night in the shadow of Devil's Tower. Another awesome example of nature's geological beauty. I wanted to climb to the top. But even where there were pitons, cables and weathered rope, I found it too difficult to get beyond the rock pile at the base of the tower. I didn't want to repeat my folly on San Jacinto Mountain. There was no one except Lisa to care for me and I didn't want to do that to her. She was also eager to climb with me, but when she saw my problems, she willingly backed off wanting neither of us to be hurt just to have an adventure.
By midday the next day, we arrived at the Crazy Horse Memorial. I marveled at the beautifully detailed head of his warhorse and the way that his fierce countenance came to life in the light of the midday sun. Crazy Horse's monument stood large and better carved than its neighbor, Mount Rushmore. We were even able to walk the staircase and take the walkways along the top of the horse's mane to his ears and then back to polish the tip of the great chief's nose by rubbing it with our hands like so many had done before.
By dusk, we had left the Black Hills and were now determined to return to Hot Springs to tend our gardens. All around us, the prairie grass had grown to nearly four feet tall obliterating crops that had grown there before and hiding wildlife that was obviously returning by the numbers we saw along the roads. We had little need to stop at farm sites to scavenge because we had nearly everything we would need for the next few years in the trailer or at home. We did stop once in a while to harvest a small animal for dinner or by a lake or river to fish for the same. Our vacation went the way I had planned it. Lisa was very happy and rewarded me abundantly.
