US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: String Lake Trail

We were fortunate on our first visit to Grand Teton National Park to be there in the fall when the leaves were turning. After a couple of days of exploring the park, we discovered the String Lake Trail. It proved ideal for viewing the trees in fall dress from up close and at a distance.

String Lake is a small body of water between two much larger ones—Leigh Lake to the north and Jenny Lake to the south. The String Lake Trail crosses the Leigh Lake outlet and the Jenny Lake inlet as it circumnavigates String Lake. The hike around the lake is 3.4 miles of easy trail with an elevation change of only 200 feet. Most of the trail is along the shore but it climbs up the slope of the mountain on the west side affording a panoramic view of the lake and the Gros Ventre Mountains on the east side of Jackson Hole.

As we followed the trail we saw flashes of color across the lake on the mountain slope. String Lake is very shallow and the bottom is visible beneath the reflection. A pair of kayakers played around a small island. Reaching the other side, we hiked along the slope among the brilliant orange and gold trees.

The String Lake Trail is a leisurely way to spend a couple of hours in the beautiful landscape of Glacier National Park. It was an especially beautiful way to celebrate my birthday on a fall morning.

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Looking across String Lake to the Teton Mountains in Grand Teton National Park.

Aspens in fall color dot the slopes of the Teton Mountains on the west shore of String Lake.

A telephoto view of the aspens in fall color in the Teton Mountains.

Kayakers on String Lake in Grand Teton National Park

Leigh Lake outlet viewed from the String Lake Trail in Grand Teton National Park.

Aspens in the fall in the Teton Mountains in Grand Teton National Park.

Autumn leaves in the Teton Mountains

Aspens leaves shimmer in the morning light along the String Lake Trail in Grand Teton National Park

Aspens in the fall overlooking String Lake in Grand Teton National Park

A view of Mount Moran from the String Lake Trail in Grand Teton National Pakr.

To find your way to Grand Teton National Park, go to the Jackson to Gardiner Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.

Download the String Lake Trailhead map with details on trails around Leigh Lake, String Lake and Jenny Lake.

A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.

US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park is justifiably famous for its spouting geysers and bubbling mud pots. But I was surprised when on the first morning of our first visit to the park, we drove to a viewpoint overlooking the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. I wasn’t prepared for the beauty of the brilliantly colored slopes of the canyon with the ribbon of blue water at the bottom.

We were parked at Grand View on the North Rim Drive at about 9:30 in the morning. I stood watching the shadow of clouds dance on the walls of the canyon. An artist had set up his easel to paint the scene. I loaded my Hasselblad with fine-grained Fuji Velvia transparency film and shot several rolls to capture the fleeting changes in the light.

The image below is my favorite from my first encounter with the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and I selected it for my first portfolio of photographs from along US Route 89. To purchase a print, click on the image to go to my portfolio website.

To find your way to the Yellowstone National Park, go to the Jackson to Gardiner Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.

A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.

US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Jackson Town Square

Although it is called Town Square by the locals, it is officially the George Washington Memorial Park. The park in the middle of Jackson, Wyoming, got that designation on the 200th anniversary of America’s first president’s birth in 1932.

However Jackson Town Square is definitely better know for the arches made from elk antlers that stand at each of its corners. They have probably appeared in more tourist’s pictures than the nearby Grand Tetons or the geysers of Yellowstone.

The first arch was built in 1956 by the Rotary Club from antlers gathered by Boy Scouts from the nearby National Elk Refuge. Subsequent arches followed in the 1960s and they are all periodically renewed with fresh antlers. Please note that no elk were harmed in the process as they naturally shed their antlers each year and grow new ones.

Visible through the arches is the statue of a cowboy on a bucking bronco. This iconic image is ubiquitous in Wyoming appearing on everything from the state license plate to the state quarter. In fact right across from the town square is another of Jackson’s prime tourist attraction, the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar topped off by a neon rendition of the cowboy on a bucking bronco.

If you are curious about the current happenings at Jackson Town Square, check out this webcam facing the southwest corner of Town Square where US Route 89 passes the west side of the square.

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George Washington Memorial Park, better known as the Town Square in Jackson

Looking through the antler arch to the statue of the cowboy on a bucking bronco

Jackson Hole is the name of the valley where Jackson, Wyoming, is located

Looking through the Antler Arch on the Town Square facing US Route 89

One of the four antler arches that welcome visitors to the Town Square in Jackson

The statue of a cowboy on a bucking bronco in the center of the Town Square in Jackson, Wyoming

The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar across from the Town Square in Jackson, Wyoming, on US Route 89

To find your way to Jackson, go to the Montpilier to Jackson Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.

A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.

US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Artists Paint Pots

I think it is the name that keeps drawing us back to this small geyser basin. Artists Paint Pots implies colorful displays and that is certainly true. Each time we have visited Yellowstone National Park, we have managed to walk the short trail that circles the basin. And each time I have discovered another steaming hot spring or bubbling mud pot to photograph.

Unlike the larger geyser basins in Yellowstone, Artists Paint Pots is modest. What it lacks in spectacle, it makes up for in color. It is a place to get close and really observe the action. From the boardwalk on the one-mile long trail, you can see several hot springs, two large mudpots, a fumarole, and a couple of small geysers. All your senses are stimulated as you listened to the hissing and sputtering and popping, smell the sulfur odor and feel the heat of each geothermal feature.

Artists Paint Pots is located about a mile south of Norris Junction on the loop road between Madison and Norris. Allow at least and hour to walk the trail and take a few photographs. If you are really interested in getting details, the University of Montana maintains a database of all of Yellowstone National Park’s thermal features. The list contains sixty-six features at Artists Paint Pots.

To find your way to Yellowstone National Park and Artist Paint Pots, go to the Jackson to Gardiner Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.

A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.

US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Yellowstone Buffalo

Yellowstone National Park is famous for many things among which is the wildlife. It is quite common to be driving on one of the park roads and all of a sudden find the road completely block with cars and people standing around looking at a bear or a wolf. One of the largest attractions are the herds of buffalo.

On our last trip to Yellowstone, Barbara wrote a story about our encounter with a herd of buffalo. I hope you enjoy it and heed the warning.

The Buffalo Incident

 

I love this flyer. I got one last Fall when we were at Yellowstone National Park, and somehow misplaced it. It was a thrill to get it again as we came through the Park entrance yesterday. Something about it just tickles me. Is the illustration from some old publication? Was it produced by someone with a great sense of humor? It’s probably meant to be dead serious, and I’m the only person who thinks it’s humorous.

Lest you think buffalo are a joke, however, let me relate our encounter yesterday. We turned off into the entrance to Norris Campground when I noticed what looked like a large golden retriever attacking a group of buffalo just at the side of the road. It was jumping around and stirring up the placid looking animals. Well, as we got closer, I realized that this was a Buffalette (I have no idea of the proper term for a baby buffalo–calf, maybe?) Anyway, there were probably at least 20 buffalo, with a number of buff colored Buffalettes and some intermediate sized adolescents. The buffalettes look quite a lot like large javelina, by the way.

We had to stop the car as they were cavorting around and ended up in the road. Suddenly, there was quite a ruckus and the pounding of hooves, as a large number of buffalo came charging, fast, real fast, down the street and toward the car. They veered off to either side just as they reached the car and went charging down the road, big giant ones, the babies and the adolescents. They moved rapidly. I no longer doubt that these lumbering beasts can run 30 mph. They were truly frightening. It all happened very fast. It wasn’t until after the incident that we realized what a photo op we missed.

Here are a few of them, all tuckered out, lounging in the big meadow by the campground this morning.

To find your way to Yellowstone, go to the Jackson to Gardiner Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.

A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.

US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: West Thumb Geyser Basin

We arrived at West Thumb late on an August afternoon. The weather had been steadily deteriorating all day. Barbara exclaimed, “It’s snowing!” Not exactly. It was sleet but it seemed cold enough for snow—perfect weather for photographing in Yellowstone.

Yellowstone National Park with its steaming hot springs, spouting geysers and bubbling mud pots in one of the strangest places on earth. The word that comes to my mind is spooky and the spookiness is accentuated in inclement weather.

“I’ll sit in the car, read my book and stay warm,” said Barbara. “You go take your pictures but don’t freeze out there.”

So off I went. West Thumb Geyser Basin is the smallest in Yellowstone but it contains every type of thermal feature found in the park. The basin sits on the  shore of Yellowstone Lake and some of its most unusual features are the lake shore geysers. As I was photographing Fishing Cone, I looked across the lake to watch a streak of sunlight on the mountains.

The sleet kept falling and accumulating on the lakeside boardwalk. The cold air met the heat rising from the springs and fumaroles making swirling clouds of steam that merged with the clouds above. As I said, a perfect time to photograph in Yellowstone.

To find your way to West Thumb Geyser Basin, go to the Jackson to Gardiner Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.

A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.

US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Schwabacher’s Landing

US Route 89 in Grand Teton National Park parallels the Snake River to the east and offers spectacular views of the Tetons. There are several turnouts along the road from which to photograph the mountains with the river in the foreground. However there are only a couple of locations where you can get down to the edge of the river.

A favorite spot for photographers is Schwabacher’s Landing. A short gravel road leads to a parking area at the Snake River. The view of the Tetons is accented by the trees in the foreground. It is particularly beautiful in the fall when the trees are dressed in fall colors. A short walk from the parking area will take you to a spot where you can shoot the mountains reflected in the still waters.

Schwabacher Road is located between Glacier View and Teton Point Turnouts about 16 miles north of Jackson. Look for a wooden sign: “Schwabacher’s Landing Road.”

I have included this view from Schwabacher’s Landing in my 2013 Calender. Use the link below to preview and order the calendar.

To find your way to Schwabacker’s Landing, go to the Jackson to Gardiner Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.

A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.

What Drives Volcanism Near Yellowstone National Park?

by Wayne Ranney

Anyone who has visited Yellowstone National Park knows that volcanism is the primary shaper of the landscape there. Volcanic processes drive the numerous geysers and mud pots, are responsible for much of the earthquake activity, and have created many of the rocks observed in the central part of the park. No one visits Yellowstone without coming into contact with the science of volcanology and the larger science of geology.

For many years the best explanation for the cause of Yellowstone’s volcanism was that the earth’s surface here was being punctured by a cylindrical plume of hot material rising from the depths in the earth’s mantle. This so called “hot spot” is envisioned as being fixed within the earth’s interior as the North American crust drifts over it to the west and southwest. Indeed, a linear trail of volcanism can be traced southwest of Yellowstone to the Idaho/Nevada state line. The story goes that as the continent moved over the hot spot, it was punctured by numerous volcanic eruptions and today the hot spot resides directly beneath Yellowstone. (The same scenario explains the origin of the Hawaiian Island chain in the Pacific Ocean). The model is elegant and easily understood by most visitors.

But hot spot theory may be too simple of an explanation in some instances. For example, geologists know that the mantle is subject to dynamic movements within it and it is hard to reconcile how a plume of heat can remain stationary in such a turbulent environment (note that the mantle moves or convects at about the rate your fingernails grow, about 2 inches per year, so it is not as rapidly turbulent as the earth’s atmosphere). It is also suspected that a remnant of the Pacific Ocean seafloor resides beneath Yellowstone and some researchers wonder how a plume of heat could puncture it.

New research suggests that maybe the hot spot beneath Yellowstone originated when hot mantle material escaped from under the ocean slab by flowing up and around its easternmost edge. This ocean remnant is being pushed to the east under North America and this could explain the migration of volcanism from Nevada to Yellowstone during the last 16 million years.

Most visitors to Yellowstone are aware of recent documentaries that instill fear that a huge volcanic episode is imminent in this region. Geologic studies suggest that violent eruptions will occur here in the future but scientists are constantly monitoring the activity beneath Yellowstone Lake. While true that the crust beneath the lake swells and sinks as magma below shifts and swirls, the chances of an explosive eruption are slim in the near future. The last three huge eruptions occurred 2.1, 1.2, and 0.64 million years ago. Using these three data points alone suggests that the recurrence interval, that is the average amount of time between eruptions, is about 750,000 years. It has been about 640,000 years since the last big eruption. We are likely safe from a big blast in the foreseeable future, although at some point in the next few 10’s to 100’s of thousands of years, it will occur.

About the Author
Wayne Ranney is a geologist, trail guide, and author based in Flagstaff, Arizona. He completed his Master’s degree in geology at Northern Arizona University by compiling a geologic map of the House Mountain volcano near Sedona. Out of this project came his first book, “Sedona Through Time”, now in its 3rd edition and considered the foremost book on the subject. A few of his other books include “Carving Grand Canyon” and “Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau”. Wayne also works as an international guide and geologic interpreter with trips to all seven continents and over 80 countries including Antarctica, Africa, the Amazon, Patagonia, and the North and South Poles. Learn more about his writing, outdoor adventures, and lectures at www.wayneranney.com or his blog Earthly Musings.

Illustration from Interpreting the Landscape of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, by John M. Good and Kenneth L. Pierce, 1996, Grand Teton Natural History Assn. 58 pages

US Route 89 Diversion: Salt River Pass

In today’s world of high speed automobile travel it is hard to imagine how important mountain passes were to to the pioneers who crossed the Rocky Mountains during the westward migration of the 19th century. In southwestern Wyoming, US Route 89 crosses between the Gannett Hills and the Salt River Range through Salt River Pass. This pass was on the Lander Cut Off, an alternative road from the Emigrant Trail (the collective name for the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails).

I can imagine the wagon trains stopping at Salt River Pass to gaze down into Star Valley just as we can today. They would have then proceeded down to where the town of Afton stands today and turned west toward Oregon and California. The Lander Cut Off, which was the first government road project in the west, opened in 1859 and remained in use until 1912, when automobiles made it obsolete.

Salt River Pass is also a divide in the watershed. From this point water flows north to the Snake River and thence to the Pacific Ocean or south to the Bear River and into the Great Salt Lake.

There is a parking area at the top of Salt River Pass at an elevation of 7630 feet. It is one of the most scenic view points between Salt Lake City and Jackson and well-worth a few minutes to contemplate the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and to remember the pioneers who crossed here.

To learn more about the driving to Salt River Pass, go to the Montpelier to Jackson Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.

A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.

US Route 89 Roadside Diversion: Afton’s Elkhorn Arch

You don’t need any complicated directions to find the Elkhorn Arch in Afton, Wyoming. Drive into town on US Route 89 and there it is spanning Washington Street in the middle of town.

According to a nearby sign, the arch is 75 feet long and 18 feet high. It is composed of over 3,000 elk antlers and weighs 15 tons.

The term “elkhorn” is a misnomer. Horns are permanent such as those on a bull. Elk shed their antlers every year but for some reason the term elkhorn has stuck to this landmark in Wyoming’s Star Valley.

While you are admiring the arch, be sure to take a drink from the spring water fountain. The water comes from north America’s only cold water geyser. The spring is located about five miles east of Afton and starts and stops at several minute intervals throughout the day.

To learn more about visiting Afton and Star Valley, go to the Montpelier to Jackson Road Trip Guide on the US Route 89 Appreciation Society website.

A new roadside diversion is published every Friday. Use the RSS button to subscribe to the US Route 89 blog to enhance your road trip on America’s most scenic highway.

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