Do you like to explore, see wildlife up close and learn about their natural habitat? Do you like to dig up fossils from ground and explore historical times through paleontology? Do you like Rodeo’s and like to see brave cow boys and girls get on those bulls and horses to compete for loads of cash prize? Do like Geology and like to learn more about our earth’s layers ? If your answer is yes to any of the questions above, then read on.
This is a 8 day trip from San Jose to Yellowstone national park, Thermopolis & Cody in Wyoming and Craters of the moon in Idaho . On the way, we also visited National car museum at Reno
Day1:
First day was pretty much a travel day. We started at 10:30 AM in San Jose and arrived at wells, Nevada around 8.00 PM PST . We took 680 north to I-80 East . On the way we stopped for lunch and breaks for rest. A total of 8hrs drive . Fill-up gas at Battle Mountain as there are stretches of I-80 where there is no gas for many miles. We stayed at Motel 6 that night. Had dinner in the motel and had a good night sleep. Hospitality at Motel 6 in Wells, Nevada was great. If you are passing by and need a place for the night, I would recommend this motel. Wells is a small place with a Casino and a small restaurant.
Craters of the moon,IdahoDay2:
In the morning we bought some milk from store near by and had cereal for breakfast and headed to Craters of the moon, Idaho at 7.00 AM. We took I-93 and we went through Jackpot(last town in Nevada) and Twin Falls in Idaho. We did not have time to go and see the twin falls, so we passed by the town. Jackpot is a pretty little city with beautiful houses on mountain tops. If you have time to drive all the way to Jackpot(110 miles from Wells) , you could spend the night here instead of wells. It is a 31/2 hr drive from Wells to Craters of the moon, Idaho. On the way we took I-26/93 , but after traveling for 30 mins , we saw the signs that the road is closed, so we had to come back all the way for 30 mins and took a detour. So that added another 1 hr to our trip . On the way to Craters of the moon on I-93/I-20 we came across Mammoth Caves and Ice caves. As we have not planned to spend time here , we did not stop by. If you are interested in Caves and exploring them, I recommend planning to spend some time here (1-2 hrs) . We reached Craters of the moon at 1.00 PM (Mountain time). We lost 1 hr due to time zone change. Plan for it.
A little about Craters of the moon :
Craters of the moon is a vast snake river plains covered with lava rock. In 1800’s this land was a mysterious spot on the map called as rolling lava and it’s terrain was unknown . In history , Shoshone Indians used to live here and they used to cross these lava fields south to north and they adapted and lived there. After many years in 1920’s Robert Limbert wanted to understand this unknown land and also find the lost valley. After 10 days of hiking the lava bed, they found the lost valley . Fascinated by different geological discoveries he decided to walk the rolling lava beds from south to north and on his trip he photographed many areas and found many caves which helped him during his travel for shelter from heat and animals. He advocated and publicized for the this unique landspace to be declared as national monument and his journal was published in National Geographic book in 1924. This land got its name craters of the moon, because when Robert Limbert photographed this land it looked like moon seen from far away. Apollo Astronauts trained here, before going to the moon. But now we know that moon surface is not like craters of the moon. Craters of the moon is made up of 2 types of lava rocks – Pahoehoe and A-Aa lava rocks. The lava here was not issued from a volcano but from a long fissures across snake river plain that are known collectively as the “Great Rift” About 15,000 years ago lava welled up from the Great Rift to produce the vast ocean of rock. Most recent eruption occurred 2000 years ago and geologists believe future events are likely. Even today everyone can enjoy this great geological place and touching the lava rocks and exploring lava caves.
After visiting the visitor center, we saw couple of short films in the theatre room which explains the formation and discovery of craters of moon and then we had our lunch in the car. There are not restaurants at Carters of the moon. The nearest is Boise or Arco towns. So pack your lunch and snacks when to go to visit Craters of the moon. After lunch to drove by the park to visit different location on the loop provided in the map. The entrance fee is 8$ and it is valid for 1 week. We went for a ranger led program to visit the Indian Cave. I highly recommend taking this guided tour. The guide explained how the caves are formed, wild life that survives in the hard environment of 100 to 150 F and how Indians used these caves. Recommend wearing shoes and take plenty of water. The way to the caves is paved, but once you reach the caves they are very rugged and need to climb up the rocks to get out of the caves and once you are out of the cave, you walk on pahoehoe and A’a lava rocks. A’a lava rocks are very hard and sharp. These lava rocks have great colors when the sunlight shines on them. The lava bed near the Indian cave is called blue dragon flow as the lava rock is covered with blue glass and looks beautiful. Please do not walk on the lava rock if not required and stay on the path . If you do walk on the lava rock, you will be breaking the blue glass and the iron inside the rock is exposed to air and it oxidizes and turns red.
There are 3 other caves on this trail to Indian caves . They are boy scouts cave, beauty cave and Dewdrop cave. Please bring flash lights. Drewdrop cave needs a good flashlight. After spending a lot of time exploring the cave and walking on the lava rock to get back to the parking lot we went back on the loop to climb up the Inferno cone – It is a cinder cone that was formed by near by spatter cone volcano eruption . It is 624 ft high and it takes -15-20 mins to climb with a slow pace. It is a easy climb and you can great few of the lava plains and the spatter cones. It is a view to be experienced. I recommend this climb up the Inferno cone, it is worth it. You can see where the lava started and how far it flew and you map out where the caves are. After climb down the Inferno cone, we visted the next spot on the loop , that is spatter cones and snow cone. These are small volcano mountains, where you can see the crater of the volcano and different colors depending on the type of lava that erupted from each of them. One of the spatter cone has snow and the guide told us that this spatter cone crater will keep the snow is tack most of the summer. That is amazing. It was 100F outside, still the snow is left as snow there. These are some of the places where Indians used to use for water in summer when living on this land. We headed to Arco town as it was 8:30 PM. The evening colors are so beautiful. You should visit craters of the moon in early hours and evening hours. Sun sets at 9.00 PM . Checked into DK Motel in Arco that night and we want to come back one more time tomorrow to explore little more. DK motel was great except for the shower. It was very tiny .
Day 3:
We headed back to Craters of the moon after a quick cereal breakfast. As it was Sunday all shops in Arco are close. On highway 20 there is a restaurant called pickles place three blocks from DK Motel. Good place for lunch and dinner. Today we wanted to hike some of the trials at Craters of the moon on our own. From yesterday’s last point – Spatter Cones there is a trial for North crater flow trial which leads to big craters. We hiked that trial to see one of the magnificent crater . It is huge. This crater like all other volcanic action was caused due to a fissure in the ground , but the lava got collected in the crater and finally flew out to the plains. The trial goes on the top of the crater –around the crater. It is great trial if you are not afraid of heights. To reach bug craters on this trail is 0.5 mile hike( A steep hike). To complete the crater loop it is a 2 mile hike. Give at least 2 hrs to hike the whole loop. As Jay (My son) is afraid of heights, we turned back after walking few miles on the crater top. I really enjoyed it. Different colors in the crater are formed because of the exposure of different lava to the atmosphere. Great red and orange shades. Also the north wall of the crater is higher than the south wall. That is caused due to the wind blowing the lava in that direction .
From that trial we headed to do the broken top trial which circumnavigates a cinder cone and goes over the cinder cone and it is a 1.8 mile hike. It takes atleast 3 hrs minimum to enjoy this trial. This trial also leads to Buffalo caves. These caves are very low and dark inside. A good flash light and hard hat is recommended as the rocks may fall in the cave. The path is not paved. You will walking on the lava rock or cinder cone all through the path , so wear sturdy shoes and carry plenty of water. This trial is a one-way loop. You can see great rift from this trial and where the lava stops and foothills of Poineer mountains begin. On the way you will come across spindle bombs and After that you will be walking on cinders all through this trail so far. After that you will come to Buffalo Caves. They are hidden in the middle of the lava flow and you have to walk on the lava rocks to get there and you can explore the cave on your own. AS said above they are very dark and wet and very low. Sometimes you have to crawl through to get out in some places. Be prepared. Or for those you like to explore the geology outside the cave, there is a opportunity to do that as well. After the caves, you can see the big cinder cone in the park which is 700ft high. It was a great trial and we saw some Pygmy rabbits and lot of cool wild flowers on the way. Recommend this trial for explorers and adventures as well as hiking enthusiasts. This hike is hiking is a different terrain, I am used to in California. It has its own challenges. Be prepared with first aid kit if you have kids. The rocks are very rough .
There is one more trial – Orchid nature trial. We did not do this trial. This is 0.5 mile hike to explore the wild flowers and animals.
Yellowstone National ParkAt noon we headed to Yellowstone on I-20/93 through Arco. We had our lunch at Jack-in-the box on the way at Idaho Falls. Idaho Falls was 75 miles from Craters of the moon. Idaho Falls is a big city and we did some grocery shopping and headed to Yellowstone. On our way to Yellow stone we saw “Yellowstone Bear World” and we decided to go there on our way back. The route is very scenic and passed through couple of other national forests . We reached West Yellowstone in Montana around 4.00 PM Mountain time. Checked into Days Inn , ate some snacks and headed out to Yellowstone to see south west part of the park. We saw Old faithful at 7:20 PM . It was very short – 1 minute eruption. The eruption time and the time interval between the eruptions vary . Check at Visitor center for the timings. It erupts now almost every 90 minutes with few mins here and there. They are building a new lodge near old faithful. Hopefully we will have more rooms available in the park to reserve. On our way back we stopped at multiple ( upper and lower) geyser basins. They were huge. Jay enjoyed the geysers a lot going through them and feeling the steam against his face. We also played with shadows in the steam that is coming out of the geysers. All the time we are inhaling Sulphur smell. It was getting very cold around 8:30 PM. So we headed back to Day’s Inn. On the way back we saw Mule Deer and Elk crossing the road , so it took us almost an hr to get back to Days Inn. Days Inn is very expensive of all the motels/hotels we stayed. All the lodges near and around west Yellowstone are at the same price. Try to get a room in one of the lodges inside the park if you can.
Day 4:
Next day, we checked out of Days Inn and did some shopping in West Yellowstone to see what is available. I did not buy anything, just wanted to see what is available and the price. We headed to north west of Yellowstone at 10:30 AM. The lines were so big at the entrance and once we entered the park, the traffic was very slow a mile or 2 and it took us almost 30 mins to go through 2 miles. Please go early to the park, if you want to avoid delays. At the Madison junction, we headed to Noris Geyser basin and there is a road work happening and we had to wait for 20 mins for the road to open up . Once we crossed the road work, no delays after that. We went to see couple of geysers on the way. Interesting one is Steam Boat geyser. It can be bigger that Old faithful, but its major eruptions are not predictable. The last major one occurred on May 23,2003. It is the world’s tallest geyser. It does have very frequent minor eruptions like steam boat . Next stop was Norris Geyser Basin where the view was spectacular with so many geysers and they are spread over multiple miles. The trials are well laid out. On the way from Norris Geyser , we saw some great water falls . Then we came across roaring mountain. It is white with all the sulphur and if see closely, you can see hot springs and steam coming out from the mountain and if you hear intensely, you can hear the boiling sound. That is why it is called roaring mountain. From there we went to sheep eater cliff . This cliff is made up of basalt lava rocks and they are laid down as though someone put them in order. There is a trial that goes to the top of the cliff. We had our lunch at the picnic tables here ( Turkey sandwiches and chips) . I recommend taking sacked lunch , as you may not be near to a village in the park to get lunch. There is a river flowing near by. People believed that Shoshone Indians lived here and the cliff is named after them for making use of sheep for different things. After lunch Jay enjoyed climbing the lava rocks and some people tried to go up the cliff on the rocks. Believe me, it is very hard.
We went from there to our final destination in north of the park – Mammoth Hot springs . We went to see the upper terrace(drive) and lower terrace(walk) . The parking is very limited and be careful on where you park, we have seen park ranger give tickets to people who parked on the way . The view was beautiful . Different shades of color and they the changes in color of the geysers can happen within an hour. The thermophilis that grow and thrive in the hot temperatures of the geyser waters are of different colors depending on the water temperature. If the water gets cooler, orange and green thermophilis appear. Where the water is very very hot it is white or yellow . Very interesting to see the change of colors in front of you, if you spend enough time there. Then we drove down to mammoth hot springs village. First time today we saw mule deer and Elk in the Village . We stopped for some ice cream and then headed down to Canyon Village , so we can go back to east entrance of the park as we are going to stay at Yellowstone Valley Inn . We were very disappointed as we did not see any bears or Bisons so far. I had a headache from all the sulphur smell of the geysers. I had enough of it. Wanted to get away from Geysers.
Drive from Mammoth hot springs to Canyon Village was pleasant and after few miles of drive we passed black tail deer plateau, but did not see any blacktail deer. Then was a surprise. A black bear and a cub are trying to cross the road to the other side and park rangers are helping them by controlling the crowd who wants to get some pictures. We got a glimpse of the cub for 30 secs and we headed our way as there is no parking. Then we came to Canyon Village and stopped for few mins and bought some gifts from the gift shop and headed out to see Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It is a beautiful view with great waterfalls (upper and lower) and Grand Canyon was huge with different colors . On the other side of the Canyon we saw big horn sheep (Ram) grazing. We could see through our binoculars only. We saw a Ranger next to us and he was radioing another ranger about a person who hiked down the Canyon and they are worried about his safety and how he will get back up. He was working with another ranger at the lower falls. Anyways after few minutes of taking in the beauty of Grand Canyon, we drove down to Fishing bridge Village. On the way down, we had a real treat of Bison’s at Bison pasture. There were tons of them grazing and crossing the road and we have to wait for the Bisons to cross the road. They did not seem harmful at all, but we followed the rules and stayed in the car . If you have time, take some time to absorb these magnificent animals in their natural habitat. One of the Bison was rolling in mud after a brief rain and making sure his body is covered in mud. It was a sight to see. 2 of the Bison’s were fighting and others were grazing peacefully. After spending some time watching the Bison’s we drove by and we stopped in few miles again as we saw 2 wolves running into bushes, so they can cross the roads. People went down the road in the bushes to get a good glimpse of them , but the wolves are so afraid when they saw people come behind them, they started running and they crossed the road to the other side behind our car. For those of you, who are reading this blog, please don’t chase animals as we are in their habitat and we should respect their home and give them space to do what they want to do. On the way we also saw the trees that are burnt in 1988 fire in Yellowstone where 1/3 of the park is burnt. But the trees reseeded themselves and now you see a mix of burnt trees which are still standing and the new ones.
We reached Fishing bridge village. It is very beautiful here. You have Yellowstone lake view here. We drove by Yellowstone lake. Saw some pelican’s, ducks in the lake. The lake looked like an ocean as we could not see the other side of the lake. There are lot of lookout points on this drive. You can pull out and wait to see sunset. It is a beautiful view. There were lot of people who are fishing in the streams from this lake and others. As you drive by, you can see lot of waterfalls on the mountain ridges next to your car. Gorgeous waterfalls can be found in some places. The park is full of rivers, waterfalls and geysers. You can see how the water cycle happens all in one park. We drove out of the east entrance to head to Yellowstone Valley Inn. It is around 30 miles from east entrance. On the way we saw Buffalo Bill state park and multiple lodges on the way. The drive is very scenic. One of the lodge name that stuck in my head is Elephant head lodge . The lodge is at a place in the mountains, where you can see an elephant head shape rock formation. Most of the lodges on I-20 provide horse trial rides. If you are interested in it, you can drive in and request for next trial ride. Couple of lodges also have cook-out trial ride. Cook-out trial rides are also available in Yellowstone national park and they are available on the way from Canyon Village to Fishing Bridge. Here you have reserve ahead. I heard the cook-out trial rides are very fun . Try to get on one, if you can. When I called to reserve, they were full on the days I was planning to visit Yellowstone. We checked in Yellowstone valley Inn and it was a great experience at this place. Even though it is 30 mins drive from the park, it is worth it. We stayed in a cabin with mountain’s view. You can also stay in hotel rooms available at YVI where you have the Shoshone river view. It is a wonderful and pleasant walk around that area. There are couple of trials.
I found out that there is a connection between Craters of the moon and Yellow stone national park. Millions of years back, Craters of the moon is the place where the hot springs and geysers were. Due to continental drift , Yellowstone national park is now on top of Plumis and that is the reason we see geysers and hot springs in Yellowstone. Geologists believe that there can be an volcanic eruptions in Yellowstone in the future.
Dinosaur Museum, Wyoming (Dig-for-a day)
Day 5:
We woke up early and headed to Thermopolis (Home of World’s largest hotspring state park) to visit Dinosaur Museum and we reserved a spot on dig for a day program. It is 1:45 mins drive to Thermopolis from YVI. The dig-for-a-day program starts at 8.00 AM . So we headed out at 5:45 AM . As we headed out in the morning, as we were driving, we saw mule deer and Elk crossing the road and lots of them grazing on the road side. Please drive slowly and watch for wildlife, if you are driving in early hours or late in the evening. We saw wildlife all the way to Theromopolis. We reached there by 7:30 AM. Ate breakfast (cereal) and then checked in. This Dinosaur Museum is unique . It has the museum, dig sites for fossils and preparation and molding and casting lab at one location in close proximity. This museum has the world’s largest dinosaur fossil ever found. The dinosaur is Supersaurus called Jimbo. 40% of this dinosaur fossils are found here in Wyoming. They house many other dinosaurs from pre-historic times to Jurassic times . There dig sites are in the ancient rolling hills of Big Horn basin of Wyoming, at the northen end of the Wind River Canyon. In 1993 the fossil hunters found the fossils and are in think mudstone layer known as Morrision formation dating back to Jurrasic period (208-415 million years ago).
The Dig for a Day program provides visitors to like to dig and dinosaur enthusiasts an opportunity to dig for fossils and learn how to identify fossils, see how they prepare these bones in the lab and a museum tour and personal trip to a site called Something interesting. Our guide was Andrew. He is studying to become a archeologist. He is working at the dinosaur center this summer on paleontology. He took us in a SUV to the dig site and provided us with tools to dig – Chisel, dustpan, brushes. We need to be very careful when digging for fossils, so no fossil is broken by mistake. You have turn up the rocks one by one to see if you see any signs of fossils. We found couple of fossil bones in the dig site we were digging. Some of the fossils we dug were very small and not suitable for scientific experiments, so we got them as souvenir’s home. In the next dig site, there was another family digging, and there were huge fossils they are digging to expose more of that fossil to figure out what dinosaur it is. After couple of hours of digging, it got windy up on the mountain top, so we covered the dig site carefully, we drove down to something interesting. On the way, Andrew showed us couple of dig sites and the fossils found there. The site “SI” - Something interesting, is really interesting. You have to really see it to believe it . How many conclusions paleontologists have come to by looking at the bone fossils that lie there. Andrew explained the way the bones are laid out what dinosaur was died and which dinosaur killed it and also they suspect Brachiosaurus once lived there as they found some bones that suggest so. Andrew also explained the time periods in which these animals lived by different layers of mud in the earth’s layers. These fossils at something interesting site were found when museum was planning to build a parking lot and while excavating the site, these fossils were found . Then we drove down to the museum to have lunch . After lunch we went back to another dig site and dug few more fossils for some time. Then we went to this place in the fields called sundance terrace, where we collected clam fossils and Squid fossils. We got them as souvenir ‘s of our trip. From there we went to see Lab and also identify one of the fossil we found at the dig site. You need to have lot of patience to work in lab. It takes a long time to prepare and clean the bone. 3B experts view the fossil found in 3D x-ray time machine to identify where the fossil and where the rock is, so they can then chisel off the rock to expose the bone fossil. Once the fossil is exposed, they need to use air brush to clean the bone and preserve it.
After the lab tour , we got museum guided tour. It was wonderful. Did I mention that the fossils once found at the dig site are not removed from dig site immediately. They number the fossils and keep them there for reference. Once most of the fossils are found , then they remove that after taking a 3D image of the dig site , so they have a reference on how the bones are found .
This is the program worth experiencing. My 12 year old loved it. The best part so far in the trip for him was digging for fossil bones! The cost of the program is 150$ for adult and 80$ for kids.
We left the museum at 4:30 PM and headed to Hotspings state park. The state park was very clean for Hot springs state park. They have public hot springs bath house that is open to public at no cost. Please take your bathing suit for this trip. It is worth it. They also have hot spring swimming pool , which you need to pay for. We had ice cream on the way to Hotsprings state park and drove on their scenic drive through in the park. You can also see 2 hotsprings in the park . On the scenic route you will see Bison and deer again .
After the drive we headed back to YVI through a town called Cody (Rodeo capital of the word) . We ate dinner at YVI and checked in for the night.
Cody, Wyoming (Rodeo)
Day 6:
Today is a Cowboy day. We headed to Cody (Buffalo Bill city) . This city is named after William J Cody . Nick named as Buffalo Bill. HE was a great Buffalo hunter during old old west times. He envisioned this city to be a tourist attraction for old old west activities and laid the city foundation. He also fought tirelessly to get good irrigation system to the land in and around Cody. This is 20 mins from Yellowstone valley Inn. After having breakfast at YVI , we drove to Cody. First stop on the way was Buffalo Bill Dam. This Dam is 350 ft high and first in engineering marvel. This dam was constructed in peak winter in -15 degree temperature and they figured how to pour cement in such cold weather. This dam now provides irrigation to all fields on snake river plains. Build 2 power plants – Buffalo Bill dam and Powell power plant. From there we headed towards Cody and first stop in Cody town is Old trail town . This town was constructed from the remains found from old old west from different locations on the nearby mountains and restored the same way here. Entering into this town, you will be taken back in time to old old west times on how cow-boys and big gangsters like sundance kid lived and planned their attacks. Some of the cabins also show how they were decorated in those times. One of the well known buffalo hunter Jim White who killed lot of Bison’s before gold rush days to supply Bison meat and fur to Army according to Government policy. Some of these great hunter’s graves are reburied at this place. Most of the cabins had animal heads mounted on the walls for decoration. You can also view how the wagons were made in olden times. Donation for entrance is 8$ for Adult and 4 $ for kids. After an hour here we headed to Cody downtown. Buffalo Bill Irma Hotel is a historical landmark and if you want to stay in Cody. Try staying here. We did shopping in the local stores on Sheridan St and had lunch in one of the Mexican places on Sheridan Ave. After lunch we headed to Buffalo Bill Historical Center. This is new museum . Admission is 15$ for Adult and 10$ for Youth. The Center has five different museums inside – Draper Museum of Natural History, Cody Firearms Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Gallery of western art and Buffalo Bill Museum. At the museum you can learn a lot about wild west and how Cody and Yellowstone are formed. IT is a great place to find the history of old wild west. IT is worth the visit if you are a history loving person and want to understand how the existing world of Yellowstone and Cody came to existence.
After the museum, we sat on the chairs on the street next to Irma hotel for a street show of wild west. This show is put on for charity and donations are welcome. People from Cody would like to keep old wild west alive by enacting the sense from wild west and giving a great performance for visitors. They use guns that makes the same sound of a real one, but no bullets. Kids would enjoy the show very much. After the show we went to some antique shops , had dinner at Mc Donalds and headed to see Rodeo. After all Cody is the Worlds capital for Rodeo. As part of July 4th celebrations, today is the first night of Rodeo Stampede. Cody has Rodeo night every night at 8.00 PM, but this Stampede July 1st to 4th is special as Rodeo riders from all over the country come to compete to win a huge cash prize . We reserved our tickets on the web. Recommend doing that, if you know which date to want to see the Rodeo Stampede, else you need to stand in the line for tickets. Rodeo was great. Take an extra jacket as it gets chilly at night time. Great Commentary which kept the fans up on their seats. We saw - no saddle riding, Team roping, Bronco riding, Bull riding, Steer catching and Cowgirl barrel racing and much more. We left the Rodeo around 10.30 PM and headed home. If you are around Yellowstone , don’t miss the Rodeo show at Cody. It is worth the drive from Yellowstone. For one day, you feel you went back in time to wild west .
Yellowstone Bear World, IdahoDay 7 :
Travel day. We started to head back home. We started early from Yellowstone Valley Inn and drove through the park to the west entrance. Had for breakfast at west Yellowstone and did some more shopping for souvenir’s. Left West Yellowstone around 10.00 AM and went south west towards Idaho falls on US 20 south, there we stopped at Yellowstone Bear World( 5 miles south of Rexburg). It is a drive through park and you can drive through as many times as you want. This park was created to provide old Yellowstone park experience where bears were found everywhere. In early 1970’s the National park service made the decision to remove bears from roadside and from camp grounds at Yellowstone national park because people were feeding them or they were destroying the property. The entrance fee is for each passenger in the vehicle or there is a family package. We paid 53$ for 3 people and drove through the park. There are lots of animals – Moose, mountain goats, mule deer, turkey, Wolfs, Grizzly bears, black bears . We went in around 1.00 PM and most of the animals are sleeping. Recommend going in the morning or little late in the afternoon . We could park the car and watch the animals as they go about their day to day activities. There is an island of bear cubs and they are so cute going up and down the tree trunk. After 1 round through the park we stopped at the picnic spot to have our lunch and then we went in for restrooms and they have a petting zoo inside. There are Peacocks, pigs, Elk’s, Deer etc. You can feed them and pet them. They also had few month old bear cubs and you can buy a ticket to feed the bear cubs. They also had a package to go inside the park called curator tours, where you can feed the big bears. That was fun. Jayanth went on that tour and Lakshman & I followed the curator truck . There are almost 30 bears in all. That was at 2:30 and most of the animals came out of their hiding places and we got to spend lot of time in the park .
I would say it is worth the trip. Then we left the place around 4.00 PM and headed to Wells, Nevada to check into the motel for the night(Motel 6). It was 4 hr drive from Bear world
National Automobile Museum (Reno,Nevada)Day 8 :
Final travel day . Last leg of the trip. In the morning we checked out of Motel6 at Wells and headed west to Reno Nevada. After 5 hrs of drive we arrived at Reno. We had lunch at Denny’s and then headed to National Automobile Museum as Jayanth was very interested to see antique cars. We got there around 1:30pm. When entering into the museum we saw a 1969 Roth’s High Flyer. The tickets for an adult was $10.00 per person and $4.00 for a youth and child is free. Jayanth and his Dad went in. They have self guided Audiot tour andit is highly recommended and worth it. If you are interested in a car, you can key in the car’s number and it will describe the car. When they entered in they went for a small movie which talks about how the first cars were built and how they formed over time and the museum is created. It is a thirty minute presentation and it is great to know. After the presentation went to the first gallery where they showed some of the old cars in 1800’s to 1900’s. The engines were steam ones. You were allowed to take pictures so Jayanth took some pictures and posted them. In gallery 2 they were better cars, but shaped like Indian cars and had a gas engine. In gallery 3, we only see few of these cars on the road where they have a long engine. In gallery 4 were the sports cars and the ones we see today. They also had the 2 Fast and Furious cars, and a Grease car. It was fun to go to and Jayanth (12 year old) recommend this place for people who like cars and wonder how they evolved over time. They have about 220 cars in the museum. By the time I came out it was 4 pm. We then went to the car and headed back home and we arrived home safely.
There is an alternate route to get to Vernal falls through John Muir trail , but you miss the view of the falls all the way and it is longer route. I loved to go up the mist trail. After certain point on the trail, you need to climb up the steps. They are sometimes slippery – watch out. By the time we reached to the top of the Vernal falls even though all wet, it is totally worth it. The first thought on my mind when I reached the top is - Is this how heaven looks like? It is so wonderful . Water falls from Nevada falls ( one level above Vernal falls) , Emerald lake, flow of water, beaches , Of course the Vernal falls. We spend some time eating lunch. Please pack your lunch and snacks for this hike. Totally it took us 5-6 hrs to the complete hike with pit stops, lunch breaks and fun at the water. It is a total of 4 hrs hike( one way through mist trail and the other way through john Muir trail) if you hike without stopping. On our way back we took John Muir trail to come back. You can choose to go to Nevada falls if you are interested from here. This trail has lot of switch backs and very long trail compared to mist trail. Horses are allowed on John Muir trail, so you will see lot of horse poop on the trail and it stings too. If I do this trail again, I will go and come back on mist trail only.
The view from Taft point is a bird’s eye view of Yosemite. There is a overhanging rock at Taft point. If you stand on it you are standing on a hanging rock nothing but air under it. You have to experience it , cannot describe the feeling. We had the cold pizza we packed yesterday for lunch at Taft point and went back on the trail. At the beginning of the trail you will find marble stone that was deposited many many years ago. I heard that this is the only place in Yosemite you will find marble stone.
The biking trails are great in the valley. You can go anywhere in the valley on your bikes. If you are flying in , they rent bikes at curry village pavilion.
There is an alternate route to get to Vernal falls through John Muir trail , but you miss the view of the falls all the way and it is longer route. I loved to go up the mist trail. After certain point on the trail, you need to climb up the steps. They are sometimes slippery – watch out. By the time we reached to the top of the Vernal falls even though all wet, it is totally worth it. The first thought on my mind when I reached the top is - Is this how heaven looks like? It is so wonderful . Water falls from Nevada falls ( one level above Vernal falls) , Emerald lake, flow of water, beaches , Of course the Vernal falls. We spend some time eating lunch. Please pack your lunch and snacks for this hike. Totally it took us 5-6 hrs to the complete hike with pit stops, lunch breaks and fun at the water. It is a total of 4 hrs hike( one way through mist trail and the other way through john Muir trail) if you hike without stopping. On our way back we took John Muir trail to come back. You can choose to go to Nevada falls if you are interested from here. This trail has lot of switch backs and very long trail compared to mist trail. Horses are allowed on John Muir trail, so you will see lot of horse poop on the trail and it stings too. If I do this trail again, I will go and come back on mist trail only.
The view from Taft point is a bird’s eye view of Yosemite. There is a overhanging rock at Taft point. If you stand on it you are standing on a hanging rock nothing but air under it. You have to experience it , cannot describe the feeling. We had the cold pizza we packed yesterday for lunch at Taft point and went back on the trail. At the beginning of the trail you will find marble stone that was deposited many many years ago. I heard that this is the only place in Yosemite you will find marble stone.
The biking trails are great in the valley. You can go anywhere in the valley on your bikes. If you are flying in , they rent bikes at curry village pavilion.
