Monday, October 11, 2021

The next morning Ann took a shower not knowing it would be her last for a couple days. It was snowing but we needed to make it to West Yellowstone and it was a pretty, fluffy snow. By 6:30, we were on 287 heading south. Big mistake. In hindsight, we should have headed east and hopped on I-90 and skipped the interview. Maybe we would have beat the storms except maybe not because the one later in Cheyenne was actually circling back around to haunt us.

 

Things went from bad to worse until we were going down 7% grade in 5 inches of snow and slush on the road (ice in a couple places) in blizzard conditions. We had it in manual, tow-haul, and four wheel drive. It took us 3.5 hours to get to West Yellowstone (2 hour drive). 

 

Once the blizzard stopped and it got light outside the views just before West Yellowstone were incredible. Right when we hit Yellowstone there was barely any snow and the roads were clear. We headed into the park and found out a couple roads were closed including the one south heading to Grand Tetons. The lady gave us directions how to go back to Idaho on 20 to get to Jackson, Wyoming (our next planned stop so Hannah could meet someone she had been talking to about jobs there for next season). We decided we would go to the Visitor’s Center and head out the east side toward home. We took some scenic pictures went to the Madison Visitor’s Center just to discover that it was closed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

So headed to the Old Faithful Visitor’s Center and went to the Visitor’s Center where we found out that all of the roads were now closed except for West Yellowstone. We were left with a choice to either go back the way we came back up toward Bozeman or south through Idaho.

After much contemplation and phoning some friends we decided to camp at Madison in Yellowstone. As we were setting up Blue it started to snow. We unhooked and got settled in and then decided to take the truck to do some site seeing.

We drove the Firehole Scenic Drive, went and took pictures of the buffalo. Then we went to Grand Prismatic Springs. It was still snowing and they had a half mile loop which was a board walk. We started off and made it to the loop. Visibility was terrible and the walk was snow covered. People came back from the loop saying you can’t see anything and the boardwalk was super icy. Ann stayed behind but Hannah did the whole loop. She was able to see the spring and managed not to fall. Luckily Ann had her walking sticks to make it back. They were covered in snow but refreshed from getting outside and doing some walking. Back in the warm truck they drove around another scenic loop with a lot of thermal vents and a geyser.

Back at the camper they settled in for the night. Since they had propane and a very limited amount of electricity but no water or cell signal, they tried not to use any electricity. Hannah made grilled ham and cheese and tomato soup in the cast iron skillet. It was the most delicious meal they had ever eaten. The campsite had a sink to wash dishes (freezing cold water) and a bathroom that luckily was near their site. Ann drudged through the five inches of snow to get everything cleaned. 

 

 

They were in bed by about 8pm because they were exhausted and cold. Both of them crashed but woke up around 11pm because the heater wasn’t working any more. Hannah had to go out in the cold (around 22 degrees but worse with the windchill) to fix it. She had to scrap off five inches of snow off truck to get her drill and square bit. She had to dig around for the battery. She took off the cover and reset the heater! Hallelujah there was heat again. By the grace of God it stayed on until later that next morning.

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