Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape

A 31-day adventure by Melissa Read more

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Trip start
June 28, 2024
Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
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Heritage Oak Winery
Jun 28–29, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Our fourth annual visit did not disappoint, in addition to delicious wine, picking figs and blackberries, we also had a bluegrass band concert at the winery to enjoy with our dinner! We stopped at Hog Heaven for the best BBQ in Placerville on the way up to Tahoe.Read more
Traveler Looks like the women ruled in the cold water!
7/1/24Reply
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Paddling on Upper Truckee River
June 30, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We got setup at Camp Miner and the next day we brought 4 SUPs and 2 kayaks to the mouth of the Truckee River going into Lake Tahoe and paddled up the river and then back down to explore the marsh near the lake. A Bald Eagle soared above us, Canada Geese paddled by us and a flock of White Face Ivis landed just past us. So much fun to spend time on the river.Read more
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Exploring Donner Pass
July 1, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We spent the day exploring Donner State Park and the Donner Tunnels. So interesting to think about how difficult it was to get to the West Coast. The museum at the state park had exhibits on the Donner party tragedy, how the Washoe tribe lived in the area, the building of the railroad and tunnels by Chinese immigrants, and the history of roads and highways in the area. We did a hike through the Donner tunnels which the first trains went through to protect from snow and avalanches. They are now graffiti tunnels with art changing all the time.Read more
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Tahoe 4th
July 4, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We had a fun 4th of July at Angora Lake paddling, swimming and relaxing on the beach. We had a sausage fest with our purchases from the Lockeford Sausages.
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Dardanelles lake hike
July 5, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
We went for a beautiful hike to Dardanelles lake from Big Meadow in South Lake Tahoe and went for a swim. Wonderful warm water and so nice to float in.
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
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Bison Farm Harvest Host
July 6, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
We stayed at Miller Bison Farm outside of the very small town of Eureka, Nevada. A young family has a herd of Bison they are raising for meat and growing the herd to eventually take over the land they are farming to bring the land back to grazing. We met a 6 week old Bison that had to be bottle fed because the mom didn’t want to care for it, fortunately he said it doesn’t happen very often.
They also had the cutest puppies we had fun playing with. Staying there broke up our drive from Tahoe to Great Basin so we could get a nice first come campsite.Read more
Traveler So much fun!!!
7/8/24Reply
Traveler Oh no jack russel babies. Quick get outta there!
7/9/24Reply
TravelerI know! He said they needed homes and hadn’t been purchased yet.
7/9/24Reply
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
First day in Big Basin National Park
Jul 7–9, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
We went from hot desert scrub to snowy peaks on Wheeler Peak scenic Drive. We found a great campsite with Lehman Creek flowing through.
The Bristlecone pine trees were a highlight, hard to believe some have been alive for 5000 years!
The lakes were so beautiful during our evening hike. We ended the evening with a fire and looking at the stars in this dark sky designated park.Read more
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
1
Second Day Great Basin ar Lehman caves
July 8, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Visiting Lehman cave on a guided ranger tour was such a great experience. So interesting to hear the history of people paying to come in with a candle and breaking off pieces of stalactites as souvenirs is the 1800s and prohibition cave parties in the 1920s. The government made it a nuclear fallout shelter for 10,000 people without any bathroom and not realizing that the cave naturally circulated the outside air into the cave.Read more
Traveler Very cool!
7/11/24Reply
TravelerAlthough I'm generally against them, a prohibition cave sounds pretty fun!
7/13/24Reply
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
1
City of Rocks, Idaho
July 9, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
We had a long desolate drive to City of Rocks with a long gravel road at the end. This is a National Preserve and was a landmark during the emigration of settlers moving West. Interesting to tie this in with what we learned at Donner Pass in Tahoe.
Some of the rock formations are 2.5 billion years old next to formations that are 25 million years old. It’s a rock climbing paradise in the morning but it’s been hot during the day this week.
The creeks were running through the rocks with lush green plants. This is the farthest East some plants like the Western Columbine grow.Read more
Traveler 🤣🤣
7/13/24Reply
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
1
Idaho and Jackson Wyoming
Jul 11–13, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C
We changed course from Craters of the Moon And went to camp by the Snake River at Falls Campground. The falls are beautiful and there are so many birds in the area, we had fun with the Merlin App identifying the calls.
We took a day trip to Jackson and went to the National Wildlife Art Museum, they did such a good job of showing how artists were able to influence conservation for animals. They also had an exhibit on artists and climate change. We walked around town with lots of tourists and went to the famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar to sit on the saddles at the bar.Read more
Traveler Gorgeous!!!
7/13/24Reply
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Grand Teton Colter Bay and Signal Mounta
July 13, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
We started our 3 days of exploring Grand Tetons at our campsite at Signal Mountain. We went up to Colter Bay and did a hike around the lake front, it was a warm day so lots of people at the lakeshore to swim. The sunset from the campground was beautiful.Read more
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
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Cascade Canyon hike Jenny Lake Grand Tet
July 14, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
We got up early to beat the crowds and took the ferry across Jenny lake to hike Cascade Canyon, Such a beautiful place. The beginning part is very steep up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point and then the trail goes through the canyon with waterfalls coming down to the creek as the snow melts. We watched moose grazing right next to us and also saw a young grizzly on the cliffs across the creek. At the turnaround we sat on a boulder overlooking the creek and waterfall and a marmot came up to us and said hi as we ate lunch by a water fall.
We were beat after the 10 mile hike and went for a delicious dinner at The Trapper restaurant at the lodge next to the campground.Read more
Traveler This looks like a huge moose!
7/15/24Reply
Traveler Really lovely and so close to the moose!
7/18/24Reply
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
1
Lawerence Rockafellar Preserve
July 15, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
On our last day in Grand Tetons we got up early to get parking at the Lawerence S. Rockefeller Preserve to hike to beautiful Phelps Lake. It was so calm and had amazing reflections of the mountains.

We then took a drive to Mormon row for the famous barn picture and then ran from the biting flies (way worse than mosquitoes!).

Our animal encounters for the day were a Mule deer on the trail and an Elk in the campground with an impressive rack of horns.Read more
Traveler Nice rack!!!
7/20/24Reply
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Yellowstone visiting Old Faithful
July 16, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We arrived at our campsite in Grant Village, took a well-deserved nap and drove over the continental divide to an Isa Lake that overflows to both the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico. We then went to see Old Faithful in the evening and hike the boardwalk to see the geysers, steam vents and thermal pools in cooler weather and smaller crowds. It is so amazing to see all this geothermal energy!Read more
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Canyon section of Yellowstone
July 17, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
We did an amazing loop hike in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone by the lower and upper falls, hiked up to Lily Lake and the beautiful blue green Clear Lake and then through a flowering meadow by a bison. The power of the Yellowstone river and falls was so impressive to see.Read more
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
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Mammoth Hotsprings, Geysers, and A
July 19, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
There are so many Geyser areas! We went to Mammoth Hot Springs in the North of the park and it has changed since we were here in 2007 with a different spring area. The blue springs are due to reflection of the silica in the spring and the colors are due to thermophile bacteria interacting with the minerals. The red and orange have the hottest temperature pools and the blue is the coolest.Read more
Traveler Nice Killdeer shot!
7/24/24Reply
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
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Dinosaur National Monument and Green Riv
July 22, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We spent two night at Dinosaur National Monument which has one of the largest concentrations of dinosaur fossil beds, so interesting to see the intact quarry. We hiked along the green river and up box canyon. The lichens on the rocks were so colorful.Read more
Traveler Who am I???
7/28/24Reply
American Robin, we spotted one in almost every park we visited! [Melissa]
7/30/24Reply
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Rocky Mountain NP Tundra
July 24, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
The tundra in Rocky Mountain got us to the highest elevation visitor center and a hike at over 12,000 feet. The Yellow Bellied Marmot was so fun to watch, they hibernate 7-8 months a year and are so active in July eating all the greenery. The plants grow slowly and close to the ground to avoid the high winds.Read more
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Rocky Mountain NP Alpine hikes and lakes
July 25, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
The Bear Lake area of Rocky Mountain has such beautiful lakes, we hiked to all five lakes with the Haiyaha having the most glacial turquoise blue. We also did a hike to Gem lake in another area of the park. We camped in Estes Park and went to lunch along the river walk and watched the elk eating the beautiful plants.Read more
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Pa
July 26, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
The canyon was so spectacular with impressive steep drops and fascinating geology. We would look over the edges and it was difficult to see the bottom but so beautiful when we could see the river.
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Peaks, Geysers, and Waterscape Traveler
Mesa Verde National Park
July 27, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
We had some beautiful drives through Colorado Rockies by Vail, Breckinridge, Telluride, and quaint Victorian mining towns over our last two stops.
Our last stop was visiting Mesa Verde and learning about the pueblo people farming the land on this cuesta, that slopes to the South for perfect farming. They know people started farming and living here around 500 AD in houses built on the Mesa. Around 1200s there were 40,000 people living in the area because there was a widespread drought and resources were scarce and that is when they started building the cliff dwellings to live in, possibly for safety and defense. We did a ranger led tour of Cliff Palace, and climbed up similar ladders to what they would have used. The engineering they did for heating and cooling the houses was still clear to see.Read more
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Trip end
July 28, 2024