CLAUDIA & CARSTEN'S WORLD EXPEDITION

Hello Colorado

On the way to the Rockies we got a lot of snow. This was the first time we saw the sun.

East entrance of the park

The famous road that crosses The Rocky Mountains National Park from West to East was closed due to snow.

A male Elk

Elks shed their antlers every year. He looked strange with just one.

Fog blocked the view of the valley

It was freezing cold

A common sight on our journey

A frozen lake

One of many we would find heading even further north.

The weather is improving

as we leave the higher mountains.

Northbound towards Wyoming's plains

Welcome to Wyoming

The Jackalope

Some strange local invention on display at the Pioneer Memorial Museum in Douglas.

Indian teepee

This particular one was used in the Kevin Coster movie "Dances with Wolves"

The big open spaces of Wyoming

Wind River Indian Reservation

Our 6 dollar lakeside campsite

The first day we could sit outside

Wind River Canyon

between Shoshoni and Thermopolis.

Thermopolis

Famous for its mineral hot springs.

The Thermopolis Post Office

was used to send out a few postcards to family and friends.

A 1903 experiment gone wrong?

The Teepee Fountain mound began in 1903 when someone drove an iron pipe into the ground, allowing mineral-rich underground water to escape. Flowing out of the top of the pipe, the water released calcium carbonate mineral from solution and deposited it as travertine on every solid surface.

White Sulphur Spring

A very long cargo train

snakes quietly through the landscape behind our motorhome

Bighorn River

A common sight in the US

Based on the number of warning signs they put up everywhere, it seems like everything is either dangerous, can kill you, can attack you, etc, or are they just legal disclaimers?

Our first glimpse of Bisons

Thermopolis from above

Calcium carbonate mineral deposits

from one of the many natural hot springs.

Wyoming Dinosaur Center

is in the top 5 of the worlds best dinosaur museums. It did not disappoint.

Say hello to this movie star Crinoid

The shape of this 270 million year old sea creature was one of the inspirations for the "Sentinel Robots" in The Matrix movies.

The first Pterosaur

The quality of the fossils were amazing.

Scary reading about the Velociraptor

The Velociraptor, small but deadly!

Fossils of a dinosaur nest

Triceratops, T-Rex and Supersaurus

Jimbo, the Supersaurus is 106ft (32 meters) long.

Camarasaurus

Stan, a 35ft long Tyrannosaurus Rex

The Triceratops

The Paleontologists working lab

Second night in Wind River

A few curious Marmots watching us

First sign of spring

One last look at Wind River Canyon

Sitting Bull and Ulyses Grant

the political leaders of the two fighting sides.

Monument for the fallen soldiers

Fallen soldiers tombstones

on Last Stand Hill shows the spot where the soldiers fell. The tombstone with the black markings show where Lt. Col. Custer fell.

Tombstone of a fallen Indian

Memorial for the fallen Indians

Both Cheyenne, Lakota and Arapaho Indians fought in this battle.

Powerful words

Panoramic view

of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

View from Bighorn into the valley

A common sight in Wyoming

The owner of a RV park in a small town where we stopped was doing gardening work. Apparently sweeping leaves can be a dangerous job, so he needs to carry his gun while doing it.

Spring is coming

On our way to Cody

to meet Buffalo Bill.

Pumpjack

Oil pumpjacks are very common all over Wyoming and Montana.

A cowboy doing grocery shopping

No mobilepay here yet

Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody

A Grizzly on display

Indian Bison hunt

From 60 million to 300 in 90 years

Scientists calculate that as many as 60 million wild bison existed in North America in the beginning of the 1800's. However, by 1893 only 300 wild bison were left. Why? They were hunted to near extinction to deprive the Indians from their main food source, thereby solving "The Indian Problem" through starvation in order to take their lands!!!

The Sundance Kid in Bolivia??

Buffalo Bill (1846-1917)

was an American scout, Bison hunter, and showman. One of the most colorful figures of the American Old West, Buffalo Bill's legend began to spread when he was only twenty-three.

The Sundance, a sacred ceremony

No Sundance ceremonies were scheduled while we were at the great plains, but we did go to see a Pow Wow.

Getting ready for our first Pow Wow

with the Northern Arapaho Tribe in Shoshoni.

Presentation and welcome

by the Chief of the Northern Arapaho Tribe.

Dad prepares his son for the Pow Wow

and the traditional dance competition. As you can tell by his haircut, dad most likely works in the US Army, which is one of the few income options the Native Americans have in the reservations.

Getting ready

The drummers getting ready too

As you can see not only white people are overweight in the US.

Honoring the Arapaho and the US flag

The opening parade begins

He had the coolest outfit

All generations participate

It was LOUD

as you can see from the little girls expression.

Very impressive headpiece

Check out her fur covered braids

A Brave New World

Dance of the girls

Our favorite dancer

This little girl knew her stuff.

Boys getting ready

Any last advice mom?

Dance of the boys

This guy has bells on his ankles

Impressive Eagle feather backpiece

Checking out competitors

A father and a proud grandpa

Finishing ceremony.

Dubois

We stopped in this little town for a coffee, on our way to the Tetons.

Snow on the road again

Grand Teton Range in the back

Beaver Creek Bend

We woke up very early and came to this spot to look for bears. We didn't see any, but instead saw about ten beavers swimming around building their nests.

Jackson Lake frozen solid

and still good for cross country skiing.

A common sign in the parks

Coyote looking for food

Jumping

If the snow is too hard, they jump to break through to get to the hole where the mouse is.

Got it!

The beautiful Jenny Lake

No further!

The most beautiful part of the Grand Teton National Park is located south of this point, but it was not possible to access it because of snow.

Young Moose

We met this guy on our way out of the park the first day.

Second Moose

We met him next morning after looking at the beavers. Moose, like elks, shed their antlers every year and they grow back during the spring and summer. Only at the end of the summer you can see male Moose with big antlers. If they are getting enough food, the antlers can grow up to one inch (2,5 cm) per day. It looks cold, but with -9C a moose already feels warm.

A President with a mission

to protect nature, unlike the current President of the USA.

Storm is coming

driving towards Yellowstone National Park.

Bison on the road

Gallatin National Forest

It was a long but beautiful drive

Finally!

Established in 1872 many mistakenly think America’s Yellowstone National Park is the oldest national park in the world, but the Bogd Khan Uul National Park in Mongolia was established in 1783.

Elk, Elk, Elk and more Elk.

He was not happy to see us!

Horns on display

at the Yellowstone Visitor Center.

Army presence in Yellostone

After the park was established in 1872, there was only one ranger in charge of the whole park. Unable to protect the park alone poaching became a problem. The government then decided to call in the military, who afterwards were in charge of protecting the park for more than 30 years.

Common scene in the mid 1800s

Bison were killed for sport and to deprive the Indians of their lifestyle and food. The greed of the White Man stands in strong contrast to the 10 Commandments of the Native Americans shown in a photo in the Utah Gallery.

Mammoth Hot Springs

View from the top of the spring

The Yellowstone Visitor Center is the buildings you can see.

Driving out to Lamar Valley

to spot some Bears and Wolves.

More Bisons

A big bull

The only Wolf we saw up close

Our first Grizzly Bear!

He was around 100 meters away from us and was very difficult to see, but there are so many people looking for bears, so if you follow the people, you will find them.

And he's off to the woods again

Our first Black Bear!

This one was much closer.

Second Grizzly the following day

Wolf pack in Lamar Valley

This pack of Wolves was reintroduced to Yellowstone because all native Wolves had been hunted down in the 1800s. Today they are doing very well and by eating Elk and Deer they have also allowed the appearance of plants and animals that were previously almost extinct in the park to flourish.

Howling

to attract the rest of the Wolf pack.

Waiting

We were hoping the Wolves would get together and hunt the Bison down, but it didn't happen. The Bison was too big for them to kill.

Coyote

Canadian Goose

They are very common and we saw them during most of our trip in North America.

Off hiking the Beaver Ponds Trail

a 9 km long forest loop. We were armed with a powerful Bear spray for personal protection. The Bears had just gotten out of hibernation with their cubs and a hungry and protective Bear is never a good combination.

A curious Ground Squirrel

End of the 9 km loop.

The Visitor Center and Mammoth Hot Springs in the back.

Back in the warmth of our motorhome

Off to Old Faithful

on the first opening day after the winter closure.

Road towards Old Faithful

Bison fact:

The Bison's fur is so thick that snow does not melt when it falls on it.

The first geysers we saw

In Yellowstone National Park there are about 500 geysers and some 10,000 thermal features. Yellowstone contains the majority of the world's known geysers.

Waterfall on the way

End of the road!

Upper Geyser Basin

and home to the Old Faithful Geyser and many more.

Beehive Geyser

Eruptions of Beehive Geyser last about 5 minutes and are 200 feet (61 m) high. The fountain maintains its full height for the duration of the eruption, dropping just slightly near the end. A roaring steam phase concludes the eruption and can be heard a quarter-mile away.

Finally!

Old Faithful is in the back. It got that name because the eruptions are quite regular and happen more or less every 35 to 120 minutes and lasts for 1 1/2 to 5 minutes. Old Faithful is located in the Upper Geyser basin of the park.

Huffin' and Puffin'

Off he goes!

Old Faithful's maximum height ranges from 90 to 184 feet (27-56 meters) and releases up to 8.700 gallons (33.000 liters) of boiling water in just 5 minutes.

This is the size of the crowd

at Old Faithful during low season. Imagine how packed it is at peak season!!!

One of many mudpools

Water boiling

Some pools are very colorful too

Bison in the snow

Grand Prismatic Spring

This is probably the most famous spring in Yellowstone, but to see the colors, you need to take the picture from the air.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Lower Geyser Basin

The following day weather improved

With the sun out we set off to the Geyser Basins again to get some better photos.

Roaring Mountain

Osprey

Beehive geyser

Morning Glory pool

Old Faithful showing off

Midway Geyser Basin

Grand Prismatic Spring

was noted by geologists working in the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871, and named by them for its striking coloration. Its colors match the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

No hiking here!

Steamboat Geyser

Norris Basin

Porcelain Basin

Mountain Bluebird

American Robin

Bye bye Yellowstone, see you soon

Montana Grizzly Encounter

a Grizzly Bear Rescue & Education Sanctuary in Bozeman, Montana. It provides a spacious and natural home for rescued Grizzlies. At the same time it offers the public a place to come and learn about Grizzly Bears as they watch the majestic animals “up close”

Jake and Maggi

were born at a wildlife park in Georgia in 2006 but were unable to stay there. Wildlife Safari in Oregon came to their rescue when they were six months old. Wildlife Safari hoped to raise some funding to make them their own enclosure, because of their age they couldn’t be in the adult bear enclosure. After a year and a half, the funding just wasn’t there and they contacted Montana Grizzly Encounter.

Jake

Bella

was born in Delta Junction Alaska. When she was around 4-5 months old her mother left her alone in the wild. She was so scared she stayed in a tree waiting for her to return, but she never did. After four days and a phone call to Alaska Fish and Game by a concerned family, Alaska Fish and Game came to her rescue. Her first stop was a visit to the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage.There they were able to get her eating and gaining strength for her big flight to her home at Montana Grizzly Encounter.

Brutus

was born at an overcrowded wildlife park in 2002, where his future was uncertain. He was adopted by Montana Grizzly Encounter at an early age when he was about the size of a squirrel. Currently he is about 7ft (2,1 meters) tall on his hind legs and close to 900 pounds (450 kg) in weight.

Brutus the movie star

Next stop Glacier National Park

From a time long gone

One of many ghost towns we drove through in Montana.

The endless crop fields in Montana

Montana, home to the Blackfeet tribe

Finally a cold beer at our campsite

Bye bye USA, hello Canada