So no longer had we arrived back in San Fran we were getting ready to set off on our 9 night Northern Pioneer trip visiting the National Parks of the North and West. We had a sleep in the hostel and showered and rested and then met back at the same place as the other trip at 7pm this time.
We were tired and the thought of having to be sociable with a new different group of people was tiring in itself!! We got on with this lad from Newcastle, David, straight away so we stuck with him. We then found ourselves in a group of people that dominated the back of the bus. We were a little wiser having had been on the other trip before so we knew the back was the better place to be for sleeping etc. We got a good little bunch of people together at the back, mostly people from England and then one American, Cameron and also a French guy who we will call John Pierre! His name actually was John but the Pierre bit was affectionately added and then everyone thought this was his real name so it stuck!
So we had a night drive the 1st night and then woke up in the Ruby Mountains in Nevada. This was a beautiful place to wake up in (just not at 6.30am mind!!). So we done a hike up to the lake at the top where a lot of people went swimming-including Brian-I was too chicken!! We then drove to this remote location on a farm and were told to walk 2 miles up this path and we would find some natural hot springs. So we got changed into our costumes and headed up the path. We find the hot springs which was totally surreal-it was in the middle of a load of mountains and then next to the river was a long pond-like thing. So we did as we were told and got in the water which was soooo warm! It was totally weird!
We then had another night drive and this time we woke up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We lost an hour here so really we got up at 5.30am!! We ate breakfast and then those who wanted to, went white water rafting on Snake River! This was an amazing experience-we even saw a beaver swimming in the river and 2 bald eagles in the trees! Our guide Roger said it was rare to see 1 let alone 2!! There were some big rapids-one called the Big Kahuna, which then started everyone quoting Pulp Fiction!! We even got out of the boat at one part of the river for a swim. We camped that night in Grand Teton (which means 3 breasts in French apparently!!) National Park. This was my favourite National Park-it was so picturesque! We had a campfire that night but had to sleep on the bus because there was a massive thunderstorm!
We spent the next day in Grand Tetons, we got a shuttle boat across Jenny lake and then walked up to see a waterfall and then up to Inspiration Point where we stopped for lunch. We walked back around the lake and seen a deer at the side of the path-we were literally 10ft away from it. We were camping in the same place as the night before so we set off to explore the site. A bunch of us went swimming in Jackson Lake just as the sun was setting over the mountains and it was gorgeous! We slept out under the stars this night and we were very aware that we were in bear country!!
We drove to Yellowstone National Park the following day and looked at Geysers for pretty much the whole day! Fascinating at first but when you’ve seen 20, you kind of get the point! There was one though called Dragon’s Breath coming out of a cave and it actually sounded like there was a dragon in the cave! We also went to Hayden Valley which is kind of what you picture when you imagine Yellowstone National Park! A massive valley with a river running through the middle and herds of bison either side of it grazing! It was an amazing thing to see a herd of bison-they are massive!! I would have been made up seeing one let alone a herd!
We then done another hike and seen another few waterfalls and then up to Artists Point to get a great view of the whole canyon. We went to another Lake at the campsite for a ‘relaxing’ swim and then the boys decided to scoop the mud off the bottom of the lake and throw it at all the girls! I turned up in the nick of time to avoid getting hit but Brian went in! Albeit it was reluctantly, due to John Pierre running out of the water covered in mud like a swamp monster and hugging Brian-so it was rude not to get in then!!
The following day we spent in Yellowstone again-we seen Old Faithful-which was actually quite disappointing! Give it it’s due it was on time but it was so quiet-we were expecting it to roar to life but no roar-just quiet!! We then sat in the lodge and got some ice cream and relaxed. We drove to the Grand Prismatic Spring which is quintessential Yellowstone! It’s a massive pool and the different types of bacteria have caused different colours to form around the edge-google it and check it out!! We were then let loose in the town of West Yellowstone for our tea-we got buffalo burgers-delish! We had another night drive ahead of us so we were definitely tired after those burgers!
We drove overnight and woke up on Antelope Island in Salt Lake City. This is probably one of the most beautiful places you could wake up in. The Salt lake looked like a mirage in the distance and after breakfast we went for a swim in it. It was so surreal putting your feet up in the water and just floating around! The lake had 4 times the salinity of the ocean so that’s how we could float so much-it was like the dead sea. We then had a couple of hours to spend in Salt Lake City which was ok! We then headed out to a little town in Utah called Munroe. It was here that Mystic Hot Springs lay! There were natural hot springs that some guy called Mystic Mike bought and made a big pool out of the springs. He had put bath tubs under the springs further up the mountain and set them into the mountain. It was so cool here, everyone was relaxed and had a good night. There was some weird band on too-a husband and wife duo. He played the guitar and she played the clarinet and had blue hair!! We got back into the tubs at midnight under the moonlight and it was so wonderfully weird! We slept out under the stars and it was so warm-such a refreshing change to the cold!
The next day we went to Red Canyon and then camped in Kodachrome Basin-basically the desert! Our driver Jimmy was having his birthday the day we were leaving so we all got him a card and a poster thingy and presented it to him here-it was the last night we all had together! We then went around the campfire and had to say 3 things- what our favourite meal was, where our favourite place was and who our favourite person was.
The following day we went to Zion National Park where most of us aimed to climb up Angel’s Landing. It was basically a massive rock that you had to hold onto chains to climb it with a 2000ft drop each side! I lagged behind a bit with another girl and Brian went ahead with the others. When me and Liga seen Angel’s Landing we decided we would wait at the bottom for them-I’m not scared of heights but I was at this point! There were sheer drops each side and I thought ‘No thanks’!! Brian, however, was very brave and climbed right to the top!! We started to descend and then tragedy struck-I fell over at the top! I twisted my knee and ankle and Brian had to be the hero and help me hobble off the mountain before it got dark!! We made it with seconds to spare, luckily!! No, we actually made come time coming off the top but I was brave! The group had split up earlier in the day into those who were on the trip for 9 nights (us) and those who were continuing for 16 nights in total. All of our group were on the same 9 nighter so we stuck together! When we left Zion we had a stopover in Las Vegas for 2 hours and then headed through the night and woke up in LA dropping people off. We finally arrived back in San Francisco on Sunday about 4.30pm and our trip was officially over! We really enjoyed the 2 trips but we couldn’t wait to sleep in a proper bed!!