Traveling America's Great Rocky Mountain Parks

After a long blogging hiatus, we're back for more.  The truth is we have still had many a great adventure since we last posted in spring of 2015.  Some of those, like our trip to Florida or perennial visit to Taiwan.  This year we decided to head out West again and visit 3 of America's great Rocky Mountain National Park's...Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier.  In addition we took a quick side bar onto the Great Plains and along the Mighty Missouri to Fort Benton Montana, home at various times to three generations of Towners.

 
2017 Rocky Mountain National Parks Slideshow (10 mins)

 2017 Rocky Mountain National Parks Slideshow (20 mins)


We began our trip by flying into Jackson Hole WY, waving at the rich and famous, and traveling over Teton Pass to Victor, Idaho  where we made our base.  The Tetons are a narrow but spectacular range  fronted by the Snake River and even in July capped with snow.      We visited numerous scenic overlooks (Schwarber's Landing, Mormon Row, and Jackosn Lake), and did some good hiking  along the Cascade Canyon Trail and Hermitage Point/Heron Pond Trail  On the Idaho side, we also had a fun night out in Driggs at the Old Spud Drive-In Movie Theater

Teton Range from Mormon Row

Cascade Canyon

 

Schwarber's Landing

From Victor we made our way up the backside of the Teton range to Island Park Idaho, 40 minutes from the West entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Over three days we drove and hiked all over this vast and very diverse park.  Yellowstone is an amazing park, lush valleys, thermal areas, tall peaks, peaceful streams, stunning canyons with raging rivers.  if you don't like where you are travel 20 minutes and you get something different.  There were crowds to be sure but a little planning helped avoid a lot of them.

Elk

Tatanka

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Mammoth Hot Springs

Old Faithful

Tower Falls

Grand Prismatic Spring

Hayden Valley

Well if the glory of Yellowstone was not enough we were in store for more.  From Yellowstone we drove 6 hours north  to Glacier national park.  We overnighted in Browning MT on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, staying one night in a tipi .  The next day we drove to Glacier and the famed Going to the Sun Road with an amazing view at every turn and finished up the day with a long hike on the McDonald Creek Trail. If Glacier is nothing it is massive.   The next day we went rafting on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River before heading off across the Great Plains...wheat as far as you can see on either side...to Fort Benton.

Going to the Sun Road

Rafting the Flathead River

McDonald Creek Trail

Waves of Grain

Our trip wrapped up in Ft. Benton where my Dad spent time as a boy, and was the home of his father Vice Adm George Towner and  his father Wellington S. Towner. It was great to give the kids a chance to see the vastness of the Great Plains  so different from our home and tie it in to our family history.  All in all another great trip and more memories for a lifetime

The Mighty Mo

Downtown Ft. Benton

Towners of Yore