Blog English – Arminius-on-tour

For most US-visitors in this area Arches National Park is within the compulsory program. With good reason: The plateau contains the world’s highest density of natural arches. Water, ice, extreme temperatures, and a thick layer of salt in the subsoil are responsible for the nature’s sculptor’s accomplishment. Besides arches from red sandstone there are pillars, domes, faces, pinnacles, and sometimes lumps of rock that are balanced on a skinny tower beyond any law of gravitation.

Most of these rock wonders like The Windows, Balancing Rock, Park Avenue or Sand Dune Arch are situated directly beside the road or can be reached with short hikes. The climbing trip to Fiery Furnace can be booked with rangers’ guiding. Delicate Arch can be seen from the road, but it is worth any effort to climb up to the arch. From Wolfe Ranch it is a climb of 2.5 km with 150 m elevation gain, and back. It takes – depending on personal fitness – 30 to 60 minutes uphill. Getting around the corner a beautiful view to Delicate Arch opens, to a crater-shaped wash-out, and to the La Sal Mountains in the background. Starting two hours before sunset is best; don’t forget flashlights for the way back.

Colorado’s sun does what it is expected to do on 300 days per year: it is shining. A good last day in this state and a good day for Colorado National Monument, just a few miles outside Grand Junction. The broad canyon landscape with high precipices and odd stone sculptures towers above Colorado River Valley by more than 600 m. Variously coloured stone layers testify for many millions of years of most different climatic conditions. Glowing red, violet, orange and brown tones result from iron and other minerals in the rock. Erosion power of water, wind and ice worked for long time on sandstone, slate and other sediment layers. Harder stratums resist to erosion better than softer ones and influence which shape the rock will take. From the elevation of this semi-desert we look back to a Colorado that charmed us with its unadulterated diversity. In the extremely clear air we discover the city of Grand Junction, the Colorado River Valley, Grand Mesa, and the Rocky Mountains.

On I 70 we head into Utah and take from Cisco Hwy # 128 that follows the now narrow Colorado Canyon. The washed out deep-red limestone landscape is so dramatic that you can think about skipping famous Monument Valley – and even without entrance fee. A particularly beautiful spot are the Fisher Towers called rock formations half-way between I 70 and Moab, to be reached on a gravel road. The monoliths and walls tower fantastically jagged into the steel-blue sly, mildly floodlighted by the evening sun.

Another partially sunny, but partially ugly day is just good for computer works, maintenance, and improvements.

Over night there was snow nearly everywhere. Some roads were closed, some car accidents happened. Just a normal onset of winter, isn’t it? There is not much snow in Grand Junction, but an ideal day for laundry and shopping.

To get to the north rim of the Black Canyon we have to put up with a two to three hours drive since there is no direct connection. If there is a shortage in time I would even prefer north rim. Here is, in summer as well, not so much going on, the views are more dramatic, and the walls are steeper so that one can look down to the river without hindrance. The last kilometres of the access road are unpaved but well maintained.

On highway # 65 we cross Grand Mesa, the world’s largest mesa. There is room for more than 300 lakes up here and some ski areas. The surrounding plane is at about 1,500 m elevation; the road has its highest point at 3,305 m. -7° C and a layer of snow do not invite us to camping and so we descend the 1,800 m of elevation on the other side – nearly 30 km without accelerating. Then the road follows not less spectacular the canyon of the Plateau Creek and later as I 70 the Colorado River Valley.

Back in Durango we take Hwy # 550 north that this time leads us lengthwise through San Juan Mountains. This area once had enormous gold and silver deposits. The stretch between Silverton and Ouray is called Million Dollar Highway. Originally the highway is said to have been paved with gold-bearing ore boulders, but unfortunately today this must be gone. But therefore the highly alpine route between hundreds of metres deep canyons (without crash barrier, of course) and kilometres high snow-covered mountains is breathtaking. We have to cross three increasing passes; the highest one is 3,360 m and is called Red Mountain Pass. Up here it is constantly freezing and the land is covered with snow, but the road is perfectly cleared.

Close to Montrose we drive into Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It has got its name due to the dark to black stone wall on both sides of the river. Moreover the canyon is so deep and narrow that nearly no light reaches its bottom so that the gloomy effect grows. De facto it is one of the narrowest and deepest canyons at all: up to 700 m deep and minimum 12 m wide. But how could the river cut itself so deeply into the hard stone? The high stream velocity explains that. On a two-miles-stretch the river descends about 145 m. Originally the canyon was 80 km long, but the majority disappeared under several reservoirs one behind the other. The remaining 20 km were protected with the foundation of the national park. At south rim there is a 10 km long road with several view points and short hikes. The campground is free of charge during the winter.

Mesa Verde is the first and only national park in the United States that protects a human heritage site. The cliff dwellings were discovered only in the end of the 19^th century. This region’s inhabitants lived from the years 600 to 1300 in settled villages and built stone houses temporarily under cave-like overhangs into the rock. In the end of the 13^th century the formerly named Anasazi, now preferably called Pueblo Indians abandoned this area over a time of about two generations still before the arrival of the Whites. A prolonged drought possibly induced the farming Indians to make this move. Their descendants still live in the south-western USA. The national park is situated on a green, densely wooded plateau (wherefrom the Spanish name Mesa Verde comes) between 2,100 and 2,600 m elevation, towering above the surrounding plain by up to 600 m. The archaeological finds belong to the most important and best conserved ones in the United States. Up to four floor residential and store towers, different ruins of precedent more primitive habitations, earthenware, weapons, clothing, and much more count among these finds. Besides the cliff dwellings and varied excavations one can have a look in the museum at several cultural assets that allow an insight into the life of the former inhabitants.

The Four Corners Monument is located in a distance of about 50 miles. That is the only place in the USA where four states meet in one corner. The whole thing is for 3 $ entrance fee (annual interagency passes not accepted) relatively unspectacular and more commercially concentrated on selling souvenirs by the Navajo Indians who run the monument. But it’s a kind of need to get down on all fours and be with each hand and foot in another state, and therefore in Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico at the same time.

On our way through Colorado into the southernmost corner of the state we cross – another time – the Rocky Mountains. As soon as we approach San Juan Mountains, LED letters indicate the requirement of snow chains. We’ve got some, but they’re pretty heavy, and not easy to install. We are happy that the request expires before we reach Wolf Creek Pass at 3,216 m. The road is a steep ramp uphill for many kilometres and downhill as well. But the road is clear, snowploughs have done their work. Snow only crumbles slightly.

In the evening we find a rest area at the foot of Mesa Verde National Park. Unfortunately signs prohibit camping and parking overnight. There is a police car at the access. What is easier than asking an officer? He says that we are fine to stay in the back of the rest area. We can sleep in our cabin, but not set up a camp. The State Patrol will pass by later for a couple of times, since they run an outpost at the rest area. With surveillance and permission by the police we sleep even better.

We escaped the snow, but not the winter. We measured -10° C this night, and even in daytime it is not much above freezing temperature. Just the sun is kind to us. At the foot of Sangre de Christo Range, a small mountain chain in southern Colorado, North America’s tallest sand dunes gathered. A part of the sand is flushed down from the mountains by small creeks; the majority is blown off the San Juan Mountains, part of the Rockies. Certain wind constellations care for the sand grains to exactly deposit here. Already from far we can see the yellow-beige dunes. The highest elevation in Great Sand Dunes National Park is 229 m. The sand field is prohibited for vehicles, but you can climb on all dunes. That’s just not that easy: The plinth is already at 2,500 m, and then you have to climb 200 m in soft sand: three steps forward, two back. We’ve earned lunch heavily breathing. At half the distance up to the mountain a young man approaches us with big steps. We are astonished as he explains us puffing that not many people go up here. He wasn’t even sure. He hoped to be motivated in our company. Arrived on the peak we celebrate the Canadian’s birthday with lemonade and crackers. The sand warms up fast in the sun, but in the shadow or an inch below the surface it is deeply frozen. If it takes an hour to climb up, downhill it only takes minutes. I run safely with giant strides down the slope and am happy as a child.

Behind the dunes an 18 km long off-road trail, Medano Pass Primitive Road, leads up to Sangre de Christo Range. We get a map at the visitor centre and ask if we could make it through with our vehicle. An elder lady is at the information desk. Just to put it mildly: She seems to be retired for three times and has always returned. She asks for the width of our truck, but she doesn’t seem to be interested in the height. Maybe she doesn’t see very well. The trail is accessible with four-wheel drive and sufficient clearance. It consists of soft sand and a brook has to be crossed several times. So far, so funny. Then we go up to the mountains through peripheral aspen forest. The trees stand closer and closer, coming through gets more and more a problem. I drag some boundary posts, which are in our way, out of the sand and sink the stakes then again. I clear a few branches of some trees, and eventually I pull out two complete trunks including roots that are at least double of my size and throw them afterwards into the forest. Admitted, they were relics of a former forest fire, but it wasn’t that easy anyway! Joerg brandishes his axe and tries to manoeuvre the truck through the woods. After half of the distance we give up. The upper branches threaten to damage our solar panel or the skylight and we turn back; with a few scratches, but no bigger wounds.

The weather forecast doesn’t look very well. Just yesterday we sat outside for lunch in a t-shirt at 25° C, tomorrow it shall snow. We should better go on. We take another drive with the ATV through the forest to the top of the mountain to overview the considerable plot of Joyce and Dave. Their daughter Debbie, who creates wonderful miniature bird houses, gives us one as a present. After crossing beautiful Arkansas River Canyon our compass needle points to the south. We are trying to escape the surrounding snow clouds.

The 56 km long Phantom Canyon Road connects Victor, few miles south of Cripple Creek, and Canon City. The gravel road is a washboard and partially really narrow, but who has the opportunity should allow oneself to drive it. The maximum vehicle size is 25 feet length and 13 US t weight. The road leads down from 3000 m elevation to 1600 m into the prairie. It follows the route of the former ore railway line through the canyon of the Phantom Creek. Sometimes rock faces rise up at both sides of the road; then again the slope drops off steeply to the brook deep down. The hairpin bends require a lot of turning at the steering wheel, but it is fun to drive through the old railway tunnels. The climate gets milder the lower the elevation is, vegetation changes, and trees get greener, less fall-like. Prickly pears, yuccas and willows create a peculiar mixture. Close to Canon City we reach paved highway.

We take a loop to Colorado Springs to see Garden of the Gods. There are pretty red sandstone formations, and the former owner of this place left it to the public to have access free of charge. There are imaginative names like Sleeping Giant or Kissing Camels, a rock looking like two dromedaries, touching their lips. In the evening, we are back close to today’s starting point, in Guffey. The oddity of this village is that it has 26 inhabitants, a library, and two saloons. We are invited to Joyce and Dave who own a weekend house in this corner. We have accidentally met them in a parking lot in Rocky Mountain National Park.

At dinner in Cripple Creek, to finish the loop completely, we learn a lot about casinos. At the bar we get to know that we have the right to get a free drink every half hour, whatever it is: beer, wine, long drink, or shooter, as long as we gamble. We eagerly nod, take the beer, and go to the in-house restaurant. It is not really meant that way, but nobody really takes care about that. Now the coupons are used that Joyce and Dave got from an acquainted multi-gambler. For a certain amount of gambled money one receives food vouchers. Per coupon one can order a meal for maximum 10 $. The food is inexpensive and not bad. Then the lesson continues: If one registers in the casino, one gets a client’s card with which one can gamble for about a quarter of an hour at the slot machines. Here they really seem to do everything to make people addicted to gambling.

William F. Cody is buried up on Lookout Mountain. He was laid to rest in this place close to Denver on his own wish, even if this desire met with a lack of understanding or disapproval whatsoever in Cody, the town founded by him. His foster son and lifelong admirer established a small museum for life and legend of Buffalo Bill besides the grave that can be visited for 5 $. Cody raised Johnny Baker instead of his only son who passed away at the age of five. Therefore Baker possessed numerous personal belongings and photos from Cody’s leftovers, which are part of the exhibit today. So we learn that Sioux chief Sitting Bull, a bitter opponent of Cody during the war, went for four months on tour with Cody’s western show later as highly respected friend.

We accept a short detour, because we really want to go from Central City to Idaho Springs on the Virginia Canyon Road, often advertised as Oh-my-God Road. At first it starts harmlessly, when the paved lane spirals into the sky. But then “Oh my God, the road is down there!” it becomes quite exciting. The track, now gravel and of course without crash barrier, gets so narrow that we just wish for an oncoming-traffic-free phase. The view to Mount Evans Range makes up to us for many “oh my God”. Fortunately there is not much traffic and as long as the road is dry there are no problems when descending again the 500 metres.

From Idaho Springs the beautiful road combination # 285 / 77 / 1 takes us to Cripple Creek. At Kenosha Pass we reach 10,000 feet for the first time, with sun and without blizzard. Then we get to a high valley at nearly 3,000 m. The town Cripple Creek was once in the middle of Colorado’s gold rush. Still today people are mining for gold, although with lower gains. The whole village was declared a historical district and turned into a gambling den, after Colorado allowed game of chance here and in Central City. Today the historical fronts are renovated. Hotels, restaurants and campgrounds seem to be disproportionately large according to the town’s size. But the parking lots are astonishingly occupied; coaches cart whole loads of compulsive American gamblers to Cripple Creek. But there is nobody on the prettily fixed streets. I guess the slot machines have a lot of company.

Perhaps Denver is just another of these big American cities. But there’s more: It’s location at the edge of the Rocky Mountains is simply gorgeous. Plus there is a distinctively sunny, dry continental climate with warm summers and winters of low precipitation in the lee of the Rocky Mountains, but for skiing you just have to drive a couple of kilometres. Today, on a November 6^th, we have 28° C with sunshine – the whole summer in Canada wasn’t that hot. Harley Davidson motorcyclists are cruising about with t-shirts and helmet-free hair blowing. The metropolis in the centre of the western states has almost 600,000 inhabitants, with metro area 2.5 million and is located in the flat prairie that imminently merges into the foothills of the Rockies. Since the plateau continuously rises from east to west, Denver is already situated on 1,600 m elevation is therefore often called Mile High City. On the steps of the Capitol a mark was fixed where exactly one mile elevation is measured: Interesting: this changes during the years. There are already two different marks. Afterwards we visit the Museum for Science and Nature that shall belong to the leading museums about flora and fauna in North America. Worth the entrance fee of 11 $ is already the view from the terrace where we can see City Park, the pleasantly restricted skyline, and the mountain panorama behind as well.

In the end of the day we take the Lookout Road out of town that winds its way in sharp bends up to Lookout Mountain from where we enjoy a wonderful view to Denver at sunset.

I am kind of shocked today at Costco’s pharmacy. I know that Costco is bulk buying, but there are weird things. Like soap. How will you ever use 20 pieces of soap bars, especially since invention of liquid soap? But I am completely at a loss when determining the shelves with over-the-counter medicines: allergies, eye complaints, cold, and particularly pain. The tablets are stored in plastic screw-top jars with 400 pieces. Holy smokes, what do the Americans do with 400 pain killers? Is there a secret around? Do they illegally deal with them on the internet? Bequeath them to their descendants? Share with neighbours? Fertilize flowers?

Then I thought a little about it. It is not as unreal as it looks for the first moment. If you do not exceed the recommended daily dose of eight tablets, you could use the jar in less than two months. If you share it with your partner “Darling, would you like to have a pill with your coffee?” you could halve the time. And if you mix some of the coloured capsules among your children’s Smarties box – they will not exceptionally stand out – the jar will be lickety-split empty. And you can get a new one when shopping next time at Costco.

We follow the Peak-to-Peak Highway # 7 and 72 along the Rocky Mountain chain south to Denver. The road deserves its name; it really goes from peak to peak between 2,500 and 2,800 m of elevation.

For shopping there is no way around Denver. So we are going to spend two days here to do whatever has to be done.

The Rocky Mountains are with more than 4,500 km length from Mexico to Alaska the longest mountain range on earth, although not the highest. But in the relative south of the massif, in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, more than 40 peaks rise above 12,000 feet. Some of the park ways have been closed for the winter, but some of them are still open, among them the most beautiful part of the park, the Bear Lake Area in around 3,000 m elevation. The hiking paths are icy, we were warned. And really, the trail around the lake is slippery in shady spots. Precedent snowfall, thaw in daytime with night frost created slippery areas. The lake is situated very romantic and picture-postcard-kitschy between the mountains, but some screeching, yelling, loudly laughing hikers on the other strand somehow disturb me. I would prefer to enjoy the mountain panorama quietly. But in the back of the lake everything turns out differently. In the beginning I am at a loss, then furious, and in the end I can’t help laughing myself. Small waterfalls spread dewdrops over the tough blanket of snow in daytime, and freeze to a solid ice rink at night. In this area are small ascends and slopes that turn to be nearly insurmountable with black ice. At first I don’t make any progress, then I try with speed, but this doesn’t help. Over and over I slide back. Eventually I crawl uphill on all fours, desperately looking for hold at small stones, clods of earth, and tiny branches. I look around: Nobody there to take pictures. Joerg is busy with his own advancement. Downhill the planned use of the seat of trousers is the least dangerous method. There are quite a few waterfalls, ascends, and slopes here…

Sprague Lake is only 400 m of elevation deeper, but climatically in a completely different zone. The sunny loop is nearly dry. Only the surface of the lake is for the most part frozen; trout get some sun seeking warmth. Rocky Mountain Park is incredibly colourful today: The sky is cobalt blue, the slopes grey stone, and the peaks snow-white. The conifer forests are deeply green, the grass yellow, and the lakes clear. There are many elk around, huge herds with cocky bucks. The black bears already hibernate and the coyotes bark and howl. What a beauty.

The Scotts Bluff National Monument close to the city with the same name is the third landmark of the Oregon Trail in this area. In the beginning this small range of hills from limestone was an insurmountable obstacle that had to be by-passed around a wide area, because in the north the insuperable Badlands adjoin. Already in the mid 19^th century soldiers opened a passage through Scotts Bluff to make the onward journey easier for the set of wagons.

Our voyage goes further south. We turn our back on Nebraska and with a swerve via the south-eastern corner of Wyoming we are heading into Colorado. From Loveland we take Hwy #34 to Rocky Mountain National Park, a very attractive access road following Thompson River Canyon for many miles.

The elevator in Jewel Cave Monument is broken. There is no possibility to get us down to the stalactite cavern system, one of the large ones in the world, 100 m deeper under the Black Hills. We return via Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park and head into Nebraska with its endless prairie, uncounted grasses, and where the sky is big and the horizon far.

Once the settlers with their covered wagons followed the Oregon Trail to the west. On their way through the seemingly never ending plain landmarks were not only optical changes but a welcome navigation aid. The Mormon Trail and the Pony Express Service took the same route. Three of these rock shapes follow each other in a short distance in Nebraska. The first Courthouse & Jail Rocks named formation is right behind Bridgeport. The second landmark a few miles further west is rightly named Chimney Rock: a vent, a thin finger that points the direction. There is no sign prohibiting to park overnight, so we stay at the foot of the rock to get away as far as possible from the penetratingly hooting trains.

At 11.30 pm we are reading in our bed. Suddenly there are voices, light, the cabin shakes – somebody is climbing on Arminius! It knocks on the door: “Police! Somebody in there?” It seems to be better to open the door. Two policemen with two cars and flashlights explain us that they have been alarmed by the nightly patrol of the monument: “Up there is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in my life!” The officers are kind and very curious and understand that we just wanted to sleep a night here. “Normally we don’t allow somebody to camp here… what’s the mileage of the truck?” They think to and fro and actually we should better park on the campground down the road, which is empty but not locked in winter (that’s where the trains pass by). The kids came up here and were doing their kids’ things. Whatever this means. We should be careful. And then both of them agree to just let us camp here and clear off. They didn’t even ask for an ID.

Half an hour later another car approaches – kids who want to do their kid’s things? Our vehicle appears not only weird, but dangerous as well. At least the car disappears faster than if came. Then all is quiet.

Terry really wants to get a lift with the Unimog. Heather accompanies us with her car to Mount Rushmore to make Terry happy. Mt. Rushmore is another example of American gigantism – a sculpture masterly performance nevertheless. The faces of presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln were immortalized into a rock in the Black Hills. Between 1927 and 1941, the 20 m high heads were blown, hammered and chiselled from the granite of Mt. Rushmore – the highest elevation between Rocky Mountains and Swiss Alps. The four presidents were selected on the condition that they especially influenced the fate of the United States of America. There were critical voices regarding sense or nonsense of such a mammoth project from the beginning. But they mainly criticized financial issues or the disfigurement of God’s Creation. It was not really a matter of interest that this is a sacred place of the Sioux Indians – neither then, nor today.

In protest the Sioux started just a few miles away an own project. Since 1948 the sculpture of the legendary Sioux warrior Crazy Horse is being created there, who will be including horse more than 170 m high and therewith higher than the four presidents altogether. There is not much more finished yet than the head. Since the Indians refuse any governmental support, the project that is financed just from funds is only slowly making progress.

The Iron Mountain Road called hwy # 16A from Mount Rushmore is said to be the most beautiful feeder to Custer State Park. To overcome the enormous elevation differences the road is partially built on wooden bridge constructions in a 270°-angle and imminently disappears in a tunnel like in a fantastic model railway landscape. The three rectangular tunnels are just big enough for Arminius; even oncoming drivers want to keep us from going through them. The tunnel measures are correct, we fit in without any roof damage, but for higher vehicles there would be little leeway. The Visitor Centre is closed, but at least they left some maps that supply us with additional information of the much more critical part of the drive: the Needles Highway. This road passes an area with steep rock needles, bizarre granite monoliths that attract climbers from all over the world. The crucial point of the highway is three tunnels that scale down in north-western direction of travel. The first one is pretty o.k. Tight, exiting, but sufficient. The second one is a problem, since it is in height and width extremely cramped. The indicated tunnel measures seem to allow thoroughfare, but we aren’t really sure if the measures tell the maximum allowed outside measurements of passing vehicles or the minimum tunnel’s headroom and clear width, what makes a big difference. We fold the side mirrors, otherwise there is no chance, and I walk in front to pilot Joerg through. To make it brief: It was the inner tunnel measures. The whole thing was especially thrilling since the tunnel is fairly long and narrows and widens three times. A couple of times I hold my breath when a slight movement of the steering wheel does not turn out as I thought. Then Arminius is gone through, without any scratch, and I am sure the next tunnel is at least nine inches too low for us. Fortunately another road escapes us from this trap.

We have a breather at Sylvan Lake, a very picturesque pond framed by granite precipices. Behind Custer City we find the National Forest Comanche Campground whose restrooms, garbage bins and pay station are closed for the winter but who allows complimentary overnight stay.

The village Wall halfway between Badlands and Rapid City offers a very American attraction. It boasts about owning the world’s largest – and oddest – drugstore. This might have been the intention when founding it in the 1930s, but nowadays there is not much left of a drugstore, the whole area is more or less a souvenir shop. Strange is it though, because old figures, wood benches, pictures, photos, and stuffed animals are displayed between the small shops, what lends Wall Drug the expression of a kind of museum. The founders wanted to attract customers in those days with complimentary ice and coffee for five cents, and this tradition was kept until today.

Ellisworth Air Force Base lays a few miles further, command centre of long range bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles that are daily kept at the ready, partially equipped with nuclear weapons. At the side of the Air Force Base the South Dakota Air & Space Museum is situated, an exhibition of discarded military airplanes and missiles. The entrance to open air exhibition and museum is free of charge, a bus tour to a missile silo bearing to charge is only offered in summer. Besides many older models the still used B1-B bomber and the huge B52 with more than 56 m span are most impressive.

In the evening we are back to Terry and Heather in Piedmont where Indian chicken with rice, several chutneys and Naan bread is on the menu – everything homemade, including the bread!

The first Europeans and settlers called this piece of earth bad land – impossible to cross and unsuitable to cultivate. And really: Hot summers, icy winters and merciless winds whose sandstorms carry the seeds away have the flushed out prairie landscape under control. But like often inhospitality does not exclude beauty. Uncounted hills with saw-tooth-like peaks, combed through by deeply submerged canyons, rise up out of the lunar landscape. The odd sandstone formations are based on coloured horizontal layers in rose, grey, gold, and green. A seabed, a primeval forest, several layers of volcanic ashes, and in-between repeatedly erosion rock that’s washed up from the Black Hills and the Rocky Mountains form the colourful mixture. The layers hardly settled when rain and wind started their destructive works on the newly created landscape. Still today, the Badlands erode with incredible one inch per year. Anyway, they are a sanctuary of life, especially beyond the brim where soil isn’t washed away yet and prairie grasses spring up. Rattle snakes coil their way through the meadows, even the only one we see today paid for trying to cross the park road with its life. Prairie dogs build complete underground cities. The squirrels though are favourite food for one of the rarest mammals on earth: Black-footed ferrets were already exterminated when they were successfully settled again here. Like rattle snakes they don’t only eat prairie dogs, they occupy their burrows. Black-tailed deer and antelope-like pronghorns busily jump around. Approaching bighorn sheep the bucks get themselves to safety and abandon their herd, during mothers and lambs to a large extend ignore vehicles. Great guard. A coyote disappears in the high grass, but in the evening we will hear them barking and howling. Driving up the gravelled Sage Creek Rim Road into the north-western corner of the National Park we are allowed to complimentary use the primitive campground. On the way there and on the campground hundreds of buffalo peacefully graze there, unimpressed by cars and tent inhabitants.

Two days with computer and maintenance works at the Wal-Mart parking lot finally end at Terry’s and Heather’s place just outside the city. Terry makes us delicious Pasta Arrabiata and garlic bread – everything homemade. Terry himself has done a couple of crazy things in his life, for instance he crossed the States on a bicycle from east to west.

The Devils Tower National Monument in the north-eastern corner of Wyoming was declared the first national monument in the United States. Devils Tower, a conical flattened mountain from column basalt, rises up 265 m / 867 feet clearly visible out of the prairie. Molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground. As it cooled it contracted and fractured into columns. Over millions of years, erosion of the sedimentary rocks exposed Devils Tower. Wind and weather gnaw at the mountains, and the columns break off piece by piece. You can follow a two kilometres long loop around the tower, where you can watch climbers during summer.

In the afternoon we can’t resist to buy cowboy boots in Spearfish that’s already in South Dakota. A short detour guides us through 25 km long Spearfish Canyon. The road parallels a small creek that carved the canyon years ago. The canyon is part of the Black Hills, a low mountain range between Wyoming and South Dakota. Here you can find many of the attractions in this area, but best starting point for tours is Rapid City, with 62,000 inhabitants the largest city within a radius of some hundred miles.

There was a heavy storm last night, but the sun is shining innocently this morning. If there wouldn’t be the huge cloud structures around us… In Thermopolis is the Wyoming Dinosaurier Center. Not only prehistoric bones are dag up here, prepared and assembled. Dinosaur skeletons in all sizes – own finds as well as some from other institutes – and fossils from around the world are displayed in the museum that belongs to the institution. The laboratory is glazed and you can watch the technicians when exposing and treating the bones. They offer tours to the excavation sites during summer. 10 $ entrance fee for the museum isn’t a small amount, but at least it is for the benefit of the institution.

The Bighorn Mountains are glowing in the sunlight. But what is falling from the clouds to the earth is snow for sure. The Bighorn Mountains are said to be as high and at least as beautiful as the Rockies, but more lonesome. Cloud Peak is more than 4,000 meters high. The landscape is dramatically, but we can’t enjoy it for long time. Snow starts falling, the street covers slowly, and with increasing elevation the temperature sinks from +10 to 0° C. At Powder River Pass in 2,950 m elevation the driving snow gets so dense that we can’t see the road any more and we stop at a pullout. Then the chaos starts. In-between three minutes the temperature drops to -10° C, wind speed rises to more than 100 km/h, and snow flakes move horizontally above earth’s surface. Wind chill factor should be around -35° C, as we calculate later – cold enough to cause frostbites. We better get back into the driver’s cabin. The blizzard puts on an impressive, in fact frightening performance. A snow plough continuously drives up and down the road. Fortunately the snow storm doesn’t last very long and we resume driving downhill the now icy road. All wheel drive and differential lock render a good service now when seven and a half tons (8.3 US t) push downhill. At the foot of the mountains the situation subsided. Endless pastureland lies peacefully in then sun.

Via Chief Joseph Highway #296 with incredible views to mountains and canyons we leave Yellowstone National Park via two passes down into the prairie. Buffalo Bill, THE American western hero, founded the town of Cody. William Cody, that’s his real name, had to start working as eleven year old child without father: as mounted courier, trapper and gold panner. Later on he distinguished himself as exceptional rider working for the legendary Pony Express Service that transported letters in ten days the 3200 km / 2000 miles from Missouri to California. After the civil war Cody worked as scout for the army and temporarily supplied 1000 railway workers with tons of fresh buffalo meat daily. From these days he’s got his nickname. Writers were impressed by his shooting skills and wrote articles and even a stage play about him. He acted in the next play and scored a big success. He built up his own Wild West show with overwhelming response in the United States. Eventually he shipped hundreds of extras, horses, cattle and buffalo to Europe and introduced the amazed audience to the life of the New World. When cinema was invented his lavish shows started to show a loss and in 1913 he went bankrupt. But Buffalo bill continued working on the myth of the living legend in circuses and shows until he died 1917 with 70 years of age.

There are five museums in Cody where you can learn about the life of the legend, the prairie Indians, arts and history of the West. A two-day pass for all exhibits costs 15 $.

From Firehole Canyon Dive via Lower Geyser Basin and Firehole Lake Drive up to Midway Geyser Basin: There are colourful hot springs everywhere or steam and water bubbles surprisingly from somewhere. Many kilometres of hiking paths were set up to walk around between the boiling, steaming and spitting attractions. Bison herds are spread out all over the park, and walk around between the geysers and along the roads without caring too much for people or cars. The main commercial infrastructure with hotel, restaurant, souvenir shop and thousands of parking spaces is situated at Upper Geyser Basin around Old Faithful Geyser and the largest area of thermal activities. Old Faithful erupts more frequently than any of the other big geysers, in the average about every 90 minutes. Its fountain is up to 55 m / 184 feet high. Not the highest in the park, but impressive anyway.

In Mud Volcano area instead of clear water a grey sludge of rainwater, melted snow, and residue gurgles. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is completely different to what we have seen so far in the park. Yellowstone River races down two waterfalls through a 30 km / 20 miles long and more than 300 m / 1000 feet deep canyon. Each at north and south rim there is a road with several view points. The lower falls with 93 m / 308 feet are most impressive. Here you can see from where the name Yellowstone comes. The walls of the canyon are formed by intense yellow limestone, interrupted by orange, brown and green layers – an image of rare beauty.

We arrive at the northeast entrance of Yellowstone via Gardiner. Here the world’s first national park was founded in 1872 and became role-model for thousands of nature reserves in many countries on earth. In the park you find the world’s highest concentration of geysers, hot pools, fumaroles, and mudpots, powered by magmatic heat from deep underground. Three huge volcanic eruptions, the last one 640,000 years ago, spewed out millions of tons of debris and formed a 30 to 45 miles caldera that’s nowadays in the middle of the park.

In the visitor centre – one of five – we get to know which roads are already closed for winter season. The first attraction is Mammoth Hot Springs. Hot thermal water becomes enriched with calcium carbonate on its way to the surface and the white limestone is deposited in the form of travertine as terraces and other forms. Besides the continuously changing limestone terraces – the world’s largest – there are three more hydrothermal formations in the park: A big accumulation of the fumaroles called steam vents are found 20 km south at Roaring Mountain. Hot pools are the most common phenomenon. The most impressive creation is geysers, hot pools with narrow spaces in their plumbing, usually near the surface. These constrictions prevent hot water from circulating and cause boiling water and steam eruptions.

There are many small pools and geysers in Norris Geyser Basin a bit more south on the western park road. They are habitat for different heat loving microorganisms. Those are mainly bacteria, Achaea that were assumed in former times to be bacteria, but have a different genetic structure, and viruses. There are Eukarya as well, single- or multi-cellular plants, animals or fungi. Different thermophiles live in different temperature ranges and have different glowing colours: The hottest areas between 140 and 181° F can be recognized by their yellow colour and their smell like rotten eggs when hydrogen sulphide is converted to sulphur. Iron processing bacteria and Achaea with brown to red colours live in water below 140° F. You can determine the coldest parts below 133° F based to their emerald-green colour from algae and bacteria containing chlorophyll, exchanging sunlight into energy.

The most spectacular geyser called Steamboat is at home in Norris Basin. It is the world’s tallest active geyser. It throws more than 100 m / 300 ft high, followed by thunders of steam for hours. Unfortunately the eruptions are entirely unpredictable and Steamboat can sleep for days, months, or even years. The last time it happened was 2005.

They eyes sting, the throat is dried. The drought hanging over the prairie is perceptible. As continuing to the south slowly wheat fields appear among the extended pastureland. The grain harvest is partially not yet gathered in – in the second half of October, pretty late. Huge grain silo give rise to the supposition that wheat plays a grand role here. Slowly landscape changes, there is a river or lake from time to time that partially allows irrigation. Trees turn up, and some buttes interrupt the monotonous appearance of the prairie. Buttes are eroded table mountains, if they are somewhat bigger they are called mesas. We leave Great Falls, Montana’s largest city, on our left. We put up with the short detour to continue in I15 whose route is said to be especially attractive. And really, only miles further, the highway follows the valley of Missouri River into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains that are called Big Mountain Belt. The granite formations are sparsely wooded and soft-focused by erosion. We pass Helena, Montana’s capital with 25,000 inhabitants. Again and again snowbirds overtake us, migrants in cars or motorhomes from cooler northern areas like Alberta, British Columbia or Alaska, who hasten away from the winter. Elk Pass guides us to nearly 2,000 m elevation, but it stays warm. Via Butte we eventually land in Bozeman, the last bigger city before Yellowstone National Park, where we want to take some food on our journey.

Glacier Park has, unlike its name promises, hardly any visible glacier, but the typical Rocky Mountains’ panoramas. Together with Canadian Waterton Lake Park they make up the International Peace Park. At Avalanche Creek we follow the canyon of the same name to Avalanche Lake. The weather is marvellous; the beautiful weather period doesn’t leave us although morning comes up with fog. The nights are frosty, and even in daytime Celsius temperature stays one-digit, but the bushes coated with hoar frost let the landscape appear even more peaceful. Lilac and turquoise stones lay on the path, but the creek cut its curvy way through deep-red rock and smoothed it. Water rushes over many rapids downhill; it is blue-green and clear as glass as if somebody poured spruce needle bubble bath into it. Cedars lay hither and thither in wider areas of the brook bed, felled by storms or sicknesses. Some trees are covered with lichen and moss and look like they already donned their winter pullover. In the very end of the lake, as no thermal wind started up yet, the surrounding mountains are perfectly reflected with the sun in the back on the surface of the water. And the best is: We are alone. During summer real mass migrations shall take part.

We leave the park and circumnavigate it eastwards on Hwy #2. After some pass crossings we land on an endless seeming plateau that starts in 1.600 m elevation. Hills, treeless prairie, and dried grass steppe extend to the horizon. It has abruptly 20° C. Cattle, bison and horses are bred on huge expanses. We drive through an Indian Reserve that belongs to the Blackfoot. There is nothing remarkable in the main town Browning except the casino. Most Indian Reserves own casinos nowadays since they may open them according to their sovereignty even if state laws don’t allow. To improve tourism it is even allowed to camp there free of charge. Still we think there’s too much bustle and follow a rarely frequented highway to the next rest area where we overnight lonely and legally as well. We acknowledge the beautiful sunset and the affiliated plunge in temperature.

Between Purcell and Cabinet Mountains, passing Salish Mountains and Whitefish Range, we drive along the Canadian border eastwards. Hwy #2 guides us through the wide valley of Rocky Mountains’ foothills. The surrounding is lovely, with not very rugged and high mountains grown over with trees that are mirrored in the crystal clear lakes.

We decide to look into a Verizon mobile phone provider’s outlet to solve the problem with the internet connection. Although you can find open Wi-Fi nets in most cities, it might not always be the place you want to overnight, and valuable travelling time has to be invested in daytime. Furthermore unlocked Wi-Fi nets involve a considerable safety risk when entering sensitive bank or credit card data. Unauthorized persons could hack into your computer and abuse the information. The same could happen when using an internet café’s computer. Besides, open hotspots become less. Even at supermarkets, fast-food restaurants or airports internet connection costs money more often than before: up to 10 $ per day. This is a probably avoidable issue on a short trip, but not on a long-term journey.

Verizon has no problems with foreigners, but instead of the worldwide GSM net that’s very widespread, this company uses the so-called CDMA standard. This means for us we have to buy a new internet stick. We get it including activation for 150 bucks. In return Verizon promises – compared to other providers – nearly complete area coverage in the entire US except a few unpopulated areas in high mountains. We will see.

In the afternoon we have to realize that the park road through Glacier Park is already closed for the winter season. Still we are allowed to go up the road for quite a bit before we have to turn. The Going-to-the-Sun Road is generally not allowed for vehicles exceeding 21 feet length and 8 feet width since narrow curves and rock overhangs curb the road. In summer there shall be vehicles bumper to bumper. For today we stay on one of the few “campgrounds” that are still open. The pick-nick area at Lake McDonald serves as campground during the winter. There is no water or other service, but pick-nick tables, fire pit, and even fire wood is provided. For 10 $, around half of the regular price. We think that’s really fair, and the place is very scenic. A first mobile internet test is successful: During my AT&T phone of course does not work in the park, Verizon still provides me with acceptable reception.