The Kucey Chronicles: The Great Summer Adventure Begins

Sunday June 15

Our summer adventure started out with a long drive from Saskatoon to Malta, Montana – a total of 515 kms. That’s not too long of a haul regularly, but keep in mind that when towing the trailer, our max speed is around 95 km/hr. Pete was disappointed to wake up to rain and have to forego his early morning bike ride ahead of us. I admittedly wasn’t overly disappointed to have him start the trek with us. We crossed into the US at one of the least used borders in Canada and had some guards happy to have us keep them entertained for a bit. It was the first time we’ve had the trailer searched at a border crossing. Thankfully there was nothing of interest to them so they couldn’t keep us for long. I had read about a park in Malta that you could camp at for only $3/night. It did not disappoint! We arrived in plenty of time to enjoy some outdoor fun before dinner.

$3 camping in Malta, Montana

Monday June 16

Today was a really long day. We drove 620 kms from Malta to West Yellowstone. We went through quite a bit of rain (poor Pete is wondering if he’ll ever get to bike on this trip!) and it was slow-going at a number of different places along the way. We finally arrived in West Yellowstone around 5 pm and were greeted by the nicest guy who runs the campsite. He helped us back in to our spot in the middle of a thunderstorm. He then walked us through all the must-dos in town and in the park and paid Ethan $0.50 to guard the games room for him. Ethan and I did some grocery shopping and then we all had warm showers before plopping into bed after 2 long and exhausting days. We’re looking forward to staying put for the next 4 days and exploring Yellowstone.

A quick game of UNO before bed.

Tuesday June 17

Are we ever glad we packed our space heater!!! Little did we know how cold it was going to be in Yellowstone! We set off after breakfast in search of Old Faithful – along with a ridiculous number of other tourists. So much for us coming here “off season” before school is out! We took our time and did every scenic drive and stopped at every pit stop along the way. We saw a ton of geysers, microbial mats and springs, and had a blast walking through the steam coming off Firepot Lake. It’s really a unique place to visit. We made it to Old Faithful early afternoon and waited around for the next eruption. We were grateful that she erupted a little ahead of schedule as it was extremely cold out. While she was erupting, it started snowing and we all marvelled at the big fluffy snowflakes in June! We decided to take the turn in weather as a sign that we should call it a day and take in more tomorrow. We came home for a nap, which we followed up with pizza and a game of Settlers (Ethan and Josh played solo for the first time and Ethan clobbered us!). Pete and Ethan then went to check out Xmen which is playing at the IMAX in town. If deemed suitable, Josh and I will check it out tomorrow night.

Jen and Ethan in front of a microbial mat.

Josh and Pete catching some steam!

Old Faithful erupting!

Big fluffly snowflakes in June!

Wednesday June 18

It was really cold this morning so we decided to wait until after lunch before exploring the northern part of Yellowstone. We manage to do the full 130 mile loop and enjoyed a couple of different hikes. The best one was to a waterfall in the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone" where the path took us to a lookout over top of the waterfall. It was the highlight of our Yellowstone visit. Josh and I then went to see Xmen after dinner.

Saying hello to some Bison along the highway.

Leah in front of the hotsprings.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone - complete with a rainbow!

Overlooking the waterfall (the picture does not do it justice but I have a video that does).

A break for a family pic along one of our hikes.

Thursday June 19

We decided to leave Yellowstone a day early and head down to Grand Teton National park which is located directly south of Yellowstone. Pete left a couple of hours ahead of us on his bike and we met up with him just before Old Faithful. We made it to Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton a couple of hours later and found a great campsite after a couple of disastrous attempts at some other sites. Once we were set up, Josh, Ethan and I set off on our bikes to explore the campground while Pete and Leah went grocery shopping. After dinner and a big game of Settlers, the boys and I walked down to the amphitheatre and attended a Ranger Talk about Moose.

Having smores after dinner.

Friday June 20

Leah developed a reaction to the Amoxicillin she was on so we didn't stray too far from the campsite until we had talked to Glenn and were confident it wasn't developing into anything too serious. It was nice to enjoy the peace and quiet of a "real campground". We did the Swan Lake hike in the afternoon and then all attended the Ranger Talk about Bears after dinner.

The kids on the Swan Lake hike with the Grand Teton mountains behind them.

Saturday June 21

We had an awesome day today. We ventured out to explore more of the park and met up with Pete on his bike at Jenny Lake for a huge hike. We hiked the 6 kilometres to Inspiration Point and then took the shuttle boat back across the lake. Pete then biked back at the campsite (a total of 70 kms for the day). The kids and I filled up with gas on the way home and made an awesome discovery of a swimming pool at Jackson Lake Lodge. Ethan inquired and learned that it was free for campers to swim there too but they don't advertise it. Woohoo! We met up with Pete back at the campsite and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the pool. We ended our night at a neat diner at the lodge and then came home for a game of Settlers. We all voted unanimously that today was the best day so far.