CYHA News

Of Mudvents, Geysers, Dinosaurs and Bears

In July of this year I holidayed in the American Mid-West on the Explore tour of 'Yellowstone and Western Trails'. James and Marion did this tour some months before and I greatly enjoyed seeing their photos, so in February I booked myself a place on the tour. Meeting some of my fellow travellers at Heathrow on Saturday morning we arrived at Chicago in the evening, just in time to miss the connecting flight to Salt Lake City. American Airlines were kind enough to put us up in a hotel for the night, and we gratefully headed for our accommodation. Unfortunately there was only one room vacant in the hotel for myself and my two fellow travellers. We tossed coins to decide who would sleep in the bed in the remaining room, who would get the couch and who would sleep on the floor. I got the bed so fortune seemed to be smiling on me for the tour.

The next day we flew to Salt Lake City. The view from the aeroplane changed from fertile plains to the dry landscape as we crossed into Utah until we landed in Salt Lake. Looking down I realised what a challenge it must have been for the Mormon pioneers to travel to Salt Lake in their horse-drawn carts in the 1840s and 1850s and why the trek is such a major event in the settlement of Utah.

Our guide met us at the airport and there we boarded the minibus which would take us on a tour of some 1800 miles over the next two weeks. Other people on the tour, who had travelled to Salt Lake City via Houston, were already aboard, and all nine of us (including driver and guide) departed along the wide motorway. We crossed into Idaho and then climbed through north Wyoming to Yellowstone National Park. Here we set up camp and got ready for the next three days in the Park. This included a lecture from the camp warden on camp lore, which was mainly about locking all food in metal boxes away from the camp, washing all dishes promptly after use, and not wearing make-up. These proved to be great fun. We visited the numerous springs and mud vents, seeing the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (the yellow rocks providing the name for the Park), Mud Volcano, the Beaver Pond Trail and Mammoth Hot Springs, Morning Glory and Biscuit Basin. We could readily appreciate how the area was seen by the ancient Amerindians as a place of spirits and deities, and how the descriptions of the first Europeans to reach the area had been disbelieved as the ramblings of men too long in the wilderness. The highlight was the Old Faithful geyser. We arrived after it had just blown, but the Ranger on duty insisted we stay for the next eruption, and the ninety-minute wait was worth it. When it blew the international audience whooped and cheered, which must have bestowed some empathy with the spirit of the place for the geyser blew a second time moments later in a grateful reprise.

Buffalo and deer roam freely here. The great shaggy buffalo are splendid and a reminder of what North America must have been like before the introduction of the Winchester, when thousands roamed and whole Indian nations were dependent on them for everything.

From Yellowstone we drove to Grand Teton National Park. We saw deer, moose, rodent-like marmot and coyotes. Here too we were able to walk in the mountains and hike up to Amphitheatre Lake, a glacial lake in a spectacular setting that reminded of descriptions in Jean Auel's 'Cave Bear' trilogy, set in the dawn of humanity. Appropriately, on the way down two bears ambled nonchalantly past us to forage in a dell beneath the path. We gingerly continued past them until at a safer distance we were able to take photographs.

From Grand Teton we drove to Jackson Hole and watched a rodeo, which was a first for us all.. We also went horse riding. I was able to complement myself on my latent skill in steering my sturdy mount 'Jugs', until I realised that she was oblivious of my efforts and was simply following the horse in front. The following day we headed south to the rich red-hued rock of Flaming Gorge, named by Major John Wesley Powell while on his great journey of exploration in 1869 to chart the remote areas of the Mid-West. Butch Cassidy holed up here and roundabout there are caves and vantage points associated in folklore with him and his gang.

Heading through increasingly-drier climes we paused for an afternoon at the Dinosaur National Monument. Here in the Colorado Desert there is a vivid display of dinosaur palaeontology, ensconced in a cliff protected by a concrete and glass hangar. Standing beside casts of fossilised leg bones I began to appreciate the size of the behemoths who had roamed the area in a bygone age. The Rangers at the site were very informative and a mine of information on the latest knowledge and theories on the habits and behaviour of these bygone monarchs of the Earth.

The next destination was Moab, which we reached in the evening. This is a town with a small resident population greatly swollen all year-round by tourists. It was founded by Mormon trekkers from Salt Lake City and preserved many of that city's by-laws banning strong beverages. Here we went rafting on the Colorado River and also joined a scenic tour of the river, which included sights of fossilised seashells in the cliffs and petrified tree trunks along the river banks, stranded when still wooden by torrents at some remote time.

Using Moab as a base we visited Needles, where at night we were treated to the most spectacular thunder storm I have ever witnessed. The horizon was lit up by sheet- and fork lightning, and even when we eventually retired for the night the insides of our tents were still lit up by the overhead arcs of light. The scenery of Needles is fascinating : mesas of stone reach up to the sky and rocks shaped like towers and minarets mimic cities of wondrous architecture. Here it is easy to see how the early Spanish explorers pushing north from Mexico brought back from the desert tales of magnificent cities seen on the horizon, surely built by the lost tribe of Israel, Prester John or refugees from Babel. We also visited Canyonlands and Arches, where erosion has created weird arches in the landscape and where dwarf oak trees and rugged cacti struggle to survive in a parched landscape.

Returning to Utah and Salt Lake City we reached the start and terminus of the tour. The last day was spent wandering on foot around the centre, visiting the Mormon heart of this city.

This lies around the Mormon Cathedral, built over forty years and surmounted by a golden statue of the angel Moroni. As weddings were in progress we could not enter. We were able to visit the Mormon Visitor Centre where we learned about the beliefs of the Mormons, the hardships of their migration to Salt Lake, their long association with Utah and their extensive charitable work in the Third World. There was also time to visit the house of Brigham Young, second Prophet of the Church. We also witnessed a family gathering in one of the city's park, where a choir sang folk melodies for two hours in polyphonic fashion without any musical accomplishment, to the applause of an appreciative audience of several hundred. This was a good insight into the family side of American society and one far removed from the popular image of fast city life in the USA.

A thoroughly enjoyable holiday and one I would recommend. Great sights, friendly people and a real sense of a big country.I have added some photos to my website.

JL Maton