Osten Family Blog
Osten Family Blog
Friday, September 22, 2023
Monday, September 11, 2023
Lots of people with guns, nothing happens
Thursday, September 07, 2023
JMT - 10 years after
Yellowstone
Jyoti and I took a long-awaited trip to Yellowstone.
Day 1
- Flew into Bozeman (very nice airport)
- Stopped at Mountain Grizzly Center
- Entered park via north entrance
- Checked out visitor center at Mammoth
- Drove around upper loop
- Dinner at hotel dining room
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Cozy mountain cabin or Bozeman airport? |
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Bella at the Mountain Grizzly Encounter |
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Entering Yellowstone |
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Cloud skies over Mammoth Hot Springs |
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Exploring the geothermal activity |
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Our cabin |
Day 2
- Bunson Peak hike - awesome; saw mountain goats, pika, grouse
- Hiked lower falls
- Dinner in Gardiner; got groceries (highly recommended)
- Walked around old Fort Yellowstone
- Lots of elk wandering around town eating the grass
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Bunsen Peak comms hut |
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View from Bunsen Peak |
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Waterfall at Golden Gate |
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Creek next to Mammoth springs |
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Roosevelt Arch |
Day 3
- Drove to Lamar Valley; saw lots of bison and pronghorn antelope
- Hiked Trout Lake
- Drove south to Canyon area
- Drove south rim of Yellowstone Canyon
- Dinner at Canyon Village (not recommended)
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Roosevelt Lodge |
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Lamar Valley |
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Hiking Trout Lake |
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Lamar River |
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View from Brinks of the Upper Falls |
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Upper Yellowstone Falls |
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View from Artists Point |
Day 4
- Hiked Mount Washburn - very windy and cold but awesome hike
- Drove north rim of Yellowstone Canyon
- Drove to Norris to check out the geothermal feature; it was quite smelly and we felt a bit sick
- All day was windy
- Grill was closed so we got stuff from grocery store for dinner
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View from Mt. Washburn observation deck |
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Hazy view from Mt. Washburn |
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Bear track in the mud |
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View from Brinks of the Lower Falls |
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View of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone |
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Norris Visitor Center |
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Norris Geyser Basin |
Day 5
- Drove south rim of Yellowstone Canyon
- Checked out Lake area; super nice Lake Yellowstone Hotel
- Drove to Old Faithful area
- Hiked lower basin
- Watched Old Faithful from hotel terrace
- Another cheese and crackers dinner
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Kirkland Cascades |
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Old Faithful Inn |
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Mud Volcano (very smelly) |
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Marmot on the rocks |
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Hiking Storm Point |
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Hiking towards Pelican Valley |
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On the terrace at Old Faithful Inn waiting for the geyser |
Day 6
- Checked out middle and upper geyser basins
- Very crowded
- Nice (but not great) dinner at hotel dining room
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Geyser basin |
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Steamy spring |
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Lots of colors in the springs |
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Bison by the road |
Day 7
- Drove to Grand Teton National Park and did loop drive
- Had fun at historical display at Mormon's Row
- Great dinner at Lake Jackson Lodge Mural Room
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View of the Tetons |
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Mormon Row barn |
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Mormon row |
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Lake Jackson Lodge lobby |
Day 8
- Woke up early to check out the morning views
- Took Jenny Lake ferry to Cascade Canyon
- Hiked up canyon; started raining at the end; hiked back in 2 hours of rain; saw moose and pikas
- Had lunch at lodge and changed into dry clothes
- Drove long drive through thunderstorms to Bozeman
- Stayed at Fox Hollow Inn
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Morning view of Lake Jackson |
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Hidden Falls |
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View from Inspiration Point |
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Hiking Cascade Canyon |
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Antelopes on the range |
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Dystopian Fiction
- Going Home (aka Survivalist) by Angery American - first few books were great but then it got a bit repetitive
- Charlie's Requiem by Walt Browning and Angery American - gritty parallel series to Going Home
- 299 Days by Glen Tate - my favorite series and the most realistic since some of it has already started
- Extinction Survival by Walt Browning - fun zombie series based in the San Diego area
- Survivalist Series by Arthur Bradley - another zombie series that started great but ended up being repetitive
- Off Gride Survivor by Connor McCoy - a decent EMP series
- Patriot Dawn by Max Velocity - great two book tactically-focused series
- 2050 by Phil M. Williams - fun, futuristic series on the conflict between authoritarianism and liberty
- Apocalypse Revealed by Michael Zargona - good collapse story
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Mount Laguna Offroading
I headed out to explore some trails in the Mount Laguna area. Early morning, I drove out I8 to the Buckhead Springs rest stop. From there, I headed on an out-and-back on Sheepshead Canyon Rd. It was pretty rough in spots but had some great views to the south. There were a couple folks camped at some nice spots.
Next, I took Old 80 to La Posta Rd and headed north. This road was gravel and easy the first few miles as it passed National Forest and tribal lands. The road was gated a few miles short of Sunrise Hwy and I took Fred Canyon Rd to the southeast. This road has great views and camping spots as it descended to Kitchen Creek Rd.
From there, it was back along Old 80 to Pine Valley where I gassed up. Then I took Pine Creek Rd north. There was a side trip up Miners Road which was pretty rocky in spots but very nice as the creek was flowing. Back on Pine Creek, it was easy going on the broken asphalt. I stopped for lunch and coffee refill at a great viewpoint that overlooked Deer Park and east to Cuyamaca Rancho SP. The remained drive up was uneventful. Once at Sunrise Hwy, I took it south through the village and back home.