The best of times, the worst of times

Going East…..to West-15

2009-08-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

Epilogue

We left for Salt Lake City after breakfast. Mukul had decided to take a different route for the return journey and we turned West after Jackson, entered the neighbouring Idaho State and joined the Interstate 15, which goes South and to Salt lake City. (You may see the map in Part 9) We stopped en route for lunch at a Chinese Restaurant and I was very happy at the mere sight of an Asian cuisine. We reached Salt Lake City a little earlier than we had imagined and decided to visit the Mormon Temple there before going to the Airport for catching our flight to San Jose.

I tried to reflect on what had impressed me most during this visit to United States’ two premier National parks. I really did not have to think much and I realized it was the superb organization at these National Parks. Since the mid-1960s, at least 2 million tourists have visited the park almost every year. At peak summer levels, 3,700 employees work for Yellowstone National Park concessionaires. Concessionaires manage nine hotels and lodges, with a total of 2,238 hotel rooms and cabins available. They also oversee gas stations, stores and most of the campgrounds. Another 800 employees work either permanently or seasonally for the National Park Service. Managing such a vast multitude of visitors, thousands of geothermal features and a large number of wildlife creatures and moreover, keeping them all at a safe distance from each other, is no easy task.

Due to shortage of time, we had chosen to take only a sight-seeing tour and had no time for hiking or angling. During our tour, we were mostly road-bound except when we walked on the wooden pathways around the thermal features. I was a little disappointed that we had not been able to see much of wildlife in both these National Parks. Hayden Valley is the spot in Yellowstone for viewing wild life and we did see a bear cub and a herd of bison but nothing more than that. We did expect to see something while rafting in Snake River in Grand Teton National Park but we did not see any four-legged creatures from the wild there either. I must say we were quite lucky in this regard when we visited Canada last year. Moreover, I somehow felt at ease with the Canadian wildlife but not particularly so while visiting these two National Parks. I wonder why…

I am appending below some additional pictures which, although as pretty as the ones you have been seeing so far but unlike them, do not strictly fall in any category/group; I would rather group them all under ‘scenic miscellany’. I have added, as an afterthought, four pictures of the Mormon Temple at Salt Lake City and they appear right at the end.

Scenic Miscellany

(Concluded)

Going East…..to West-14

2009-08-27T23:22:00.000-07:00

Grand Teton National Park

http://www.grand.teton.national-park.com/map.htm

Grand Teton National Park is located south of Yellowstone National Park. The park is named after the Grand Teton (see map above), which, at 13,770 feet, is the tallest mountain in the Teton Range. The park covers 484 square miles of land and water and carries nearly 200 miles of trails for hikers.The name “Tetons” has a French origin and was given by a French trapper who thought they resembled “nipples” or “teats”. I was not particularly amused when I read this since it was a common practice at artillery firing ranges to name such conical features after Bollywood actresses of the time.

Wildlife in Grand Teton National Park

17 species of carnivores (black and grizzly bears)

6 species of hoofed mammals

3 species of rabbits/hares

22 species of rodents

6 species of bats

4 species of reptiles (non-poisonous)

5 species of amphibians

16 species of fishes

300 plus species of birds

History of Grand Teton National Park

(Extracted from Oh Ranger! and Wikipedia)

Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole is a graben valley located East of the Teton Range. Jackson town is a part of this valley. John Colter, as you would recall, was a member of Lewis and Clark Expedition and was the first Caucasian to visit Jackson Hole in 1805-06. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Caucasian fur trappers and fur traders called deep valleys rimmed by high mountains "holes." This valley was named after a trapper- David Jackson-in 1829. Geologist Hayden (recall his role in designation of Yellowstone National Park) visited this area in 1860 as part of the Raynolds expedition and his own expedition (Hayden Geological Survey of 1871) to Yellowstone included this area in its survey and the resultant data was also included in the report submitted to the Government on Yellowstone. Homesteaders, encouraged by passing of the Homestead Act in 1862, moved into Jackson Hole after the reports were published but many of them found the living conditions very tough.

From Teton Forest Reserve to Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park, at least initially, seems to have remained under the shadow of its neighbour-Yellowstone National Park. In 1897 Congress created the Teton Forest Reserve out of land not included in Yellowstone National Park. As early as 1918, congressmen tried to expand Yellowstone’s boundary southward to include the Teton Range and northern part of Jackson Hole but the move was defeated by the local residents of Jackson Hole. In 1928, a Coordinating Commission on National Parks and Forests met with valley residents and reached an agreement for the establishment of a Park and consequently, Grand Teton National Park was established on February 26, 1929. However, this newly created Park was only a third of of its present-day size; it did not include most of Jackson Hole and consisted of only the central peaks of the Teton Range and half a dozen lakes at their base. Since this Park was not large enough to protect the Tetons from the development taking place in the surrounding areas, efforts to expand the original boundaries continued but without success.It took a little more than twenty years and personal contribution from two great Americans-one of them a President- before the National Park could extend its original boundaries to what they are now.

Rockefeller

In 1927 philanthropist, John D. Rockefeller, Jr founded the Snake River land Company and quietly bought 35,000 acres of farm and ranch land between 1927 and the mid-1930s. Rockefeller’s stated goal was to donate this land for expanding the Park; however, congressional and local opposition prevented the Government from accepting the gift for next 15 years. In desperation, Rockefeller sent a letter to then U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt informing him that if the federal government did not accept the land, then he would sell it on the open market.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

President Roosevelt responded by using presidential proclamation to create the Jackson Hole national Monument, a 221,000 acres of valley land around the Snake River, on March 15, 1943. His move was based on an assumption that creating a monument did not require congressional approval the way a national park would. Continued controversy over the Rockefeller gift still made it impossible for the monument to officially include that land, however.

Congress acted by passing a bill in an attempt to abolish the monument, which Roosevelt vetoed. The State of Wyoming too filed a lawsuit for overthrowing the presidential proclamation, but the suit failed.

A compromise was finally reached and the Rockefeller lands were transferred from private to public ownership on December 16, 1949, when they were added to the Monument. A bill merging most of Jackson Hole National Monument (except for its southern extent, which was added to the National Elk Refuge) into Grand Teton National Park was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on September 14, 1950. The scenic highway that extends from the northern border of Grand Teton National Park to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park was named the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway (see map) to recognize Rockefeller's contribution to protecting the area.

Tetons and the Snake River

We covered Grand Teton National Park in the last, but not the least, leg of our tour. We stayed at Jackson Lake Lodge (see map above). The Lodge has a front glass paneling, through which one gets a magnificent panoramic view of the Tetons. Few hotels would be able to boast of having a better location. We went around the Park, by road and by waterway but the Tetons never looked so beautiful. Unfortunately, the camera does no justice to what a human eye can see and what you see below is only an approximation of what we saw through the glass paneling of the Lodge.

We went rafting in Snake River in a dinghy (see picture below) and it was fun. The Snake River runs North-South and parallel to the Teton Range before turning West and eventually joining the Columbia River which empties into the Pacific. Our helmsman was a part-time worker (summer) at the Grand Teton National Park and was pursuing his Masters in Park Management at a University in an adjacent State. His mother was a Ranger and was presently posted in the same National Park. He seemed quite knowledgeable about wildlife in the Park and there never was a dull moment. He asked us to keep looking for wildlife near the river bank but we were not lucky enough to spot anything but a single Bald Eagle, few Cranes or some other predatory birds, and a couple of Beavers.

Going East….to West-13

2009-08-27T03:10:00.001-07:00

Lakes, Rivers and Waterfalls

Maps courtesy Wikipedia.

You can see all lakes and water channels in the map on Top. Uncluttered map immediately above is for better understanding by comparing with the Top map.

Four major rivers flow through the Yellowstone National Park: Yellowstone River, Gallatin River, Gibbon River, and Firehole River. Last three-named rivers flow through the Northern section of the Park. Confluence of Gibbon and Firehole Rivers forms Madison River. Both the Madison River and the Gallatin River are headwater tributaries of the Missouri River. These two rivers, along with the Jefferson River converge near Three Forks, Montana, to form the Missouri. Although Snake River has its origin in Yellowstone National Park, it mostly flows through the neighboring Grand Teton National Park. Yellowstone, Lewis and Shoshone are the three major lakes in the Park (Shoshone and Lewis Lakes are on the West of the road leading from the South Entrance). Yellowstone Lake is the largest with its perimeter measuring over 100 miles.

Angling in Yellowstone National Park is a major tourist attraction. The park contains, as you can easily guess from the Top Map, hundreds of miles of accessible, high-quality trout rivers containing wild trout populations—over 200 creeks, streams and rivers are fishable. There are 45 fishable lakes and several large lakes are easily accessible to visitors. Additionally, the park's remote sections provide anglers ample opportunity to visit rivers, streams, creeks and lakes that receive little angling pressure. With the exception of one specially designated drainage, all the park's waters are restricted to artificial lures and fly fishing. The Madison, Firehole and a section of the Gibbon rivers are restricted to fly fishing only. (Extracted from Wikipedia.)

Cascades and waterfalls are abundant as well: Tower Falls, Gibbon Falls, Lewis Falls, Firehole Falls and Keplar Cascades are the major names. Three deep canyons are located in the Park, cut through the volcanic tuff of the Yellowstone Plateau by rivers over the last 640,000 years. The Lewis River flows through Lewis Canyon in the South, and the Yellowstone River has carved two colorful canyons while flowing to the North; the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River is a major attraction for all tourists in general and for the aesthetically-minded in particular. The walk along the rim of the Canyon has even a spot named as the Artist Point. Grand Canyon has two spectacular waterfalls; Upper and Lower Falls.

You can see below the tranquil lakes, turbulent waterfalls and the rapids on Yellowstone River that fall somewhere in between the two.

Going East…to West-12

2009-08-25T05:33:00.001-07:00

Wild Life in Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park has the largest concentration of wildlife in the lower 48 states. The wildlife that visitors want to see the most in Yellowstone are Bears, Wolves, Moose, Elk, Bison, Badgers, Otters, Fox and any newborn critter.

The following are the National Park Service Statistics for the wildlife of Yellowstone:

61 Different mammals
Along with black bears over 500 grizzlies live in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem
Gray wolves were restored in 1995; more than 370 live in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem..
Wolverine and Lynx live in the park and are some of the rarest mammals to spot.
Seven native species of ungulates—elk, mule deer, bison, moose, bighorn sheep, pronghorn and white-tailed deer—live

here, including one of the largest herds of elk in the United States.
Non-native mountain goats have colonized the northwestern and northeastern portions of the park.

(Taken from www.yellowstonenationalpark.com/wildlife.htm)

Bison once numbered between 30 and 60 million throughout North America, and Yellowstone remains one of their last strongholds. Their populations had increased from less than 50 in the park in 1902 to 4,000 by 2003. The park's bison population reached a peak in 2005 with 4,900 animals. The relatively large bison populations are a concern for ranchers, who fear that the species can transmit bovine diseases to their domesticated cousins. However, the animal activists argue that the possibility for disease transmission is not as great as some ranchers apprehend.

Starting in 1914, in an effort to protect elk populations, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds to be used for the purposes of destroying wolves and by 1926 Park Service had killed 136 wolves, and wolves were virtually eliminated from Yellowstone. Wolf was one of the first mammal species to be listed as endangered with the passing of the Endangered Species Act in 1973 and by the 1990s, Federal government had reversed its views on wolves. 66 Canadian wolves were reintroduced in 1995/96 and this reintroduction has stabilized the populations. A survey conducted in 2005 reported that there were 13 wolf packs, totaling 118 individuals in Yellowstone and 326 in the entire ecosystem. Consequently, on February 27, 2008 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population from the endangered species list.

An estimated 600 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with more than half of the population living within Yellowstone. The grizzly is currently listed as a threatened species, however the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that they intend to take it off the endangered species list for the Yellowstone region.

Population figures for elk are in excess of 30,000—the largest population of any large mammal species in Yellowstone. The northern herd has decreased enormously since the mid-1990s, and this has been attributed to wolf predation and causal effects such as elk using more forested regions to evade predation, consequently making it harder for researchers to accurately count them. The northern herd migrates west into southwestern Montana in the winter. The southern herd migrates southward, and the majority of these elk winter on the National Elk Refuge, immediately southeast of Grand Teton National Park.

In 2003, the tracks of one female lynx and her cub were spotted and followed for over three kilometers. Fecal material and other evidence obtained were tested and confirmed to be those of a lynx. No visual confirmation was made, however. Lynx have not been seen in Yellowstone since 1998. Other less commonly seen mammals include the mountain lion and wolverine. The mountain lion has an estimated population of only 25 individuals parkwide but accurate population figures for wolverine are not known.

Eighteen species of fish live in Yellowstone, including the core range of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout —a fish highly sought by anglers. Native sport fish species caught in Yellowstone waterways are subject to a catch and release law. Yellowstone is also home to six species of reptiles, such as the painted turtle and western rattlesnake, and four species of amphibians, including the Boreal Chorus Frog.

311 species of birds have been reported, almost half of which nest in Yellowstone. As of 1999, twenty-six pairs of nesting bald eagles have been documented. Extremely rare sightings of whooping cranes have been recorded, however only three examples of this species are known to live in the Rocky Mountains, out of 385 known worldwide.

(Extracted from Wikipedia)

We were fortunate in sharing a road with a small herd of bison as you can see from the pictures below. We could site a lone bear cub and managed to ‘shoot’ it before it disappeared. We did sight a bald eagle but not in the Yellowstone National Park. We saw it clearly while taking a raft-ride in Snake river in the Grand Teton National park with our helmsman doubling as our guide. Bison are probably the most visible wildlife in Yellowstone; one can see them sometimes in close vicinity of the hotels and lodges. Deer, of all kinds, come next. Now onto the pictures……

Going East….to West-11

2009-08-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

Thermal Features in Yellowstone National Park

One can see a variety of thermal features in Yellowstone National Park: Hot Springs, Cone/Fountain Geysers and Mud Pots/Volcanoes. It is said that the colours and shapes that inspire artists have geothermal origin. Thomas Moran (you may recall his role in Hayden Geological Survey in 1871) was greatly impressed with various tints (Yellow, Red, White and Pink) that one sees on rocks lining Yellowstone River’s Grand Canyon; he had once remarked that these “tints are beyond the reach of human art” although he did try to capture these beautiful colours on canvas while painting the Grand Canyon. These tints are caused by the chemical reaction that the minerals have on the rock. What Thomas Moran says about Grand Canyon also holds true for these thermal features and more since besides the colours mentioned above, one also sees Blue and Green probably due to greater presence of Sulphur (Sulfur). One gets a little uncomfortable with the strong odour of Sulphur while walking alongside some of these. What an element Sulphur is,—it gives heat, colour and a strong odour to anything that it comes in contact with.

Mud Pots or Volcanoes are a little different from these geysers. These can be simply described as bubbling mud and are caused by a perfect mix of heat, gases, water, volcanic rock, minerals, acid and even living microorganisms called “thermophiles”. These heat-loving microorganisms consume some of the gases and help convert them into sulphuric (sulfuric) acid. The acid breaks down rock to form clay—clay that mixes with water to form these mud pots. I read somewhere that when one sees them, one gets a feeling that one is watching a planet being born. How true indeed!

You can now see below various colours that these thermal features are dressed in.

Going East….to West-10

2009-08-21T08:30:00.001-07:00

Old Faithful

Yellowstone National Park abounds with geothermal features (hot springs, cone and fountain geysers, mud pots and mud volcanoes etc) and although visiting them takes a large chunk of visitors’ time, one feels happy at the end for having seen such an unimaginable variety. Each thermal feature is uniquely different. Besides these thermal features, Yellowstone river has its own Grand Canyon and of course its wildlife.

(Extracted from Wikipedia)

Old Faithful is a cone geyser (see illustration above). Old Faithful was named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition to Yellowstone and was the first geyser in the park to receive a name. (This expedition was a follow-up of the first expedition in 1869 that we had mentioned earlier). The geyser, as well as the nearby Old Faithful Inn, is part the Old Faithful Historic District.

You can see the Old Faithful Inn in the background

Waiting for the eruption…

Eruption begins…

Eruptions can throw up 14–32.000 litres of boiling water to a height of 106–185 feet lasting from 1.5 to 5 minutes. The average height of an eruption is 145 feet and the highest recorded eruption was 185 feet high. Eruptions often occur about 90 minutes apart, but this interval can range from 45 to 125 minutes on occasion. Over the years, the length of the interval has increased, which may be the result of earthquakes affecting subterranean water levels. These disruptions have rendered the earlier mathematical relationship (made in 1938) inaccurate, but have in fact made Old Faithful more predictable. With a margin of error of 10 minutes, Old Faithful will erupt 65 minutes after an eruption lasting less than 2.5 minutes or 91 minutes after an eruption lasting more than 2.5 minutes. The reliability of Old Faithful can be attributed to the fact that it is not connected to any other thermal features of the Upper Geyser Basin within which it is located. (see sketch from Wikipedia below)

Eruption gathers momentum

Probably the mid-point

On the wane…

Old Faithful is not the tallest or largest geyser in the park; that title belongs to the less predictable Steamboat Geyser which has not erupted during last 40 years.It would be interesting to know that Old Faithful was often used as laundry in the early days of the park. Garments placed in the crater during quiescence were found to be thoroughly washed as they were ejected by the eruption. We shall view pictures of other geothermal features in Going East ..to West –11 and I hope you would find each of them as unique as we had found them.

Going East….to West-9

2009-08-20T13:22:00.001-07:00

Journey to Yellowstone National Park

Map by Wikipedia

By Air By Road

Map by National geographic

Onward Journey (By Road) From Salt Lake City (Utah) to Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)

Return Journey (By Road)

We flew into Salt Lake City airport by midday. For once, I was not overawed by an US airport. It was not very glamorous but seemed functionally efficient. We had a long drive ahead of us to the Yellowstone National Park. We were in hurry to get going but I simply could not get past Abraham Lincoln’s statue at the airport without stopping there for a while. While making my journey to Yellowstone through the print and the electronic media I had got to know three great American Presidents better—Jefferson and the two Roosevelts but our physical journey to this national Park had taken us now near the fourth great President leaving out only George Washington from the list of all time great US Presidents. I wondered how long would it take for the U.S. to have someone who would be approximately close to the caliber of any of these great five.

We rented a car and set out for the downtown looking for an Indian restaurant since we knew we would not be able to taste Indian food for some days. We soon found one; it was called Tandoor and was run by a young Andhra lady who had switched over from her job in a biotech firm. In Bay Area in California, serving staff in most Indian restaurants is mostly Mexican. This was quite understandable since California has a large number of of Mexican immigrants. Solitary server in Tandoor appeared to be a Garhwali (Indian) but turned out to be from Nepal.

We brought some food stuff and fruits for the road journey and were soon on Interstate 15. This highway runs North and enters Idaho state; it turns East from Idaho Falls and enters the West Entrance (in Motana State) to the Yellowstone National Park. We had decided to take a scenic alternative –route 89 that breaks to the East and away from Interstate 15, goes via Bear Lake and enters through the South Entrance of Yellowstone after crossing Jackson and the Tetons. (see map above)

We stopped at Bear Lake. A small plateau overlooked the Lake and a strong breeze flowed while we looked down at the bluish Lake below. We had recently returned after visiting Chicago and the Lake Michigan and as I stood looking at the Bear Lake, I found myself, for the second time, envious of this Nature’s gift to North America –its massive Lakes. The scenic route becomes particularly noticeable as we cross the Bear Lake which also marks the interstate boundary between Utah (South) and Wyoming (North). The narrow road runs parallel to an equally narrow river. One finds many picnic spots en route and we also came across a roadsign that informed us that the river had served as lifeline for the Indians and also for the early settlers.

I have always loved looking out of a window—be it a moving car or a train: all other human senses have such a limited range. One can at least perceive a sizeable fraction of this world through one’s eyes. As a travelling young man, I remember deliberately keeping awake at night and simply looking out…..even though one could see only the shadows and the silhouettes. But one can perceive things without actually seeing them.

It was dinnertime when we reached Jackson town. All tourists coming from South have to pass through this town before entering Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park and National Elk Refuge. Jackson boasts of National Museum Of Wildlife Art and it also holds Grand Teton Music Festival. Wikipedia informs us that some celebrities like Harrison Ford, Nick Cheney and Tiger Woods maintain part-time residences in and around this town. The entrance to the town square, through which the road to National Parks pass, has a large arch of shed elk antlers and this was how the locals guided us when we asked for directions.

Night had set in when we reached in the vicinity of the Tetons. We could see the silhouettes of the peaks very clearly. We were now approaching the Yellowstone National Park. We reduced our speed in deference to the roadsigns posted en route. Moreover I have experienced a collision with wildlife once. I was travelling in an army vehicle at night when a deer, coming from nowhere, bolted across the road; my driver could not have seen it before it came on the road and his reflexive braking was not good enough to avoid the collision. The saddest part was that death was not instantaneous and the animal lay gasping for air for some time before breathing its last.

It was about 10:00 PM when we reached our destination—Grant Village.

Going East…..to West –8

2009-08-16T12:57:00.001-07:00

Yellowstone National Park

Roosevelts’ Contribution to the cause of Conservation

One third of total land in the United States, more than 700 million acres, is owned by the Federal Government by way of National Parks, National Forests and Grasslands, Wilderness Areas, BLM (Bureau of Land management) land, Defence land and Indian reservations, etc. In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii and therefore the Federal Government became the biggest landowner ever. This vast land might have been lost if the dispersal policy of the 19th century had continued. Until the 1890s the Federal Government promoted enterprise or raised revenue by giving away or selling nearly a billion acres of land: to homesteaders, veterans, railroads, the States. In 1901 the conservation movement gained a strong ally in President Theodore Roosevelt and during his visit to the Grand Canyon along with the naturalist John Muir that year, Ted Roosevelt appealed to American citizens to preserve lands “forever, with their majestic beauty all unmarred.” During his Presidential tenure, Roosevelt increased national forests by 150 million acres and established five national parks, more than 50 wildlife refuges, and 18 national monuments, including the Grand Canyon. Perhaps more importantly, Ted Roosevelt made a serious effort to create a conservationist mindset among the Americans and seems to have succeded since it is discernible even today among most Americans, although a century has elapsed.

Yellowstone National Park was already in existence when Ted Roosevelt –the conservationist President arrived at the scene but his equally famous namesake—Franklin D. Roosevelt--, who followed him into the Whitehouse many years later, made a significant contribution in extending the boundaries of the the original Grand Teton National Park to its present configuration. But more about it later when we come to the Tetons.

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, comprising of the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, seven national forests and two wildlife refuges, is the largest nearly intact natural area in the contiguous (also known as lower 48 states) United States. Bison, elk, bears and eagles once thrived nationwide. Now these and many other species survive in this ‘island of hope.’

Yellowstone National Park

vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/.../Locale/framework.html

* World's First National Park
* 2,219,789 acres (Larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined)
* Wildlife - 7 species of ungulates (bison, moose, elk, pronghorn), 2 species of bear and 67 other mammals, 322 species of birds, 16 species of fish and of course the gray wolf.
* Plants - There are over 1,100 species of native plants, more than 200 species of exotic plants and over 400 species of thermopholes.
* Geology - The park is home to one of the world's largest calderas with over 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers. It has one of the world's largest petrifiied forests. It has over 290 waterfalls with the 308' Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River as it's showpiece.
* Yellowstone Lake is the largest (132 sq. mi.) high altitude (7,732') lake in North America.
* 9 visitor centers
* 7 campgrounds (over 450 campsites)

(Extracted from the web)

Geography of Yellowstone National Park

Approximately 96 percent of the land area of Yellowstone National Park is located within the state of Wyoming. Another 3 percent is within Montana, with the remaining 1 percent in Idaho.The Continental Divide, running diagonally through the Park, separates water drainages leading to the Pacific Ocean to the West and those leading to the Atlantic Ocean to the East and South. The two major rivers in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem – Yellowstone and the Snake River –originate not far from each other but on opposite sides of the Divide. As a result, the waters of the Snake River flow to the Pacific Ocean, while those of the Yellowstone River find their way to the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico.

History of the Park

We have already seen how in 1806, John Colter left Lewis and Clark Expedition and accompanied the two trappers on their way to the beaver-rich Yellowstone River. This association was short and Colter decided to be on his own. As he explored southwards, he entered the present area of the Yellowstone National Park. He is reported to have observed a geothermal area in the Northeastern section of the Park, near Tower Junction(see map above). After surviving wounds he suffered in a battle with members of the Crow and Blackfoot tribes in 1809, he gave a description of a place of "fire and brimstone" that was dismissed by most people as fiction. Over the next forty years, numerous reports from mountain men and trappers told of boiling mud, steaming rivers and petrified trees, yet most of these reports were also not believed.

In May 1860, naturalist F. V. Hayden (see map above-Hayden Valley lying between Lake and Canyon) had accompanied an Army Surveyor Team in its mission to cross over the Continental Divide and enter into the Yellowstone region but the mission had to be abandoned due to heavy snowfall. The United States remained preoccupied with the Civil War and its aftermath for a decade and the first detailed expedition was undertaken only in 1869. Hayden returned to Yellowstone region with a second, larger expedition, the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871. He compiled a comprehensive report on Yellowstone, which included large-format photographs by W.H.Jackson, as well as paintings by Thomas Moran (their respective works are highly respected today). Once this report was accepted by the Government, the necessary legislation followed soon and the Yellowstone National Park came into existence on March 1, 1872. But as we shall see later, the Tetons were not so fortunate and had to wait, firstly for being designated as a National Park (1929), and then even longer for achieving its present size (1950) and probably stature.

Going East…..to West-7

2009-08-13T13:55:00.001-07:00

Yellowstone National Park and Lewis –Clark Expedition

Taken from National Geographic

www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/montana/

You may recall that during their return voyage Lewis and Clark had decided to follow a separate route after reaching the Three Forks. Lewis, with some men, would take a northern route; follow the Nez Perce route to the Great Falls of Missouri and explore the Marias River (upstream) further North before falling back to the Missouri River. He would follow the Missouri River downstream before reaching its junction with Yellowstone River where he hoped to reunite with Clark coming up from his southern route. Clark and the remaining men would take a southern route; cross the Continental Divide between the Missouri and the Yellowstone River. (The party had camped 3 miles east of what is now Bozeman). They would build canoes after reaching the Yellowstone River and would go along the river, downstream, till its junction with the Missouri.

It may be seen that Yellowstone River originates in Wyoming State but runs its longer course in Montana. It flows northward through Yellowstone National Park, feeding and draining the Yellowstone Lake, then dropping over the Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls at the head of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. After passing through the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone, downstream of the Grand Canyon, the river flows northward into Montana. Clark’s journey was through the Montana section of the Yellowstone River but this expedition has made an indirect contribution to the development of Yellowstone National Park.

As Lewis and Clark expedition was on the final leg of their voyage, going downstream in Missouri, they met two fur trappers --Joseph Dickson of Illinois and Forest Hancock of Missouri—who were coming upstream. They had begun their journey in August 1804, had run into problems with Indians but had nevertheless continued their journey towards the Yellowstone River. Lewis, who was eager to help establish an American presence in Upper Louisiana, gave them information about the area from which the expedition was returning and the two-some was proceeding to. He provided them with some sketch maps, and briefed them about places where they could find beaver in abundance. Dickson and Hancock decided to postpone their trip to the Yellowstone and spend more time with the Expedition.

Probably, the duo had returned so that they could get an experienced hand from the Corps of Discovery to join them in their Yellowstone venture. They had ascertained from Private John Colter that he was willing to join them before asking the captains for their approval. Colter’s enlistment was to expire two months later but Lewis did not want others to follow Colter without completing their terms of engagement; fortunately everyone else wanted to return home and Colter was allowed to go with the trappers. As Stephen E. Ambrose describes in his ‘Undaunted Courage’, “Colter turned back upstream, back to the wilderness, back to the mountains, on his way into the history books as America’s first mountain man and the discoverer of Yellowstone National Park.”

Three Forks and Bozeman had featured in the route followed by the Expedition. Both these places are small towns now and are located to the North of the Yellowstone National Park but in close vicinity. See pictures below. Three Forks is immediately below.

Central Main Street in Three Forks town -Montana

www.city-data.com/city/Three-Forks-Montana.html

Main Street in Bozeman-Montana

www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc30472.php

Going East ….to West - 6

2009-08-13T13:53:00.001-07:00

Return Journey

Fort Clastop

vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/LivingWith/Historical/Lewi.

Lewis and Clark decided to make a camp south of the Columbia for spending the winter. They built Fort Clatsop, named after the local Clatsop Indians. The members of the expedition had gone through hazards of great magnitude before reaching their destination--the Pacific but now they found the routine at Fort Clastop quite monotonous and therefore boring. To add to their dismay the rain was constant. The captains (Lewis and Clark) were anxious to meet one of the trading ships that came frequently to the mouth of the Columbia from United States or from Britain. One ship did stop to trade with the Indians during the corps's time on the West Coast. But the Indians did not tell Lewis and Clark about it, and the ship left without them ever knowing it had been there.

Readying for the Return (March 1806)

The members of the expedition were all keen to go home. The timing of the return journey, however, would be critical. They would have to wait for the snow over the Rockies to melt before attempting to cross them, but if they waited too long, the Missouri River to the East of the Rockies would be frozen.By the third week in March the expedition was ready to commence its return voyage. The men loaded their three dugouts, purchased a fourth from the local Indians, and stole one from the nearest village. On March 23 the Corps of Discovery took its leave of Fort Clatsop and began to travel up the Columbia River. Chinookan Indians were forever attempting to steal the Americans’ meagre supplies and a constant watch had to to be maintained. Getting around all the falls of Columbia River was tougher than was expected and the expedition abandoned its boats and chose the overland route with horses acquired from the hospitable Walla Walla tribe.

Among the Nez Perce

www.blaircongregationalucc.org/Alton_Larsen.htm

Parting and Reuniting

The expedition arrived back in Nez Perce territory and the men were as starving as they were when they had come there during their onward journey. Nez Perce fed them once again with dried fish and roots. By early June the expedition was equipped with fresh horses and ready to continue East. Nez Perce advised them to wait until July for undertaking the crossing of the Bitterroots but the Americans were not prepared to wait. The expedition left the Nez Perce on June 10. It had been spring on the plain, but in the Bitterroots it was still winter and the Americans soon found themselves in ten feet of snow and were forced to return to the Nez Perce for help. They were now with Indian guides and reached Travelers Rest on 30 June.

Lewis and Clark decided to part ways in order to explore more of the Louisiana territory. Lewis and nine men went North to explore the Marias River, and Clark and the others would go along the Yellowstone River in the South. Lewis knew that the Marias territory was inhabited by the Blackfeet Indians and therefore was dangerous. They soon found that out in a skirmish with the Blackfeet. Fortunately there were no American casualties but Lewis's group had to flee to safety since two Indians had been killed in the encounter and the reprisal by the Indians was a certain possibility. Clark and his party too got a first hand experience with the Crow tribe, the great horse thieves of the plains when they lost half of their horses and yet, never saw a Crow.

Lewis and Clark were reunited on August 11, although Lewis had been injured in a firing accident just before the reunion.

Reuniting of Lewis and Clark. Picture taken from Wikipedia.

Returning to St Louise

Lewis and Clark and their men reached back at the Mandan villages, where they bade farewell to some members of the expedition, including Sacagawea. Americans left Mandan villages on August 17 but were apprehensive about meeting the Sioux Indians en route. On August 30 nearly a hundred armed and mounted Sioux warriors lined the banks of the Missouri but the Americans kept their boats in the middle of the river and only a verbal exchange took place between the two parties. Going downstream, the expedition was now making as much as 80 miles a day. Lewis and Clark began to meet traders who informed them that the expedition-group had been given up for dead.

On the morning of September 23, the Corps of Discovery entered the Mississippi River and at noon disembarked at St. Louis—two years, four months, and ten days after they had left. A thousand people of St. Louis had gathered on the bank to greet and welcome the heroes.

When Jefferson directed the “Corps of Discovery to find a water route to the Pacific and explore the uncharted West, he believed woolly mammoths, erupting volcanoes, and a mountain of pure salt awaited them. What they found was no less mind-boggling : some 300 species unknown to science, nearly 50 Indian tribes, and the Rockies.”* (*From National Geographic website)

Going East…to West - 5

2009-08-10T21:20:00.001-07:00

Reaching the Pacific

Crossing the Rockies

The expedition, in May 1805, almost lost one of its pirogues and precious journals and supplies along with it, but for a quick action by Sacagawea. The expedition was now eager to catch a glimpse of the Rockies, which they knew stood between them and the Pacific. On June 3 the expedition reached Three Forks in the River and were divided in their opinion as to which branch would take them in the desired direction--towards The Great Falls of Missouri—that Indians at Fort Mandan had told them about. (See picture)

Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea at Three Forks www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/338232...

On June 13 Lewis became the first white man to see the Great Falls of the Missouri River.

The Arrival of Captain Lewis at the Great Falls of the Missouri, June 13, 1805

formontana.net/fritz.html

But there were five separate falls, not one as the Indians had said—and the farthest was about 12-miles away. By June 16 Lewis had rejoined, and the portage around the Falls began some days later and proved to be the hardest physical task of the trip so far. It took them more than a month to go around the Falls and re-enter the river. The Rockies were now the next obstacle and could be crossed only with the help of horses. Indians at Fort Mandan had told them about horse-rich Shoshone tribe (Sacagawea was a Shoshone).

www.northernplainsbuffaloproducts.com/.../784745

First Shoshone was spotted on August 11 and he led the expedition to his chief, who serendipitously turned out to be Sacagawea’s brother. Horses were procured but at prices that went up everyday. An old Shoshone described a trail that went over the Rockies which was used by Nez Perce tribe that lived on the other side of the Rockies. Once over the Continental Divide, the expedition will be merely required to go along the Columbia River for reaching the Pacific. Snow began to fall as the expedition set off for the Continental Divide. It was tough going with food supplies running low but the expedition finally crossed over the Continental Divide and entered the Bitterroots valley. There the Americans met a band of Flathead Indians and bought more horses for the journey across the Bitterroot Mountains. The expedition made contact with the Nez Perce-probably the friendliest and the most helpful of all Indian tribes that they had come across. The Nez Perce gave these impoverished and starving Americans dried fish and roots. The captains then set up camp on the banks of the Clearwater River, a branch of the Snake River, itself a branch of the mighty Columbia. There they hollowed five dugouts. Now they were ready to sail the remainder part of their journey and reach the Pacific. On October 7 they broke camp and started down the Clearwater.

"Ocian in View!"

forrestgallery.net/paintings/oregon.htm

blogs.smithsonianmag.com/

The Corps of Discovery reached the Snake River on October 10, the Columbia six days later. There the Americans paused to rest and meet Indians who had gathered along the shore. Then the explorers headed down the Columbia, portaging around the river's roughest spots in the Cascades, the last mountain range between them and the Pacific. On November 7 Clark thought they had reached the Pacific: "Ocian in view! O! the joy," he wrote in his journal. But they were actually at the estuary of the Columbia—still 20 miles from the coast. Inclement weather pinned them down for three weeks. But by the middle of November they made it to the Pacific.

Going East …..to West - 4

2009-08-05T12:44:00.001-07:00

Lewis and Clark Expedition (May 1804 –Sept 1806): The Onward Journey

www.worldbook.com/.../lewis_and_clark/expedition

www.npca.org/stateoftheparks/lewis_clark_trail/

National Geographic maintains a comprehensive website on Lewis and Clark expedition http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/. This link is interactive and one can see the whole expedition in various phases; each phase has a map of the route,followed by a brief description of their journey but more importantly, it has an inter-active facility of looking at the present political map of the United States for understanding the progress of the expedition. This inter-active facility also extends to the flora and fauna, the various Indian tribes that the Expedition had come across and extracts from the journals and the maps written/made by Lewis and Clark during each phase of the expedition.

It may be mentioned that the description of the voyage as given below is primarily based on the National Geographic website mentioned above. I have also taken some pictures from Wikipedia and some other websites on Lewis and Clark expedition.

www.ohs.org/.../focus/lewis_and_clark_oregon.cfm

Meriwether Lewis William Clark

The Journey Begins

www.archives.gov/calendar/features/2004/04.html

By 1800 St Louis, situated at the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River, had become the largest and most important town on the American frontier and was rapidly becoming the centre of the lucrative Missouri River fur trade. It was here that Meriwether Lewis set up his preparatory camp in the Fall of 2003. The “Corps of Discovery” comprising of Capt Lewis, Capt Clark and approx 45 men in a keelboat and two smaller pirogues set out on May 14, 1804 for traveling up the Missouri river as far as possible, then looking for a passage by water to the Pacific. Clark remained on the keelboat for most of the time, navigating and preparing maps while Lewis often walked along the shoreline studying flora and fauna. They had travelled for 600 miles when they met a party of Oto and Missouri Indians on August 2 for the first time. This first encounter with Indians went well, the two sides exchanging gifts. They entered the Sioux Indians territory many days later and encountered the peaceable Yankton Sioux who cautioned the Americans about the Teton Sioux that the expedition was likely to meet subsequently. The Teton Sioux greeted the expedition with “ill-disguised hostility”, but somehow a crisis was averted. “The Americans headed up the river—with a potential enemy behind them and a fast-approaching winter ahead.”

Fort Mandan

www.sidrichardsonmuseum.org/.../art/19

Expedition reached the villages of friendly Mandan but the winter had set in and the members began construction of Fort Mandan –protection against winter and attack by the Sioux. Lewis and Clark learned much about the countryside from the Mandan and their neighbors Hidatsa. They hired Toussaint Charbonneau. a French Canadian living among the Hidatsa as an interpreter. Charbonneau, his Shoshone wife, Sacagawea, and their baby son would travel with the expedition when it left Fort Mandan. Lewis and Clark spent much of the winter writing a report about what they had seen so far and the report and Clark’s map along with botanical and mineral specimens –aboard the keelboat with a dozen expedition members was dispatched to St Louis for their onward journey to President Jefferson. Six dugout canoes and the two larger pirogues were loaded with supplies and equipment. “The expedition was about to take a step into territory no American had ever entered.”

Front of the sculpture showing Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Sacagawea and her baby. Kansas City.

www.boskydellnatives.com/lewisandclark.htm (Wikipedia)

Going East….to West –3

2009-08-04T07:35:00.001-07:00

Lewis and Clark Expedition : Background

www.worldbook.com/.../lewis_and_clark/expedition

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carte_Lewis-C...

Jefferson was interested in the West long before Louisiana Purchase on political and also on scientific grounds. He had asked George Rogers Clark, who had led Virginia militia in the 1778 invasion of the Illinois country, to consider leading an exploratory expedition to the West but the latter had declined. John Ledyard, who had accompanied Captain James Cook on his third voyage in search of the Northwest Passage in 1776 had conceived of a grand scheme of exploring a trade route across Siberia and through North America from west to east. Jefferson, serving then as the US ambassador to France advanced him ‘small amount of money and larger measures of personal support’. Ledyard was arrested by the Russians before he could leave Siberia.

Sometime in 1791 Jefferson made the acquaintance of French botanist Andre Michaux. While staying in the United States, Michaux began to consider an expedition to the Pacific and brought his idea to the American Philosophical Society in 1792 and impressed Jefferson who was the vice president of the Society. Jefferson raised money for Michaux and wrote exploration instructions for him which were to serve as the first draft for his later directions to Lewis. But by 1796 Michaux was no more interested in going to the Pacific.

It was Alexander Mackenzie’s 1801 best selling book describing the author’s journeys through North America and the prospects of the lucrative fur business that galvanized Jefferson into action, setting Lewis and Clark expedition in motion. He chose his own secretary Capt Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition. Capt Lewis co-opted his old Army friend and younger brother of George Rogers Clark mentioned above, William Clark for the Expedition. Although the object of the mission in Jefferson’s own words was “to explore the Missouri River and such principal stream of it, as by its source and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across the continent for the purpose of of commerce”, his further instructions to Lewis went way beyond latter’s main task. Jefferson also directed Lewis to report on the topography, flora and fauna and the natives living in the area of his expedition and their characteristics.

Going East….to West -2

2009-08-03T00:25:00.001-07:00

Louisiana Purchase

Map from Wikipedia

Louisiana had been a Spanish colony since 1762. The city of New Orleans controlled the Mississippi River through its location; other locations for ports had been tried and had not succeeded. New Orleans was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the parts of the United States west of the Appalachians. A treaty signed with Spain on October 27, 1795, gave American merchants "right of deposit" in New Orleans, meaning they could use the port to store goods for export. The treaty also recognized American rights to navigate the entire Mississippi River, which had become vital to the growing trade of their western territories. In 1798, Spain revoked this treaty, which greatly upset Americans. In 1801 however, the right to deposit goods from the United States was fully restored. Napoleon Bonaparte returned Louisiana to French control from Spain in 1800, under the Treaty of San Ildefonso, but the treaty was kept secret, and Louisiana remained under Spanish control until a transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before the secession to the United States.

“Jefferson had sent Livingston to Paris in 1801, after discovering the transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France. Livingston was to pursue a purchase of New Orleans, but failed. In 1802, Du Pont, who was living in the United States at the time and had close ties to Jefferson, as well as to the political powers in France began to help negotiate with France at the request of Jefferson. He engaged in back-channel diplomacy with Napoleon on Jefferson's behalf during a visit to France, and originated the idea of the much larger Louisiana Purchase as a way to defuse potential conflict between the United States and Napoleon over North America …Jefferson disliked the idea of purchasing Louisiana from France as that could imply that France had a right to be in Louisiana.*” (*Extracted from Wikipedia)

Moreover, “Jefferson, a strict constructionist, also believed that a U.S. president did not have the authority to engage in such a deal because it was not specified in the constitution.” (Extracted from Wikipedia)

Monroe and Livingston, under instruction from President Jefferson traveled to Paris to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans in 1803, the latter arriving some days ahead of the former. Their interest was only in the port and its environs and they were prepared to spend up to $10 million for New Orleans and the immediate area surrounding. it. Ironically, Napoleon was considering surrendering the Louisiana Territory to the United States; probably, since the failure of his plans for the re-enslaving of the freed population of Haiti had led Bonaparte to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire, and on April 11, 1803, just days before Monroe's arrival, he offered Livingston all of Louisiana instead of just New Orleans for $15 million. American negotiator was dumbfounded as he had not anticipated the much larger transfer of territory. Jefferson too decided to waive his strict constructionist views in order to make the purchase. It was a win win situation for everyone; Napoleon was delighted and rightly so. “He had title to Louisiana, but no power to to enforce it. The Americans were sure to overrun it long before he could get an army there ----if he could.*” Moreover, he felt that by selling Louisiana to the United States , he would have given England a rival who, sooner or later, will humble her pride. (*From ‘Undaunted Courage’ by Stephen E. Ambrose)

Going East ….to West

2009-07-31T22:58:00.001-07:00

I knew of Thomas Jefferson as one of the better presidents of the United States and also for being an architect of the Declaration of Independence. My interest in him arose sharply after I read what President John F. Kennedy had said about him while hosting a dinner for Nobel Prize winners of the Western Hemisphere in April 1962,

“ I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has been ever gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone”

Mukul and Manaswini had planned our visit to Yellowstone while I was still In India. I decided to read about Jefferson’s role in How the West was Won, possibly before undertaking the Yellowstone tour but certainly before writing about it. What you see below, is what I have extracted from various sources and I have tried to acknowledge these sources whenever possible. Italics denote a direct quote. My role has been, therefore, limited to collating of relevant information but even that takes quite some time as I have discovered.

I plan to start with Jefferson in general and his contribution towards extending the American frontier to the Pacific, in particular. I shall thereafter show the linkage between Lewis and Clark Expedition and the National Park of Yellowstone. Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks will be described pictorially while the text would be reduced to the role similar to that of the punctuation marks in a given text. Pictures are far superior to words while communicating about the visible part of our world.. may be the words can best be used for describing / expressing anything abstract and therefore invisible...

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third president of the United States, combined the roles of lawyer and statesman with those of scientist and architect. He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 to 1775. As a delegate to the Continental Congress, he drafted the Declaration of Independence. He later served as Governor of Virginia before becoming ambassador to France and then Secretary of State under George Washington. Vice President under John Adams and leader of the Democratic-republican Party, he became President in 1801, serving two terms.

Important events of Jefferson’s presidency included the Tripolitan War (1801-050; the Louisiana Purchase (1803); the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-06); and the Embargo Act (1807). After his retirement from political life, he devoted himself to intellectual activities at his home, Monticello. At the age of 76, he founded the University of Virginia. He died on July 4,1826.

(Extracted from The Story of the West published by Smithsonian Institution)

Stephen E. Ambrose in his book about Lewis and Clark Expedition -Undaunted Courage –informs us that “when Jefferson took the Oath of Office on March, 1801, the nation contained 5,308,483 persons. Nearly one out of five was a Negro slave. Although the boundaries stretched from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River, from the Great Lakes nearly to the Gulf of Mexico (roughly a thousand miles by a thousand miles), only a relatively small area was occupied. Two thirds of the people lived within fifty miles of tidewater. Only four roads crossed the Appalachian Mountains.”

“The potential of the United States, Stephen Ambrose continues, was if not limitless, certainly vast—and vastly greater if the nation could add the trans-Mississippi portion of the continent to its territory. In 1801, however, it was not clear the country could hold on to its existing territory between the Appalachians and the Mississippi, much less add more western land. The Whisky Rebellion by the trans-Appalachian residents had shown that they were already disposed to think of themselves as the germ of an independent nation that would find its outlet to the world market place not across the mountains to the Atlantic Seaboard, but by the Ohio and Mississippi river system to the Gulf of Mexico.( Jefferson’s own Vice President Aaron Burr was full of plots and schemes and conspiracies to break the west loose from the United States and form a new nation.) This threat of session was quite real since the United States had itself come into existence by an act of rebellion and secession.”

“Louisiana in 1801--that part of North America lying between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains—was up for grabs. The contestants were the British coming out of Canada, the Spanish coming up from Texas and California, the French coming up the Mississippi-Missouri from New Orleans, the Russians coming down from the Northwest, and the Americans from the East. But European ambitions for the inland empire were more theoretical than real, partly because the chief concerns of the contestants were their own wars with one another within Europe, even more because of time and distance, mountains and rivers. In 1801, the European nations were no more capable of exploring, conquering, settling, and exploiting the western two-thirds of North America than they had been in the preceding three centuries." But Jefferson’s Americans, as Stephen Ambrose informs us, had two great advantages over their European rivals. First, Americans had already started their westward movement towards Mississippi "and some of them had even crossed it to settle, most of them illegally, in Upper Louisiana. Americans, in short, were beginning to take physical possession of lands to which the Europeans had only claims or hopes. The second great advantage was that the United States had Thomas Jefferson for its leader.”

As Ambrose asserts, “In an age of imperialism, Jefferson was the greatest empire builder of all. His mind encompassed the continent. From the beginning of the revolution, he thought of the United States as a nation stretching from sea to sea (from Atlantic to Pacific).. More than any other man, he made that happen.”

VISIT CANADA –12

2009-07-30T00:10:00.001-07:00

We left for Calgary in the morning, happy that we would have to travel 50 kms less than we had expected. I continued to look out of my window and tried to take in as much of the countryside outside as was possible. One sees the Rockies and they appear nearer as frozen water channels separate them from the tourists on the road. You can see the pictures below and perhaps understand what I meant by ‘seeing things in two dimensions’..

These frozen water channels, sometimes, turn into small frozen or thawing lakes and one finds bears, deer and horned sheep (see below) straying out of the forest that lies on the other side.. There are peaceful picnic areas along the way and also trails for short hikes

Wild life seen above has been ‘shot’ by Manaswini while all other pictures of the Canadian Rockies, the Lakes, the Canyons etc have been taken by Mukul. You can see below some of the beautiful pictures taken by him during the whole tour except for the last one.

Seattle downtown as seen from the Space Shuttle.

Victoria. An impressive view of Empress Hotel

Roadside show at Victoria waterfront

With Queen Victoria in Victoria

War Memorial in Victoria

From Banff to Jasper (Below)

Turbulence and Tranquility (Below)

Rockies in varying configurations (Below)

Three Ms—Mukul, Manaswini and the Mountains

Manu now was at the wheel and we reached Banff in less than three hours. We had enough time for a leisurely lunch at a Sri Lankan counter in a food court. We reached Calgary even earlier and decided to drive around its downtown before going to the airport for returning the rental car. We had a road map of Calgary but it was not of much help and we soon lost our way. Mukul took over the wheel once again saying that he would rather drive by his instincts than follow the map. It worked and we were soon on the airport road.

We checked in at the airport and also went through the Immigration & Customs Counter that the United States maintains at Calgary airport. It meant that we would be simply coming out of the domestic section of San Francisco airport. I felt a little empty; perhaps it happens to all of us on reaching the end of all great holidays. I adjusted my watch since the local Canadian time was ahead of California time by an hour and walked into the duty free shop at the airport. I asked the young Sikh girl at the counter to give me two bottles of premium Canadian whisky--- I did want to extend my Canadian connection ….

(Concluded)

VISIT CANADA –11

2009-07-29T00:13:00.001-07:00

We set out in the morning for seeing the Sunwapta Falls.first and then onto the Athabasca Falls before taking a Tramway–similar to the Gondola at Banff but bigger—at Jasper. You can see Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls below. All these Falls are characteristic and quite different from each other but they all demonstrate the turbulent mood of water, whereas the lakes represent its tranquility.

Sunwapta Falls

Athabasca Falls

Jasper too has a cable car called Tramway that takes you to the top of the Whistler’s Mountain and one can see half a dozen mountain ranges, glacial-fed lakes,meandering rivers, and the scenic jasper town.

View of Jasper Town from above

Manu atop Whistler’s Mtn

Maligne Canyon in Jasper National Park was the last item in our itinerary and it certainly was not the least. As one follows the Canyon trail, one can cross as many bridges as one would like to, but the return journey is uphill and time consuming. We had time and energy for going a little beyond the second bridge but looking down into the Canyon while standing on the second bridge was simply great. Earlier we mentioned about two contrasting moods of water and the same can be well illustrated by these two pictures below. You can see the Maligne Canyon below and understand what the Canadian artist means by turbulent mood of the element of water. You can see the tranquil lake just below the Maligne Canyon. This lake too is near Jasper.

We returned to our hotel, located about 50 kms South of Jasper--in the evening. A couple from Belgium stayed in the adjoining suite and the man was talkative and very friendly. He talked about how Jindals and Tatas had surprised the world by taking over steel and automobile companies from Europe. Tomorrow, we drive back to Calgary.

VISIT CANADA -10

2009-07-28T00:06:00.001-07:00

“Majestic doesn't even begin to describe this place. It's like Nature saved her finest jewels for Banff and Jasper. It's the kind of place you think only exists in photographs – which is a shame, really. Photographs don't nearly do it justice.”

(Extracted from the Web—but it expresses exactly what I felt when I saw it all)

We left our hotel in Banff and set out on our journey towards Jasper. After one crosses Lake Louise village, Highway 93 (Icefields Parkway) branches off to Jasper. The journey turned out to be the most spectacular road travel that I ever had. Highway 93 is internationally known as one of the most magnificent mountain drives to be found anywhere in the world. The road curves around mountains, climbs high passes and follows three major river systems flowing through wide hanging valleys and goes past the Athabasca Glacier and Columbia Icefields; the resultant vistas simply take one’s breath away.

We stopped en route, as all tourists do, for seeing Crowfoot Glacier, Bow Lake, Peyto Lake and finally at Columbia Icefield. Glaciers and Icefields were frozen as could be expected , but the summer had not yet fully set in and some of the lakes were in the process of thawing.

Bow Lake

Bow Summit and Peyto lake

Crowfoot Glacier

We now move on to Columbia Icefield – undoubtedly a major attraction for all tourists that visit Banff and Jasper. But I think we need to know its geography too.

Continental Divide

The Columbia Icefield is composed of a massive plateau of ice, and six major glaciers (and numerous smaller ones). Straddling the Great Continental Divide (marked in RED in above map) that runs along and over the Rocky Mountains, the icefield feeds three of the continent’s major river systems: the Columbia, Mackenzie and Saskatchewan. Meltwaters from the icefield flow to three different oceans (the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic). Called a hydrological apex, it is one of only two in North America that feeds three oceans, the other being Triple Divide Peak on the Montana/Idaho border in United States at the junction of the Great and the Northern Continental Divide (marked in GREEN).

We took a tour of the Athabasca Glacier / Columbia Icefield in a snow-coach (Brewster Ice Explorer). You can see these old and new snow vehicles and also the Icefield below.

We had selected a hotel near Sunwapta Falls for Jasper – the last leg of our tour. It was quite late when we reached our hotel but we had got used to that by now..

VISIT CANADA -9

2009-07-27T00:05:00.001-07:00

Banff National Park is Canada’s first national park and the second established in North America after Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Established in 1885, the Park encompasses 6,641 square kilometers of mountainous terrain, with numerous glacier and icefields, dense coniferous forest and alpine landscapes. In 1985, the United Nations declared this Park, as one of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, a World Heritage Site. The main commercial centre of the park is the town of Banff. At 1,463 m (4,800 ft), this town has the highest elevation in Canada. Banff is a major destination for outdoor sports like hiking, biking and skiing.

We left our hotel in Banff town in the morning and headed for catching the first possible Sulphur Mountain Gondola. These Gondolas, climbing from the lower terminal at the bottom of the Sulphur Mountain, take you up to 7486 feet above sea level in about eight minutes. One gets to have a beautiful 360 degree view of all surrounding mountaintops. From the observation terrace of the upper terminal, one can walk up to the historic Cosmic Station for yet another breathtaking view of the valley below. Standing atop Sulphur Mountain, one can also see Lake Louise and Moraine Lake in the distance and these two famed lakes were next on our itinerary but more about them later. You can see the pictures of the Sulphur Mountain for now.

Gondola in flight

From Cosmic Station to Gondola Terminus and View of Banff Town from above

TransCanada Highway 1 connects Banff and Lake Louise but Bow Valley Parkway, called as Highway 1A, provides a scenic alternative. 1A also takes you via Johnston Canyon, one of Banff Park’s most visited attractions and as one walks on the pathway and sees the water gushing out of those gorges, one understands why. As I was walking to the Lower Falls, I noticed a wooden signboard with a quote from a Canadian painter. . I liked the quote and wrote it down immediately. Similar impulse had seized me when I first saw that painting in the corridor of our hotel in Victoria when we had lost no time in taking its picture. It always is a spontaneous reaction. The sign also mentioned that Walter Phillips was so captivated by the beauty of Johnston Canyon, that he kept returning to it, again and again, to enjoy its many moods.

“Water is the most expressive element in nature. It responds to every mood from tranquility to turbulence.”

Lower Falls in Johnston Canyon

Lake Louise, known as ‘Lake of little fishes’ by Stony Indians, was first shown by a Stony guide to a Canadian explorer in 1882; the latter wanted to name it as Emerald Lake. However the colonial Government had different ideas and the lake was named after Queen Victoria’s daughter as we had seen earlier.

You can see above the Lake Louise at it appears in summer. The emerald colour of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water from the glaciers that overlook the lake. You can also see Chateau Lake Louise - a luxury resort hotel built in the early decades of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway. You can now see it below as we saw it when the summer had not yet set in.

We were early and the summer had not yet begun; we could see only the frozen version of the Lake Louise and also that of the Morain Lake since, both these lakes are fed by the surrounding glaciers. Morain Lake, set in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, provided a backdrop scene for the back of the Canadian $20 bill for many years. You can see Manu on Morain Lake.

Seeing a frozen lake is a novel experience. Frozen Lake Louise appears regularly in a TV commercial in the United States. But I was to undergo a strange experience on the following day while motoring out to Jasper. As I looked, over the intervening frozen mass of water, and across to the distant hills, I somehow felt that I was grossly underestimating the distance to these hills; the whole landscape appeared two-dimensional, with the third dimension of depth making a complete disappearance. I remarked to Mukul that we humans paint our curtains and the draperies for creating a three-dimensional effect on the theatre-stage, but ironically enough, the Nature appears to have taken away one dimension from this three-dimensional landscape. May be it was some kind of an optical illusion, or was it ?

Tomorrow, we begin our journey from Banff to Jasper.

VISIT CANADA -8

2009-07-26T00:08:00.001-07:00

We checked out of the hotel in Victoria but kept our baggage there and proceeded to visit the Museum. Canadians refer to the Indians -original inhabitants of North America- as First Peoples or First Nations while the Americans call them as Native Americans. I watched Malcolm X starring Danziel Washington last week and I could quite understand what Malcolm X meant when he asserted to his black audience that “We are not Americans”. The Museum was about these First Peoples and also about the first settlers in Canada. One enclosure showed life-sized cutouts of Canadians of all colours and creed and a proud Punjabi woman stared at you from a distance. There were wedding dresses on display and these included our own Rajasthani and Punjabi attire. Soft music played in the background and I could recognize a popular Punjabi folksong tune.

Our flight from Victoria to Calgary was scheduled in the afternoon. Airport at Victoria is small from North American standards and I found most flights going to Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle. We arrived at Calgary; some of the janitors at the airport appeared to be Sikh / Punjabi women and their second generation –young Indian Canadian girls-- were also at work as immigration, customs and other airport officials.

Calgary was not on our itinerary and we had decided to land there because of its proximity to Alberta’s Rocky Mountains and because it would be easier to rent a car there. Calgary, situated on the banks of the Bow River, is the largest city in Alberta. Calgary Stampede (started in 1912) is Calgary’s best-known tourist attraction. I recalled that Maharashtra Mandal from Silicon Valley had staged a Marathi play at Calgary in 2001, when the City had hosted the tenth convention of all such cultural bodies in North America.

We picked up a brand new Ford-Fusion from Hertz --the rental agency- and were on our way to Banff. We had decided to stop en route for dinner at an Indian restaurant. recommended by a Hertz official. We did find the place but it turned out to be a Take Away joint that was run by a Hindu Bangaladeshi. I was surprised to see many Ganesh idols but a solitary Durga statue in his shop. The place wore the look of a house and the whole family seemed at work with women doing the cooking. They obliged us by putting together a makeshift dining table and giving their own crockery. Mukul reciprocated by dropping a generous tip cum donation in the collection box kept on the counter.

It was late in the evening when we reached, first the entrance to Banff National Park and then Banff town but not before driving for an hour more, so it seemed…

Banff Town

VISIT CANADA-7

2009-07-25T06:44:00.001-07:00

Alberta Province of Canada.

Alberta is located to the East of British Columbia and the boundary between these two Canadian provinces partly follows the line of peaks of the Rocky Mountains range along the Continental Divide, which runs in northwesterly direction. It shares an international boundary with Montana State of the United States along 49^th parallel. Alberta has two major cities –Edmonton and Calgary -- with population exceeding one million. Calgary is a major distribution and transportation hub as well as one of Canada's major commerce centres. Edmonton known for famed West Edmonton Mall, is the primary supply and service hub for Canada's oil sands and other northern resource industries. Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848—1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Lake Louise (see the map on top SOUTH), the village of Caroline, and Mount Alberta were also named in honour of Princess Louise.

The Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 4,800 kilometers from northernmost British Columbia in Canada, to New Mexico in the United States. (see map above) Rivers that flow from the Rocky Mountains eventually drain into three of the world's oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Arctic Ocean. It may not be commonly known that hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming states of the U.S.A, lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world - more than 2 TRILLION barrels.

Banff and Jasper

Alberta's Rocky Mountains include well known tourist destinations Banff National Park and Jasper National Park.(see the map on top SOUTH). The two mountain parks are connected by the scenic Icefields Parkway. Banff is located 128 km west of Calgary on Highway 1, and Jasper is located 295 kms from Banff. Jasper is also connected to Edmonton by Yellowhead Highway (366 km). Banff, Jasper and the Rocky Mountains are visited by about three million people every year.

(To be continued …..)

VISIT CANADA –6

2009-07-24T07:49:00.001-07:00

Butchart Gardens

See how an abandoned quarry has been transformed into a Sunken Garden. This is what landscaping is all about!

VISIT CANADA - 5

2009-07-23T06:16:00.001-07:00

We did manage to visit Curry House – the Indian Restaurant in Victoria—on second day of our stay. Food was average but it tasted familiar and that was all that mattered. Pick up transport for our visit to the Butchart Gardens was to arrive in the morning of the following day. I spoke to the Housekeeper who had come around in the morning; she was a Parsee from Amachi Mumbai and she spoke to Anu in flawless Marathi. She left a generous replenishment of coffee, creamer etc and also some fresh milk for us since we, in her own words, were her Gaavwallas. Pick up transport arrived on time and took us to the bus that was scheduled to leave for the Butchart Gardens.

The Butchart Gardens are located 21 kms North of Victoria in Brentwood Bay in Greater Victoria. Greater Victoria also known as Greater Victoria Region, is a cultural rather than political entity, and comprises of thirteen easternmost municipalities on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. The driver of the bus doubled also a guide on our 25-minute drive and told us about the recurring debates about amalgamating some of these municipalities into Victoria. He seemed to subscribe to the Contra view. As we passed by a beautiful lake, he informed us that the Canadian Rowing Team was presently practicing there for the Beijing Olympics. (Greater Victoria Region had hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1994). I was surprised to learn from him that average yearly income in Victoria was about 50,000 Canadian Dollars.

As I sat listening to our driver cum guide, my eyes were busy caressing the very pretty countryside that opened up through the window. I had not read about what Kipling had to say about Victoria till then but I too sensed similarity between the typical English countryside that I had seen in 2005 and what I was seeing now although the English countryside had seemed greener. I was a little surprised when I found myself wishing (in retrospect), that I had settled down here soon after leaving the Army in ’91. I could have taken up a teaching or even an administrative job somewhere. May be, it was a cumulative effect of all that I had seen and heard, sensed and perceived and even imagined since I entered Victoria but I had never had such a feeling earlier as I had traveled across Europe and the United States. Now onto the Butchart Gardens.

In 1904, the concept of The Butchart Gardens began with an effort to beautify a worked-out quarry site on the 130-acre estate of Mr. and Mrs. R.P. Butchart, pioneers in the manufacture of Portland Cement in Canada. Their endeavour became a family commitment to horticulture and hospitality spanning more than 90 years and delighting visitors from all over the world. From the exquisite Sunken Garden to the charming Rose Garden, this 50-acre show-place still maintains the gracious traditions of the past, in one of the loveliest corners in the world. From summer splendour to autumn's golden glory and sparkling holiday magic - there's always something to see, learn and experience. Fiftty acres of floral finery offering spectacular views as you stroll along meandering paths and expansive lawns. (Extracted from the web.)

The Tourist Season in North America is mainly Summer and starts in June. We were a little early for summer but the Spring was still on. Sunken Garden and the Rose Garden are the two main attractions. We were a little unlucky since the Rose Garden was empty as the roses were to bloom in July but we did manage to see the Sunken Garden in its full glory. We were particularly impressed by the magnificent Tulips in various colours.

I do not think any description in words can do justice for the beauty and the splendour of the Butchart Gardens. Therefore, please look out for the Visit Canada 6 (Pictorial) that I would be sending subsequently, but you would need to unzip it for viewing.

VISIT CANADA 4

2009-07-22T06:48:00.001-07:00

Victoria is British and has remained so since Kipling visited it at the turn of the twentieth century. Men from our generation speak with a clearly discernible British accent although the younger generation seems to be under the influence of the American brand of the language. Victoria is a small town with none –too- broad streets. Its main street called Government, is the main shopping mall that runs for a kilometer before ending into a China Town that all North American cities seem to have. China Town in Victoria is the second oldest in North America presumably after its counterpart in San Francisco. Victoria has a beautiful waterfront and just walking along it, is a pleasurable experience. Many hotels including the Empress and Legislature Building (also called Parliament; probably a hangover from the days when British Columbia was self-governing and had not yet joined the Canadian Confederation) are located along the waterfront. We also saw roadside booking counters for horse-drawn carriage tours. (See above). We looked around for an Indian restaurant as I had had enough of Raviolis, Tacos, Quesadillas and Tortillas while staying for last two months in California. Unfortunately, the restaurant had closed for the day since it was already past nine. Canada being in the Northern Hemisphere has a long day (16-17 hours) during Summer and we had to get used to that for the next few days.

We returned to the hotel after ten but the darkness had not yet set in. I tried fiddling with the table radio and was a little taken aback when Lata Mangeshkar blared out. The song was followed by a commentary in Punjabi and then it was Punjabi all the way. Yes, I had stumbled on a 24 hour Punjabi Radio channel broadcasting from the City of Vancouver.

The first Sikhs who visited Canada (Vancouver) were the soldiers of the British Army (the Sikh Lancers and Infantry). They passed through Canada on their way back to India, after participating in the Diamond Jubilee celebration of Queen Victoria in London, in 1897. On their way back from Canada to India, they met other British Army Sikh soldiers in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore and told them about the opportunities in Canada, before going back to Punjab. Significantly, 1899 saw the first batch of Sikh immigrants into North America, both at Vancouver and at Victoria in Canada and at San Francisco in the United States, and most of them had served in the Indian Army in Far East. More than 5000 South Asians, over 90% of them Sikhs, came to British Columbia before their immigration was banned in 1908. The Canadian Government even conceived a scheme to deport all Sikhs to British Honduras in the same year. After the 1960s, Canada's immigration laws were liberalized, allowing far more Sikhs to immigrate to Canada. The Sikh population has rapidly increased in the decades since. Presently, Sikhs numbering over 300,000 constitute a visible minority in Canada. Today almost half of Canada's Sikh population live in British Columbia. Ujjal Dosanjh, a Sikh, served as the Premier (Chief Minister) of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 before moving out as Federal Health Minister. He had arrived as a teenager in Canada. Barely able to speak English, he worked in the sawmills of British Columbia, before moving on to a career in law. Canadian Government released a postal stamp in April 1999, commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the Sikhs in Canada and to quote Tarik Ali Khan, “From the lumberyard to the postage stamp, the Sikhs of Canada seem to have made it”.

We planned to visit the star attraction of Victoria on the following day – the Butchart Gardens. But before that, I would like you all to see a picture that was hung in the corridor of our Hotel. Mukul took its snap, with and without flash since he wanted to avoid the glare appearing in the photo.

I find the theme of the picture particularly interesting. His Holiness as he sits (?) for the portrait, looks a little younger than God but notice the transformation on the canvas.

VISIT CANADA 3

2009-07-21T05:50:00.001-07:00

You can see us standing on the ferry while waiting to go ashore in Victoria. You can see the famed Empress Hotel directly behind Manaswini (Manu).

I think attitude of the Immigration authorities of a country shows how serious it is about attracting international tourists. May be the United States, while making a singular contribution to international tourism in most other countries, is quite content with the flow of domestic tourists to its places of attraction and does not necessarily need tourists from other countries. Moreover for many of us, USA per se, is one big attraction. On each of my visit to the States, I did not find a single immigration official who was not stern-faced and devoid of humour. They seemed more interested in my departure and would have been very happy to put me on the return flight the very next day. My first ever Canadian experience was so very different. The young lady at the counter was friendly, courteous and absolutely positive. I was a little confused when she asked me how long we would be staying on in the United States before returning to India. She perceived my hesitation in answering and hastened to add that although our visa was for a single entry, this stipulation was not applicable if we returned to Canada once again while remaining in the States before returning to India. She said that many visitors were not aware of this provision for tourists coming over from the States. It made sense because Manu and Mukul being permanent residents of the United States (Green card holders) did not require Canadian visa.

Our hotel was just across the street; we wheeled our baggage and reached the reception but not before taking in as much of the magnificent waterfront as was possible. It was a little after six in the evening and we decided to come out after freshening ourselves.

As we walked along the waterfront. You can see the Legislative Assembly of the British Columbia province in the background. This architecture is what is known as Edwardian. Anu and Manu are in the left bottom corner

Same building at night. This reminded me of the erstwhile Vicoria Terminus in Mumbai when it used to be illuminated on our Republic Day. Many of you may not have known about it, much less seen that illumination.