Cross Country to see National Parks

We completed our first day of travel out west today.  Landed at the Badlands around dinner time.  But, before we got to the Badlands we had to stop by Mitchell and see the only Corn Palace in existence.  It is world famous.  I'm sure by the pictures below you can see why.  Actually, they tear down the corn murals on the front of the building and inside the building every year and build a new one with 7 types (colors) of corn.  Unfortunately, the last time this was done was 2022.  The corn harvest in 2022 and 2023 was so bad they were not able to rebuild the murals this year.  Maybe next year.  I dont think this stop will make the top 40 when our journey is complete.

We actually did not intend to stay at Badlands tonight.  We found a motel about 20 minutes outside Badlands that got good ratings and only $75 a night.  Pulling up to the place we knew we were in trouble but decided to give it a shot.  The town is Kadoka, SD, population 640.  What a dump of a town.  Went out to eat at 5:30pm but the only restaurant in town was closed on Sunday.  Ended up at a bourbon joint that served tombstone pizza.  Unfortunately, the pizza was better than the bourbon.  They have nothing on Buffalo Trace.  When we got back to the motel we pulled back the covers on the bed and decided we might want to check out early.  The sheets were not clean.  I won't mention what was on the sheets.  Anyway, we bolted from that place and found a motel right outside Badlands so we can get an early start tomorrow.  These are pictures of the place we left.

We did however get a few pictures of the area before the sun went down.  Then off to find a place to stay for the night.

This is a picture of the motel we actually stayed in.  It was just outside the park.  Not very luxurious but far better than the first motel.  Not sure there are any really nice places to stay so you have to keep an open mind when traveling through the national parks.  A bed and a shower is really all you need anyway.

Today was our first full day in South Dekota Badlands and it was spectacular.

We were up at 5:30am so we could get to our lookout before the sun came up.  It was a bit cloudy this morning but we still got some good pictures and the scenery was fantastic.  What a way to start the morning.

Next we drove the loop and stopped at all the lookout spots.  There are lots of lookout spots but they are all unique in their own way.  After that, we hiked the window, door and notch.  All were quite beautiful.

After the hiking we hit the road heading towards Mount Rushmore.  Planning to stay at a little hotel in Keystone.  What a wonderful little town.  Much more to do here than in the Badlands.  Planning on exploring for a few days.  We will hit Mount Rushmore, Custers State Park and Crazy Horse Park.  More about those adventures tomorrow.

WALL DRUG - forgot to mention last night that we stopped at Wall Drug yesterday to see what all the fuss was about.  Its a very large store with lots of shops.  None of them contain anything I would buy.  We were a bit surprised that they did not have any stores that sold food supplies like nuts, protein bars, etc.  We were trying to fill our supply bag in case we could not find a place to eat along our way. Anyway, it was fun to walk through.  The coffee is only 5 cents and we discovered it may be a bit overpriced.

WOW!  What a great day today.  Started the day with a trip to the Custer State park.

First up, a scenic drive along the Wild Life Loop.  This is the route that takes you by more of the animals.  We ended up seeing a few deer and a BUNCH of Bison (Buffalo are the European version of Bison)  We have lots of pictures of Bison.  Just sharing a few with you.  Several Bison walked right past our car and actually brushed up against it.  They were that close.

Next we drove up the Black Hills to get to the fire lookout tower.  The view was spectacular, but the pictures don't do it justice.  Apparently, for the next couple of days we will have smoke problems from Canada, Washington and other fires out west.  The drive up to the lookout was a bit nerve wracking.  very small road, nothing but switch backs and no guard rails at all.  But, we made it.  If we are still hear when the smoke clears later this week we intend to go back  I would love to get some better pictures from this vantage point.

Next drive was to Silven Lake.  Beautiful lake.  we walked around it.  Intended to go on a 4 mile hike up the side of the mountain but thought better of it shortly into the hike because we really were not prepared.  No water with us.  We may go back and attempt the hike again later.

CRAZY HORSE ROCK CARVING!  This site deserves special mention.  We drove to see the Crazy Horse rock carving in the Black Hills Forest.  I had heard of it but had no idea of the history.  It started in 1948.  It is till not done today and by my estimate will not be finished for at least a couple hundred years.  Just recently, they inveigled the newest section which is Crazy Horses hand which reaches out and eventually will touch the head of the horse he is riding but the horse head has not been started yet.  This carving is far bigger than Mount Rushmore.  Unfortunately, it gets no government funding because the foundation responsible for the carving refuses to accept government money.  they think they cant trust the government to follow through which I understand.  Problem is the speed at which they work is dependent on funding which is largely coming from individual donors. As of today, they only have 15 people up on the mountain working on the carving.  The number changes based on available funds and work that needs to be done which is why I say it wont be complete for another 200 years.  Be sure to tell your grand kids about this.  Maybe their kids will see this project completed someday.  Really sad because it is a really great carving and tells an important story.

You do have to check out this picture Teresa took as we left.  Note the sign warning not to park between the two signs.  Apparently, the person who owns this pontoon boat does not want anyone parking him in so he cant get access to his boat when he needs it.  Problem is the boat looks like it has not moved in 40 years.  Nor does the truck parked behind it.  But hey!  the owner of the boat or truck may someday feel the need to come get his shit so put a sign up to make sure nobody parks him in.  Makes sense?

Mount Rushmore was our first stop of the day.  Free admission, $10 to park, unless you are 62 or older (which I am), then the parking is $5.  I love national monuments.  It took 14 years to complete this monument.  The Crazy Horse monument has been under construction for 75 years and as I stated in a previous blog it will be at least 200 more years to complete.  Now keep in mind, it is much larger than Mount Rushmore but give me a break.  Mount Rushmore is quite impressive.  The entire complex is very nicely designed with a couple of walking trails that take you around the base of the mountain.  We took the trails and enjoyed our walk.  Oh!  We did watch the video first to learn about the history of the making of Mount Rushmore.  Great way to start our visit.

This shows you the smoke.  This picture was taken on the needle highway but due to the smoke you could barely see the monument.

Next stop was a ride around the needle highway.  We intended to do this yesterday but got a bit confused due to our inadequate map reading skills so we took another go at it right after Mount Rushmore.  So far, this is my favorite part of the trip.  I think because it surprised me.  Teresa told me there was a rock formation shaped like a needle, hence the name needle highway but what we got to see was far more than a needle rock formation.  I need to remind you todays smoke situation was a bit worse than yesterday so my pictures are not what they would be on a clear day but still AMAZING.  I am attaching a video of the drive through one of the many tunnels.  That was one of the big surprises, TUNNELS.  They are not big but they are really cool.

 We are up early today (5:30am).  It’s a travel day.  Heading north to glacier national park. Takes 11 hours to get there.  Accommodations were tough to get but we are all set.   

Which brings me to the part of the blog where I offer some advice.  Teresa was on line for a while yesterday booking accommodations for the rest of this trip and our Italy trip.  About 90 minutes in I got a fraud alert on my phone.  I confirmed with cc company the charge was not mine.  Well you know what that means.  Yep.  Cc was shut down.  Used 2nd card for cocktails at dinner. Was declined.  Called cc company.  Turns out both cc had same fraud charge.  Tried 3rd cc.  Declined.  That one I never use and the cc company had terminated for non active.  4th card worked fine.   By the end of dinner the first 2 cards were active with new numbers so I apple paid for dinner but still can’t use at gas station because the 2 new cards are being mailed to Ellie.  Moral of the story.  Carry at least 3 active cc with you when traveling and make sure Apple Pay is set up.  It could help you.  

That’s it for now! 

This post, and the next couple timestamped for today are actually yesterday's activities.  We had so much fun yesterday and we got home so late we just couldn't stay up to post.  I will start by saying there are simply no words in my vocabulary that could even begin to describe the sites at Glacier National Park.

I can only share some pictures with you so you can get a sense of it.  The pictures do not do this place justice but they may help.  If you have already been to this magical place you know what I am talking about.  If you have not, you really need to experience it for yourself.  We spent the entire day on "Going to the Sun" road.  First we went west to east, then back east to west.  Made many stops along the way.  Did 2 hiking trips.  The first was Johns Loop.  It was shorter.  About 2 miles.  I will show pics in the second post.  Then we did Avalanche trail which was about 5 miles.  Ended at a lake.  I will send pictures in the 3rd post.  This post just includes various pictures we took along the way on the Going to the Sun highway.  ENJOY!

Pictures of McDonald Lodge.  Our first stop to check out the facility.  We heard it was nice.  And it was.  Too expensive for our stay, They have a boat tour. We tried to get on but it was full.  May go back later in the week.

A storm came up and it rained for about an hour.  Then the temp started to drop.  This picture was to highlight the fog.  It started in the valley and started to rise up the mountain.  It took about 10 minutes so we could watch it engulf the mountain.  It was as though someone put a blanket over the entire mountain.  Virtually disappeared.

The trail was through the woods and down to the stream that ran along the trail.  I was amazed at how the trees just die and fall in the woods.  If they are in the trail path they are remove but otherwise they just lie there and rot.  There were just so many of them it was really interesting to see.

A bit late, but we had a great day on Saturday 09/09/2023.

Today we attempted to go to Many Glaciers to do some site seeing.  We heard it was a great place to see wild life.  What we had not heard and did not know was that it required a pass to get in between 7am-3pm, much like you need for the "Driving to the Sun" highway.  Remember, we got the pass ahead of time for the Driving to the Sun road trip.  Well, we drove 2.5 hours to get to the Many Glaciers park only to discover that you need a vehicle pass which we did not have.  No worries.  We are road tripping.  We can adjust.  New strategy, go to Logans Pass now, then after 3pm go back to Many Glaciers and get in without the pass.  So, that is what we did.  The pictures below are of Many Glaciers.  There is a hotel on the property which is outstanding (and very expensive).  One thing to know about this place is there really are not any roads to take you around the mountain.  Basically one road in to get you to either of the two hotel accommodations.  Thats it.  The real reason to go is HIKING.  You can hike everywhere.  So, we did a bit of hiking.  Not as much as we would have if we could have gotten in at 9am but still we had a great time.

Taking a few friends along.

We basically hiked around this lake.  It was only about 2.5 miles and very easy hike but it was nice to see the view from every part of the lake.

When we tried to get into Logans Pass to walk the Hidden Lake trail.  We spent 90 minutes riding around in a parking lot trying to get a spot to park.  Never got it.  You will hear more about this in the Sunday blog because we went back and tried again early Sunday morning.  You will want to come back for that post because it was a really great day.

So, instead we headed to St. Mary's Lake which is a lake we already drove around and provided pictures but never did a hike there.  It was about 6 miles and went to 2 water falls.  BTW, this lake is my favorite part of the Glasiers.

Today is Sunday 09/10/2023.  We got up early and headed to Logans Pass.  We are early because we want to get a parking spot.  Remember, I talked about this in the Saturday Blog (posted a couple minutes ago).  Well, we still can't get in.  So, we parked about 1.2 miles away on the side of a busy, windy highway and walked to Logans pass.  We saw people do this earlier in the week and thought they were idiots.  Now we are the idiots, but it really isn't that dangerous, is it?  First up, Hidden Lake hike.  About 5 miles round trip.  One of these pictures has big horn sheep in it.  See if you can pick them out.  I zoomed all the way in on this shot.

When we finished this hike we went across the road to the Highland trail.  We knew nothing about it.  In fact Teresa said it was just a short 100 yard stroll but apparently there was some good stuff to see.  Bullshit.  This was a 11 mile hike round trip.  I vetoed that but we decided to take a short stroll on the path to see what was out there, intending to turn back whenever we wanted to.  The first sign we saw which I should have taken a picture of but did not was a sign saying the camping area was shut down because of bear attacks in the area.  Now I don't know if the camp site was at mile one or mile 11 so we had no idea where these pesky bears were.  Turns out it did not matter.  The hike was on a trail that literally scaled the side of a mountain.  No bear was dumb enough to step out on that trail.  We were though.  We only went a couple of miles, but it was the most unnerving trail I have been on.  It was very cool though and to top it off we got home safe.

Monday, September 11 we arrived in Yellowstone. We are staying in Yellowstone West which is a really neat little town.  Ate at a restaurant last night owned by a lady who used to own restaurants in WI.  You know what that means (Cheese Curds and Old Fashions).

Took 6.5 hours to get here so we arrived shortly after lunch time.  So, we decided to visit a bunch of hot springs, Geysers, etc.  Check out the pictures.  These pictures all came from the Mammoth Hot Springs Terrace and the Norris Geyser.  The idea of Yellowstone being one big volcano is very interesting to me.  I never knew this about Yellowstone.  I have to admit though that after a while if you have seen one you have seen them all.

 Tuesday September 12 was a really big day.  We went Geyser hunting again only this time we went looking for the bid dogs.  First, we visited the Upper Geyser Basin and took a bunch of great pictures of the Geysers there.  Most notably we found Old Faithful, and another smaller Geyser called Beehive.  Then we went to see Grand Prismatic hot spring.  It is the one that is the most colorful because of the minerals found at the hot spring.   Also, found a couple opportunities to see more Bison.  THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.

This is beehive.  It is smaller but recently has been erupting every day.  It gets its name because it forms a mound that looks like a behive.  Because of this the water shoots out of it like a garden hose.  Although it is small it shoots out over 200ft high, higher than Old Faithful and last for about 5 minutes.

Prismatic hot spring.  We hiked up above the hot spring to get a better picture of it.  Nice hike on a well-manicured trail.  Most of the trails are more like walking paths.  Far less difficult than at the Glaciers.

Wednesday September 13, we got up at 4:30am.  Our plan was to drive to Lamar Valley (2.5 hours away) and needed to be there by sunrise.  Apparently, that is where you find all sorts of animals when they are feeding in the morning.  The park officials tell you not to drive in the park after dark because the animals use the roadway more frequently than during the day.  Concerned us a little but not enough to sleep in.  

The weather was not the best.  Rained a couple of times but you will see that in the pictures.  To sum up this trip we did not see all the animals we hoped.  What we discovered is they are out there but way far away in the pastures.  You need really strong binoculars or a scope to pick them out.  Many people camp out here all day doing just that.  We did not have the proper equipment.  We did have fun though.  Got stuck in a Bison jam.  It was really quite comical.  About 20 Bison walking down the road with no regard for the pile up of cars behind them.  Park rangers drove out and tried to herd them to the side but that did not work so we just waited for them to get where they wanted to go.

Next stop was the Grand Canyon.  Not THE Grand Canyon but the one in Yellow Stone.  Made a bunch of stops to take pictures.  Spectacular.  We had to walk down to the bottom of mountain to see one of the water falls and it started to rain hard.  Did not stop most people from going down, snaping a picture and getting the hell back to dry land.  Glad we did it though.

Thursday September 14th was a travel day.  We drove down to Tetons National Park.  Took about 6 hours so we got there shortly after noon.  Went down to Jackson and walked around and had lunch.  A very cool little town in the Jackson Hole valley.  Our hotel, Snake River Lodge is in Teton Village so we drove back up there late in the afternoon.  

Before we left for Teton, we stopped by an animal preserve dedicated mostly to wolves and bear.  It is not profit and cost $16.  Normally, Teresa would get us a groupon ticket to get a discount, but we thought "What the hey, we will pay full price since it is going to a good cause.  Money well spent.  Small attraction but very interesting.

Friday, September 15th.  Turned into a really big day so hold onto your hat.

Left the hotel at 5:15 so we could go see the sun rise some church.  Then drove through the park and stopped at a bunch of wonderful viewing areas.  Pictures provided.  Then we did a hike around Colter Bay which was really nice and then did a really long hike 10.1 miles around Jenny Lake.  AND we saw a moose.

Jenny Lake hike included 7 miles around the lake plus 3 miles straight up the mountain to get to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.  We headed to Cascade Canyon.  Two lucky breaks on this part of the hike.  First, we got to see our first and only Moose.  It was really cool.  Second, we talked to a couple on the trail because we thought we might be lost and going the wrong direction.  We were going the right direction, but it was 7 miles to Cascade Canyon, ONE WAY.  Quickly decided we were not going to Cascade Canyon.  Headed back around Jenny Lake.  We had gone 5 miles by now and thought we had 2 more to get home.  Wrong, we were only halfway done.  Fortunately, we finished before dark.  This is a truely magnificent hike.  

Saturday, September 16th.  Our last day in the mountains.  As I said before our hotel was in Teton Village which is at the bottom of the mountain range.  There are tons of ski slopes which means there was a cable car that takes you up to the top of the mountain.  In fact, when you get to the top you are 10,000 feet up and at a place they call top of the world.  Cost $40 to get access to the cable car for the day.  Had to do this.

Two interesting facts.  First, there is a little shack at the top of the mountain that serves waffles, coffee and nothing else.  They have no running water so the shlep all the supplies from the bottom of the mountain each day.  The waffles were very good.  Coffee too.  Second, interesting fact, or maybe really an opinion is this.  We had cocktails the night before at a little bar at the bottom of the mountain.  The drink came with a big square ice cube (you know the ones) and they were perfectly clear, perfectly.  We asked the waiter how they do that because I have always wanted to perfect this art.  She(her) claimed that it was the water.  It comes from the top of the mountain where there are no impurities at all.  Can't get water like that anywhere else in the world. A fact or an opinion, I will let you decide.

Forgot to mention, there were paragliders on the mountain taking people for a ride.  This was really exciting to watch.  Teresa and I decided we both are going to try this sometime.  They had spots available on the day we were there, but it cost $475 per person.  A bit much for a spur of the moment activity.  But we are going to plan another trip back to do this.  It really looks fun.  I think they have a go-pro that takes a video for you, so you have memories, if you survive.

 This post will be updated after every National Park visit in order to rank the Parks based on the fun we had at each.  

Tuesday, September 19.  We are in Scottsdale now, hanging out with my favorite daughter and trying to stay out of her way.  She is so gracious to let us into her new life while Teresa and I figure out what is next (after Italy of course).

Im just sitting at her kitchen table having a cup of coffee with some friends and I thought I should put a bow on this trip so this post is sort of a summary of our trip as well as some hopefully helpful tips for anyone else who may travel to the spots we visited over the past 2 weeks.

Ok, lets get started.........

First the ranking.  The following is our ranking for the places we visited.

#1 Glacier National Park.  Hands down, if you want to see spectacular mountain and breath-taking scenery Glacier provides it all.  The Going To The Sun drive is truly the most beautiful drive in America.  Plus, they have plenty of great hiking if you are into that.

#2 Grand Tetons. Great place to visit, spring, summer, fall or winter.  Fall was supposed to be the slow season, but man was it busy with people enjoying the outdoors just like us.  There is more night life and action here than the other places we visited so we will certainly plan another shorter trip to take in the adventures we missed this trip.  Paragliding and white-water rafting for sure.

#3 Black Hills. Like the other spots the mountains were spectacular.  Adding to that there were several memorable attractions along the way.  The tunnels they cut out of the mountain that you have to drive through were really cool.  Plus there was so much more to see.  Mount Rushmore was impressive.  Crazy Horse is something I have heard about but had no idea it was so much larger than Mount Rushmore AND that it will most likely never get finished.

#4 Yellow Stone.  This may be a bit unfair to rank Yellow Stone so low.  If we went earlier in the trip it may have received a higher ranking, but we had seen so much beauty by this time it was hard to compare one to the other.  The geothermal history of the park is amazing, but I have to say once you have seen 10 geysers or hot springs you really don't need to see the other 1400.  What we did see was amazing though.  One detractor for Yellow Stone was everything is so far away from each other that you spend a bunch of time driving from site to site.  More on that later.

#5 Badlands.  This was the first stop on our trip.  It was very beautiful, and I am glad we spent a couple days there, but it had to compete with a lot of other very spectacular places.  Not saying you should not see it.  Just saying on this trip something had to be least favorite and Badlands was it.

General observations/recommendations/comments:

The United States is truly a spectacular place to visit.  We were blown away by the scenery.  Anyone who has not seen 1 or more of these national treasures is really missing out.  Makes us want to go see more.  And, the people you meet along the way are an added bonus.  One thing we noticed during hiking, and this is applicable I think even if you dont hike.  When you encounter older people hiking along the trail everyone says hello.  Some folks even stop to have a conversation.  Younger people not so much.  They normally have their head down looking at their shoes or have buds sticking out of their ears and are not even paying attention.  Not all but it was something we observed.

Pay attention to the weather and dress accordingly.  Our situation was a bit unique in that we were packing for this trip and for whatever we intend to take to Italy.  But, we really did not take the proper colder weather cloths for Glacier in particular.  We survived but had to wear some things alot.

Don't underestimate the driving.  All of these parks require a shit pot of driving.  We brought our Lexus because it is the only car we own but it is a lease vehicle.  We estimated we would put about 2500 miles on this trip which was reasonable and would keep us within our mileage limits for the lease.  In reality we drove more like 4500 miles.  Now that we are in AZ we will be walking alot.  :)

Food considerations.  For the most part we brought food with us for breakfast and lunch, planning to eat out for dinner each day.  Partly because it would save some money and partly because we knew we would be on the road alot.  This became critical.  Even if you are only seeing one or two of these attractions.  In most cases while you are driving through the park there is no place to stop and get food even if you wanted to so packing your own food to eat throughout the day is the only way to go.

Be sure to bring binoculars or a scope if you want to see the animals.  We intended to bring 2 pairs of binoculars but somehow they got packed in the POD.  I love seeing the animals so we went out several times on this trip just for that purpose.  People will tell you where they are and when.  What they forget to tell you is the animals may be a mile away from you so you need something to help see them more closely.  We did not have the right equipment and that was a bit disappointing.  But we did see some cool wildlife.

Bear spray.  There are a number of opinions on this topic.  We never got any.  We talked to a local that said it was not necessary unless we were going way into the bush where nobody travels.  He recommended (as many people do) just make noise along the trail and bears will stay away.  We opted to do this.  having said that, there were a couple of occasions where I wished I had it with me.  Sometimes you are on  a trail and you know there are other people on the trail but then you dont see anybody for a while AND you notice that you are travelling through an area that in your mind would be a perfect place for a bear to hang out and eat berries.  Thats when you sort of wish you had bear spray, or a 9mm.  But we had not issues.  When we go back, I most likely will buy bear spray ahead of time.

Eat more Bison!  We need to thin the herd.  Now before you start pissing and moaning that they were once at the brink of extinction.  I get it but that is no longer true.  I dont ever have to see another Bison again and I will be ok.  That is one animal you can see in the National Parks without any binoculars at all.  Hell they will stick their head in your car window just to say hi.  I loved seeing them but by the end it was no mas, no mas.  And, I had several Bison burgers.  They are tasty.

So what animals did we see?  Here is a list.

Moose (1)

Elk (4 for David) (2 for Teresa)

Longhorn sheep (a dozen or more)

Mule dear (a handful)

Chipmunks (a plethora, one tried to nip at my crotch because I had a bag of nuts there) (HA,HA I know what your thinking)

Squirrels (tons)

Mountain Goat (2)

Marmot (1 we think)

Bald Eagle (1)

Whitetail Dear (a handful)

There is probably more to share but Im tired of typing so I will post this.  If I get comments from the blog or people inquire further about our trip over the next couple of weeks I may add more to this summary but that is it for now.  Hope you enjoyed the posts.  For the Italy trip I may have to change up the blog a bit so it is not so time consuming and/or filled with stuff that you readers dont care about.  One thing I will try to perfect is posting from my phone to make it easier.

Someone was interested in the food we ate along the way.  We did not include this because I thought it might be a bit much to share but I would be interested in the groups thoughts.  We are foodies so we have no problem sharing and we will be in Italy next so there will be some great food to share if you are interested.  I will actually be very impressed with anyone who does comment on this topic.  It means you read to the bottom of this post which shows a high level of interest in my mind.

Update after Utah Trip:

On our first adventure to NP's in Utah we visited Zion (sounds like Lion not Zyon), Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef.  As stated in the blog Bryce was simply remarkable.  Zion was very nice and even close in comparison to our current favorite Glacier National Park.  The reason we ranked Bryce as our top NP on this trip is the landscape at Bryce is so unique I don't think you can find this anywhere else in the world.  In fact, we learned in one of the video's we watched at the visitor center (always go to the visitor center to learn before you venture into the park) indicated that Bryce has more HOODOO's than anywhere else in the world.  I still can't get my head around how the Hoodoo's are formed.  In many cases when you look at them from far away the look like people that turned to stone.  Amazing.

A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock formed by erosion. Hoodoos typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. They generally form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations.

Hoodoos range in size from the height of an average human to heights exceeding a 10-story building. Hoodoo shapes are affected by the erosional patterns of alternating hard and softer rock layers. Minerals deposited within different rock types can cause hoodoos to have different colors throughout their height.

So, after this trip our new NP ranking looks like this.

#1 Glacier National Park (mainly because of the many different landscapes, including rivers & lakes)

#2 Bryce Canyon National Park (Very close to #1)

#3 Zion National Park

#3 Grand Tetons

#4 Black Hills

#5 Yellow Stone

#6 Capital Reef National Park

#7 Acadia National Park

#8 Badlands

#9 Denali National Park

And in case you are wondering, we saw fewer animals (wildlife as Teresa is fond of saying) in Utah than we did at the other parks we visited.  Saw chipmunks, lizards and a couple of mule deer along the way.  I was expecting more but maybe next time.