Week Two on the Road
Cows. Shitty situations. And beautiful views.
We kicked off the week at Aspen Glade Campground in Wyoming, perched high up on a mountain. It was just us… and the cows. They wandered around like they owned the place, even munching straight out of our fire ring. Weird, but hey—better cows than bears.
From there, we headed to Sinks Canyon for climbing. The hike in was a grind—straight uphill—but once we got to the rock, it was worth it. Some routes definitely felt sandbagged, but the climbing was super fun.
Next stop was Grand Teton National Park. We had every intention of exploring, but the crowds and prices hit us right away. Way too touristy for what we wanted, so we kept moving. It took a while to find a campsite that night—busy roads and full spots—but we eventually scored a site right on the river. No toilets, but the sunset view made it all worth it.
The following day was Yellowstone. Holy cow (literally—we were still seeing bison). It was packed, and with dogs not allowed on trails, we stuck to sightseeing by car. Old Faithful was out of the question with the insane wait times for when we got there, but we did get to see a bison walk within six feet of us while driving—definitely a highlight.
Since the dogs couldn’t join us for much, we pushed on to Custer Gallatin National Forest in Montana and squeezed in the hike to Lava Lake just before dark. Totally worth it. That night, though, disaster struck—dog poop incident in the tent mesh. Let’s just say cleaning at 9 p.m. was not the adventure we signed up for.
After that chaos, we took a rest day in Bozeman. Found a campground with showers and laundry, cooked stew in the rock pot, and treated ourselves to pizza in town. Shoutout to Sidewall Pizza for the best gluten-free pizza ever (seriously, I double-checked if it was actually gluten-free). Sleep was rough, though—trains, traffic, and trash trucks. Not staying there again.
Next we drove to Glacier National Park. Of course, I managed to gluten myself (dog treats with wheat + chips = bad idea). Even though it hurt to walk, we tackled their long paved dog-friendly trail. It wasn’t what I planned, but still a nice way to experience the park.
The following day was the Bison Range, where we saw tons of bison and even an elk. Pricey at $20, but still worth a quick visit. From there, we drove to Dry Falls in Washington—once the largest waterfall in the world. Absolutely incredible, and our campsite overlooked the falls with a gorgeous sunset.
Finally, we wrapped the week at North Cascades National Park—my new favorite park so far. It’s dog-friendly, not overly crowded, and stunning. We hiked Thunder Knob for sweeping turquoise lake views, and we even got to watch salmon swimming upstream. This park is definitely on my return list.
