Our 10 day trip-3

Day 4 and Night 4

We started out really early, and not so bright. Hot breakfast was served in Tamarack and the bagels were freshly baked and delicious (as delicious as they can be anyway). Tamarack lodge is maintained by a family who live there near the west entrance to Glacier National Park. check it out if you are heading into GNP from the west! They opened up their living room to us, which was one of the most rustic and most wonderfully set up living room ever. You gotta see to believe it.

As for the day itself, it was another washout. It was raining continuously and visibility was very poor. We drove alongside Lake McDonald, given that there was not much to see at the viewpoint with very poor visibility. There was some interesting points with as much as we could see all the way up as far as they let us go. Usually Going-to-Sun highway is open by mid June, but given excess stormy winter, which meant much more snow, it was delayed and we missed Logan Pass. I dont think we would have been able to see much anyway. One of the points- Weeping wall was quite interesting to see . This has to be experienced before its too late in summer. Mimicking a driver before me, I drove the SUV right under the weeping falls, where there was a cavity in the wall.

After that we set out on the long drive from Glacier NP to the town of Jackson close to Grand Tetons National Park. This one is expected to take well over 9hrs. We stopped at Bigfork for a very well made flat crust pizza and had fun along the way.
Along the way we encountered some very weird names for towns such as Kicking Horse, Yerka, Bonner, Nimrod and Divide (yes you read it right- Divide)
Stretches of I-15 was soo very empty, that as we entered Idaho, we missed taking a picture of the big sign that said Welcome to Idaho- Well no problem, we simply stopped the car, backed it up (yes in reverse) and took a couple of shot and moved on.

We made a quick stop in Idaho falls, admiring one of the widest falls ever seen (must be the widest after Niagara would be my guess) then drove our way in the darkness to Jackson, Wy. Now on many of US highways, I have and I am sure most of you would have seen signs for Deer Crossing but really not many deers visible. But as we hit the back highway to reach Jackson off the Interstate from Idaho falls, we saw countless number of deers right off the road. We had to be careful and drive slow least we hit one. By the time we arrived in Jackson, it was well dark and way past 10pm again. Long day full of driving but after this we dont forsee much driving around, except in the parks.

No.1 in Test Cricket

After a brilliant 2-0 series win against the Lankans in India (who have never so much as even won a test match in India), the Indian cricket team is now officially No.1 in Test Cricket Rankings. Its been a long arduous climb to the top and especially the generation (my generation and my father's generation) who grew up watching.... nawww religiously following the Indian Cricket Team, this has been quite a feat to savour!

I remembered generations of fans/followers getting frustrated with the match fixing scandal that rocked the cricket world and in particular India. People were shocked and suspended in sheer disbelief, not to mention millions lost faith in the game in India and stopped watching. Getting them back to cricket and making them believe took quite a task one that the current crop and previous elite players and coaches achieved with sheer commitment, hardwork, not to mention abundant talent (primary reason for a change- proper selection, not region biased selections).

It all started with the selection of Saurav Ganguly (yes the guy you either love or totally hate, no in between) as the captain. The man who wasn't even expected to crack into the team after one of the most unforgettable debut in Australia in 1992 but who stamped his arrival with a majestic and sublime century on Debut in Lord's Test in 1996 after 4 years in oblivion, in total wilderness. This man brought about a ferocity and toughness to the Indian team, that was sorely lacking all the way back to the days of Pataudi.Jr's captaincy (caveat- Of course I never have seen this, only can recount the thoughts of my father, who if possible is even more of a bigger cricket fan than me). The Indian team were often called soft, mild and apprent gentlemen (in other words pussycats on the field- which I find a funny description because a cat will defend its turf in a very ferocious manner. It may be small, but by jove, it will put up a dreadfully frightening fight- there I digressed, you waited long for it didn't ya? :D). But with the arrival of Ganguly's captaincy, he brought about a new edge, a welcome change (for us fans especially) in attitude. Gone were the days of turning the other cheek. A stare was met with a unflinching glare. Mind games were answered with more frustrating mind games and suddenly teams started grudgingly respecting the Indian team and got quieter.

That was not all, though Ganguly was ridiculed often, he has shown steely resolve to perform his best ability, especially in times of dire need. Before recent series, Tendulkar was often mention of not performing on the big stage and seeing through, but that was an accusation, that could never be levied upon Ganguly. His excellent knowledge of upcoming talent and unfaltering support by backing them to hilt built the team, and ensured strong success continue and carry-on beyond his time. While Dravid was an efficient leader after Ganguly, Dhoni can truly be acclaimed as Ganguly's true successor. His no-nonsense attitude and exceptional treatment of newcomers and seniors alike along with his uncanny sense of timing and direction of the game, along with inspiring changes on the field, kept the opponents guessing and giving India a consistent edge. Success started with the 2001 'Series of the Century' win against Australia at home, and steadily improved with a drawn series in England and in 2004 in Australia, by beating them into stunning submission. The first series win in Pakistan set the ball rolling further, closely contested series in SA and Aussie land further down the road along with series wins in WI, England, NZ built strong credentials, along with banishing the notion that India were poor travellers. They additionally built up their traditional strong hold too, by maintaining consisten series wins against top teams in home and suddenly it was obvious that this team is a top team for a long time, and will probably stay at or very near the top for years to come. With a core group of players in test team, along with test specialists and also a strong ODI squad, the hope and expectation is sky high (not that there was never a time when expectation was never high-more like a burden).

Only two things remain- Series wins in Australia and SA and hopefully another World Cup win in ODIs. For Sachin, it will complete his impressive resumes, that billions in the world can only dream about! It will complete his long cherished dream of winning a WC.

Then the return from the Nadirs of match fixing and disappointments of the time of Mohd. Azharuddin would be long forgotten. It remains in the rear view mirror far behind, and with matter of few more successes, it will certainly be firmly in the past!!

GO India!!!

1 year to blog again

Co-incidentally I blogged today. I had no idea that my last blog was exactly 1year ago until I checked on the post. Gosh, I guess I should at least blog my travels so that I might have something to write about. Hence I am going to try and convert this as at least a semi-travel blog.

What a pathetic attempt in blogging.

Our 10 day trip-2

Day 3, Night 3

So it ended with us spending the second night of trip in East Glacier. As a regular recurrence and a regular theme of this trip everyday morning, it was Sriram who got up first bright and early and thus getting ready. Poorni followed next, then it used to be either Preethi or me, whoever was up by then.

Next day was the scheduled and much awaited hike to Grinell Glacier. One of the few glacier in 48 contiguous states which did not melt completely even in summer, but with the advent of global warming, this along with other glaciers in Glacier NP was supposed to disappear in the next 10-15years time. I for whatever silly reason, was hell bent on going to Grinell Glacier. Only glitch was it was no way an easy hike. Made moderately easier by taking a boat ride along Lake Swiftcurrent and Lake Josephine which reduced the hike by 2miles one way, it was still a 8miles hike with a steep 1800ft elevation gain going towards the glacier. Needless to say it was touch tiring, and even more so for the ladies. But they somehow labored through and we got treated to some beautiful vistas including a nice view of Grinell lake from the top.

The descent was absolutely swift. 4miles in 40mins flat. Unbelievable fast by everyone and we made it to the point where the boat picks people off and well in time, for even the earlier boat to take us back. It was at that time, I made a drastic mistake of relying on time printed in the tickets instead of checking the timing at the lake shore. You see the ticket had a time for another boat leaving the shore in 1hr and 10mins time, while the last one was further two hours after. Considering that the walk to Grinell lake was an easy flat walk not too far, we decided to skip the one that was standing in front of us and go check out the beautiful turquoise blue colored lake that was fed by the melting glaciers.

But that turned out to be a disaster. Either the distance was much more than what was mentioned, or it was because we were too tired from the prev hike to the glacier, we walked for a substantial distance only to never find the lake. After quite a distance, we evaluated the time, and thought it would be best to return back now so as to make the boat back to Many Glacier Lodge. Another quirk of fate and we observed that the time mentioned in the ticket was not mentioned in the lake shore which meant, we sat there till 5:30pm doing nothing just waiting for the boat to arrive. Total disaster wasnt it? We did spot a marmot that lived very close to the shed built near the dock and that guy was eyeing the cookies which totally freaked out the ladies.

After that time, there wasnt much else to do and we started driving around the GNP since the logan pass was closed so as to reach the West Glacier where our stay for the night was. Surprisingly this drive was actually faster than going straight through the GNP itself. We ultimately reached Tamarack Inn on the western side of GNP (town of Hungry Horse) well after it was dark, which means it was quite late. That's because you see in summer, up in Montana, there was light well upto 10pm.

Sri drove brilliantly fast and well controlled and we shacked up in nice looking Tamarack for the night.

Our 10 day trip

My wife started this blog to describe our trip to Yellowstone/Glacier NP and Grand Tetons and kinda create like a semi-travel blog. But given that it does not look to be about to be finished, here is my attempt to start off with what she blogged out and then carry it forward in subsequent posts


As narrated by Poornima-----------------

Yayyy! We (to be more precise, my husband & his friend Sriram) have been planning on this trip to Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Tetons National Park for more than 4 months. The week from June 15-June 19 was hectic. We have been ironing, packing and shopping the entire week and were finally happy to leave on June 19. We packed a whole lot of frozen food since after googling we found there were absolutely no indian restaurants in the vicinity of these National Parks and were doubtful if we would even get any veggie options. We packed rice, hot plate, rice cooker, all the required seasonings and puliogare powder just in case we don't find anything green, thats edible :-(. That left us with 2 big suitcases, my carry-on and his large 500mm bazooka lens with case, which by the way was his carry-on.

Itinerary:
June 19: Leave San Jose @ 5:30 p.m and reach Bozeman @ 11:30 p.m - Stay @ Holiday Inn
June 20: Reach East Glacier - Stay @ East Glacier Motel
June 21: Grinnell Glacier Hike, roam around Many Glacier - Stay @ Historic
Tamarack Lodge on the Westside Glacier NP.
June 22: Visit West GlacierNP, Drive to Grand Tetons - Stay @ Anglers
Inn, near Teton Village.
June 23: Visit Grand Tetons, Drive to South of Yellow stone - Stay @ Grant Village
June 24: Visit Yellowstone, Stay @ Alpine Motel - West Yellowstone NP
June 25: Visit Yellowstone, Stay @ Days Inn - West Yellowstone NP
June 26: Visit Yellowstone, Stay @ Travelodge
June 27: Visit Yellowstone, Stay @ Travelodge
June 28: Drive back to Bozeman, Leave @ 1:30 p.m and reach SanJose @ 6:30 p.m.

June 19:- Subash, Shiva's cousin dropped us in the airport and we found ourselves standing in the United Airlines counter, excited and ready for adventure. Hmm, but who knew the adventure would start this early. When we tried to print our boarding pass, the climax unfolded. Our flight got cancelled due to some mechanical problems. We were automatically re booked to the next day's flight which leaves at 7:30 a.m and reaches Bozeman at 4:30 p.m. Wonderful, our glacier trip would have totally messed up. Moreover our friends Preethi and Sriram(in short P&S) who were supposed to join us in Bozeman that night would be left stranded since all the hotel reservations were in Shiva's name. P&S had already boarded their flight in chicago and were waiting for takeoff which was delayed due to bad weather. So here we were at the mercy of the UAL guy at the counter. Fortunately, he found us a delta flight which departed at 6:30 a.m next day and reaches Bozeman at 11:30 am and printed the tickets, explaining they were the last 2 tickets available and he had to convince the delta guys to allocate it. In the meantime i was frantically checking out expedia & orbitz to find out if there were any alternate flights. Luckily, we found a delta flight that was flying the same day @ 6:10 p.m and reaches Bozeman @ 10:30 p.m i.e even earlier than our schedule flight with just 2 tickets available. We ran to the delta counter, literally begged to book us in the 6:10 p.m flight and fortunately the good man at the counter, printed our boarding passes and checked in our baggage at no extra cost. So after all the initial mess-up ultimately we got in to our flight and landed in Bozeman @10:30 p.m. But, P&S got stuck due to bad weather in chicago and missed their connecting flight in Denver. Sriram had to stand in the customer care line for more than 4 hours to get re-booked in the next day's flight to Bozeman and were totally exhausted.

June 20: We checked out of Holiday Inn, and left for Bozeman airport in our rented Toyota 4Runner. P&S eventually made it to BZN at 9:45 a.m but the stupid UAL guys missed their luggage. So we had to wait till the next flight @1:30 p.m. We shopped a bit at walmart, stocked up on water bottles, plates etc. and grabbed our lunch in the meantime. We reached Glacier around dusk and checked in to East Glacier Motel. But to our disappointment Going to the Sun Road was open only till Jackson Glacier overlook, this meant we would miss logan pass and we'll have to drive around the Glacier NP to reach to the west side. We visited Many Glacier during dusk and spotted a bear cub and a coyote that day. We reached our motel at around 10:30 p.m, had our frozen parathas and subzi for dinner and slept tight.

The journey continues......