1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (87 page)

Hiking through Wind River high country brings you to the shores of Island Lake.

The Pinedale area is also home to a number of guest ranches with long and distinguished pedigrees. The Flying A Ranch has been welcoming guests since the 1930s with unlimited horseback riding, and over 100 miles of trails. The Flying A keeps things small—a maximum of 14 guests—and adult-oriented—18 and above only—in beautifully restored cabins brimming with original character as well as modern conveniences.

The eastern flanks of the Wind River Mountains drain into the Wind River, which flows southwest through range- and farmland before veering north and cutting a dramatic canyon through the Owl Creek Mountains. The Wind River Canyon, with walls that rise 2,500 feet, capturing 2.5 billion years of geologic history, is just wide enough for two-lane Highway 20 on one side and a rail line on the other. Once through its canyon, the river flows directly north to Thermopolis, a ranching town with a difference. At Hot Springs State Park is one of the world’s largest hot springs, where 135°F 2,575-gallon-per-minute waters are funneled to three separate indoor and outdoor spa facilities. The pastel-colored deposits left by the mineral-laden water warrant a visit, best seen at a series of natural formations called the Rainbow Terraces. Paved walkways here extend across centuries’ worth of sediment, vividly colored by algae, plankton, and trace minerals.

W
HERE
: Pinedale is 75 miles south of Jackson. Tel 307–739-5500;
www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf
.
C
ENTENNIAL
S
CENIC
B
YWAY
:
www.byways.org
.
G
REEN
R
IVER
R
ENDEZVOUS
P
AGEANT
: Pinedale. Tel 307–367-4101;
www.meetmeonthegreen.com
.
When:
2nd weekend in July.
F
LYING
A R
ANCH
: Tel 888–833-3348 or 307–367-2385;
www.flyinga.com
.
Cost:
from $1,300 per person for 6-day stay, includes meals and activities.
When:
open mid-June–Sept.
H
OT
S
PRINGS
S
TATE
P
ARK
: Thermopolis. Tel 307–864-2176;
http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/hsslide.htm
.
When:
indoor pools, daily; outdoor pools, May–Sept.
B
EST TIMES
: June–Sept for weather; July for wild-flowers. In summer, Wed and Thurs evenings for Thermopolis Night Rodeo.

Nature’s Extravagant Showcase

Wyoming

Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is the world’s oldest and perhaps most famous national park, known worldwide for its geysers and geothermal pools. The largest of America’s national parks outside
Alaska, Yellowstone crosses volcanic plateaus and heavily forested peaks, containing 2.2 million acres of steaming hot springs, crystalline lakes, and thundering waterfalls. Of course, this natural glory is no secret. With over 3 million visitors a year—the vast majority visiting between June and September—the park’s popularity may mean that summertime
visitors can see more RV bumpers than buffalo. This doesn’t mean that summer visits to this beloved park aren’t worth it; just come expecting plenty of company.

Geothermal curiosities such as Old Faithful and the Norris Geyser Basin are just the beginning of Yellowstone’s beguilements. The park offers incredible natural diversity and abundant wildlife, together with postcard-perfect vistas. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, 24 miles long and up to 1,200 feet deep, begins at the river’s thundering 308-foot Lower Falls; bear and bison roam the grassy meadows of the Hayden Valley; elk linger near the hot springs terraces at Mammoth; some 225 bird species flit from spruce to fir; and gray wolves, reintroduced to the park in 1995 after being almost eradicated in the 1930s, hunt in the Lamar Valley.

One highlight of a summer visit may be a stay at the Old Faithful Inn. The huge lodgepole pine edifice, designed in rugged Craftsman style, is right next to its namesake geyser, which sends a spray of steaming water up to 184 feet into the air every 68 to 98 minutes. The recently renovated 100-year-old inn (possibly the world’s largest log building) set the fashion for all the great lodges of the national park system back in its day. The rooms are somewhat spartan, but take a seat in the inn’s grandly evocative logand-stone lobby, anchored by a massive four-sided fireplace rising more than 90 feet; it’s guaranteed to make your heart soar.

In the off-season, Yellowstone seems less like a park and more like nature itself. This is when you realize that the real tension here is not about traffic or crowded campgrounds, but about what’s brewing beneath the earth’s crust. The park’s 150 geysers and the bubbling mud pools, hissing fumaroles, and hot springs act as pressure valves, releasing the heat and steam that build up below the ground. Together they make up the world’s largest geothermal system (75 percent of the earth’s geysers are found here in Yellowstone), remnants of a tumultuous volcanic past that Rudyard Kipling described as “the uplands of Hell.”

When it erupts, Old Faithful spouts anywhere from 3,700 to 8,400 gallons of boiling-hot water.

Winter is the serene season in Yellowstone. Only one entrance, from Gardiner, Montana, remains open to vehicles as far as Mammoth Hot Springs, while the park’s other entrances are open to cross-country skiers and snow-shoers, as well as to guided tours on snowmobiles and snowcoaches (vanlike vehicles with ski runners and snowmobilelike treads). Snowcoaches also run deep into the park to Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Completed in 1999, this is the newest Yellowstone lodge, and with winter accommodations and dining, it’s the perfect base for snowshoeing or crosscountry skiing.

Only 1 percent of visitors to Yellowstone venture beyond 3 miles of the park’s paved highways, regardless of the season. Yellowstone is a big place, so that a quiet communion with nature is never more than a short walk away.

Beautiful Yellowstone National Park is home to more than 3,900 bison.

W
HERE
: There are 5 entrances: 3 in Montana and 2 in Wyoming. Tel 307–344-7381;
www.nps.gov/yell
.
When:
most park roads open May–early Nov; north entrance (Gardiner, MT) is open year-round.
OLD F
AITHFUL
I
NN
: Tel 307–344-7311;
www.travelyellowstone.com
.
Cost:
from $85 with shared bath, from $111 with private bath.
When:
mid-May–mid-Oct.
O
LD
F
AITHFUL
S
NOW
L
ODGE
: Tel 307–344-7311;
www.travelyellowstone.com
.
Cost:
cabins from $83.
When:
mid-May–mid-Oct, and mid-Dec–mid-Mar.
B
EST TIMES
: May–mid-June and Sept–mid-Oct for nice weather without the crowds. Old Faithful is especially striking in the autumn; cross-country skiing is exceptional in winter.

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C
ALIFORNIA
• O
REGON
• W
ASHINGTON

A Town That Changed How America Eats

California

Afiercely independent city of local bookstores and cafés where everything is political (even eating), this leafy suburb across the bay from San Francisco was at the heart of the sixties’ antiwar efforts (when it was
called “The People’s Republic of Berkeley”). But for all the passionate demonstrations, the town’s most lasting influence probably emanates from Alice Waters’s legendary Chez Panisse, the restaurant that helped create “California cuisine,” turn San Francisco into one of America’s best restaurant cities (see p. 849), and change the way America eats.

The high priestess of the Northern California food cult since 1971, Alice Waters made “fresh, seasonal, and local” the mantra of American chefs (and many home cooks as well) who aspire to create seriously good food. Inspired by a trip through France, the idealistic New Jersey native and UC Berkeley grad opened a restaurant that became known for its extraordinary ingredients—organically grown vegetables just out of the garden, fruit right off the branch, and fish straight from the sea. In a time of iceberg lettuce and flavorless tomatoes, the idea was revolutionary. Waters helped champion mesclun salad, domestic goat cheese, and heirloom tomatoes, but beyond the bold new flavors was a message: Eating is an agricultural act, with social and ecological consequences.

A neighborhood bistro named after a character in Marcel Pagnol’s 1930s film trilogy, the redwood-paneled Chez Panisse is snugly aristocratic, and tables can be hard to book. (Even President Clinton was initially turned down when the employee who took the call from
Air Force One
didn’t believe the reservation was really for the president.) The pinnacle of foodie destinations, Chez Panisse serves prix fixe menus that get more elaborate as the week goes on (Monday’s menu has four courses and by Saturday it’s up to six or eight). Some 60 local farms supply the kitchen, inspiring every aspect of the meal. Upstairs, the lively, more informal Chez Panisse Café offers the same pristine ingredients in a less expensive à la carte menu.

To experience a less white-linen side of Berkeley, walk along Telegraph Avenue between Bancroft and Dwight avenues, where incense burning at the outdoor craft stalls mingles with the aromas of coffee and curries, lending the street the feel of an international bazaar. Dozens of ethnic restaurants, including Indian, African, Japanese, Thai, and Korean, offer excellent meals for under $10. Book lovers will find some of the best collectible, antiquarian, and new bookstores in the West, and Caffè Mediterraneum is a literary landmark; Beat poet Allen Ginsberg is said to have penned part of his epic poem “Howl” here.