August 16 - September 5, 2011: Three Weeks on the Road, an armored hot dog record
Montana: Glacier National Park, east and west
Wyoming: Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park
Tuesday, Aug. 16 - 304 miles, 6 hours drive time
Left a hot 86 degree Durango by about 12:30 pm heading to somewhere north of Moab. No solid plans as that’s how we roll. First trip in the new 2011 Ford F-150 truck with just 600 miles on it (ok, so we’re rushing it) and the day went well. Blew through a sunny and HOT Moab (103 degrees) and kept going to Green River. Kinda early so we kept going on to, well who knows where. Bill had a slight familiarity from reading about a place called Price Canyon Recreation Area. So on we drive another half hour or so up into a canyon to the recreation area, which is a three mile, fortunately paved, road to a totally empty campground. Not a level spot in the park so we raised one side and dug a hole on the other and made it so. It finally cooled off considerably as we climbed in altitude and as the sun set (and the mosquitoes came out). By now it was 8pm, and we were pooped.
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| Our only view of the Great Salt Lake |
Wednesday, Aug. 17 - 238 miles, 4.5 hours drive time
Left Price campground at 9:30 am, our magic bewitching hour, and continued north toward Salt Lake City to get the truck outfitted for travel (bed liner, cover and rock tamers). The Salt Lake area I saw is not an especially pretty area, it’s kinda barren and dry—but maybe that was the heat talking. This part included driving the interstate which of course is under construction. I have no idea how he does it but Billy kept it in a straight line on I-15 along those concrete barriers and no shoulders. eeks We arrived at the truck place about noon; they were done by 1:30, so back on the road again and on to Idaho. Did see the Great Salt Lake from a great distance for a second. Tonight our destination would be Downata Hot Springs campground -- because it has full hook-ups and we need the air-conditioning. Pretty nice, though still hot upon arrival, but we had time for happy hour and a decent dinner. Bill made friends with some horses on the property so we went back later and the lucky one that came to see us got the apple. I felt the earth move when this big boy plodded along. So now I'm trying to stay awake but it’s 8:30 pm and I’m ready for bed. This heat is killin’ me.
PS: We got a Dutch oven on this trip, can’t wait to try it. Sometime when we’re in one place for longer than 7 hours. Bill wants to start with cobbler; works for me.
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| The coolest thing about this campground was the sign. |
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| Yes, there is such a museum. |
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| Only in Idaho. |
Thursday, Aug. 18 - 355 miles, 6.5 hrs drive time
A cool morning! How very nice as we got an early start by 8:30 am. Heading north toward Salmon, Idaho, then on to...we have no idea. We visited the Potato Museum in Blackfoot, well actually, the gift shop. Stayed on I-15 through Pocatello and Idaho Falls then turned off onto 33 and 28 for the Lewis and Clark trail through a valley flanked by the Bitterroots on one side and the Lemhi Mountains on the other. Got prettier as we went along, and not as hot. The books say Kit Carson and Jim Bridger wintered in these parts back in the day. damn cool I say. Very windy in the valley. Continued on through the small town of Salmon, where I got the chance to walk up the street and stretch the gams while he fueled up. Nothing great but good to move, cute little town. Climbed a mountain pass into Montana and boy was it smoky. Fires around here somewhere. And it got smokier on our way down -- apparently the trailer brakes weren’t set tight enough for the descent so the truck did most of the braking, and burning! He was downshifting the whole way, but they sure got a workout. We let them cool down, then moved on. So now we are in Montana road construction.... MILES of it, loose gravel, 25 mph and badly marked as to which side to be on. At one point a worker told us to get on the narrow side (barely wide enough for the trailer) and Bill yells, “You’re doing a terrible job!” She yells back, “WHATEVER.” Finally got through that and ended up at a very nice yet busy Charles Waters campground near Florence, spot #10. It’s paved and available, and this not planning ahead has got to stop; we were lucky to get this no-electric, but water-available spot, whew. Camping is busy around here. Afraid what we’ll find in Glacier tomorrow, as it is first-come, first-served. We are about 20 miles south Missoula.
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| In the early 1800s, this part of Idaho was trapper central. |
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| Cooling our jets after the Montana descent |
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| I bet under all that smoke is a nice view. This was the mountain pass into Montana. |
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| Glacier's Lake McDonald's clear water |
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| Oh, camping in GRIZZLY bear country. Terrific. |
Friday, Aug. 19 - 187 miles, 4.5 hours driving
West Glacier
7 am and 45 degrees! Nothing gets me in the shower quicker than slamming the side of my head into the fly strip I hung over the table the night before. Another nice day and we left Florence by 10 am to finally head for Glacier. While he dumped the tank at a Sinclair, I found a yellow pages and a fiber store. Of course it was right in the heart of the old downtown Missoula with tight turns -- but he did it! He found a coffee shop and muffin while I bought two packs of roving to spin. That accomplished, we’re back on the road. Our next stop before Glacier would be Kalispell for some more provisions. We continue our way north along the west side of beautiful Flathead Lake and finally to Glacier. By now it’s about 3:30 and we’re really worried we might not find a camping spot available. And it is Friday. So we bee-line it to Apgar Campground, the first and largest of several, and after touring a few of the loops and passing on some (was that wise?), we finally find one in Loop D, #182, and I say TAKE IT! So as we’re trying to position it, out comes the neighbor, “Oh wow, an Airstream, we’re going to have trailer-envy!” I say thanks, thinking, not now lady! Soon the (ancient) camp host rides up on this bike while Bill is out paying and getting water, and he’s already looking for the tag. GEEZ man give us a minute. And he said he thinks we got the last spot. whew. $20 a night and no electric, but water is available. So it’s quite comfy in the 70s, good thing cuz we can’t run the air. We finally sit down and damn, I smell smoke. The guy next door has a cigarette. crap, it stinks. Soon his wife comes over and says, among other things, they are leaving in the morning (yay), and bla bla bla they are from Alberta, Canada, and warns us the park is really strict about leaving out coolers, they’ll fine you and take it away, and we’re going to have a fire later tonight if you want to come over and -- what is that Airstream like on the inside? so I say go ahead, take a look...here we go again. This hasn’t happened in a while (and I don’t miss it). Later we took the woodsy path to the visitor center, which had just closed one minute before our arrival at 6:01, so instead we checked out the village and big lake. After dinner we took a walk around the campground. Tomorrow we can finally see what this park has to offer.
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| Bill thrilled to be in West Glacier's Apgar Village |
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| View along Going to the Sun Road |
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| Park touring cars |
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| Ladies Tresses Orchid |
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| Going To The always under-contruction Sun Road |
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| Good to see before a stroll in the woods. |
Saturday, Aug. 20 - West Glacier, parked for three nights
Awoke to 40 degrees outside, 65 inside. All this talk about bears visiting the campgrounds, we thought they might come and lick the table where the chicken grease came out of the grill last night, but no sign of visitation. Slower start today, didn’t get moving until maybe 10 am or so, with a first stop at the visitor center to find out about hikes and of course, Bill picked the slowest line. Then I picked the second slowest. Then we needed gas, then we needed food, then we had to wait in line to get back in the park. At last we’re on Going to the Sun Road and it’s packed, no place to park for overlooks, partial construction, can’t even park at the visitor center up at the top, it’s full, so we head back down the way we came, holding off to do the east half when we move over there in a few days. On the way back down we found a spot to park and took a short walk along a river (found two native orchids). Came back by maybe 4:30 and started dinner which included the lazy cobbler from the dutch oven book. Worked pretty good, very simple recipe, can’t believe it actually bakes. Made a cherry and blueberry one with yellow cake mix. Oh, and we had ice cream. Just as we are both bent over the fire to progress check on the dutch oven, the neighbor pops up behind to say, “Doesn’t have to be now, but we wouldn’t mind
looking in your trailer! We’ve been over there wondering [i.e., drinking] what it looks like in there.” We agree, let’s get it over with now, so he turns and yells to his friends, “come on over, we can look-- free drinks!” He and his wife with the envy were from the Flathead area, and the other couple was from Kalispell. Later: Smoke is burning my eyeballs. One end of the campground is packed and the other is kinda quiet, but we’re in the middle. Looks like it’s quieting down now that the weekend is over. Tomorrow we’re going to take the park’s public transportation so we don’t have to work so hard for a parking place. That was ridiculous.
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| Hiking through the woods after we couldn't even park at the visitor center. |
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| Bill contemplates the possibility of a summer job. |
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| The lodge's flowers were beautiful. |
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| A peek inside the Lake McDonald Lodge |
Sunday, Aug. 21 -- West Glacier
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| The hike off the back of the visitor center to Hidden Lake. |
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| THOSE ARE GOATS UP THERE! |
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| Parenting. |
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| Talking. Perhaps saying "Maybe one will drop that sandwich." And "You go for the chips, I'll get the carrots." |
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| Walking. |
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| Sparring. |
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| Looking adorable. |
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| Hiking. |
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| Staying on the trail. |
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| Yes, even peeing. |
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| With all those goats I almost forgot the view from up there: Hidden Lake. |
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| Mountain Sheep lounging in the sun. |
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The light spot is the sheep. They looked like rocks from a distance, if you could see them at all.
Below is one more shot from West Glacier from the Avalanche Lake Hike. |
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| Flathead Lake cherries. YUM. |
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| The stuff of movies... |
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| AND there's the BUFFALO! |
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| ...and tipis! Too much for a history buff. |
Trying to get out of here early today to move on. Gotta drive US 2 under the park with the trailer, rather than through it, to the next place: Many Glacier on the east side. Got in a quick tour of Glacier Lodge, the big one that used to receive the train crowds back in the day. It was a nice day, a little overcast and getting windy. We were going to take Hwy 49 up to St. Mary’s but they don’t allow vehicles over 21 feet, so now we have to go through Browning, a little town out on the plains, home of the Blackfeet Indians. Also home of the Museum of the Plains Indians, which I’d love to see on the way out. Just about 12 miles out of our way but did see a herd of Buffalo, very cool. Took a curvy road up to the park and reached Many Glaciers. I like the look of this a little better than the west side, got a better vibe. So straight to the campground with a few more sites to choose from this time. Picked spot #12, still $20 a night for no electricity but water (best if you REMEMBER to fill up BEFORE parking). Quieter here (until we crank up the generator later). We are right next to the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, so we have a store and restaurant if we so desire! I desire! Settled in by 2pm and got in a short 2-mile hike. The winds were getting stronger and was blowing our brains out and hats off. Hiked to Red Rock Lake & Falls behind the lodge so it was a pretty busy trail. Someone on the trail said they saw a moose at the lower lake earlier in the day, must check that out. We quickly looked at the lake, holding onto our hats, then went up a little further to the falls. Came back and had 4:30 happy hour (seems to start earlier and earlier) then took a drive over to the other, bigger Many Glaciers Lodge down the road, which is in the middle of it’s renovation. Did a quick walk through as usual as when you are with a man, but enjoyed their photo displays of the shrinking glaciers which are melting fast. They are really a shadow of their former selves from 50 years ago. Came back, made dinner. It is SO windy there is dirt on everything; had to close up the windows earlier and I’ve washed the floor twice. It blew all night and is still blowing this am. I mean really blowing; hoping the trees stay up.
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| Wasn't long before we were off on a hike from our first campground. Not bad, eh? |
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| Rocks in the clear running goat pee. |
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| Beautiful pooling water from the mountain stream. ho-hum. |
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| Many Glacier Lodge up the street from the campground. Always have to do a lodge tour. |
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| Inside the lodge, which was under renovations. But they had a hallway full of great old photos |
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| Photo proof of the retreating glaciers. Is it hot in here or is it just me? |
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| Oh yeah you bet I ran when that leg moved forward! |
Tuesday, Aug. 23 - camped at Many Glacier. First grizzly sighting.
Not nearly as cold here in the am -- 59 degrees and still blowing like a mofo. Today we will drive up the east side of Going to the Sun. Left the campground about 9:30 am when, right across from the Many Glacier Lodge entrance there’s a ton of cars along the road, people standing around with their cameras out, so I insist we stop too. He parks but stays in the car but I want to see what all the action is about. The first guy I see tells me BEAR! I’m there! I wave Bill out and head up the hill where the brave ones are. You couldn’t see them from the road, you needed elevation. They’re way off in the distance but I can see them!! Three big bears, two dark and one cinnamon. The man told me it was a sow and cub but no, it was three adults if you ask me. I noticed one bear sniff the air then take some steps our way which caused a mini-panic and half of us went downhill! Hearing no screams, I climbed back up and got another view, trying for shots. Did my best with the little camera but what a great photo op. WOOHOO. To get to Going to the Sun, we had to go all the way back down to St. Mary then back into the park. Weather very overcast and threatening, but it never did rain. Looked like winter was around the corner. Mild, maybe in the 60s, definitely needed the wind breaker. Did the drive with the obligatory photo op stops, went almost to the Logan visitor center but turned around before -- figuring it would be as busy as before. Came back down and did some smaller 2-mile hikes at St. Mary Falls and the Virginia Falls, then Gorge falls, toured a few campgrounds around St. Mary’s and their visitor center. Came back to Many Glacier, stopped at Sherburne Lake and skipped stones, saw Marmaduke and his friends sleeping on the shore. Time to see if the moose is still at the little lake, so we hiked over and sure enough--just missed him, but a guy showed us some shots he got. way cool. Nice night, not as windy as last night, 64 as I typed.
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| I believe I see a glacier! There's still a few left. |
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| They must have some pret-ty big elk up here. |
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| Bear Sign #1: Saw this off the trail. Got me thinking... what else would flip this over? |
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| Just a short hike took you to this. |
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| A strange sight on the shores of St. Mary Lake, as Marmaduke guarded his sleeping wenches. Earlier a windsurfer was out there with his parachute thingie. |
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| Camp Many Glacier, with hotel, restaurant and grizzlies right behind! |
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| The approach to Iceberg Lake. |
Wednesday, Aug. 24 - camped at Many Glacier - Iceberg Lake Hike
Today we hiked Iceberg Lake Trail, which starts right here behind the general store and hotel. The am was cool, about 59, kinda warm actually, so off we went for our 10-mile round trip journey. (I had read that earlier this season this trail was closed due to grizzly activity. I would find out that is pretty common. They have the right of way.) Pretty uneventful--at first--but a beautiful hike. Did the 5 miles to the lake and it really had icebergs. There were quite a few people there. Heading back to about 2 miles from the camp, a couple stopped in front of us, looking down, they said there’s a moose! Finally the big moose we’ve been hearing about. He’s been reported at the lake for two days but now we got an aerial view of him as we looked down into the valley along the little stream. Boy that guy had good eyes. So we continued on and noticed fresh bear scat on the trail (like, real fresh) and a people jam ahead, cameras are out, and it seems the first couple happened upon about 4 or 5 bears on the trail just now, so we all tried to get pics and made a lot of noise to keep them moving up, which they did. Safety in numbers, about 12 of us hiked down together making a lot of noise. As it turned out, they were technically very near our camp. Like real close-like. I imagine the smells from the restaurant must drive them nuts. It was solid blue skies today, and quite warm in the open sun, probably low 80s. We got back at 4pm and later had dinner at the restaurant. Big night out. The ranger had a scope set up in the parking lot outside the restaurant to see the four grizzlies roaming the mountain behind the hotel -- a good safe distance, and yet so close... guess those were our bears.
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| And that's why they call it Iceberg Lake. |
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| Finally saw the elusive moose we've been hearing about for days, thanks to the eagle-eye of a hiker ahead of us who pointed him out. This was from waaaaaaay up above; thanks for zooming so well Canon. |
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| Bear Sign #2: FRESH scat on your trail. I know an encounter is going to happen soon, whether we like it or not. |
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| And then it happened! You've read the story but I managed to get one shot of the vermin while simultaneously crapping my hiking shorts. Suddenly it wasn't so bad hiking with strangers. |
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| Lewis & Clark Caverns campground, Montana |
Thursday, Aug. 25 - leaving Glacier - 325 miles, 6.5 hours drive time
59 again this am. Leaving today, but I want to stop at the little Museum of the Plains Indian on the way out at Browning. We took Duck Lake road out this time instead of the curving 89. Drove across the open plains to Browning. Here he dropped me off at the museum while he went to wash the truck and trailer. That museum was the best $4 I ever spent, they had a nice collection of Indian clothing and beadwork, more like an art museum. Then when I was about a quarter of the way thru, here he comes, looming in the doorway with the, “are you done yet?” Never got to watch the museum video so don’t know any more about Blackfeet except I have them when I go barefoot. So on we drove, heading south toward Bozeman not knowing how far we’d get. Took 89 south and along came a little town called Dupuyer and I saw the word YARN. We stopped at the little shop and got some local yarn. The new souvenir. Moved on, taking 287 and on to I-15 to Helena where we stopped at what else, Walmart. It was hot for this drive, as much as 91, and a storm was building which we seemed to keep dodging until Helena. Just as we got out of the car to shop the W it opened up. By the time we came out the sun was shining and it was hot and steamy, just like SoFla. We decided to camp at Lewis and Clark Caverns, about another hour south off I-90, still making our way toward Yellowstone. Beautiful area and 88 degrees when we reached the campground -- and found all the hookups were taken. But we got a nice spot under a tree for shade and cranked up the generator so I could do some work that had come in. It was a warm night. Tomorrow we will do laundry at the KOA. We have two night’s reservation at the KOA West Yellowstone (buy one night get one free) -- never before have I looked forward to going to one of those. But TV to watch the hurricane! And what's with all these gnats? ugh they were coming through the screen last night -- filled up some flypaper again. I’ll try to keep my head out of it this time.
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| On the way to Bozeman, the big sky is filled with storms. |
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| To think that expedition laid eyes on this same spot; what must they have been thinking? (I wish we'd brought the Airstream.) |
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| yeaaah, I don't think so. |
Friday, Aug. 26 - 160 miles - West Yellowstone
This am after a lovely omelet and toast with cherry butter breakfast, we’ll go up and see the L&C Caverns before moving on to Bozeman. Drove the three miles up from the campground to the caverns, only to discover these are real caves and I don’t like to go in those. Also, L&C never even went in them! Just a gimmick, so we moved on. Nice view up there though. Coolish morning but going to be hot today. Drove a short way to Bozeman, dang hot now. Well what do you know, two FABULOUS yarn shops! Wanted Mexican for lunch but nothing great around so continued on to Gallatin Gateway and lunched at the ol' Corral in Big Sky. Beautiful country here along the river. It’s wonderful to see all the new pines growing since the big Yellowstone fire of '88 - 23 years and the new trees are about 10 feet high. Blew through West Yellowstone to the KOA west of town and got the laundry out of the way -- goes fast with 4 machines at once. Went back to town before dinner, but the sky was getting blacker and got back just as the rain began and the wind whipped... no BBQ tonight, emergency spaghetti to the rescue. Later I watched the neighbor’s awning on their pop-up flip up and over in the wind, rainbow lights and all. Looked like hurricane footage. So very lovely to have full electric into the night, with the door closed so I don’t get ten million bugs on the light as I spun my new roving on the spindle, watching Idaho news on the TV... one night with lights and I’m up until 11pm.
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| Better get back! A storm's a comin' -- this is West Yellowstone. Home of the great T-shirt sale. |
Saturday, Aug. 27 - KOA West Yellowstone
40 in the am, Hurricane Irene is bearing down on NC, and we’re going to Yellowstone. Going to be a hot one today, and it was, the great energy-sapper. Car therm said 84 but in the sun it felt like 94. The woman working the park entrance was from Durango; small world. We checked out campgrounds for tomorrow while we toured -- Madison, Norris, Fishing Bridge and Bridge Bay on the east side by the big lake -- deciding Madison by the west entrance would be the best. We drove the southern loop, saw some buffalo sleeping along the way, they looked like big rocks, then finally a good sized herd along the river in the Hayden Valley. We skipped the Grand Canyon for now but will go back for pics. Mostly we stopped at thermals
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| Such a symbol. Just had to show him one more time. |
(great, make a hot day hotter), but got some colorful pics. I dozed along the lake drive again just like I did 10 years ago and we finally arrived at Old Faithful. I barely recognized it; the area has grown a lot in the 10 or 11 years since our last visit. This is where everyone was, waiting for it to go off every 92 minutes. And it was hot. Basically hell. We had just missed an eruption so we had lunch inside the old hotel, in a hot and stuffy wing next to the dining room, which had closed for the day until 4:30pm. It was about 2pm, so we ate, caught the Old Faithful show, and out we went with the traffic. It just reminded me of Orlando. Or a concert letting out. Hit a few more thermals on the way back. Some a-hole saw an elk in the river and nearly hit the bridge then us trying to pull over. Left the park around 5, the storm clouds building again but never turned into a storm. Tonight we watched a movie. And I reveled in my last night of electricity and bright lights by which to knit. Went to bed about 11:30pm; love that 'lectric.
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| There goes Old Faithful! |
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| Lobby tour of Old Faithful Inn, of course. It was packed. |
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| Prismatic thermal at ground level is very colorful, but... |
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| ...viewing it from up a hill it is UH-MA-ZING!!! |
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| Wallowing in the dirt, just like is says in the history books. |
Just in case anyone's wondering about bison facts, I got this from the parks website:
• The bison population fluctuates from 2300 to 4500 animals.
• Bison (scientific name: Bison bison) are not listed as a threatened or endangered species. Approximately 30,000 bison live in public and private herds in North America; they are managed for conservation goals. Approximately 400,000 bison are raised as livestock.
• Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. A number of Native American tribes especially revere Yellowstone’s bison as pure descendants of the vast herds that once roamed the grasslands of the United States. The largest bison population in the country on public land resides in Yellowstone.
• The bison is the largest land mammal in North America. Males (bulls) weigh up to 2,000 pounds, females (cows) weigh up to 1,000 pounds.
• A bison is agile and quick, and can run more than 30 miles per hour. A bison can also pivot quickly—an advantage when fighting predators that aim for hindquarters.
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| This looked deep but I didn't want to jump in to find out how deep. |
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| Camp Madison |
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| Mary Mountain Trail closed. RIP hiker friend... (Orbs!) |
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Sunday, Aug. 28 - leaving KOA for Madison campground in the park
Not sure if we’ll have cell service in the park. It’s barely working here at KOA. We’ll be there for the next four nights. Heard on the news last night they found a man dead on a trail near Old Faithful and there were signs of a bear -- they are looking into seeing if it was a grizzly. GEEZ are they on the rampage or what?? Said he had been dead since Wednesday. You wonder why no one reported a guy missing, but I see a lot of men here alone camping so maybe no one ’spects to hear from them. Weather is supposed to cool off mid-week so looking forward to that. Have worn jeans only once and that was a car day. We had mosquitoes here at KOA but they preferred Bill’s blood to mine. Overcast this am, I hope it stays to keep down the temps. 50 degrees this am. Left KOA about 10:30am for the short drive to Madison campground, got Loop D, #152. Pretty quiet but would fill up by the end of the night. Bright and sunny and going to be another hot one -- though it it’s only 75, that direct sun is a killer. Got set up and decided to have a picnic lunch along a river, first driving the Firehole River drive. I picked a hike based on their handout, Fairy Falls, just down the road in the Geyser Basin, between here and Old Faithful. On the hike, Bill followed a couple up a hill on a dirt path, me all the time saying, are you sure? this is not the trail... Well, it was NOT the trail, but it was a near-vertical climb up a dusty dirt and ash, to get an overlook shot of the colorful Prismatic thermal below. OK, you're forgiven. Got back on the HOT trail for the 2.5 miles to the falls. Finally reached it, which was a cool relief in the shade and mist and noticed lots of raspberries growing around. Must be a fave bear spot... Soon headed back. Wanted this hot hike over. Came back very tired from the 5-mile hike, sat around and enjoyed the campground -- very quiet; I like this campground. But of course, Madison is the only one that doesn’t get a cell signal. Didn’t eat until 8pm, then went over to the ranger presentation on bears at 9. Learned a lot.
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| The hike to Fairy Falls. |
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| The cute squirrel is a resident of the falls. |
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| These two look like a logo. I like it. |
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| Three baby osprey anxious to leave the nest but that first step is a doozy. |
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| And there you bee. |
Monday, Aug. 29 - Madison Campground, Yellowstone
Awoke at 7am to 47 degrees. Agreed to go out for an early drive to see if any animals were out. They weren’t. Went as far south as Midway basin but didn’t see a living thing except cars and a few geese. Guess we need to go east next time. Big day today, so here it goes: Figured we’d hike but as it would turned out we never did a big one, just did a lot a short ones. First, the artist paint pots. Loved those -- white mud bubbling up. I could have stood there all day and watched that. Next, on our no-plan tour after Canyon Village for a cell signal, was a stop at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, first the lower falls, for all the scenic shots and a hike down to the brink. Moved on to another area there and noticed about 5 osprey soaring in the canyon high above the river. Turned out there was a nest there on a rock spire and with some super zooming I got some shots of the kids in there. They look ready to go. On we go in the Hayden Valley area cuz that’s where the buffalo are and I wanted to sit and watch them. We noticed a large crowd at one of the turnoffs, so of course we join the crowd to find out what’s up -- good thing we did: several wolves had taken down a bison and we got there in time to see a big grizzly run in to take it over (just like the ranger said in the park talk last night). They were way off in the distance and hard to see, but many around us had scopes and they let us look. I got to see the griz run in with a big grey wolf on his heels (if a bear has heels). I guess the wolves have to sit back while the bear -- and her cubs -- got first crack at it. really amazing. We watched that for a while with our little binocs (note to self: need a scope) and moved on. Next up: Hayden Valley bison area. So there they were, up the hill on our right, and a few were down by the river on our left, so we found a spot in the turnoff as a few were crossing the road. We got out and watched two kinda playing down there by the river, not too far from us, when we noticed them slowing coming our way! AGH! Run to the truck! So we both got to the truck and they were still ambling at us until they are about 3 feet from the truck on my side, my window is open, and I can smell them (ick). They stopped and stood there eyeballing me through the (open) window. But they were in their own world, started to play again by the car and we’re thinking: “State Farm? My new truck just got gored...” But finally they moved along and after stopping in the middle of the street went up the hill on the other side. Got some good pics, can’t get any closer than that. They stink too, P U. Got back and hiked over to the river behind the campground. Had dinner then picked a short, one mile hike within a mile of us (Harlequin Lake) and started on that. Well, it was in the thick new trees growing up after the fires, and I’m thinking, hmm, dusk, bear feeding time, so I’m talking and clapping and making a lot of noise as they say when finally I say, this is stupid let’s stop. So we turned around and left. I believe that was the smart thing to do, besides, my hands were sore from clapping. Maybe if we had a can of bear spray I’d feel better, but no, this is nothing to mess around with. After that we drove around some more, it was about 7:30 and wanting to rain but it never did. Went to the 9pm ranger program that evening: other predators. Oh great, will I ever hike here again??? Not bad, cute otters, lynx and coyote. After the talk, I asked about the man found dead last Wednesday. She said, as of just a few hours ago, it was determined that he was killed by a grizzly. That makes two this year. He was 59, hiking alone -- just 5 miles from our campground at Mary Mountain. Very sad. One last trivia note: The ranger said Madison campground is the area where the surveyors first came to the area and decided this should be a national park, and that they camped on the mountain behind us and it’s called National Park Mountain. I didn’t know that.
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| Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, of course. |
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| You'll have to trust me on this one: Those are bears racing in to take over the kill from wolves in the meadow. Just like the ranger talk said. |
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| And those brown dots off to the right are the wolves waiting to get it back. It was really something--with binoculars. |
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| Boy these guys could give a rip about cars and traffic. Could care less, just get out of their lumbering way. |
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| These are the two that strolled within smelling distance of the truck. If they didn't like Fords, well, then...we were done for. |
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| Near the meadow-feeding. Anyone know what this is? Those yellow legs.. we're thinking immature Bald Eagle! |
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| Taking a walk to a lake, at sunset, in these thick woods, with no bear spray. Nope, not today, I'm outta here. |
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| A little breezy up here. |
Tuesday, Aug. 30 - camped at Madison, Yellowstone
37 in the am, turned out to be a slightly cooler day today. Plan was to do the upper loop and hike Mt. Washburn. A few miles into the drive Bill said he was tired of driving so I took the wheel. Naturally I got the leg of the drive that turned into the curving, ascending mountain drive with no shoulders or guardrails. No problemo, I am a truck driver now. We had hiked Mt. Washburn 10 years ago but it has a great view at the top so we did it again. 5 miles round trip, so that’s 2.5 miles ALL uphill, my fave. I looked at the road ahead and thought, why are we doing this? and put one foot in front of the other... Got to the top and it was pretty hazy up there with all the area fires, tho it was cooler. The hike took just over 3 hours, 11 am to 2:30 pm, with our 20 minute rest at the top. Saw no animals, where the heck are they all? was hoping for some big horn sheep. Real windy at the end, wondered if I’d blow off the mountain. Drove on around to a jam-packed Tower Falls, then on to Mammoth Hot Springs, the same things at every junction: campground, hotel, store, and visitor center, more or less, but Mammoth is a lot older and more established -- and a three-bar cell signal. Rangers were guarding a grassy island in the road filled with lounging elk. Long day, headed back to camp. I was very tired from the hike so by 8pm, I was reading my book but Bill went to the ranger talk at 9 and it turned out to be about the history of the park and I missed it. He said it was good -- how they used to just have a big dump behind the hotel and set up a grandstand so the people could come and watch the bears eat. WOW have times changed. Must have taken several animal generations to break that behavior.
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| Hiking up that cut, spiraling around to that little square on top, the fire station lookout. A ranger actually lives up there. |
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| The town elk at Mammoth rule. And they know it. |
Wednesday, Aug. 31 - leaving Yellowstone for Teton
Decided to cut our stay at Yellowstone by a day, leave something left to do next time. Rain and lightning last night about 4 am, and cloudy and 40 this am but I do see some blue sky up there. It was cloudy on and off for our short drive down to Teton about 9:30 am, but weather was fine upon arrival, low 70s. We have almost 3000 miles on the truck already! Next stop: Signal Mountain campground, and not a lot of spots left, tenters seem to take the biggest spots. The camp is about 20 miles to Jackson Hole, but a nice scenic drive it is. I swear there are more glaciers here than in Glacier Park! We heard there are 12 named glaciers here, more on that later. So we dragged around JH town; wanted Mexican tonight (shocking), found the Merry Piglets, right off the square. Excellent! Came back on the eastern road which went through a buffalo area, more cool pics, then along some scenic rivers where everyone was gathered for wildlife watching. Did see an otter way off in the distance thanks to a spotter with scope. And a big white trumpeter swan also in the distance. They had a 9 pm ranger program so we went to that -- How the Mountains were formed. A young college grad gave it and she was really good. Broke it down with a slide show so we could all understand, really glad I heard because if I read it in a book I would have never stayed with it. Bill was ancy, said she kept waking him up. She did have sort of a Barney Fife presentation in her talk, but she was clear and concise and her voice never trailed off, she didn’t studder; really, I was impressed and walked down to tell her so. She sounded relieved to hear it. Perfectly clear starry night for our dark walk back. OH and she said "we do have bears around, both black and griz, so keep an eye out and put away all food." oh great....thanks.
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| Happy Hour at Camp Signal Mountain near Jackson Lake Lodge |
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| Oh sure it looks silly, but after you hit your head on the corner of the window not once, but TWICE, you'll try anything. |
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| Oh give me a home... |
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| Stop the car! Just caught it. |
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| Sure little boy, go into those woods. |
Thursday, Sept. 1 - Teton Bear Encounter Hike
Cold in the morning, 37 I believe, took a little longer to warm up it seemed. Today we will hike somewhere in the Tetons close to camp, starting with Leigh Lake from which several trails fork off from that. Got to the trailhead about 10 am and checking the map decided to go to the Paintbrush Canyon trail, after the leisurely flat stroll around the lake. The elevation did increase a bit, the GPS said we went up 1200 feet for the 4 miles we went up, but had we continued another 2 miles or so to Holly Lake it would have been 2900 foot increase in elevation... no thanks, that’s why we turned around when we did.
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| Bear Sign #3: Scratches on trees |
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| Bear Sign #4: A BEAR SIGN |
Very nice hike tho, ended up going just over 4 miles in and 4 out, not very crowded, a nice wooded trail, so shady mostly too. Passed many younger backpackers who had camping for three days and none said they ever saw a bear (I always ask). HOWEVER, after we had made the turn to the right and started up the part of the trail called Paintbrush, I was lagging behind, as always on the uphill, so Bill was probably 40 feet ahead of me, and I heard a loud, distinct noise coming from the hill above me... Sounded like wood, or an ax going into wood, but I heard it several times and yelled to Bill about an “odd noise” so, of course, he just blew me off. But it did stay with me, cuz... a squirrel can’t make that much noise, and the trail didn’t wind around that way so there were no people -- so to me, there was just one thing that was making that noise.... (had seen a video about how bears rip old trees apart to look for bugs -- that was the sound). Had lunch along a roaring waterfall and headed back down. About a quarter mile from the first waterfall, this happened:
About three miles up the trail, but on our way down, I’m 6 feet behind Bill, both of us walking with our heads down, wide brims -- I’m chatting away about tag lines for a logo of all things -- when all the sudden I hear a big HUFF, and look up to see a BIG BLACK BEAR STANDING UP AND BLUFF CHARGING US on the left! She was off the trail, maybe 10 - 15 feet or so but standing tall on her hind legs... and we were kinda pinned as there was a tall slope wall to our right... I yelled &%$@ BILL, BEAR!
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| It went sorta like this, ok except it was a smaller black bear, and I didn't get a photo in time because I thought I was lunch. *Grizzly courtesy of Jackson Lake Lodge. Cub image found online. Bill stars as himself. |
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| At least we had a peaceful lunch by the roaring stream. |
so we both freeze, she’s coming forward toward the trail, we’re paralyzed for a moment, then start moving backward. Then I see a cub up a tree behind her (the cub was adorable). HOLY CRAP will she stop there or keep coming??? Can I get a pic of this or will I die trying? (I did try, but didn't get her.) She did stop approaching when we backed away. Not knowing what to do, I went back looking for more people to first warn them and then to make noise so we could scare them off as a group, but could find no one. Bill stayed up there “to keep an eye on her.” Yeah OK, but give her space! Within a few minutes she went back down the hill (though neither of us saw her do that, it was so bushy) as I came back clapping, yelling and whistling trying to sound like six people. Bill stayed closer and I saw him go up the hill for a big stick so I thought maybe she was still coming, but she wasn’t. By the time I reached Bill again, making all my racket, two hikers had come along from the other direction and were talking to Bill so I guess she was gone and it was like nothing happened. I heard him tell them it was about 10 minutes go -- WHAT? 10 minutes?? “Try three,” I said! And where was it, they asked, further up? I said NO right HERE! Bill said he heard the woman say she didn’t want to go on... but they did, yelling. But crap, alllllllll those warnings, and WE have to be the ones who run into one -- with a cub. We continued on, now with me in the lead, yelling, talking loud, clapping till my hands hurt, whistling my woof whistle. We saw very few hikers now, but warned those we saw all of what we’d seen. Earlier, with the Yellowstone man’s death fresh in my mind, I was asking Bill, OK, I know what to do with a grizzly, but what do you do with a back bear? run? play dead? fight back? didn’t know we’d find out in real time! But I gotta say, my psychic deal was spot on -- I just knew we’d see a bear today, I could feel it. That was a textbook encounter -- a sow with her cub. The worst it can be; NO, the worst would have been if it was grizzly. Thank God for small favors... Taught us a lesson: Time for bear spray.
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| Jackson Hole |
Friday, Sept. 2 - Teton stay-out-of-the-woods day; last day in Tetons
Freezing this am -- 30 degrees. Today we shall hit the town again. Need a break from hiking if you know what I mean. First thing first was to go to the Jackson Lake Lodge sale, the one I so enjoyed 10 years ago, when I was the only one in the room. Well, this year was different -- got there about 9:30 am and the place was crawling with people. Spent a little time at the Lodge by the fire in the big upstairs lobby as Bill did the reservations for the next night. The weather has finally turned and I actually wore jeans and long sleeves today without dyin’ of the heat. High 60s, with nights clear and cold, as I type this. We are going down to SW Wyoming to Fort Bridger -- and as luck would have it, it's the big Rendezvous re-enactment weekend so we will get to see what this is like -- either great or a get me out of here...Just so happens I’m reading a book about Bent’s Fort (the place we visited earlier this year in LaJunta CO) which is all about trappers and the fur trade of the 1820-40s. So right up my history alley at the moment. Next we stopped at the visitor center again in Moose, and bought some bear spray. Already Bill has plans to spray our chipmunks to test it, then the deer, or perhaps an Airstream invader of the human kind. So you can rest assured we’re now safe on the trail as we have the spray insurance (i.e., we’ll never see another bear again). Then we went to the Wildlife Art Museum in Jackson Hole That was nice but the exterior of the new place is under construction so the galleries were rattling and shaking and lights dimming as the jack hammers went at it outside. Beautiful new building right across from the big elk preserve. After that we went into town for lunch, and later took the little winding drive up Signal Mountain near the campground for an overlook, no biggie, then back to camp for dinner. There’s a huge cell tower right there, but I guess we’re behind something as we don't get the signal in camp. Temps in the low and mid 60s upon our return. FALL IS IN THE AIR FINALLY. We hit a warm streak the last week or so, AS WE ALWAYS DO.
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| Can't leave this scenic backdrop without the beauty shot. |
Saturday, Sept. 3 - Wyoming
Left Teton at 10 am and headed south to Fort Bridger. Really liked the Hoback River area SE of Jackson Hole. Got to the Bridger area and parked at 4pm. Welllll, back from the day’s adventure -- only took an hour -- PACKED and HOT (tho 74 on the therm), don’t get it but the sun is blazing. Basically this is a huge, HUGE event for the area. There is one group that likes to camp like it’s 1830, and then there’s the vendors who like to sell things from 1830. Believe it or not I didn’t buy a thing -- couldn’t think of what to do with a piece of leather, a strap of suede, fake trade beads, or a fur with the head still on. Got some interesting pics tho. I’m sure I saw bra straps, pot bellies, and very new buckskins with no dirt (I read that real mountain men lived on meat and were so oily that they were water-proof, and wiped their greasy knives on their buckskins to make them waterproof too). There were some ladies parading around in their buckskins representing Indians, they had to be dyin’ in those. The others with their prairie skirts dragging in the dirt. So now we are in the KOA, listening to what seems to be scores of children from a large polygymist family (one man) with two huge circus-sized tents, babies screaming, kids all over, dragonflies crashing into things... THANK GOD WE HAVE ELECTRIC AND WE CAN LOCK OURSELVES INSIDE SOON. We left the trailer on the truck so we can get out fast at first light! aagh!
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| oops, after I took this I realized these guys were for real. I thought they were part of the Rendezvou. |
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| The most authentic-looking ones in the bunch. |
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| Back at camp the neighbor had a cat. If it had been a barking dog we probably wouldn't have heard it anyway. |
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| Whew, what a climb. |
Sunday, Sept. 4 - Drive day to Grand Junction, CO
Woke to 34 degrees, bright in sunny in Lyman, WY, and on the road by 9 am. Headed through new territory for us, beautiful country as always, and quite steep when we crossed into Utah, climbing above the Flaming Gorge and smelling the brakes on the way down. Hwy 191 and on the other side it was pretty much 9 miles of continuous 8% grade downhill but with good signage so you knew what you were getting into (and had no choice). Constantly working the gears and the trailer brakes, Bill was glad to be done with that. But it wasn’t over yet! Once we crossed into Colorado and headed down toward Grand J, it steepened again, but not as severely. Boy the truck and Billy got a workout. Arrived to 90-degree Grand Junction about 3 pm. Lucked out and got a full hookup in James Robb Colorado River State Park in Fruita and right by the Colorado National Monument, the reason we’re here. Hot as hades, up to 91 before long, turned on the a/c and stayed inside. When it was kinda cool enough to go outside in the shade (89), there were skeeters biting us! This is like a Florida park! Stayed inside and was going to stay another day but have decided to save the Monument for a cooler day. Can’t take it. So we’ll head home in the am. Got plenty to do next time around.
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| Flaming Gorge was gorgeous. |
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| The city of Vernal. They have one heck of a budget for flowers and flags. wow. |
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| In a park in Grand Junction. Good thing he's caged! |
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| Never saw streets marked like this before. Grand Junction. |
Monday, Sept. 5 Labor Day -- 260 miles, 5.5 hours - going home
It was a warm 60 degrees this am, sunny of course, and going to be hot 92, the reason we’re going home. BTW, “Rob Roy” State Park is very clean, with paved pads, pull throughs, full hookups, grass — we will definitely come back when we actually do the Monument. Came home south on 141. Not bad, new pavement and striping on the two-lane road that curved thru the canyon. It got better and better as we went, nothing too steep and more and more beautiful. Saw signs for big horn sheep, but saw none. Arrived at Gateway to find a huge beautiful development -- Gateway Canyons built by the man who started the Discovery channel. What a resort! In the middle of no where! Gotta come back, without the trailer. Adobe style, beautiful grounds, and even an antique auto museum. Arrived home late afternoon, to cooler surrounds. Good to be back.
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| Gateway Canyons. Wow, maybe development isn't so bad afterall -- it was beautiful. |
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| Note to Self: This looks awesome. Find skull for truck and screw to hood. |
Tuesday, Aug. 16 - 304 miles, 6 hours drive time
Wednesday, Aug. 17 - 238 miles, 4.5 hours drive time
Wednesday, Aug. 31 - leaving Yellowstone for Teton 
Saturday, Sept. 3 - Wyoming
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