#115 (46): West/SW WHYoming, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons
August 19, 2021 — departure, lucked out with cooler weather
LOST IN WHYOMING: Knitting Edition: Pinedale to Hoback
Dullsville: no internet or phone signal OR dish cuz mtns are too damn high...
Theme: thrift store yarn & kitty blankets. Scored huge in Pinedale; cleaned them out... got 4 done so far since starting out.
CG along Hoback River, 70 degrees as i type, tho we don’t have river view since we moved this am from spot #17 at the noisy entrance to #14 on the inside, with a YARD! So much nicer, wide spot rather than narrow. Not much planned this hazy day, might drive south to Granite Creek, something about hot springs. Other than last night's beaver, not much wildlife, tho we hear birds now, got my feeders out. So do others so prob no bears around. But i did see a bald eagle fly over there. Yday two flew down the river. We are on a two lane road; cars aren’t bad but DAMN the trucks are. We are in a narrow canyon, beautiful.
Photos like these is what perpetuates the mythical idea of camping, though i will say the temp is perfect and i am sitting outside and nothing is biting me. Epic.
And no toys or people to play with.
The excitement.
Fri, 8-25. After knitting like the blazes in the am, hiked across the street straight up an old road. Expected a bear but none. Lots of talus from Bryce Canyon to the right, but gave up after a mile (of course forgot my pedometer). Did some work for an hour, showered early, napa dinner, aggravation and a movie. The dish doesnt work cuz of the STRAIGHT UP mtn to the south so no news and no phones for 2 days, ie., Donner Pass. Relaxation in a hole. This is Maroon Bells part II.
Saturday, 8-26.
Finally time to leave DONNER PASS. Not sure i can take any more excitement. COLDEST MORNING yet, about 34 degrees. Wanted an early start but too cold! Now at 8:15 we are starting to move, ok, i am. Yellowstone, here we come for 2 nights. And hoping to drop off 7 (Pinedale yarn) kitty blankets to the shelter we passed so. of Jackson. I did, o one there, left it in the donation box with a card, just in case they want more. But looks like they mostly have big dogs. Went to our spot in Grant Village, love when its a village, means stores! Our site was A15, a tight old CG w/o water or elec. more boondocking. Its fine, no one spends much time there except at evening when they all have to have stinky fires. At least we had 2 bars of cell. Took a drive to Bridge Bay for something to do, pretty boring down here on the south end, didnt see much or any animals.
Sunday, 8-27. Slow start today. Left house about 11:30 and will meet up with Mark & Cherise later, they are visiting Big Sky. Today is her birthday. So we did the SW geyser basin area first, with a stop at Old Faithful and killed time till they got to Old Faithful at 2pm just like they said. Never thought they'd make it what with traffic but they did - while we were 30 mins late getting back there oops. Had lunch at General Store cuz thats all there was (friggin covid) and took it outside on the most perfect day to date -- blue skies and perfect temp, about 72 or so. Watched Old Faithful go off then more shopping at the nicer Lodge store and off they went, it was 4pm. Dish doesnt work at camp due to trees but podcasts do thankfully. Friends and Wings night, yay for old recordings.
Monday, 8-30 Rolled down to Grand Tetons for 3 reserved days! W/ elec! J199 but NO SIGNAL OR DISH. 😟 Tuning out is truly overrated -- cuz it also means no googling anything - topics, how to's, or weather. Anyway, previous people were not out of our spot at 11am checkout, so Bill pulls up behind them to stare them down; i was mortified and kept looking down, ugh awkward.....an old man and younger man were like the walking dead not packing anything until momma comes out and they mobilized. Weird. It's a long spot so plenty of room but another old established CG. Might be able to see a Teton from camp, thru the trees, but very smoky from fires today, utah maybe. Drove around to check out this village - it has a real grocery store, nice - got a Yellowstone buffalo medallion for my walking stick then went up to Jackson Lake Lodge to shop and use the phone for a signal, which is barely there. Couldn't get reservations for their restaurant, fully booked. So back to our camp to take a "short" walk by the lake, or so i thought. BTW, lake is really down at both ends -- enough that they had to move the marina. Set out in jeans (its getting hotter here), sandals and NO camera -- just a short walk, right? Well we kept going toward Heron Pond/overlook (3 miles in all) and as I was putting a big raven feather i had found into Bills water bottle holder i said, "watch, we'll see a bear cuz i got no camera." Yep - i called it again. Reached the ponds and noticed a beaver dam on the other side -- lets go! Checked out, and another but no one home. About to head back when Bill says "look". I was expecting to see those same 2 people on the other side, but instead see a big bear walking down the hill and getting in the water. NOT AGAIN! Back in Teton, hiking w/o bear spray and seeing a bear on DAY 1. Do we ever learn?? Apparently not. High tailed it outta there, hoping he didn't see us (he didn't care, he just wanted a cooling dip), all the while thinking about that lady killed by a bear in Durango last spring.... as we neared the short end of the pond i re-noticed the big pile of bear skat w/ berries we walked past the first time (duh), and a couple who was taking pics and said they would send me some! Ran into the original couple on the other side on the hike out and they said it walked 30 feet by them without noticing! I woulda crapped my jeans! They took it well, nice couple from Ohio. Ok, so skettie night, old reruns and knitting. Tired!
Tuesday, 8-31
Drive around day, very smoky. Sightseeing, lucked out and saw a fleeting glimpse of 2 blk bears from the road, way off in a field; causing a stir of course. Took the winding road to Teton Village and passed the Rockefeller Preserve so pulled in! What is it! It (and a beautiful new fancy visitor center with not much in it) was situated in a sage meadow so I wasn't expecting much. Well, turns out Lawrence Rockefeller donated thousands of acres to the park, Landon used to be his family's playground. There is a 1.25 mile hike to Phelps lake, which we did and it was lovely: tree covered forest all the way. And no bears. There were 2 piles of scat when you first start out, wonderful. Ended up in jackson for dinner at Merry Piglets Mex and groceries. They have a local mask mandate going on so skipped some stores around the square. Also picked up a bison steak since we couldn't dine at Jackson Lake Lodge, all booked.
Wednesday, 9-1
Still smoky tho B read it would clear out; it didn't. Couldn't decide if we should hike or boat, since it was smoky we decided to hike along string lake. Well, now that i see how clear and calm a glacier lake is, lets boat! But first, we must get the park boat permit. So we drive down to Jenny Lake to find out where to bet one. The [stupid] ranger said moose or string Lake, right where we were. So we drove back up to String. Nope nothing at string. So after much consternation, we did decide to drive the 15 minutes south to Moose to get the freaking $17 permit, then get some lunch to take on our float. A bit of sun thru the haze, and a small but beautiful lake it was. Spent about 2 hours but chose not to portage to the next lake, too far & too heavy. The cranberry turkey sammich was filling so leftovers and Dr Quinn for dinner. Going to bed at 10 OUT OF BOREDOM is the norm.
Thursday, 9-2
Heading to the east, the other side of the mountain as we begin to head back. Got 6 days before the new beds arrive. Stayed at an RV camp in Riverton. Did see a moose as we drove thru the mountains to get there. Went to din at Perrett's italian, not bad. To bed early, a bit of rain.
Friday, 9-3
More rain in the am, but time to take a longer, luxuriating shower in camp! Got Letusa signal, so did some online ordering, yay. Checked in at a comsignment store for more yarn, and scored 9 more @ $1/skein. Woohoo [after Pinedale, that makes about ... 22?) Drove until about 2pm, passing Saratoga lake (too early), will check on Encampment. what da hell? THERE IS A SPOT! FULL hookup/dumps for a "donation"... 3 day max. And this is Labor day weekend. And its Friday. And there is a thrift store on OUR corner... they are open tomorrow. Does it get any better? Let us see how long we stay. Checked out "home store" - gaggy - then went for a hike on Encampment River trail - down there was an entire other CG, bit glad to be up here, since it is going to rain. Did about 2 miles; Bill wants one of those river houses. Came back and went to another shit/antique/thrift store and it was HUGE. Owner was on the phone and told me to go down to the basement for yarn. Found it! Score 4 more, making $13 in one day -- are there enough animals to justify this??? Hahahaaaa Now waiting for the storm, blowing like a mofo, but as of 6:10 still no rain. Ut an antelope and dog did walk thru camp.
Sat, 9-4
Who knew it took encampment wy big open skies to get the dish to reset right. Just needed to stay plugged in overnight. Drove to Savery and toured their museum - excellent!- the a stop at Dixon Saloon for a cool drink, ok beer and hard lemonade. (Were heading to Baggs for no reason and terminated the trip at Dixon.) Saw 3 sheep and antelope on way back on the beautiful, windy, high mountain road. Passed Thomas Edison marker, he fished in the lake below where his fishing line gave him the idea to use filament for a bulb. Museum with moved local cabins and exhibits galore, showcasing local military heros, a doc, and a mtn man. Famous mountain man Jim Baker's cabin was the main event, as we was a friend of Fremont and Kit Carson, "back in the day." After we got back i went the half mike to the visotor center where i learned about Brush Creek Ranch, a high end lodge and retreat buying up all the land. It was SO beautiful out, i made Billy go for a town walk and we checked out some greenhouses (closed) and the Divide restaurant (way nicer than expected). Stayed in and cooked.
Sunday, 9-5
Today we will drive around the Snowy mtn range, its cooler up there and it is about 80 today. First we walked to the attraction of the "indian bathtubs", natural depressions in some rock outcroppings about a mile from town. Short 3/4 mi walk but HOT! Injuns swarmed thru this area, incl Utes and Arapahoes. But no, no arrowheads for me. Did a 2 mi hike at the forest stn up the mtn, kinda boring so moved on to drive some more. 12,000 ft got much cooler up there. When we got back we toured the exterior of the encampment museum buildings, and as we left saw a stray cow that got out. Great, him and a german shepherd that has been wandering.... not sure if he is lost but what can i do. Saw him over 2 days. Dinner at DiVide for good pizza, walked! Couple of deer bucks when we got back. Love being able to walk places, and population of 450, mostly retirees.
Labor day
Next time cemetery and walk to the river access
28 airstreams so far; make that 36 till Mon night.
Drove from encamp to Aspen Glade camp in super so. Colorado, in 2.5 hrs we would be home but i made him stop. Not going to drive at night with drunks and deer. LOTS of traffic heading the other way toward Denver, luckily we had a traffic-free drive to here. Big spot #21 on river, but not much daylight to enjoy, but did a camp walk.
Tues
Awoke to being pummelled by pinecones
RIP: Gabby Petito
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