The Never Ending Trail

Another beautiful sunny day. We stopped at the Jackson Lake Marina to find out about fishing licenses and boat permits. We may want to get out on Jenny Lake in the foldcat. Then we went to Jackson Lake Lodge to book our Float Trip on the Snake River (can't wait).

Today we are taking the Jenny Lake scenic drive. Turning off Rte 26 onto Teton Park Road our first stop was the Mount Moran turnout. Next was the Cathedral Group turnout where Grand Teton and its flanking peaks, Mount Owen and Teewinot form a gothic cluster. At South Jenny Lake we decided to take the boat shuttle across the sparkling blue/green water and hike the trail to Hidden Falls. We climbed the 1/2 mile trail to the falls and enjoyed the view. After viewing the falls we decided to hike back around the lake. The path was long and strenuous over rocks, roots, up hills but the views were awesome. At one of our rest stops two of the people we met at the Bar J Cowboy Dinner came down the trail. You never know who you will see. We sat along the edge of the lake on a rock and watched the trout swim around below us. Funny they know when you don't have a license. Finally we reached Moose Ponds where we sat on a log and wondered how much further we had to go. This ended up being a lot longer than the expected 2 miles - it was more like 4 but we were glad we did it. We were really tired and hungry so we stopped for a picnic on the way back to camp.

Larry & Margaret in the other Coach House stopped by and we talked about our travels since we last saw each other. It was a nice visit.

Pictures (top>bottom>right to left) Mt Moran Overlook, Cathedral Group, Shuttle across Jenny Lake, Trail to Hidden Falls, Hidden Falls (2), Path around Jenny Lake, Jenny Lake Hike Rest Stop)

Do Herons Sit In Trees?

Today we are heading out to Jackson Hole. Along the way we’ll check out fishing access sites along the Snake River. The Snake is a prime trout and whitefish river. Staying on route 26 there are numerous turnouts for viewing the Mountain Range and we stopped at most of them! The range is hazy in the daytime. In order to get clear pictures you have to be there early morning or at sunset. Even with the haze the views are majestic.

Along the route we stopped at the Cunningham Cabin historic site. The cabin and land around it was homesteaded by J. Pierce Cunningham in the 1880’s. The twenty year old from New York established the Bar Flying U Ranch where eventually he raised cattle and became one of the valley’s most prominent citizens. Later in the 1920’s he co-authored a petition to set aside the entire Jackson Hole as a recreation area. Ultimately the land was included in todays Grand Teton National Park. We walked the ½ mile trail giving us a glimpse of the difficult life of the homesteading ranchers who shaped the character of Jackson Hole.

Continuing down Rte 26,89,191 we took a side road (Schwabacher). We walked the nature trail along the river and saw a beautiful Blue heron sitting in a tree. (I didn’t know they sat in trees…) The path lead through marshy areas where a family of little ducks scurrying around. On the trail we met a lady who was painting the landscape - what a great talent to have. At the end of the trail we found a bench and just sat listening to the wind. Eventually we headed back to the car.

At Moose Junction we crossed the Snake River onto Moose-Wilson Rd and had a picnic in the shade along the side of the road. We decided to stay on the back road to see where it took us. This truly was a back road - narrow, windy, gravel and gorgeous. We found the Teton Village Ski Area and took a drive around. Very nice with lots of condos. It’s a popular celebrity area in the winter.

Continuing down the road we turned onto Rte 22 which led us into the town of Jackson. I was here with my family many years ago and was looking forward to showing Ken a real cowboy town…. Well it’s changed and the hitching posts, swinging doors, and boardwalk sidewalks are gone. Now it’s more like a big shopping mall. The main area of Jackson is built around the town park which has arches made out of antlers at each corner. We sat in the park for a while watching people and then went across the street to the Cowboy Bar. All of the bar stools are saddles so we climbed up and had a cool one. Back outside it’s almost 90 so we just hung out until it was time to mosey out to the Bar J Chuckwagon for dinner.

The Bar J is a real cattle ranch and they serve cowboy style dinners and put on a great show. While we were waiting to go into the dinning hall we watched a wrangler make corn biscuits in a pan over an open fire. He would take them out and put them on a tray along with homemade honey. I stood in line to get a couple while Ken found us seats inside. We sat at a long table with folks from Utah and had a great time. Soon it was time for dinner (we chose ribs) so we went through the line, which goes really fast, and got all our fixings, corn bread, baked potato, cole slaw, baked beans, and ribs. (later came spice cake for desert). After dinner the Bar J Wranglers put on a great show. Two of the guys are sons of the ranch owner and the others are cowboys on the ranch. They work during the day and do the show at night. Great western songs and lots of laughs. I would recommend this to anyone coming out this way.

We left the ranch about 10PM and drive Rte 26 in the dark for 30 miles. These are narrow, windy, and full of wildlife. We had to stop once for a very large Elk in the road. He was standing sideways and was very hard to see. We caught a movement and was able to stop in time… very scary. When we pulled into our campsite we had a surprise. The Coach House folks we met in Pick City, ND were parked right next to us.

It was a full day and we are off to bed…..

Pictures (bottom to top) Nature trail, Blue Heron (2), Jackson Antlers, Jackson Cowboy Bar, Rte 26 views, Willow Flats overlook, Cunningham property views, View out Cunningham Cabin, Snake River Overlook

Grand Teton National Park

Another beautiful drive as we leave Yellowstone through the south entrance. The deer were out in droves as we rolled through the groves of lodge pole pines. The pines grow so straight that the indians used the trunks for tipi poles. Once out of the park we were on the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. The road follows th Snake river and travels through wild meadows where army camps and freight stations were located during the region's pioneer past. Now they're empty and dotted with clumps of pink, purple, and yellow wildflowers. I guess we've left the Bison behind - haven't seen any today.

We knew there was construction about halfway between Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park because they had signs posted everywhere. We were expecting atleast 30 minute delays. Well the construction arrived as posted and it was bumpy and dusty but not as bad as we expected and no real delay. The coach took the bumps pretty well.

As we moved into the Grand Teton area it got warmer. We came through the Jackson Lake entrance to the park and what a view! The Jackson Hole valley was laid out before us with no foothills to block our view, the jagged peaks of the Grand Tetons rose before us towering over a sapphire lake. It just keeps getting better....

We had hoped to get into the Colter Bay RV Village, but they were full so we found a primitive (no hookups) site. It is in a more natural setting and really nice. We got settled in and then went to the visitor center to take a shower for $3.75. Back at the site we met our neighbors from New Mexico who loved the coach - another tour - then we relaxed for a while.

Later we drove up to the Jackson Lake Lodge to see the Panorama window. Wow! The lodge was built in 1955 and is a National Historic Landmark. We walked through the reception area and up a 'grand' staircase. At the top of the stairs rising above the spectacular common area is the two story floor to ceiling window with stunning views over the Willow Flats area to the Teton Range. In the middle of the range Mount Moran and his Skillet Glacier (12,605 ft) commands your attention. We found two comfy chairs in front of the window and enjoyed a local favorite - Huckleberry Mojitos - yum...

Back at camp Ken was taking the bikes off the car when a mule deer came wandering through the site. He didn't seem concerned at all that we were there. There is a ton of things to do here so we'll plan our week tonight.

Home of Remarkable Diversity

This is our last day here in Yellowstone and we have no special plans. Early this morning we headed to Sylvan Lake to do some fly fishing. It's cold and a little windy. We fished for a while but neither of us had any bites. There wasn't even a ripple in the water. There was so much to see here that we really didn't take a lot of time to fish. While we were standing on the bank a Red Tail Hawk flew lazily over head. Heading back towards camp we pulled into another turnout along Yellowstone Lake and had lunch. We spent most of the afternoon here just enjoying the lake view.

It's late afternoon and a good time to take our last wildlife viewing trip through Hayden Valley. Seeing Bison along this road is not unusual, but today they caused a 2 hour backup on Canyon Road. 3 park rangers in SUV's were herding the very large critters off the road using a high pitch sound the Bison obviously didn't like. However, the silly tourists wouldn't move either they just kept watching and the Bison came right back (dumb!). On the way up Canyon Road the traffic slowed again as people were watching the far side of the river. Suddenly we caught sight of two grey wolves running along the bank and then disappearing into the trees. What a treat! People very seldom get to see wolves as they are very allusive.

Eventually we turned onto the South Rim Drive loop we found ourselves at the side of a fantastic cascade known as the Upper Falls. The water rumbled over the 109 ft falls and into the Yellowstone River. Following the road we really didn't know where we were. We walked the footpath through the gorge and listened to a ranger talk about the area. The canyon is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and it's gorgeous. We didn't even know this was here! The canyon walls are shear and crumbly. The canyon is 900 feet deep and 1/2 mile wide. It was created not by glaciation but by erosion and it's still eroding today. Leaving here we crossed the Yellowstone River and followed North Rim Drive. This drive gives you several different views of the cascade as it tumbles through the canyon. The first stop was the 308 ft Lower Falls which threw water and spray into the air and up against the steep canyon walls. Next stop was Lookout Point where you can follow a path along the top of the canyon to a platform at the very top of the falls. It was fantastic - we saw rainbows in the mist as the sun filtered through the gorge.

Back to camp. We stopped and talked with the park ranger at the visitor center and she gave us some great information for our next destination. What a great time we've had! I'm sad to leave but we are looking forward to our next stop - the Grand Tetons...

Note: Pictures - Lower Falls & Outlook Point, Upper Falls View, Canyon Walls, Upper Falls, Sign Grand Canyon, Canyon Walls, Upper Falls & Gorge, Canyon View

Yellowstone - Lewis Falls

Off to explore the road to the south entrance of the park through Lake Country to see what was there. We drove past meadows of sage mixed with all colors of wild flowers. We crossed the Pitchstone Plateau and the majestic Mount Sheridan at 10,308 feet. As we got to the Lewis Lake area it became more forest with views of water rushing along the rocky Lewis River. Rounding a windy corner we could hear the falls before we saw it. The water crashed over the 29 ft Lewis Falls and through the gorge reminding us of how wild nature can be. This area is well known for wildlife sightings and the river is famous for trout.

As we reached the south entrance we came to a turn out and pulled in. As we got out of the car a Bald Eagle came soaring over the tree tops across the road in front of us. We followed the path to the Snake River which is well known for good fishing. There were many bear warning signs here. We checked out the path down to the river bank to see if we could fish it. After going a short distance we decided we weren't comfortable with the location so we decided to check out Heart Lake which we passed earlier.

At Heart Lake we were met with caution signs at the entrance to the footpath. There was a bear bluff charge 2 days earlier with a hiker and the trail to the lake was 7 miles .... we would love to see a bear but not on the trail....so we moved on.

It was 41 degrees when we left camp this morning, but it had warmed up so we stopped at a turnout at Lewis Lake and had a picnic lunch. We put our chairs down by the water, had lunch, and read for a while. It was good to just chill out.

After lunch we drove back through the West Thumb Geyser Basin and saw a large group of Mule Deer.

Back at camp we were sitting in the coach when a lady walks up to the door and says - "Hi". They were from Maine and were excited to see someone from NH. They had just arrived in the park so we talked about places to go where they would have a chance to see wildlife.

Today was fun...

Images of The Past

The Kabins weren’t bad last night, but it did get a little cold (30’s). We used the cabin heater. Worst was getting up and walking to the rest room at 1AM! Went to Granny’s for breakfast and then back to the Museum. We weren’t going to view the Plains Indian section because we had seen so much in North Dakota already, but we decided to give it a quick look. This was really different and we learned about other clans, about their lives and how they moved during the winter and spring. The exhibits of authentic clothing from famous chiefs and Indian women were terrific. For a section we thought we would breeze through we spent about 21/2 hours!

Leaving the Plains Indians we went outside where they had 2 gardens. There were sculptures among the trees and flowers so we followed the path through the Braun Garden first. First we came upon Crazy Horse. The artist (RV Greeves) admired the legendary warrior. He considered Crazy Horse an American hero. Though he didn’t fight for the American flag, he did lay down his life for the land we call America. The next sculpture was our favorite and as we sat on a bench in front of “The Unknown” we had our own interpretations of what the sculpture meant. It was strangely quiet in the garden and the sculpture seemed to change with time and we would see different things in them. The sculpture itself portrays several Indians looking with wonder into the vast unknown. The Greever Cashman Garden was the second garden and we stopped in the café for a cold drink. Across from the café was Sacagawea, the American heroine who served as Lewis & Clarks interpreter. She is holding her young son standing majestically in the blowing wind. Our last sculpture was the symbol of the American West, a cowboy on a bucking bronco. There are many more sculptures scattered around the grounds of the museum, but it was time to move on.

Back inside our last section was The Draper Museum of Natural History. We spent another 2 hours learning about animals and looking at the displays and videos. The animal displays were very realistic (some of them had been alive at one point).

Finally we were museum’d out and it was time to head back to Yellowstone. We were sitting in the car making phone calls when Ken noticed someone standing behind us. They were taking pictures of our NH license plate! With all of the great exhibits inside it was funny to think of people taking a picture of a license plate….. It was cold in the mountains on the way back and they are dusted with new snow. We plan to come back to Cody and put our boat in on the Buffalo Bill Reservoir. It's a magnificent area surrounded with red rim rock and hoo doos. Coming back through Sylvan Pass we had a little sleet. We missed most of the weather. As we came back into the park there were Bison at the entrance to greet us.

Back at camp we relaxed in our chairs and enjoyed the late afternoon sun and talked about the trip. It was a great day!

Note: Pictures - Bear in Natural History Bldg, Spirit of Wyoming, Sacagawea, The Unknown, Crazy Horse

Don't Take Your Guns To Town....

Today we are taking an overnight trip to Cody, Wyoming. President Obama is in the park at Old Faithful today so we thought it would be a good time to be away.

Leaving the campground we travel past Sylvan Lake (good fishing we'll be back), Eleanor Lake and over the Sylvan Pass (8530') toward the East Entrance. We see more ten thousand foot snow covered peaks as we go through the pass and the views of Yellowstone Lake are phenomenal. There is no way to really describe what we are seeing to anyone! Passing through the East Entrance we are on the Buffalo Bill Scenic Drive (Rte 14,16,20 E). The road passes through the Shoshone National Forest. We are in the Wapiti Valley named after the Indian word for elk. The valley follows the North Fork of the Shoshone River as it slices through the Absaroka Range of the Rocky Mountains. This fantastic mountain scenery, volcanic features and wildlife makes travel through the valley a real old west experience. Still following the river we enter the beautiful Red Rock Canyon. The brilliant red cliffs and red rock formations tower over us. Soon we come to the Buffalo Bill Dam which sits in the canyon. The road goes through 3 tunnels that wind through the cayon walls. The dam dates back to 1905 and was designed as the tallest dam in the world.

We pulled into the Ponderosa Campground and was able to get a Kabin for tonight. We left the coach in Yellowstone and decided to try one of the Kabins we see in the campgrounds. They are rustic but comfy... except we left our blanket but there is a WalMart in Cody (Yea!). Once settled we moseyed into Cody. At first we were a little disappointed as it really has lost it's cowboy town look - but the lady at the campground told us where to go and what to see.

We grabbed lunch at Wendy's and then found our way to the Buffalo Bill Museum. We are not really museum people, but this place is fantastic! This place is enormous. There are 5 facinating museums. We viewed the Whitney Gallery of Western Art first. This has one of the worlds finest western art collections. The paintings and sculptures pulled you right into the western era. (Pictures show two of our favorite paintings.)

Next we went into the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum. This focused on the life of Buffalo Bill and has a replica of his boyhood home. The remainder of this section exhibited the history of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He called his show "an educational exposition on a grand and entertaining scale. The show provided a spectacular panorama of cowboys, Indian, trick shooters and specialty acts. The show ran for 30 years, from 1883 until 1913, touring the United States and Europe with legendary figures such as Sitting Bull and Annie Oakley. While it wasn't possible for millions of Americans to experience the West as he had, Cody brought it to their front doors. We decided to do the rest of the museum tomorrow.

Next stop was the Hotel Irma downtown. The hotel was built by Cody, co-founder of the city, and named after his daughter. We sauntered into the Silver Saddle Saloon. We had some local beers and talked with a nice couple from Oregon. We exchanged addresses and they invited us to drop by when we pass through there on our next trip. We bought our tickest for the street shoot out at 6PM and then went back to camp.

We have front row seats for the shoot out with Buffalo Bill, Wyatt, and friend Bill Tilman try to keep Cody safe for us settlers! The Cody Gunfighters re-enact the Old West every night. They barricade the street along the side of the Irma and keep the old spirit alive. There are no guns allowed in town, but sure enough Ike Clanton and his bad guys break the rules. Bill Hickock and Wyatt Earp save the day....The show is a little hokey, but fun! All the proceeds and donaations benefit Cody charities. After the show we grabbed a mexican dinner at Zapatas.

After dinner we were off to the Cody Rodeo. Rodeo is tradition in Cody and they compete every night from June 1 to Aug 31. The cowboys come from all over Wyoming and surrounding states. In it's 71st year they have everything from calf roping, bronc busting, steer wrestling, barrel racing. They even had a class for 0-5 year olds in the barrel racing. Two 3 year olds competed and it was amazing to see them ride by themselves! Naturally they close the night with the bull riding which keeps the audience riveted to their seats and me with my hands over my eyes (peaking...).

Well it was time for all good buckaroos to hit the hay... we had a full day!

Note: Pictures from Whitney Museum - Mountain Man with his Fox (James Bama), Tumbleweeds (Clyde Aspevig)

Living Sculptures - Part 2

More pictures from our day.... Lamar Valley, Dunraven Pass, Mt Washburn, Canary & Mound Terraces, Jupiter Terrace, Lamar Valley, Ice Box Canyon Lamar Valley

Living Sculptures - Part 1

The upper loop is our route today. Beautiful scenery surrounds us we meander through the Hayden Valley. This rolling valley is an old lake bed formed when glaciers created a lake during the last Ice Age. Today it’s known for it’s wildlife. We saw about 150 Bison roaming the meadow this morning.

Rolling through meadows and groves of Lodge Pole Pines we took the Virginia Cascade scenic drive. It was cool along the river and very relaxing. The cascade tumbles 60 feet down a fairly gradual slope into a deep canyon. The falls are very close to the narrow roadway so there are very few places to pull off to see the falls.

The Museum of the National Park Ranger was our first stop. The museum is located in one of the original soldier station buildings built in 1908. It was an outlying building for soldiers on patrol. Today the station stays true to the original floor plan and uses original material. We saw the exhibits showing the development of the park ranger profession from it’s roots in the military to the early rangers to the current National Park Service staff. We watched a short film “An American Legacy” telling the story of the museum. This is a fantastic place. We should be glad Teddy Roosevelt was such a conservationist.

Off to Mammoth Springs. Along the Upper Loop Road we see mountains 10,000 feet high that stand tall over the floor of the forest which is a lush green. This is bear country but we haven ‘t seen any yet. As we get closer to Mammoth Springs the landscape turns to volcanic again. We stopped at Bunsen Peak which looks like a mosaic with the trees burnt from fire and the natural regrowth starting to reassert itself.

Mammoth was awesome and very different from the other geyser pools. This is one of the parks most dynamic hydrothermal areas; its constantly changing. The maximum water temperature here is 165 degrees. Limestone was deposited here millions of years ago when a huge sea covered the area. The hot water dissolves the limestone and creates a carbonic acid. At the surface, the calcium carbonate is deposited in the form of travertine, the rock that forms the terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs. These terraces are like living sculptures, shaped by the volume of water and the slope of the ground. They change constantly, sometimes overnight!

Stopping at the main overlook on the Upper Terrace Drive and walked the boardwalk trail down to the Canary Spring. This is a new formation. It is prominently yellow in color near the vent and you can listened to the cascading water running between the formations. We continued on the one way route around the Upper Terrace coming to the New Highland Terrace where tree skeletons stand as testaments to a landscape created in the 1950’s. Each stop was more breathtaking than the last!

Finishing the Upper Terrace Drive we headed toward the lower terrace and the Mammoth Springs Hotel. We drove past the spectacular Jupiter and Mound Terraces. These show cycles of activity typical of the area. After being inactive for decades Mound Terrace began to show new patterns where chunks of the soft rock had fallen off. In the 1980’s, Jupiter flowed heavily and overtook boardwalks several times. If you didn’t know better you would think this was a huge mound of snow!

Leaving Mammoth we drive across the Black Deer Plateau to Tower Roosevelt changing back to lush meadows flowing into groves of Loge Pole Pines. We stopped at Lava Creek for lunch. There were tables right along the creek and we enjoyed the sound of the water and relaxed . After lunch we took the Black Deer Drive winding along the top of the plateau. Taking a break we parked in a pull off called Northern Range. There was a boardwalk trail and we decided to go exploring. There was no one else on the trail. Having the area all to ourselves we sat and listened to the wind and birds. The interpretive signs taught us about the flowers and hills surrounding us . It was so peaceful.

It’s mid afternoon now and we have moved into Roosevelt Country. This section is known for its rolling hills covered with sagebrush, fir, pine, spruce, and aspen. This is accented by the sparkling stream which are loaded with trout. No time to fish, we decided to continue on into the Lamar Valley. This is known as the Serengeti of Yellowstone. This place is unbelievable. It’s about 4PM so we didn’t see a lot of wildlife. As we headed through the valley we found ourselves high in the mountains of Ice Box Canyon near the Northeast Entrance of the park. There is no way to describe to anyone the magnificent natural beauty we are seeing. It started to cloud up and get very dark. We are up about 10,000 feet and we didn’t want to get caught in a storm so we turned around just south of the entrance and headed back. On our way back we had some snow flurries.

Driving south toward Canyon Village we found ourselves climbing out of the valley and over the Dunraven Pass which takes us over Mt Washburn (10,234 ft). Very high but fantastic! The park is so big and every place you go is more spectacular than the one before.

Today has been terrific.

Picture Notes: Virginia Cascade, Norris Soldier Station, Bunsen Peak, Mammoth Springs from Upper Terrace, New Blue Spring (Mammoth)