We were overdue for a yoga class. We found a good one at Authentic Yoga. It was the most strenuous class we have had since leaving Washington. It kicked our butts but we were grateful for the workout.
Afterwards, we took the dogs to a large dog park on an island in the Boise River near downtown. There were dozens of dogs, so it was a bit hectic. But Streak and Charlie loved it. They cooled off in the river after a lively game of fetch. We found a lunch spot on the road to Bogus Basin, where we had a delicious burger and salad, followed by espressos. We returned to the trailer to rest a bit for the night ahead. We had a tasty Indian dinner downtown before returning to the same club to see a country rock band. Unfortunately, they were late getting set up and when they started, their volume was so loud that it was uncomfortable so we left early.
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On the way out of the campground we stopped at the Visitor Center, which was a remarkably rich experience. First, the ranger explained the "massacre", which was really a running two-day battle, in which 10 settlers were killed. There is reason to believe the attack was planned by a couple of white men, who enlisted some rogue Shoshone warriors to help him rob a weathly man who, during a poker game at Fort Hall, had been bragging about the wad of cash he was carrying in his wagon.
The visitor center had a replica of a covered wagon stocked with sacks of flour, sugar and coffee. Displays included copies of emmigrants journals, a typical list of supplies stocked for a party of four on the trail, mastadon bones and taxidermy. Near the park is a monument called "Register Rock", where emmigrants carved their names during their transit. There was a $7 admission to see the rock. Having seen pictures of the graffiti, coupled with the fact that we were pulling the trailer, we decided to skip the park. We did stop at Shoshone Falls - the "Niagra of the West". It was well worth it. The 900-foot wide falls in the Snake River canyon drop more than 200 feet through the basalt. We got some great pictures Shortly after leaving the falls, we had some brief rain showers. We had a lot of gusty cross winds as we appraoched Boise. Our destination was a private driveway up the Boise river canyon from Lucky Peak Dam, which we booked through Boondockers Welcomed as there were no campsites available in Boise. The owners, who own a Class A motorhome they had recently taken to Alaska. We were about 17 miles from downtown Boise, but were pleased to find any spot at all in the area. Boise has a lively downtown with lots of outdoor cafes. We had a delicious sushi dinner near a central pedestrian courtyard. Then we made our way to a historic brick-walled tavern where a foursome played swing tunes from the 40s and 50s. The "FrimFramFour" band members were dressed in white jackets with black bow ties. The bar was packed and many couples were dancing West Coast Swing. Angie and I represented our East Coast Swing (jitterbug) moves to one song. We woke to cloudy skies again making it a good day to leave Jackson. We climbed over the steep Teton pass and crossed into Idaho. The weather improved on the other side of the mountain and we began noticing green potato fields. The camp host at Jackson Lake blamed Idaho irrigation for the low water levels in the lake.
As we crossed Idaho, it got drier. We were soon into sagebrush and juniper trees. We passed the Shoshone reservation at Fort Hall and soon arrived at the campgroud at Massacre Rocks State Park, near the intersection of the Oregon and California trails. Once again, Angie had reserved one of the best sites in the campground. We parked on a hill overlooking a bend in the Snake River. There were two islands in the river and a sheer, high canyon wall on the far shore. We walked down the hill to a shore access in a back eddy where the dogs had a great swim. We set up our camp chairs around the fire ring, where the view was best. Hank laughed at Angie when her chair tipped over sideways on the uneven ground. After dinner we built a big fire and waited for the stars to come out. We saw the dippers and Draco and Cepheus. As Hank leaned back in his chair looking for Casseopea, his chair fell over backwards and he hit his head on the picnic table bench. Karma. No serious harm done. We woke up to a bit of rain, which made it a good morning to go to a yoga class. We hadn't done yoga since crossing the Mississippi River. Our stiff and cramped muscles were crying for some good stretching and exertion. We found a Vinyasa class in Jackson. It was expensive, but restorative. Afterwards were relaxed and energized, basking in the afterglow as we had coffee and a breakfast burrito at an outdoor table and the skies had cleared a bit while we were in class.
Although the dogs weren't allowed in any park we saw in Jackson, we were able to find a field adjacent to a hotel parking lot where we could play fetch with the dogs. We ran their butts ragged and they were delighted. A tired border collie is a happy border collie. We were contemplating a bike ride along the multi-use trail from Jackson to Lake Jenny, but clouds moved in again. So we hunkered down in the trailer to catch up on the blog, while waiting for clear skies before driving to an overlook above the Snake River where Ansel Adams had photograhed the Tetons. We only got partial clearing, so we headed back into town to give the dogs more exercise and to grab an early dinner at the Silver Dollar Saloon. We had to rush through the end of our meal as we noticed a thunderstorm moving in fast. There was some some very dramatic lighting over the sagebrush on the drive home causing our poor dogs to hunkered down in fright. The dogs tried to wake up Hank at 4 a.m., but he held out, snug under the covers until the 5 AM alarm sounded. By 5:30 we were in the car on our way back to Jenny Lake to catch the sunrise.
We were not disappointed. The proximity to the mountains reduced the effect of the smoky haze from the California wildfires. The morning sun was like a soft spotlight on the peaks. Please enjoy some of Angie's amazing photos below. We saw five elk - three cows and a couple of calves - crossing the road in front of us on our way to the lake. Hank had to pay $5 for a shower, but the space and ample hot water were luxurious. We enjoyed a leisurely morning before taking a short drive to our next campsite. The smoke was a bit worse on this day, making it a bit easier for us to tear ourselves away from Coulter Village. Our home for the next two nights was a campground in a forest oasis on the bank of the Gros Ventre River surrounded by a sea of sagebrush. We were pleased to see we could continue to enjoy views of the Tetons, though they are a bit more distant. However, our campground lacked hook-ups or any of the other remarkable amenities of Coulter Village. Our dogs have enjoyed as many as three workouts a day at some stops along our journey. But due to restrictions on pets in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, that was reduced to one (two if you count long walks). So, as you can imagine, they were restless to burn off some energy. Angie found a lake in a national forest a few miles up a gravel road from our campsite. National Forest rules are much less restrictive regarding dogs. The dogs had a blast swimming in the cool water on this 87-degree day. Charlie, who seems more otter than dog, swam her butt off. We saw a couple of large elk bucks along the road on the way home. We found a dog friendly restaurant at the bottom of the slopes at Snow King in the town of Jackson, Wyoming. We had a delicious dinner of roasted brussels sprouts and steak salad. We enjoyed walking through town, just narrowly missing a gun fight re-enactment near the town square. We were surprised to see that most of the parks in town don't allow dogs. What a stark contrast to Buffalo, WY, and Deadwood, SD, where you could take dogs into the restaurant with you. While talking to staff at the campground office, a frequent visitor, familiar to the staff appeared. Bart the Buffalo apparently often roams the campground loops. Angie got a picture of him entering the park.
After a leisurely morning, we hitched up the trailer and hit the road. We stopped at our favorite beach on Yellowstone Lake to give the dogs some exercise. Our campground did not have a place for them to run, except on the road, which is too hard on Hank's knees. We crossed the Continental Divide (only 8,000 feet) one last time and descended into the Pacific watershed. We exited Yellowstone via the South Entrance and entered the Grand Tetons National Park. As we arrived on the east shore of Jackson Lake, we got our first views of the Tetons- amazing! They were so close and rose dramatically from the valley below. Their remarkable jagged peaks evince their youthful age of 10 million years. Their older brothers, the Western Cascades and the Sierra Nevada, are 40-45 million years old, while the grand sire Appalachians are 541 miilion to 1.1 billion years old. Unfortunately, smoke from California wildfires made the views from a distance hazy. Our home for the night - Colter Bay Village campground, on the shore of Jackson Lake - had an impressive set of nearby conveniences, including a swimming beach, cafe, restaurant, bar, espresso stand and gift shop. The camp host directed us to Jenny Lake for the best view of the Tetons and, wow, what a sight! As we approached Jenny Lake, the mountains grew larger and larger and our sense of awe increased exponentially. We had never seen anything like it! These mountains are like "all up in your face" mountains. It was like an extreme close-up with nearly 130-degrees of our field of vision filled with mountains. The peaks rise sharply 6-7,000 feet above a fault line on the far shore of the narrow lake. It was the most magnificent example of God's art and architecture - even surpassing Zion National Park - in Hank's opinion. It is remarkable that the rocks in the mountains were once part of the bedrock of the valley floor before they were upthrusted in such a dramatic fashion. People were actually wading and swimming in Jenny Lake. We walked a short distance around the lake on a paved path until we found a more-secluded, level, rocky beach where the dogs could swim a bit. Unfortunately, after a short 10-minute play period, a ranger shooed us out, informing us that dogs are not permitted in the water and must stay on the paved walkway. Several on-lookers commented on how much they enjoyed watching the dogs swim before we were shut down. Angie immortalized the memory of the dogs swim at Jenny Lake, with what Hank thinks is the best photo of the trip. What do you think? We returned to our campground and after dining al fresco on a delicious white pizza from the cafe, we walked to the beach for a view of the sun setting behind the mountains on Lake Jackson. Unfortunately, a sign informed us that dogs were not allowed on the beach, so Hank waited by the gate with Streak and Charlie while Angie walked to the lake shore and snapped some photos. We resolved to arise early the next morning in order to catch a sunrise view from Jenny Lake. We left our campground shortly after 8 am for the 40-mile drive to Old Faithful. This park is enormous! Our timing couldn't have been better. There was ample room in the parking lot. Angie got us within a couple hundred yards of the geyser. And we only had to wait about 15 minutes for an eruption - albeit a smallish one.
We moved into the Visitor Center where we learned a lot more about the underground volcano that has erupted three times in the last couple hundred million years. There are more active geothermal features (geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mud pits) in Yellowstone than in all the other global sites combined. The geothermal activity is continuously reshaping the landscape. Scientists from all over the world are studying the unique microorganisms that inhabit these harsh habitats. One of these organisms has been used to help decode DNA. Others have been linked to the first forms of life on earth. Our next stop was the Grand Prismatic Spring - active, steamy hot ponds of opal and turquoise with newly forming white terraces and bright yellow bacteria mats forming along their outflow into the river. A boardwalk hike allows you to safely view all the fascinating ponds in the midst of their epic surroundings. Angie next guided us onto a one-lane road along Firehole Canyon, a steep, narrow canyon with a waterfall and a small swimming hole. Unfortunately, the swimming hole was closed for some reason - perhaps damage from the Spring flood. We returned to the the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone to do the 3/8-mile, steep hike to the brink of the Lower Falls. We had eschewed this hike the previous day, thinking that we would get better vistas along the canyon rim. It was well worth the effort! The lower falls drop in one piece, rather than the stages we saw in the upper falls. An overlook takes you right to the top of the falls where we feel the roar of the water and the cool mist of the spray. A rainbow formed in the spray far below. And the view downstream in the Canyon was awesome. We crossed the Continental Divide twice during our drive on the South Loop. After returning to our trailer, we repeated our routine of "linner" and beach time. We were disappointed to find a couple of fisherman at our private little cove. But God provides! We found an even bigger beach nearby with an easier access trail and an easier water entry for the dogs. It was also sunnier, so we were able to stay later into the afternoon. Returning to camp we had happy hour on our shady patio while listening to tunes on our Bluetooth speaker. We learned from a ranger that a black bear had appeared at the bathrooms near our campsite while we were away. Staff shooed the bear away. As the temperatures dropped, we broke out a propane fireplace that Angie had insisted on bringing, against Hank's protests. It was the first time we used it on this trip, and it was wonderful. It was warm and provided a yellow glow to our space. We broke out the S'mores fixins and indulged, while waiting for the stars to emerge. Unfortunately, there were only a handful of stars visible by 10 pm, when sleepiness overcome Hank and we moved inside. Since our campground was at 8,000 feet in elevation, the air was cool when Hank awoke at 6 am to walk the dogs. He had to don a jacket for the first time in ages.
Angie decided that we would spend our first day exploring the North loop of the park. We got an early start, but were soon stuck in a "buffalo jam". A herd of about 400 bison were scattered across Hayden Valley and many of them were crossing the road to reach the flats along the Yellowstone River. A cow and calf stopped in the middle of the road directly in front of us! The cow was trying to get the calf to cross the road, but the calf wasn't having it. The cow kept turning nervously, sizing up the cars stopped on both sides of the road. We slowly inched forward as the cow brayed loudly, close enough to Angie's window that I was surprised it didn't fog the glass! We drove through Canyon Village and Tower-Roosevelt in our eagerness to reach Lamar Valley - where Angie and Joe had seen the largest assortment of wildlife - including bear. Somewhere around Dunraven Pass, Angie spotted a bear running across the road a couple of cars ahead of us. We stopped and photographed a single, small grizzly meandering through a field of tall grass, occasionally scratching the earth or a dead tree trunk. Spectacular! We learned that grizzly stay with their mothers for two or three years, so we expect that Momma was nearby, but we never saw her. We were later disappointed to find that the road to Lamar Valley was closed. A ranger told us that the flooding this spring had washed out the road. Only construction vehicles were allowed through. Undaunted, we continued north to Fort Yellowstone, where, prior to the establishment of the National Park Service, an army garrison manned the park entrance and enforced the rules. There was a massive, white rock formation on the hills above the fort. As we pulled up to a parking lot across from the barracks and chapel, we saw three elk cows and a couple of calves, grazing lazily on the shady lawn of the barracks. The Fort Yellowstone Visitor Center had very informative historical and wildlife exhibits. Great photography, taxidermy and placards kept us entralled for about 30 minutes. We learned that the white rock formation were terraces of travertine, a rock composed of calcium carbonate that was deposited from the water bubbling out of Mammoth Hot Springs. We were able to drive through the upper section of the terrace on a single-lane road. We turned southward on the Northern loop to return to Canyon Village to explore the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We drove along the North Rim Road, where we got several vistas of the upper falls and the canyon. Then we drove to the Upper Falls, where a short hike took us to the brink, which was beautiful and impressive, but left us wanting to see a more complete view of the bottom of the falls. We drove to the South Rim where we found the vantage point we wanted. We returned to the trailer for some "linner". We filled the cooler with drinks and headed back to the beach with the dogs, who had been patiently riding in the back seat, awaiting their turn at some exericse. Sadly, dogs are not allowed on the trails and boardwalks in Yellowstone. Angie was determined to find us a larger, more private beach on the lake. We found the beach that she and Joe and visited previously, but learned that no dogs were allowed on that beach. We kept driving south along the west shore and were rewarded with the discovery of a small, private, sunny cove a short, steep walk down from the parking area. It was Idyllic. Charlie transformed into a river otter, as she speedily paddled to retrieve her toy again and again - never seeming to tire. We enjoyed soaking up the sun and the scenery, dipping our feet in the cool water, until the late afternoon sun dropped below the treetops. Given that we had a short drive - less than three hours - we labored over a slow Internet connection to update more than a week of activity on our travel blog.
Driving west from Buffalo, the land began to look like typical high desert. We drove through the town of Cody, which is a good size city with a lot of tourist attractions, including all things Buffalo Bill and a nightly rodeo. West of town we drove through some tunnels by a hydroelectric dam and discovered a massive reservoir. The high plateaus on either side were reminiscent of the Columbia River between Wenatchee and Chelan. It was quite windy. We slowly climbed up to the East entrance of Yellowstone - the world's first national park, established in 1872 by Ulysses Grant. Once entering the park, the speed limit dropped to 45 on twisty, two-lane roads. After crossing a peak, the enormous Lake Yellowstone came into view. We had to drive about 30 miles to our campground at Fisherman's Bridge, which was tripled in capacity this year when they opened a sparkling, new 300-site loop for larger RVs. We were grateful to get a spacious pull-through site in the new loop. The orginal loops were crammed tighter than any other campground we have ever seen. Adjacent trailers, aligned rear-to-rear with their front ends facing opposite directions were offset by one-half site width so that their their front doors practically faced each other. It was like they had to share a patio between them. And they are paying the same price as us - nearly $100 per night - the most expensive stay of our trip. After we got settled in, Angie was eager to take the dogs to a beach that she and her brother, Joe, had discovered on an earlier trip. We piled in the truck and drove a short distance down the western shore of the lake until we found a wide, half-moon, gravelly beach on Gull Point Drive. There was only one other party of two on the beach. On the way back to the campground we saw several large Elk in the woods along the road. During our pleasant drive west on I-90, we took a short side trip to Devil's Tower, which was featured in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." It rises nearly 900 feet from the surrounding ground. There are various theories on it's formation. Most believe that it was a relatively small intrusive body formed by magma which cooled underground and was later exposed by erosion. To the native peoples, the Tower was a sacred site - a place for winter camps, vision quests, and summer ceremonies.
We arrived at Indian Campground in Buffalo, Wyoming. It was a lovely, shady oasis with well kept lawns, gravel drives and nice bathhouse. Angie had read about the historic Occidental Hotel and bar in town, which was a short one-mile walk from our campsite. Streak and Charlie joined us on the walk since the bar is dog-friendly. We found a spacious, cool bar with a music stage and billiard room. Wildlife trophies - including pronghorn, grizzly, black bear and even a jaguar - crowded the walls. We were surprised to find many menu items named for the Longmire book and TV series. Craig Johnson, the Wyoming author of the book series, drew on many of the local sites for the fictional Absaroca County setting. The Busy Bee is a real restaurant, right next door to the Occidental. Signed photos of cast members from the TV series are displayed in the bar. |