Ready To Move On

We have had a great time here in Moab, Utah, but as all things good, they must come to an end.  We will be leaving in the morning for Gallup, New Mexico, not by choice, but by chance.  Seems I forgot that this is the time of year for the Albuquerque Balloon Fest and all the campgrounds are full up.  And Gallup is 125 miles from Albuquerque!  Wow, you must really like to see hot air balloons to travel that far to see this.  We got the last spot in the campground, not full hookup, but we'll deal with it.

We are not sure how long we will stay there before moving south again.  While in Gallup there are many attractions, but of course, nothing is close.  We will be just at the outskirts of the Hopi and Navajo Indian Reservations and there are no campgrounds inside these reservations so we had to go into Gallup.  Once we are there tomorrow, we will ask what to see and do (worth seeing and doing).  Canyon de Chelly National Park is about 90 miles from there and this is a place we have wanted to go to, and of course, in the middle of the Navajo Indian Reservation.  We will see how the next couple of days play out.  We are sad that our play time is coming to an end, but anxious to get on with the winter activities and seeing the grandgirls again.  I know they are looking forward to us being back - have asked a couple of times - when are you going to be here?   I am sure that they have grown so much now in the last 6 months that they will all be taller than me (a little joke for them and me!)

From Gallup we will travel south to Alpine, Arizona, in the heart of the White Mountains.  That will be just an overnight, then travel to Tombstone where we will stay for about 3 weeks.  We have a recall to deal with, and some things are broke or getting ready to or need service.  Sometime around the beginning of November we will show up in Picacho and get the park model going for our winter time.

We will watch the comings and goings on our last afternoon here in Moab.  Our neighbor, the one with the reversed Class A motorhome, are out on the ATVs right now, going on some routes that were deemed 'hard'.  Watching the women get out of the ATVs yesterday and could barely move - and they were on 'easy' trails.  Can't wait to see how they are in a couple of hours when they get back.  Looks like fun, but looks painful at the same time.  So many toys here.  ATVs, dirt bikes, convertibles to drive around the parks in, corvettes, so many different kinds of RVs.  See alot of rental units, also.  Been fun.

Arches Done

North Window and South Window Arches - from RV

We spent the day at Arches National Park yesterday, our plans were to get to the Devils Garden area where there are a number of arches you can hike to from one trail.  But first - this park is what we call 'tourist' friendly meaning you see many tourist buses parked, and gorges of people jumping in and out of them.  At the beginning of the park where there are huge sandstone monoliths of rock, one bus was stopped and bazillion Asians were standing around the bus with their netbooks and iPads and computers clicking away - a funny sight.  This park does not have many hiking trails,

Landscape Arch

very friendly for those who can't walk far - most trails to see an arch are about .2 mile long.  No ATVs, only 2 campgrounds where there are only 30 sights per place, don't have to worry about bears or other animals except rattlesnakes in the summer, no bicycling.  You can drive from the entrance of the park to the end where Devils Garden area is, in about 30 minutes.  One of the smallest parks we have been in.

Elephants &  Double Arches

We drove to the end of the road of Arches avoiding much traffic since they were stopping at all the sites from the beginning, and got a great parking spot not far from the entrance into the Devils Garden.  This is the area where Dave wanted to go to specifically because he remembered hiking here 25 years ago.  I remember not hiking this part back then - sitting it out due to a splitting headache.  We had decided we would hike as far as we could - the trail was marked at 4.2 miles and was rated as difficult the last 1.2 miles of it.  We made it to that difficult part, watched the people climb up and over and sliding around on the slickrock going up and decided not to go farther.

North Window and South Window Arches  up close

Still was lovely walk, able to view Tunnel, Pine Tree, Landscape, and Double O Arches without a problem.  We missed out on Navajo, Partition and Private Arch by not going further.  That's okay - I wasn't in the mood to skinny along on my butt or to jump between slickrocks to get from A to B.  Landscape Arch made history back in 1991 when a large part of it collapsed.  I remember reading about it and glad we saw it.

From this walk of Devils Garden we drove to The Windows Section and hiked to Turret, North and South Window Arches, and to see the Parade of Elephants (really looks like them) and saw Cove and Double Arches. Also - we can see North and South Window Arches from our campsite and here we walked right up to them.  How cool!  We are really red rocked out for sure now.  Then, stopped along the roadway on the way back out to see The Tower of Babel and the Courthouse Towers - both huge sandstone spires that do resemble their names.  Last stop was at the Park Avenue area where we viewed a beautiful valley and looking up to the left - I swear I could see a huge grizzly bear in the formation of the balanced rock.  This bear/rock is 35 feet tall!

A grizzly bear! Just kidding

Good day in the park.  We can understand a woman's conversation the other day when she said that they 'did Arches yesterday and today Canyonlands".  Yes, you can see Arches in one day - there is only one hike we did not do and that is called the Fiery Furnace where you have to get a hiking permit to go in - they only allow a small number of hikers a day to enter.  Again, that trail is rated strenuous and we aren't up to that.

And back here at the campground we are having fun still watching the ATVs and their RVs coming in.  We have new neighbors on both sides. The one is something else - a huge 44 foot diesel pusher Class A motor home - and we never have seen this, but it has rear kitchen and living room area, plus the bedroom is near the front of the unit.  This is totally reversed from anything we have seen.  They also have 2 ATVs with another 2 couples' truck.  Did I mention that Moab is considered the 'Mecca of ATVs in the world'?  Amazing!!!

Arches NP

Skyline Arch

Delicate Arch - symbol of Utah

We sat still Sunday and Monday because rain showers were predicted, and for once, happened.  The skies cleared enough for yesterday so we ventured into Arches National Park.  We can see Arches out of our bedroom windows - can see North Window and South Window Arches pretty clearly.  Our goal was to drive through the park, look at different areas we want to come back and hike, and then go get pizza in Moab.  However, the spur of the moment hit us and we hiked two different arches - Delicate Arch - this is the unofficial symbol on license plates you see, and also to Skyline Arch.

When we got to the Devils Garden area where there are about 20 arches, the parking lot was full.  We realized we would have to come to this area early in the day, hike where we want, have lunch, then move on to the other area we want to go to called The Windows Section, where North and South Window Arches are.  This is planned for tomorrow, if the weather permits.  Speaking of weather.  10% chance of thunderstorms means - 90% chance it will and 10% it won't.  This is what is going on today.  Reverse thinking.

Scenic Drive along Colorado River

Skyline Arch - pretty, big, and no one hiking there.  This was our first place we stopped and looked at.
From there we drove back to Delicate Arch, said that the hike to the base (stand under it) was 3 miles and was a steep climb over slickrock (flat rock and slippery when wet), so we opted to go to the observation area and hiked up to the upper viewing place.  Got a pretty neat view of it from there.  Got back to the car in just enough time - thunderstorm hit.  Poor people caught out on the slickrock!

Some ATV fun here

Drove into Moab for pizza, so-so in quality, then Dave wanted to take some pictures of all the ATVs here in town.  Amazing place if you are into ATVing - rent them, go on a tour, or bring your own.  This town is nicknamed, ATV center of the US.  No kidding.  On our way back to the campground I took us on a little side trip along the Colorado River.  This little gem of a road is amazing - hugs the canyons with Arches on our left and the Red Rock Canyon on our right.  BLM campgrounds along the river, bike trails, and of course, rafting.  Told Dave - just a few ore miles then I'll turn around.  Found a 5 star lodge nestled into the canyon right on the river, winery attached to it, called Red Rock Canyon Lodge.  Wow.  Got back to the campground about 5:30pm and sat and watched the fun of the ATVers coming back and all the RVs coming in for the night.

Dead Horse and Canyonlands

Grandview Hike in Canyonlands

View of Monument Valley from Canyonlands

We went across the road from where we are camping and ventured into Canyonlands National Park. First of all, our expectations of Canyonlands was high since the other 14 or so national parks/monuments/sights we have visited on this trip has been great - so we were a tad disappointed.  Glacier is for hikers, Yellowstone is for camping and looking at geysers, Tetons is for boating and camping, Canyonlands is for ATVs and off-road vehicles.  Very little hiking, and very few places to stop and look/see. Most of the sights are from ATV view point - and there is one trail they talk about that if you do it right - should take you 2 to 4 days on the ATV (camping along the way).

We did do a small 2 mile hike called the Grandview - which walked along the rim of one of the canyons - pretty, breathtaking in vista views although the smoke prohibited you from seeing really far.  Talk about red rock country!  Canyonlands is split into 4 areas, only one is accessible by car and that is Islands in the Sky area.  We could only see across the canyons to the Needles district and also see the river district below us. Have only seen pictures of the Maze district - again best by ATV or by boat.  The Green and Colorado Rivers converge within the park and to go on a river boat ride would be awesome but it isn't in our plans to do.  First time on this trip where we realized we won't go back into a national park to see something - one day was enough and in our case - 4 hours.  Pretty, desolate, but kinda boring.

View of Colorado from Dead Horse Point - notice smoke in air

We left Canyonlands and drove back the same way we came in and adjacent to this park is Dead Horse Point State Park run by Utah.  What a gem this park is!  And the views are breathtaking!  The story behind the name is:  around the turn of the century cowboys rounded up the wild mustang horses found in the area and corralled them at the point of land where the state park is located.  They selected the ones they wanted and for some reason left the rest of the horses inside the corral, in view of the Colorado river, without food or water.  And thus, they died.  The state did a wonderful job with paths, interpretive signs, and the view points - WOW - did we have wows for this little place. Would have to say that if you want to see the Colorado and wide expanse of red rock and canyons - Dead Horse Point State Park is the place to come - forget about the Grand Canyon.

Razor type ATV

The wildfires are still raging - the one near where we camped in North Fork, Idaho has grown to over 405,000 acres - we wonder if the campground is gone.  And the fires in Jackson and Alpine Lake in Wyoming are also still going strong.  These fires' smoke has drifted down into this area and we are sad that the pictures we have taken show the sky as very smoky.  But, can't do anything about it, sadly.   With the jet streams shifting more north, the forecasters say that the smoke should now start to move back north and clear up the skies.  Our plans are to visit Arches National Park maybe tomorrow, if not Tuesday.  Calling for thunderstorms tomorrow - so we'll see.  We are having fun watching all the ATV and dirt bikers parade around in the morning, getting ready to head over to Canyonlands.  There are so many of these ATVs - look fun but I wouldn't want to eat the dirt from a fellow dirt biker.  2 seater, 4 seater, dirt bikes, off-road vehicles - so many toys here!

ATVs and Moab

Hot Air Balloon in Vernal

Wednesday night as we were watching the sunset something huge and red caught my eye - looking down the roadway out of the campground towards the main street there was a hot air balloon preparing to take off.  I told Dave - lets grab our cameras and go see.  No sooner had I gotten up out of the chair and started to grab the camera when the balloon took off - womp - and fast!  Oh well - best we could do is a quick picture through the window.  Seems Golden Corral had some sort of promotion going on.

Yesterday morning we did our thing, packed up and took off south on Route 191 towards Moab, Utah which is in the south east corner of Utah - not far from Colorado and New Mexico  and we will be here for 10 days - to see Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.  We are camped right near the road that leads to Canyonlands on our right and the view we have is unbelievable.  And we are 2 miles north of the entrance on our left for Arches.  How convenient is this?  We are also glad we are out of Vernal, have forgotten what it's like to be in a city park.  Very noisy and about 5:15am to about 6:30am all the worker-bees start their diesel trucks and leave.  Other than this morning interruption - would have to say that this campground was very quiet - except for the time in the morning when they all go and also being in town - you heard the sirens, the loud trucks, but - it's done.  Won't go back there.

View out our living room window - Canyonlands NP

The ride was great - very desolate. We thought the road to Vernal was a tidge hairy in terms of descents - well, we drove the RV over the highest pass - called Summit, at 9115 feet getting here.  Going up wasn't a problem - it was gradual and didn't notice how high we were climbing, we drove through  Book Canyon - had to stop for cattle in the road but again, desolate.  Then - on top of the mountain - and the ride down, well, the truck screamed really big time holding the RV back.  We travel a bit, then a sign says, 20 miles an hour ahead - hairpin turn - Yikes.  But.  Truck did great, it turned over to 55,000 miles while going up that mountain.  

We are in a premier sight - we look out towards the "islands in the sky" formations of Canyonlands.  We deserve this place - it's beautiful!  Seems most RVs here have ATVs - there are tons of off-road trails here and all over Moab.  Fun to watch them go and then see them come back in the early evening.  Seems Razor brand of ATV is the most common here.  No - we aren't getting one!

Field House of Vernal, Utah

Great exhibits!

We had on our agenda yesterday to go to two different museums here in Vernal, however, we could only find one which was fine, we got sensory overload on the one we did find.  The place we went to had so much information about the geological aspects of Vernal as well as what and where living things were 250 billion + years ago and to the present how things evolved.  Again, can't even grasp how long ago this was - the beginning of earth's life.  As we drove into Vernal on US 191 we kept seeing signs saying something like - sea clams from 223 billion years ago was found here, or, X dinosaur skeleton found here, or, fossils from X years ago found here.  Would have meant so much more by coming to the field house in Vernal first, then drive the 80 mile loop around the area.  But as it was, this Utah Field House is a gem.  Very kid friendly, had so many exhibits to explain who lived where, what they looked like, how they excavate a find, how the area was a vast lake then floods, then lifting of the mountains, extinct period, etc.  We both felt we learned alot, but dinosaurs eduction is definitely not something I am going to go after.

I didn't know this!

We think that the people in 2 campsites over are out on a dig.  There are currently 3 digs going on in the area, sponsored by universities and/or institutions.  What we did learn is that Andrew Carnegie was very interested in dinosaurs and he financed the original excavations back early 1900's.  I guess what is most fascinating is that in this 80 mile loop around Vernal there are the most skeletons of dinosaurs found in the world.  When we look out at some of the rock formations in the area we now realize we are looking at rock from 250 billions of years ago - the earth has pushed up this lowest level of rock to the surface when the uplifting of the mountains occurred.  And we understand now the red rocks of the area and the golds (Yellowstone) and greens and purples of the rocks.

Very hard life!

Lazy - stretched out and looking out window

On the lighter side - Grace is keeping herself busy - sleeping.  What else do cats do?

Today, as normal before move day, we clean, laundry, start putting stuff away for the move tomorrow to Arches National Park area - Moab, Utah, about 220 miles south of here.  This is in the south eastern area of Utah.  Will be our last time camping in Utah, then swing into the north east section of Arizona and begin the last 45 days of our trip to get to our last stop, Tombstone, and then back in Picacho for the winter.

Dinosaur Quarry

Exhibit hall where the dinosaur bones are

What an unusual day we had yesterday.  Not far from our campground is the Dinosaur National Monument, a 210,000 acre park that is designated to protect the dinosaur quarry found here.  It is one thing to see a dinosaur in a museum but somehow doesn't hit home or seem real.  We had to take a trolley to the exhibit hall, a building to enclose the wall where the original excavation was, because the parking capability isn't adequate for the amount of visitors. But standing inside the quarry exhibit hall and seeing REAL dinosaur bones - well, that's something else. And not just a couple of bones - thousands in one place.  The bones have been carbon dated to 223 million years ago - I can't even fathom how long this is. The discovery of these relics came in 1909 when paleontologist Earl Douglass began excavating the fossils. Douglass extracted 20 complete skeletons and 10 species of dinosaurs which are now displayed in museums throughout the country. And just recently when a geology team was doing some study of the earth here,  they found a new species of dinosaur that they don't know what it looks like or how big - all they have is it's head and about 3 feet of it's neck.  I don't know if they are going to try to get to the rest of it's body or not.

Look closely - see the bones?

One of the exhibits in the hall was excellent in pointing out how these bones got into one location - all jumbled up.  223 mya this area was a savanna, plush, had a wide river, lots of foliage and dinosaurs roaming, coming to the river to drink, fight among each other, some dying right there. Some event happened and there was a huge flood, causing the bones of the dead as well as those that probably drowned, to wash down the flooded river and get snagged, just like today a flood would cause a jam if debris were caught.  Then the scientists say that mud washed over the bones, encasing them, and millions of years go by, more deposits from floods, etc.  Add to this the event of the mountains forming, pushing up the land which is what happened in this area - huge cliffs of crystalized mud shoot up about a mile, looks like they are tilting up on a 45 degree line.

Split Mountain and Green River

Dave overhead a conversation with a volunteer park ranger and the conversation was thus, "people actually break down and cry when the come here, they are so overwhelmed to see real bones still enclosed in mud".  I heard a couple of boys come into the hall and gave out a huge - WOW! We definitely know our great nephew, Cody, would absolutely love this place.

We walked the Fossil Discovery Trail which started outside the exhibition hall and meandered in the quarry for about a mile and showed you different fossils still intact in the quarry.  You can see these fossils and bones without too much imagination.  Well marked.

Petroglyphs on rocks

After walking the trail we took the audio car tour along about 10 miles of the park.  It took us by pictographs (paintings on the rock) and petroglyphs (scratched or carved designs) which have been dated to over 7000 years ago.  Then further on down we saw Split Mountain where the Green River actually carved into the mountain and caused the Uinta Mountains here to split in half.  Very pretty.

A good day outside walking the trails.  And very pretty - and green! - seeing the Green River meander through the Uinta Mountains.

Dinosaurs, oh my!

Deer outside the RV this morning - which way out?

We packed up this morning with a treat to begin with.  When I opened the shades to the windows about 7:15am, there in front of me were 4 mule deer, just staring at me like, What?  They quickly realized they couldn't jump the fence and hopped over to the other RVs and I assume figured out how to get out of the area.  Why didn't they come to visit sooner?  Got on the road at 9am, chilly and about 48 degrees.

Followed US Highway 191 south out of Pinedale, traveled through the Green Valley basin where the old Pony Express and the Oregon Trail crossed in a small town called Eden, then on south into Rock Springs and go on Interstate 80 - yikes - a fast moving road! But only for 6 miles, then south again on US 191.  Dave thought afterward that driving Glacier National Park's

Utah's sense of humor

Going-to-the-Sun Road was a piece of cake after what we went through today.  8%, 9%, and even 10% grade drop in elevation on the road down into Vernal and along the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.  Pretty, very scenic.  Glad we tanked up the truck in Rock Springs before heading south.  I got my fix again of aspen trees turning gold, just beautiful in the forests. When we got within 20 miles of Vernal, there was a sign that we read and then got an Oh-oh.  Said, 10 switchbacks ahead next ? miles, 10% grades - use low gear!  Truckers - check brakes!  Oh boy.  Well, they were right.  The poor truck's brake system got quite a workout trying to keep the 15,000 pounds of RV plus the 6,000 of the truck's weight down to a creep of 20 miles an hour.  Talk about screaming engine!  I am surprised Grace didn't yell at us - it must have hurt her ears, it certainly hurt ours.  And Utah has a funny sense of humor - each hairpin turn it would remind you how many more to go.  Thanks.

Finally got into Vernal Utah about 2pm, about 240 miles later.  And the temp was about 80.  Welcome back to the high desert!  What a difference.  Here's the scoop about Vernal.  Vernal is in the basin of the Uinta Mountains which is one of the few mountain ranges in the world where it lies east to west instead of north to south.  Lies 30 miles from the border of Colorado and 20 miles from Wyoming in the northeast corner of Utah. Vernal, unlike most of the other Utah towns, was not settled by Mormons - the president of the LDS church said at that time - this area was a no-mans land, only good for hunting.  Did you know that Vernal is the only town in the US that does not have a railroad!  Imagine that!  One notable person from Vernal - if you are an OSU fan - Gordan Gee.  Why did we come to Vernal?  We stopped here because:  a) 240 miles is alot for one day and we wanted to drive all the way to AZ on US 191 and we need to stop and b) Vernal has the Dinosaur National Monument here, and Vernal is one of the largest archeological finds of dinosaurs in the world.  Are we interested in dinosaurs?  Well, not particularly, but it never hurts to get educated and learn something new.

We plan to be here about 5 days, then move again south to Moab where Arches National Park is and also Mesa Verde National Park is close to drive to.

Moose

Alpine Lake Wildfire in distance

As we drove into Pinedale today we saw a strange cloud above the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains - wasn't there yesterday.  Realized it was a wildfire - the Alpine Lake Wildfire on the Wind River Indian Agency to the east.  Winds picked up and the fire took off today and is now at 21 thousand plus acres.  Lightning caused.  Terrible to see. And the fire near Jackson is still raging, moving eastward away from Jackson.

Another thing we learned - and saw - is that this area is a natural migration route for deer and pronghorn.  Warnings on the roadway state to beware of deer on roadway.  As a matter of fact - they have built overpasses to allow the herds to move across the highway and not get killed (as well as people getting hurt when they hit them.) We saw this in Montana also - natural bridges for the animals to cross. And do we see alot of pronghorn now along the road.  Glad we don't travel at night - an accident waiting to happen.

Bridges for animals to cross

We went to the CCC ponds in Pinedale today, this is an conservation area that the Civilian Conservation Corp developed back in 1933.  We came here because yesterday the professional photographer that we met and talked with said that he is working on a project, taking photos everyday of the year while at the CCC ponds.  He said it is a lovely place to go to and he was right.

Pretty CCC ponds

Fremont Lake in background

As we were driving to the ponds we were confronted with Fremont Lake - a glacier-formed lake that is 9 miles long, 1 mile wide and 600 feet deep right on the outskirts of Pinedale.  Very pretty.  Rounded the corner and got to the parking area of the ponds, reviewed the map trail and decided to go to walk the loop trail. Pretty ponds and streams.  Lots of bird life, cold see tracks and scat - since found out from our reference material in the RV that the scat was from moose, either coyote or wolf, and from mule deer.  Okay - so where is the moose?  The one pond is noted for seeing moose activity, another is for waterfowl, and a third for fishing while a forth for beaver dams.  The photographer said he took a pic of a mother and baby moose - looked like they were kissing while at the beaver pond.  What chance would it be that we got to see moose in Wyoming when we have not seen them in Maine or Canada or Montana?  It was still a lovely walk, amazing that something like the ponds exist so close to the town. Oh well.

Meese!

I am ecstatic!  We saw a mother (sow) and two babies (calves) - so does more than one moose make it meeses?   We passed a couple who were coming from the other direction and they warned us that the sow and calves were just ahead but to keep our distance - the sow could be very aggressive protecting her babies.  Well, we couldn't find where they said to look.  So, Dave went up on an outcropping that looked down over the pond and I went a little further up the trail - I could hear the breaking of twigs, snorting, splashing of water, so we waited until they came into the clearing. They definitely could see us, we stayed downwind of them regardless.  Talk about a great reward!  Wonder where the bull moose was?  Good day in Pinedale.  Tomorrow morning we pack up and leave and head to Vernal, Utah - about 250 miles south of here.  Will visit a couple of national monuments, staying for about a week before heading more south again.

Mountain Man of Green River

Display inside the museum

We drove into Pinedale (Wyoming) yesterday, about a 30 minute drive south on route 191.  Cute town.  Population about 1700 but it has everything you could imagine.  Big hotels, lots of places to eat, a micro brewery, QUILT SHOP, cowboy apparel, banks, gift shops, sporting goods stores, ya-di, ya-di, ya.  We are always amazed that when we get into these small towns, there is so much.  We are in the heart of the Green River Rendezvous area, I'll explain in a bit.  Winters here in the mountains are pretty brutal, lots of snow, 20 below, wind chill into the -40's.  But spring/summer/fall - its a great place to spend some time, especially the second week in July - they host the Mountain Man Rendezvous.  Did I tell you I am an American History nut?  This town would be fun to see in July.

The Hat That Opened The West

As early as 1600 beaver top hats were the style and when beaver became extinct in Europe, and right after Lewis and Clark's Expedition came through, the American West was opened up for exploration and hunting.  The Mountain Man became a symbol of the true American frontier.  For over two decades the men would trap beaver and other animals, sending their hides back to St. Louis for money. Fur companies formed, trappers became aligned with them, and these company men roamed the Great Western Basin.   Over 100,000 beaver hides were consumed in the fashion industry every year until beaver hats were replaced with silk, this by 1840.  However, during 1825 to 1840, the Mountain Men would come together 16 times at designated rendezvous places and swap stories, product, resupply, realigned with different fur companies, and 9 of these gatherings were held within 20 miles Pinedale.  How did these people know what the day of the month was to be here?  After the beaver trapping days were over by 1840, these men became guides, laying the foundation for the opening of the American West.  So - present day - during this July reenactment, over 15,000 people come to see the doings.  What fun!

One of Fred Pflughoft's books

We went to the Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale, dedicated to those men who worked and plied their trapping skills for the fur industry trade.  Pretty impressive.  Displays of their living quarters, had the original rifle of Jim Bridger - the well known mountain man you have heard about; displays on how they lived such as their camp, their traps they used, how they spent their winters, their cooking and hunting supplies, etc.
And, in an other area of the museum was the Archaic room - when the gas companies started drilling for gas, they discovered remains of ancient peoples dating back over 10 thousand years ago.  Pretty well preserved and what a find!

While in Pinedale, Dave went to a sporting goods store to look for some hooks/clips.  He struck up a conversation with a Fred Pflughoft, he learned he is a professional photographer and has written over 14 books.  We did see his books while in the National Parks' book stores, glanced at them, but now we are talking with him!  He gave Dave some insights and pointers on what Fred looks for while on a shoot, as a matter of fact he has done a PBS series of Lodges of the National Parks.  Wow.  And - he told us about a current project - we are going there today to see and hopefully find some of the things he has shot.  Google this guy - or better yet - go to pinedaleonline.com  and go to photos and then click on Fred's photos.   We are impressed!

The Rim - Wyoming

Smoky Grand Tetons

We packed up and moved yesterday morning from Gardiner, Montana traveling all the way through Yellowstone National Park, onto the John D Rockefeller Parkway which connects Yellowstone with The Grand Teton National Park, drove on through the Tetons, then into Jackson Hole and Jackson, south out of Jackson to southeast to Bondurant, Wyoming.  We are 45 minutes southeast of Jackson, and on top of the world.  Our altitude is 8331 feet, lovely to be up on the Gros Ventre Range of the Rocky Mountains, but cold.  In a campground called - appropriately - The Rim.  Us and 3 others are here - it is open all year, the campers who come here in the winter are for snowmobiling, hiking, snowshowing, hunting, wildlife watching.  If it got to 22 last night and it's Sept 13th, can you imagine what it would be like in January?  BRRRRR.

Great sunset last night on the Rim

Yesterday's drive through the southern part of Yellowstone was what we think Alaska would be like - could not see past the deep forest of pine trees.  We did cross the Continental Divide 3 times while driving south, passed Old Faithful (not geysering) and pretty Lewis Lake. Seems to be more hiking on the south side of Yellowstone.  We both agreed that staying on the north end of Yellowstone was ideal - much more to see, more wildlife, more vista views.  Would have had to travel about 2 hours just to see geysers or Mammoth Springs.  Good choice.  The ah-ha we got when we crossed out of Yellowstone onto the Parkway - you had a vista view of the Tetons in front of you with Jackson Lake below it.  However.  Very very smoky/hazy.  There is a wildfire -called Horsethief Canyon Wildfire - raging just 5 miles south of Jackson.  The entire Jackson Hole was smoky.  Barely see the Tetons.  Found out that if we would have gone on to Cody like original plans - we would have been diverted due to this fire.  Once we turned south out of Jackson the smoke seemed to clear up.  Until about 4pm when the wind shifted and blew all that smoke here.  You could see huge clouds of smoke just drifting to us, yuck. And stink.  This morning with zero wind, no smoke, crystal clear out.  We really have had great luck with this trip - have managed to dodge wildfires, if we reversed our trip and come down the eastern side of Utah at the end, we would have seen alot of burned out areas.

View Looking out RV to Meadow and pond

We have a lovely site, looking out over a meadow, lots of birds for Grace to yell at.  Very very quiet, hoping to hear coyotes or wolves last night - got a couple more nights for that - hopefully.Will visit the town of Pinedale to sightsee and do some shopping, then move on southeast towards Vernal, Utah - about half way to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. We will follow this US Route 191 now until we get near Tucson, Arizona in about a month.

In the meantime, we wait for the sun to warm us up and the water hoses to get unfrozen - and hope tonight isn't as bad.  Forecast is for 35 tonight - we'll see.

One More Time - Yellowstone

Pebble Creek

We have been delayed here in Gardiner, Montana - waiting on a package to come in FedEx, and we got bored.  So - yesterday I drove while Dave watched out the window and we went to Lamar Valley which is known for it's scenic views and lots of wildlife.  This area is on the northern end of Yellowstone, driving from the Tower-Roosevelt junction northeast towards Cooke City, Montana.  Our expectations were low, just wanted to get out and see an area of the park we hadn't been to.

Lamar River - Lamar Valley

Absolutely beautiful.  Saw gazillion bison (buffalo) - some had visitors on their back - cowbirds lined up and some were quite angry that you were on their road - I am not moving!!,  pronghorn sheep running too fast to get pictures of, tracks of wolves and bears, pretty streams and rivers flowing through this valley. For once we didn't smell any sulfur which was fine with us.  Smoke from the wildfires was minimal, still burning, but not a problem with vista views. Stopped every now and then to walk to one of the rivers, smell the pines, just a lovely relaxing day.

Miner's home and outhouse

We drove to the northeast entrance to the park and decided to drive on into Cooke City.  Cute lovely little town.  Stopped at a coffee shop for some ice cream then coffee after and struck up a conversation with the owner. Ernest Hemingway spent time in this little town writing and hunting, killed his first grizzly not far from the shop.  Stopped and visited the information center (chamber of commerce) and was pleased with how they presented the town.  We noticed that the snow markers were up along the roads - from how high they are - they must get a lot of snow!  This town was founded by miners in the 1880's, but the mines were abandoned within 10 years because the snows prevented them from getting in or out of the area. At the visitor's center they had an original shack (home) and outhouse from the 1880's - glad we have insulation and electricity now!  Brrr.

Got on the road again and decided to go a tidge further north, driving along the scenic Beartooth Highway.  Came again to the 45th parallel, did a quick little hike honoring Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce Indians that were on the run from the US Cavalry, traveling right through this area.

Yellowstone River near Tower-Roosevelt Junction

On our drive back to Gardiner, we stopped where the Yellowstone River flowed by the Loop Road and got some amazing pictures.  Good day, got some great photos to remember. This is the kind of day we like - got alot of ahas and Wows.   Lamar Valley area of Yellowstone is the place to get very scenic photos.  If you come here, got to go to this area.  Today we clean, laundry, do some grocery shopping, out things away, then tomorrow morning we head to Pinedale, Wyoming - about a 5 hour drive south east of where we are now.  Will have to drive again through the park, but we will say our goodbyes at that time.  We will then be able to say we have driven all the roads of Yellowstone, the most impressive for views is by far Lamar Valley.

Final Thoughts of Yellowstone

We are nearing the end of our stay here in Gardiner, Montana, the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park.  We never thought we would visit Yellowstone, never gave it a thought.  But since we are in the production of seeing as much of national parks and sites, we said - why not, we are this close.  After all - this is the nation's first national park, and this park is the pattern for all national parks throughout the world. Glad we came here.  The park is very people friendly, plenty of pull offs to view wildlife, plenty of parking, lots of picnic areas, plenty of camping and 7 major areas to go to where there are stores for food, lodging, restaurants, and camping supplies or get general information within the park.  If you want to stay in an area that is raw and scenic and NO geysers or hot springs, you will find it.  You want to stay away from people and be in nature, here also.  You can horse back ride, hike, go fly fishing in the rivers, go to areas known for wild life viewing - it's all here.  And - winter is accessible only through the north entrance and you need a permit to have your snowmobile here - the park offers to rent these as well as move around in what they call snow coaches (big enclosed sleds that protect you from the cold). Wild rivers and waterfalls are abundant.  There has been enough time for this park to correct any problems that have risen and made it more friendly.And then there are the geysers and hot springs and pools.  You have to like smelling sulphur to stay in this area. Of course no camping is anywhere near any of these, nor would you want to camp there! And no flowers, no berries for the bears - they must be in the north east area, no other trees than lodge pole pine - and many burned up ones too!

But we both feel that as beautiful and serene and 'back-to-nature' this park is, it is not for us.  So many times I remarked that I wonder when the earth will blow apart, feeling the heat of the ground, or seeing the bubbling water percolating right in front of you.  There are not a lot of hiking trails because of the amount of hot springs and pools - they don't want them vandalized, and the ground is hazardous.  You see so many signs saying to stay on the path - the ground is unstable and very hot/scalding.

One main problem while here, but not because of the park -  we are surrounded by wildfires.  4 are going on within the park and they are not being suppressed, just watching them.  Then there is a bad one - called the Millie Fire - 20 miles south of Bozeman, or 30 miles north of here.  The wind either brings the smoke from the park or from Bozeman fires depending on direction, and you cannot get a clear shot of anything.  And our eyes sting from the smoke.  You can smell it too.  We also found out the wildfire that started near us when we were in North Fork, Idaho has grown tremendously and the area we were in is shut down and evacuated.  Not good.  Will be glad to move more south and away from fires.  Speaking of which - we will be leaving here Tuesday morning for Thermopolis, Wyoming - south of Cody, for about a week.  Will have to drive through the park one last time, which is okay.

One last image for you - when we got back yesterday there was this Rotel - a road hotel - just setting up in our campground.  Another one is coming in today.  Don't think I could travel like this - I am a tidge claustrophobic and the narrowness of the sleeping quarters and people - not for me.  Dave talked to someone about this rotel - very regimental - you get up by a certain time, have x time to shower, etc. - eat at a certain time, see something for a short time then move on.  One lady said she has been doing the rotel thing for 13 times.  Don't know if same trip, or different trips, etc.  From the Internet -

While the Rotel rooms are only 3ft high, they are wide enough to deliver passengers a comfortable night’s sleep as long as you don't measure much more than the bed's length of 6ft. Though the lack of showers and bathing facilities may test you if you were expecting five-star luxury, the Rotel does include an extensive drop-down "camp kitchen" and a single toilet. The coaches also stop whenever possible at campgrounds with bathing facilities to ensure the passengers don't become too funky.  


Whoa - don't think I want to be around those folks when they haven't been to a campground in awhile! Phew!

Old Faithful

Gibbon Falls - notice smoke in air in background

We saw Old Faithful yesterday. And just like everyone says - it was faithful.  The geyser was predicted + or - 10 minutes of eruption time - it was right on.  The amount of people who come to watch, then like little bugs - disappear, was fun to see also.  Back up to beginning of day - we packed a lunch and snacks to have because we thought we'd be out all day.  But first stopped at Gibbon Falls, a pretty waterfall of the Gibbon River that flows through the area that is on the western side of the park.  Yellowstone River is on the northern and eastern side of Yellowstone, a much bigger and faster flowing river than Gibbon or of Firehole (my favorite) in the park.  After that stop we went to the Midway Geyser basin area where the largest of the hot springs is - Giant Prismatic.  The temp was a brisk 55 so there was alot of steam/mist in the air and couldn't get a good shot of how blue this hot spring is.  And stink!!! But the colors were amazing.

Grand Prismatic

Old Faithful

Ooohed and ahhed, then drove on to Old Faithful area.  In the Lower Geyser Basin (where Old Faithful is) there are 5 active geysers - the most in the world.  We saw and heard so many German ad Oriental people yesterday - no wonder with our economy so lousy and theirs is booming - they come here to see the sights of US.  The parking lot was packed, felt that there was an eruption going on or close to it with that many cars.  We had just missed one by 5 minutes, so we sauntered into the visitor's center to get acclimated and see when the next show was.  Had to wait 92 minutes for the next one - okay, enough time to go through the center then head out to the benches in front of Old Faithful and have a picnic lunch.  Within 25 minutes people started to come and sit too, then it got really packed with people.  The geyser starts off sputtering, then within 5 minutes of that - poof, up it goes.  We heard someone say they were at the previous eruption and it wasn't much.  Guess we should be glad we saw this one and it was okay, not the hundreds of feet they say could happen.  After the show we walked the boardwalk to visit all the other geysers and hot springs and pools.

Morning Glory Pool

One of the two favorite hot pools is the Morning Glory Pool.  Beautiful.   Did I tell you there is a lot here?  Well, there is! And another 2 hours of walking and looking and smelling the sulphur, we have decided enough was enough.  We are done with this geyser thing.  The park is so pretty and raw and beautiful, but unsettling at the same time.  Sometimes we felt very restful, looking at a river coursing by, and then within 5 minutes you are in an area where the ground is bubbling and hissing and you realize that the core of the earth is a mere 3 to 5 miles below you - will it erupt while you are standing there?  Sorta a hell and heaven feeling.  Good and bad together. Worth seeing and experiencing.  We never thought we would visit Yellowstone - now we are glad, but don't want to come back.

Geysers and Mud Volcano

Geysers and Steam

Yesterday we traveled back into Yellowstone, this time going to the Norris Geyser Basin then over to the east side of the park to the Mud Volcanic Area.  Pretty impressive.  This is surreal - you are walking/driving your car on an active volcano - the steam vents, the bubbling of water and mud, the hissing of escaped steam, seeing explanations of how the earth below your feet is so hot that by touching it you will scald or severely burn, seeing how the landscape is bubbling up from the pressure below.  You would wonder if the volcano will blow again while you are there.  And the smell.  Sulphur smell gets in your nose and you taste it for hours afterward.  Yuck. But on the other hand, the buffalo and wildlife roam freely, too free where it causes traffic to come to a fault not because they are picture taking but because they just won't move off the road.

Hot Spring - notice the dead trees, ground so hot

Geysers are amazing to see, hot springs and lakes are beautiful with their various colors - depending on how hot is what grows in it, bubbling mud, roaring of a cave where steam is venting up and echoing in the cave forcing the water to come rushing out, feeling the heat while standing on boardwalks.  Amazing to see.  We have not visited Old Faithful yet, wanted to wait until the crowds of Labor Day subsided, as a matter of fact - some of the campgrounds around the park have now closed and the rest will close by the 29th of September.  Frost was on the ground yesterday morning when we ventured into the park.

Beautiful landscape - buffalo roaming

Beautiful landscapes - you just can't imagine.  To see what the original pioneers saw - and it looks just the same as then - beautiful.  Nights are now down to the low 40's here in Gardiner but inside the park it is in the low 30's.  Day temps in the park about mid 60's.  Difference in temps is because elevation is much higher, we are camping at roughly 4500 feet where most of the park is at 6000 to 7000 feet.  And on top of all the geysers and springs is a beautiful lake, Lake Yellowstone, not hot but cold and deep.  And it is gorgeous.  We saw the famous Fishing Bridge where up to 1973 people would come and fish, elbow to elbow, casting their lines into the Yellowstone River, depleting the trout population severely that in 1973 the park officials said no more and do not allow any fishing for one mile inland of where the lake and river come together - to allow spawning of fish to happen.  Saw bear tracks in the mud right by the bank of the river where we walked - pretty fresh. Nice day in the park.

Fresh bear track in mud by Yellowstone River

Famous Fishing Bridge over Yellowstone River

Lake Yellowstone - Rocky Mountains in distance - looking east

Our new grass cutter by the truck

Then last evening while sitting watching the world go by, we got our own personal grass cutter.  Yep - these elk are every where - and they poop every where!  Have to watch where you walk.