Wind storm in Chadron, NE ; Alaskan truck-camper search in Fort Collins, CO ; Casper, WY; Fort Laramie ; Independence Rock ; South Pass ; Union Pass ; Museum of the Mountain Man ; Shoshone Nat’l Forest ; Teton and Bridger National Forests ; Grand Teton National Park
(posted from Albertson’s grocery store, Jackson Hole, WY)
(this post covers 1-11 September, 2009)
(Sorry for the long delay between posts. There’s not a lot of wi-fi connectivity in the National Forests and National Parks!)
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Friday, 11 September-
What a grand night. We still have about a half-full moon and it lasts most of the night, lending an eerie light yet peaceful light to our surroundings.
After rattling our way back to the main road we headed north and soon entered Yellowstone. I wanted to take a short walk on Heart Lake trail since the Continental Divide Trail shares the trail here.
We hiked for a mile and a half and at this altitude (8000 ft), that seemed like enough for our morning stroll. We were climbing a small rise at the time and sat down on a trailside log to rest. As I sat down, I noticed an out-of-place shape behind the log. It was a camera. Someone had apparently sat on the same log and the camera had fallen unnoticed.
The camera was a Canon S3 model, a 6 megapixel digital model with a motion-compensating lens. It only took a minute to figure out how to start the camera and look at the last image taken. It showed a young family of five posing at the trailhead sign.
We took a minute to figure out how to handle the situation. Fortunately, I had a pen and paper and Labashi had a plastic bag. We wrote: CAMERA FOUND HERE ON 9/11/09 AT 0945. WILL LEAVE IT AT THE GRANT VILLAGE RANGER STATION. We bagged the message and placed it on a log in the middle of the trail.
We continued to the top of the rise to even the GPS reading to a mile and a half and turned back. Just as we reached the message we had left, seven hardy young men with gigantic backpacks came through. Of the seven, only #6 saw the message in the middle of the trail (#7 might have seen it if not for #6 noticing first). So much for an obvious message.
As we walked back to the van I continued fiddling with the camera and figured out how to move through the images and to see the date/time the image was taken. The last image, #121, was taken on August 25th. The camera had apparently been lying behind the log for more than two weeks.
Back at the van I scrolled through the images and found two-- #71 and #72 which showed the license plate of the apparent owner’s car. It appeared to be a Texas plate but the LCD image is so small I couldn’t be sure.
After our walk we drove to Grant Village for lunch. We were hoping for pasta to counterbalance our high-protein diet of the last several months but the only pasta was on the kid’s menu. Labashi sweet-talked the crew into serving us from the kid’s menu.
We then dropped the camera off at the Visitor Center with a ranger and a note about where and when we found it and pics 71 and 72. Hopefully it will find its way back to the owner.
From Grant Village we continued north, skirting Yellowstone Lake. We stopped in at the marina Ranger Station, hoping to find a wolf expert we had met there in 2006. We wanted him to listen to the wolf howls we captured on our video clips. Unfortunately, the ranger station is closed today and tomorrow.
We stopped at several overlooks in the Hayden Valley. At the second one, our attention was drawn to a large bull bison taking a dust bath. It was an amazing sight to see him raise a massive cloud of dust, completely enveloping himself. He’d lay on his side and kick his legs as hard as possible and make primeval grunting sounds.
Just after the bison stopped, motion nearby caught our attention. We had a thirty-second view of two coyotes, sneaking along and then vanishing into the sagebrush. We never caught another glimpse of movement, either of the coyotes or the sagebrush.
We turned West toward Norris to reach our campground for the night at Indian Creek. We arrived just in time. We took the third-to-last campsite and there were four more people in line.
After claiming our spot we headed back down toward Norris to a large meadow between Obsidian Cliff and Grizzley Lake. In 2006 we had seen seven wolves here.
Labashi made supper while I wandered down to the river, where I saw at least a dozen trout zipping about. It would have been a great evening to have a fishing rod along.
There were no wolves tonight so we continued south as far as Gibbon Meadow, glassing for wildlife. We saw a half-dozen solitary bison bulls but nothing else. Our search ended as darkness fell.
On the way back to Indian Creek we came upon a Yellowstone traffic jam. A bison was walking down the double-yellow line and traffic couldn’t pass in either direction. It was only a few minutes until the bison found its exit and we were able to pass.
Back at the campground we spent the evening blogging and reading, yet again.
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Thursday, 10 September-
We awoke early this morning and decided to go ahead and drive to some likely wildlife viewing spots.
We drove back down Pacific Creek Road when we hit the hard road we decided to take the Two Oceans Lake road (where we had seen the massive bull elk last evening). We didn’t see the elk but thought we’d take a video clip of the lake. Shortly after walking down to the lake we heard wolf howls, one across the lake and to our right, the other about a quarter mile from it on the same side of the lake. That of course got us all excited. We started walking the trail on the north side of the lake and Labashi almost immediately wanted to turn off the trail and head up into the woods toward the sound. I nixed that given the wet and frost-covered grasses and tall weeds.
We then heard a blood-curdling series of howls and yips on the south side of the lake, perhaps over the hill in that area. I happened to be shooting a video clip of the lake with the Tetons in the distance in morning light and caught this very interesting sound.
We had seen another couple in the parking lot and they had taken the trail ahead of us. But now, here they came toward us. When we met, they said two moose were on the trail ahead and it was obvious they weren’t going to move for hikers. They were going to retrace their steps to the parking lot and then take the south-side lake trail.
We wanted to see the moose so we kept going another 100 yards and there they were. They both were browsing just below the trail. Labashi took the video camera and we began moving very slowly toward the female closest to the trail. To our surprise, she raised her head and looked very directly at us, then began working toward us. The young bull also started working toward us, both of them continuing to browse but keeping a close eye on us. If we’re any judge of moose body language they weren’t upset in the least. They browsed along and stopped quite a lot, looking our way. They began to get too close for comfort so we made a quick plan to jump in to some nearby closely-spaced trees if one or the other charged. We began our slow retreat, ever watchful for any signs of agitation, and were soon away from them. But still the cow watched our every move as if to say ‘what ARE those silly creatures?’
We drove back to the hard road and headed for Colter Village. There we browsed the grocery store and visitor center. We spoke with a ranger at the visitor center and told her of our good luck at Two Ocean Lake. We even played the video clips of the wolf sounds, hoping for confirmation that they are indeed wolf and not coyote sounds but she said she’s not expert enough to help.
After Colter Village we drove north and soon hit the endless construction zone that is the road between the Grand Teton and Yellowstone this year. The roadside sign said to expect a 30-minute delay but that wasn’t a stop for 30 minutes but rather a 5-10 mph drive for miles upon miles. With all the backroad driving we’ve been doing it wasn’t a problem for us though it was incredibly dusty. “It’s like an Oregon Trail wagon train”, observed Labashi.
We drove to the end of the construction at Flagg Ranch and had lunch in the parking lot there, then headed into the Targhee National Forest via Grassy Lake Road. We drove it for about 10 miles, then turned back, deciding that we had seen the character of this area. On the way back we stopped at a one of the eight free campsites in the Targhee, figuring we may as well stay out in the Forest for free rather than push on into Yellowstone National Park only to have to pay for a very similar primitive camping with a lot of noisy people around. Our campsite (#7) has views in every direction.
After getting up so early this morning, we figured we earned a nap so opened up the van doors and took a snooze, then had supper while watching the shadows march across the mountain.
For our evening’s entertainment, we blogged and began reading in earnest about Yellowstone.
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Wednesday, 9 September-
I saw a 29-degree reading in the wee hours of the morning and we had frost on the sage around us at stand-up time today.
We awoke around 0700 and were on the road within the hour. We drove to Jenny Lake and hiked to Hidden Falls and back, a round trip of four and half miles. With the ups and downs and breaks it took us three and a half hours and tuckered us out.
We took advantage of having the van and after lunch took a short cat-nap to revive ourselves. Once again we have perfect weather and that nap in the nice warm van with a cool breeze coming in windows was heaven.
We checked out the Jenny Lake visitor center then began a driving tour. We did the Jenny Lake scenic drive, then took a long dirt-road drive to beautiful Spalding Bay on crystal-clear Lake Jackson.
We then drove up Signal Mountain where I spoke at some length with a wildlife photographer from Montana who travels in his Alaskan-brand camper (the truck camper I had hoped to see in Fort Collins but was unable to).
We then continued to the Signal Mountain turnaround where we had a spectacular view of the Snake River valley below. We found our own personal turn-out and had supper while watching the shadows start to paint the valley.
On the way down Signal Mountain we saw the biggest buck mule deer I’ve ever seen. It could be mistaken for an elk. It’s massive eight-point rack was in heavy velvet.
Driven on by our seeing the muley, we took the dirt road to Two-Oceans Lake and along the way had yet another sighting, this of a trophy bull elk. As we drove along I glanced left up a small rise and there stood the monarch, looking like he was posing for a commercial. What an incredible sight.
We then drove up nearby Pacific Creek road in the twilight and soon came to the park boundary. But it ran into the Bridger-Teton National Forest so we kept going. In a few miles the road ended at Pacific Creek campground. This one is apparently quite the jumping-off place for horse-trekking. We passed a large outfitter’s place along the way and at the trailhead was another large outfitter with what looked like a few dozen horses in the corral. The trailhead parking lot was jammed with horse-trailer rigs, apparently owned by people who rode their horses into the National Forest to camp.
We had the Pacific Creek campground to ourselves, though. I don’t mind paying half-price ($10) for very nice, private little campsite out here in the boonies.
I spent the rest of the evening blogging while Labashi read about the Oregon Trial along the Snake River.
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Tuesday, 8 Septemer-
Our temperature overnight was 30 degrees but we were very comfortable. We love these 70-80-degree sunny days and colder nights.
I thought we’d be entering Grand Teton National Park this morning but we had some errands to run in town (Jackson). We’re thinking we’ll be away from civilization for a week or so and had better stock up on supplies. I also wanted to go back to the Teton Moutaineering outdoors store for some ultra-lightweight long-johns for sleeping these cooler nights.
We spent an inordinate amount of time shopping at the Albertson’s grocery store but it really worked out well. We’re happy to find some variety. For example, in the past we’ve had some excellent low-carb tortillas from a brand called ‘La Factory’ but seldom can find them. At Albertson’s we found multiple choices in low-carb tortillas.
After shopping, we had lunch in the parking lot then went back inside to use their free wi-fi connection. I love this new trend…. upscale coffee shops and free wi-fi in grocery stores. They haven’t quite figured out they should be providing power receptacles but for the most part the wi-fi connections have been very good.
We then went to the visitor center at the National Park and bought maps and guidebooks to help us select some hikes for the next few days.
Finally, by 1500 we were on the trail. We chose to hike from Death Canyon Trailhead to the overlook for Phelps Lake. It’s only about a mile but a steady uphill and at this altitude (around 6500 ft), that will be a good start.
At the overlook I was surprised to hear my cell phone ring. I always carry it but we’ve been out of cell-phone coverage quite a bit this trip. Brother Orat called to arrange a Skype video call tonight.
After our walk we drove south and out of the park at Teton Village (ski resort) and circled back into Jackson. We found the Teton Community Library and had supper in the parking lot, then went in and made the call in one of the library meeting rooms. We both loved this fine little library. The auditorium was in use for a presentation about how to make your home ‘green’; the computers were all in use; wi-fi users and newspaper readers were strewn throughout the building; and yet it was the quietest library I’ve been in. A quick walk through the stacks and periodicals area told us it’s well equipped and up to date.
After the call we returned to the Gros Ventre campground for a second night. It was almost 2200 by the time we arrived so we went right to bed.
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Monday, 7 September – (Labor Day)
We left Whiskey Grove campground and the Bridger National Forest this morning and drove to Pinedale (WY). There we visited the Museum of the Mountain Man, a really nice and very thorough museum in the midst of the Green River rendezvous country.
The fur trade was based on demand for beaver which was made into a very fine felt, mainly for hats. Though beaver fur was used for hats as far back as the 1600s, it had never been available in such quantity until the North American fur trade began.
A beaver fur hat doesn’t look rustic as you would expect. In fact, most of them were made as fancy top hats. The Western fur trade blossomed in the early 1800s and lasted until about 1840, when most of the beaver were gone and silk and South American nutria fur replaced beaver fur as the material of choice for hatters.
The rendezvous idea was that of a St. Louis trader, William Ashley. Until 1825, trappers and Indians had to bring their furs to the trader. Ashley decided to take goods to the trappers and mountain men and return with their furs. He scheduled the first rendezvous to be held at Henry’s Fork, a tributary of the Snake River in 1825. That one lasted a day. Ashley realized he had made a mistake by not bringing liquor to that one and remedied that mistake the next year. As fur commerce grew, a Rendezvous could last for weeks with hundreds of trappers and thousands of Indians attending. Games of wilderness skill, games of chance, storytelling and of course massive drinking and the inevitable fighting marked the Rendezvous.
There were 16 Rendezvous all but three in Wyoming and six of those in the Upper Green River Valley outside of Pinedale.
After lunch in the museum parking lot, we drove northwest through the Teton-Bridger National Forest to Jackson (a/k/a Jackson Hole). We spent the afternoon walking the streets of Jackson, checking out the western clothing and artwork. That evening we had an excellent filet mignon and salads at the Cadillac Grille before leaving Jackson and driving to the nearby Gros Ventre (“Big Belly”) campground in Teton National Park for the night ($19).
We are definitely off the Oregon Trail up here. Being so close to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, we just had to take a bit of a detour. I had been to the Tetons briefly about ten years ago while on a business trip to Salt Lake City. My plane had landed at Salt Lake in the afternoon and I had driven eight hours or so to Jackson, arriving late. I got up early and drove in to the Park only to find the Teton Park road only open for a short distance because of snow (this was mid-May). I took a short walk to Taggart Lake in the snow (in my business shoes), then drove up to Jackson Lake, which was solid ice. I had to leave by noon to make it back to my hotel in Salt Lake that evening for my business meeting in the morning. So I’m not sure I can say I really saw much of the Tetons on that trip so we’re making up for that now.
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Sunday, 6 September-
We had rain in the night and I swear I heard sleet against the roof. When I checked the thermometer, though, the temp was in the high Forties.
This morning we idled down Horse Creek Road in the early-morning light, hoping to see some wildlife. We saw two mule deer, with their comically large ears, and a few hawks, chipmunks, and gray-jays but that was about it.
We parked beside the Wind River Gear shop where we had picked up a wi-fi signal from the nearby coffee shop. While I stopped in the shop for a cappuccino, Labashi worked on her email update to the family in the van.
I then also connected to the web to take care of some chores and check the weather for our drive this afternoon.
After lunch we found Union Pass Road and took a long, leisurely drive across the Pass. This pass across the Continental Divide was first crossed by whites— Astorians -- in 1811. After another Astorian tried it in winter and had to turn back, the Crow told him of South Pass, the pass heavily used by emigrant wagon trains beginning in the 1840s.
After a long, steep climb to Union Pass via many switchbacks, the road leveled out and we soon began traversing beautiful high-mountain meadows, one after another.
On the Continental Divide, we crossed from Shoshone National Forest to Teton National Forest and in doing so crossed the Continental Divide Trail. But the trail crossing was only in theory for us. We didn’t see any markers, trailhead, or even a sign about the Divide, just the “Welcome To Teton National Forest” sign.
We worked our way down to Mosquito Lake, then to the Green River valley, arriving by 1600. We wanted to stay in the National Forest tonight so shortly after crossing the Green, we turned in at Whiskey Grove campground and took a site ($7).
After supper we were thinking of going for a walk when I noticed a low tire. A pressure check verified it’s losing air. This is the new tire I just got 12 days ago in Normal, Ill.
Upon removing the tire I found a roofing nail firmly embedded in the tread. I elected to plug the tire and put it back on rather than use the spare. I installed the plug and began to inflate but my stupid little el-cheapo air compressor locked up after only getting the tire up to 7 psi. I had to do the rest with my beat-up old hand pump I use for the bicycle tires.
With everything back in place we decided to take the walk after all. We met and had a pleasant chat with a couple from nearby Rock Springs, up for the holiday weekend.
As we turned back from the far point of our walk we heard oddly-familiar sounds and soon saw two sandhill cranes grow from tiny specs off in the distance and land nearby. We walked as close as we could without disturbing them and watched as the male executed the jumping-up-and-down mating dance. The female appeared to ignore him and they both turned to feeding. We retreated rather than risk disturbing them any further.
Back at the van we blogged and read. I’m reading a mid-1800’s guidebook for emigrants and am finding it fascinating. Along with practical advice on what to pack, how to hobble the horses for the night, how to cross a stream, etc, there’s medical advice based on the theory that disease comes from noxious vapors emanating from swamps and riverbanks. It’s fascinating reading.
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Saturday, 5 September-
Our campground was at an altitude of over 9000 feet so we had a cooler night. The lowest temp I saw was 38 degrees. It’s a bit odd to have these low temps at night when our daytime temps are in the mid to high Eighties.
I generally try to park the van in the shade to keep it from being overheated by the sun for our sleep. But here we’re feeling the evening cool down rapidly as we take an evening walk and afterwards it feels good to get in the nice, warm van. Last evening our walk was a moonlight one. The full moon had just risen over The Pinnacles east of our campsite at Brooks Lake and enabled us to walk without flashlights and see the lake and Sublett Peak bathed in the silver moonlight.
With the lower temperatures we fired up the Buddy heater to both warm up the interior of the van and warm up some water for our morning wash-up. The heater wouldn’t start at all at first. But that often happens when I didn’t have my window open during the night as I often do. My theory is that heavier-than-air CO2 from our breathing lays in the bottom of the van and that makes the oxygen level too low for the oxygen-depletion sensor on the Buddy heater to allow propane to flow to the pilot. To remedy this, we have to open the door and allow the CO2 to flow out. And we can help it do that by turning the ventilation fan in the roof to pull in air from outside, thus pushing on the ‘bad’ air to exit.
Today this worked great—at first. Because of the significantly lower oxygen in the air, the heater would only run for about ten minutes before the O2-depletion sensor would turn it off again. After a cycle or two of this, we decided the wash-up water was warm enough and we really didn’t need to warm the interior any more.
After our wash-up, we decided we needed a morning walk. Brooks Lake is in the Washakie Wilderness of Shoshone National Forest, just east of the Continental Divide. Immediately west of the Divide is the Teton Wilderness. How could we NOT take a walk here?
We decided to walk to the Jade Lakes and return. It’s only a two-mile walk but it’s an uphill one and altitude approaches 10,000 feet. We started out with light-winter jackets given the cool morning but soon took them off as we walked fairly steeply uphill. We stopped to catch our breath more often than we’d like to admit. But our excuse was to look at the stunning scenery.
Our trail wound along the edge of a steep hill, giving us spectacular views of Brooks Lake and of Sublette Peak on ‘our’ side (the west side) of the valley and The Pinnacles on the far (east) side.
We never did make it to the Jade Lakes. We were only about .2 of a mile away (we think) but the trail had taken several forks and we weren’t sure we were on the correct branch. We took a break and decided the altitude and uphill trail had given us enough of a workout.
After lunch in our campsite, we headed to town (Dubois) for better maps plus ice and a few supplies. We found ourselves wandering around with maps with too little detail. The GPS knew the main trail (the Yellowstone Trail) but didn’t have the side trail to the Jade Lakes.
Since this is Labor Day weekend, we thought it likely to be disappointing to continue on to Grand Teton or Yellowstone. So we need better maps so we can cruise the Forest and BLM roads. We found them in the form of the Wyoming Road and Recreation Atlas at an outdoors-gear store called Wind River Gear.
Once re-supplied and better-mapped, we headed north out of Dubois on Horse Creek Road. This soon turned into Forest Road 285. We dropped in to Horse Creek campground to check the prices and availability on this busy weekend and saw they’re charging $15 for a primitive campsite with no potable water nearby and pit toilets. That seems like a bit much.
We wanted to continue exploring anyway so we continued further into the backcountry on FR 285 toward Double Cabin. And what a great decision that was.
The road itself is shown as primitive but the surface was fine—it’s just narrow and winding. The landscape around us just kept getting better and better. Before too many more miles we were looking at Yosemite-type mountains.
Twenty miles in we reached the campground at Double Cabin and we stopped beyond it at the horse camp. I loved seeing twenty-or-so horse trailers in the meadow, the horses corralled in temporary corrals, and white canvas wall tents with wood-stove pipes. From here wilderness trails go off in several directions. We’re in a high valley with rock spires all around. Now THIS is cowboy-camping.
As we drove we had picked out several dispersed-camping sites so we re-traced our steps to the best of those and set up for the night. As I type this, I’ve been watching the shadows creep across the Absoroka Range. I can see a high peak in the distance which has snow on it. LeGeed (our GPS) says we’re at 8500 feet so I’d guess I’m looking at 12,000-footers. All evening long I’ve watched the interplay of light and shadow, sometimes calling attention to one peak, canyon, or high meadow or another. Then with a change of light, an entirely different set of geographic wonders is highlighted.
Nice.
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Friday, 4 September-
With daylight we find we’re in a really, really nice campsite. A small meadow lies beside us and Cottonwood Creek is across the road. The overnight temperature dropped to 42 and once I fired up the GPS I realized why--- we’re at an elevation of over 7000 feet.
After breakfast we walked for an hour or so, just taking the camp road up to its intersection with Green Mountain Loop road and then walking another quarter mile or so to another intersection and then return to the van--- about an hour’s walk total.
With the sun warming things up to the point we could take off our jackets, we decided today’s the day to clean out the ice box. And once we had the cooler out of the van, we might as well clear everything out and sweep out our living space and do a general clean-up.
Once everything was back in place we headed up the mountain. We had come in via a loop road so we took the other side of the loop to go back. This led us up to an altitude of 9400 feet through beautiful pines to wonderful views of the valley below and the nearby mountains. We explored a side road to Wild Horse Overlook and found the views well worth the extra six miles.
By late morning we were back to the hard road and headed toward Lander. But along the way we took the turn to South Pass—the famous Oregon Trail crossing of the Continental Divide.
Our guide book took us off the hard road a few miles to an out-of-the-way historical marker. We realized we had turned onto the Oregon Trail as it crossed the Continental Divide. On our left were the Oregon Bluffs, where emigrants first entered the Oregon Territory. On our right were the peaks of the Wind River Range, beyond which lay Yellowstone National Park.
We walked the Trail to a stone marker put up by Ezra Meeker in 1905 and tried to envision what it would have been like to see the emigrant wagon trains passing this spot.
We then drove back to the hard road and turned for Lander. There we spoke with the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service offices, getting some tips on places to stay and making sure we understand the rules for dispersed camping in BLM and National Forest lands.
We drove for another three hours, pushing through to Brooks Lake campground in the Shoshone National Forest, arriving about a half-hour before dark. While Labashi cooked supper I walked to the lake and found the Yellowstone Trail. It’s possible to walk to Yellowstone National Park from here.
We did a little reading and blogging but we’re tired puppies tonight so that didn’t last long.
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Thursday, 3 September-
We were awakened at 0530 this morning by a worker at the golf course beside our campground. As soon as we had light, he began mowing. I guess they have to get an early start to stay ahead of the early-bird golfers.
After long, luxurious showers we drove to the nearby Register Bluffs site. This is a massive rock face inscribed by pioneers when they camped nearby. The oldest date we saw was 1850 but somewhere on that rock is an 1825 inscription. We’re now a day’s wagon-train travel from Fort Laramie and the area is beautiful. We’re along the river with a flat area perfect for an encampment and for the animals to graze. The bluffs give us a pleasant view and we can see the Laramie Mountains in the distance.
We then moved on to Casper (WY) to visit the Historic Trails Interpretation Center. Though by now we’ve seen and heard a lot, we still learned new things at the Center. One of the fun things we did was to take a virtual wagon ride across the Platt. The ‘wagon’ is a simulator. We sat on crates and barrels in the bed of the wagon and our view out the front was a video screen. Our wagon followed our two trusty oxen down an embankment and into the river, jolting us from side to side and front to back. We saw another wagon ahead of us and it was stuck. As our wagon neared, the other wagon’s wheeltree broke, dumping the driver and supplies into the river, a common occurrence on the Platte. As the men helping with the crossing went to the aid of the other rig’s driver, we managed to skirt by and climb a steep embankment out of the river.
After a late lunch in the van, we drove into Casper to the Lou Taubert Ranch Store (“Nine Floors of Everything for Your Ranch!”). We thought they might have the skort Labashi is looking for and they did indeed have one—but not the ‘right’ one.
We took a brief drive through town to get a feel for it, then went to the Wal-mart to pick up some groceries and have a tire checked. We then moved on to Independence Rock, about an hour southwest of Casper. This geographic anomaly is interesting for its geology but that wasn’t the point for the emigrants. To them, it was an important milepost. If they had made it to Independence Rock by the Independence Day, they were almost assuredly ahead of the Fall snows in the Rockies. Labashi and I walked around about half of Independence Rock but did not climb it.
As darkness neared, we began looking for our campsite for the night. We had found a cryptic entry on a Bureau of Land Management map for a campground. But it turns out that campground can only be reached by trail.
With darkness falling we searched out another campground. This one – Cottonwood Campground-- is 11 miles back a dirt road and up into the mountains. We arrived just as the last light of twilight was fading. Labashi made a scrumptious supper while I walked down to the iron ranger to pay our $6 fee.
We spent about an hour reading and catching up the blog but struggled to keep awake. It has been a long, very fruitful day.
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Wednesday, 2 September-
This morning we went to Ed Carroll Motors, the only dealer for Alaskan-brand truck campers in the lower 48 states. I’ve long been fascinated by these campers, ever since seeing one in the early Seventies. They are unique in that they can raise and lower the top portion of the camper body to provide good gas mileage while travelling and good headspace in camp. They also have hard panels which fold into place rather than a tent fabric for the extended portion. And they are well-insulated and supremely simple. (Unfortunately, they also cost $25,000).
I was disappointed to find that the dealership had just last week sold the last one in stock and they won’t be getting any others in for two months. However, I was able to talk at length with their specialist in these campers.
I really, really like these campers but it only took a half-hour’s conversation with Labashi to realize they aren’t as practical for us as Mocha Joe. First, we don’t have a pickup so we’d have to not only pay the $25K for the unit but that again for a ¾-ton pickup to haul it. Therefore, I think we could replace Mocha Joe (outfitted as we like it) for half the price.
But as we talked through how we’d use it (compared to how we use our van today), we realized there’s a very bad day-to-day usage tradeoff. Today, if one of us has to use our on-board porta-potty, it’s very accessible. Just pull into a parking area, go around to the side doors and there you are. But with a retractable-top truck camper, you’d have to first push the button to raise the top and wait the minute-or-so for that to happen. But once that top has lifted up, the folding panels are not in place. You wouldn’t necessarily have to put them in place just to use the potty but if the weather is rainy or cold, you’d either want to do that to keep out the weather or you’d risk soaking the cab-over mattress. That’s not good!
So, it appears the Alaskan camper isn’t for us. When Mocha Joe needs to be replaced, we’ll probably go with another van-style design.
With that settled, we had a few more little items to do before heading out. We tracked down a General Nutrition Center to buy some protein powder for our morning yogurt/pecan cup breakfast (yummy!) (for our low-carb diet). We also had to track down the local AAA for a map of Wyoming which would meet the navigator’s (Labashi’s) exacting standards.
After a quick lunch in a local park, we headed back up I-25 to Wyoming. Our goal today was Fort Laramie.
At the Fort we learned of the storied history of the Fort. Briefly, it had been put in place as one of a chain of supply forts for emigrants as well as the chief site for treaty negotiations with Indians of the northern Plains. Unfortunately, by the 1870’s it was a key site for staging troops for the Indian Wars on those Plains. Eventually, though, its mission was eclipsed by Fort Robison (which was nearer the reservations) and was shuttered. Today, the Fort has reconstructed buildings, many of which are completely furnished with historically-accurate furniture, clothing and goods.
After our Fort Laramie tour, we drove West about a half-hour to Guernsey, WY where we visited the Oregon Trail Ruts site.
Tonight we camped at a small campground across from the Trail Ruts. You can’t beat $7.50 for a site and hot showers.
We spent the evening blogging and reading.
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Tuesday, 1 September-
We had a doozy of a night last night. In the evening, the wind started building and by bedtime it was howling. We had parked in the open and the wind noise was so bad that we had to move to a more sheltered parking spot close to the Wal-mart building. But we couldn’t get close enough. Though the wind was quieter, it was still rocking the van from side to side, keeping us awake. We thought through everywhere we had been through the day as to whether those locations would offer better protection but none did. Around midnight I went into the Wal-mart to buy two scissors jacks to stabilize the rolling. But they only had one jack in stock, so I gave up on the idea. I wasn’t very happy with it anyway given that I’d have to spend $40 or so. We thought of going to a motel but we had noticed the local Motel 6 was charging $70 a night so that wouldn’t be cheap. I’d rather just stay up all night and then sleep in once the wind dies. And if it didn’t die by morning, we could move to the heavily treed city park (which is closed at night).
But we finally got lucky. Shortly after I returned to the van from my shopping trip for the jacks, the wind began to die. Twenty minutes later, the wind had died enough for us to get to sleep and we slept very heavily until 0700 and awoke refreshed.
We left Chadron with the GPS set for Cheyenne, Wyoming, about three hours away. The drive was wonderful. We had great scenery both nearby and off in the distance (the buttes) as we crossed the very verdant grasslands.
We hadn’t had a full shower for a few days so Labashi wanted to wash her hair. We happened upon a pull-off for an historical marker which was perfect for this. It was deep enough that we were off the road by 50 yards and I was able to park the van across the wind to create a wind-less area with the warming sun directly on us (it was about 60 degrees out this morning).
I heated up two small pots of water to slowly dribble over each other’s hair for the soaping and rinsing processes and we soon were squeaky-clean and refreshed. We like these little road-side adventures—at least in this warmer weather. Washing up outdoors is a lot less fun when the temperature is below 50 or we can’t get out of the wind.
We then carried on toward Cheyenne until the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. This site is the location of an ancient waterhole which existed in a very dry climate. Animals had to stay within walking distance of the waterhole but in dry years they’d eat all the grass within walking distance and die of malnutrition, typically near the waterhole. Over time this left a remarkable bone pile which was uncovered at the turn of the 19th-20th Centuries.
The remarkable find was made by the ranch owner. He invited university specialists to his ranch and scientific history was made.
The rancher also collected Indian artifacts and his collection is also in the visitor’s center.
After our tour of the center, we walked to the nearby fossil digs in the middle of this 90-degree day. The sun was intense but with the low humidity, we were very comfortable. We walked three miles and this time I had my camera along in case of another encounter with a rattlesnake (but no such luck).
After a late lunch we continued to Cheyenne, where we finally were able to get the filet mignon dinner we were looking for yesterday.
I didn’t like the looks of the Wal-mart at Cheyenne (the parking lot sloped too much) so we continued on into Colorado to Fort Collins.
There we found a pleasant little Wal-mart and then drove to the nearby library to spend two hours catching up on email and posting the blog before returning to Chez Wally for the night.
****** END OF POST ********
(posted from Albertson’s grocery store, Jackson Hole, WY)
(this post covers 1-11 September, 2009)
(Sorry for the long delay between posts. There’s not a lot of wi-fi connectivity in the National Forests and National Parks!)
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Friday, 11 September-
What a grand night. We still have about a half-full moon and it lasts most of the night, lending an eerie light yet peaceful light to our surroundings.
After rattling our way back to the main road we headed north and soon entered Yellowstone. I wanted to take a short walk on Heart Lake trail since the Continental Divide Trail shares the trail here.
We hiked for a mile and a half and at this altitude (8000 ft), that seemed like enough for our morning stroll. We were climbing a small rise at the time and sat down on a trailside log to rest. As I sat down, I noticed an out-of-place shape behind the log. It was a camera. Someone had apparently sat on the same log and the camera had fallen unnoticed.
The camera was a Canon S3 model, a 6 megapixel digital model with a motion-compensating lens. It only took a minute to figure out how to start the camera and look at the last image taken. It showed a young family of five posing at the trailhead sign.
We took a minute to figure out how to handle the situation. Fortunately, I had a pen and paper and Labashi had a plastic bag. We wrote: CAMERA FOUND HERE ON 9/11/09 AT 0945. WILL LEAVE IT AT THE GRANT VILLAGE RANGER STATION. We bagged the message and placed it on a log in the middle of the trail.
We continued to the top of the rise to even the GPS reading to a mile and a half and turned back. Just as we reached the message we had left, seven hardy young men with gigantic backpacks came through. Of the seven, only #6 saw the message in the middle of the trail (#7 might have seen it if not for #6 noticing first). So much for an obvious message.
As we walked back to the van I continued fiddling with the camera and figured out how to move through the images and to see the date/time the image was taken. The last image, #121, was taken on August 25th. The camera had apparently been lying behind the log for more than two weeks.
Back at the van I scrolled through the images and found two-- #71 and #72 which showed the license plate of the apparent owner’s car. It appeared to be a Texas plate but the LCD image is so small I couldn’t be sure.
After our walk we drove to Grant Village for lunch. We were hoping for pasta to counterbalance our high-protein diet of the last several months but the only pasta was on the kid’s menu. Labashi sweet-talked the crew into serving us from the kid’s menu.
We then dropped the camera off at the Visitor Center with a ranger and a note about where and when we found it and pics 71 and 72. Hopefully it will find its way back to the owner.
From Grant Village we continued north, skirting Yellowstone Lake. We stopped in at the marina Ranger Station, hoping to find a wolf expert we had met there in 2006. We wanted him to listen to the wolf howls we captured on our video clips. Unfortunately, the ranger station is closed today and tomorrow.
We stopped at several overlooks in the Hayden Valley. At the second one, our attention was drawn to a large bull bison taking a dust bath. It was an amazing sight to see him raise a massive cloud of dust, completely enveloping himself. He’d lay on his side and kick his legs as hard as possible and make primeval grunting sounds.
Just after the bison stopped, motion nearby caught our attention. We had a thirty-second view of two coyotes, sneaking along and then vanishing into the sagebrush. We never caught another glimpse of movement, either of the coyotes or the sagebrush.
We turned West toward Norris to reach our campground for the night at Indian Creek. We arrived just in time. We took the third-to-last campsite and there were four more people in line.
After claiming our spot we headed back down toward Norris to a large meadow between Obsidian Cliff and Grizzley Lake. In 2006 we had seen seven wolves here.
Labashi made supper while I wandered down to the river, where I saw at least a dozen trout zipping about. It would have been a great evening to have a fishing rod along.
There were no wolves tonight so we continued south as far as Gibbon Meadow, glassing for wildlife. We saw a half-dozen solitary bison bulls but nothing else. Our search ended as darkness fell.
On the way back to Indian Creek we came upon a Yellowstone traffic jam. A bison was walking down the double-yellow line and traffic couldn’t pass in either direction. It was only a few minutes until the bison found its exit and we were able to pass.
Back at the campground we spent the evening blogging and reading, yet again.
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Thursday, 10 September-
We awoke early this morning and decided to go ahead and drive to some likely wildlife viewing spots.
We drove back down Pacific Creek Road when we hit the hard road we decided to take the Two Oceans Lake road (where we had seen the massive bull elk last evening). We didn’t see the elk but thought we’d take a video clip of the lake. Shortly after walking down to the lake we heard wolf howls, one across the lake and to our right, the other about a quarter mile from it on the same side of the lake. That of course got us all excited. We started walking the trail on the north side of the lake and Labashi almost immediately wanted to turn off the trail and head up into the woods toward the sound. I nixed that given the wet and frost-covered grasses and tall weeds.
We then heard a blood-curdling series of howls and yips on the south side of the lake, perhaps over the hill in that area. I happened to be shooting a video clip of the lake with the Tetons in the distance in morning light and caught this very interesting sound.
We had seen another couple in the parking lot and they had taken the trail ahead of us. But now, here they came toward us. When we met, they said two moose were on the trail ahead and it was obvious they weren’t going to move for hikers. They were going to retrace their steps to the parking lot and then take the south-side lake trail.
We wanted to see the moose so we kept going another 100 yards and there they were. They both were browsing just below the trail. Labashi took the video camera and we began moving very slowly toward the female closest to the trail. To our surprise, she raised her head and looked very directly at us, then began working toward us. The young bull also started working toward us, both of them continuing to browse but keeping a close eye on us. If we’re any judge of moose body language they weren’t upset in the least. They browsed along and stopped quite a lot, looking our way. They began to get too close for comfort so we made a quick plan to jump in to some nearby closely-spaced trees if one or the other charged. We began our slow retreat, ever watchful for any signs of agitation, and were soon away from them. But still the cow watched our every move as if to say ‘what ARE those silly creatures?’
We drove back to the hard road and headed for Colter Village. There we browsed the grocery store and visitor center. We spoke with a ranger at the visitor center and told her of our good luck at Two Ocean Lake. We even played the video clips of the wolf sounds, hoping for confirmation that they are indeed wolf and not coyote sounds but she said she’s not expert enough to help.
After Colter Village we drove north and soon hit the endless construction zone that is the road between the Grand Teton and Yellowstone this year. The roadside sign said to expect a 30-minute delay but that wasn’t a stop for 30 minutes but rather a 5-10 mph drive for miles upon miles. With all the backroad driving we’ve been doing it wasn’t a problem for us though it was incredibly dusty. “It’s like an Oregon Trail wagon train”, observed Labashi.
We drove to the end of the construction at Flagg Ranch and had lunch in the parking lot there, then headed into the Targhee National Forest via Grassy Lake Road. We drove it for about 10 miles, then turned back, deciding that we had seen the character of this area. On the way back we stopped at a one of the eight free campsites in the Targhee, figuring we may as well stay out in the Forest for free rather than push on into Yellowstone National Park only to have to pay for a very similar primitive camping with a lot of noisy people around. Our campsite (#7) has views in every direction.
After getting up so early this morning, we figured we earned a nap so opened up the van doors and took a snooze, then had supper while watching the shadows march across the mountain.
For our evening’s entertainment, we blogged and began reading in earnest about Yellowstone.
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Wednesday, 9 September-
I saw a 29-degree reading in the wee hours of the morning and we had frost on the sage around us at stand-up time today.
We awoke around 0700 and were on the road within the hour. We drove to Jenny Lake and hiked to Hidden Falls and back, a round trip of four and half miles. With the ups and downs and breaks it took us three and a half hours and tuckered us out.
We took advantage of having the van and after lunch took a short cat-nap to revive ourselves. Once again we have perfect weather and that nap in the nice warm van with a cool breeze coming in windows was heaven.
We checked out the Jenny Lake visitor center then began a driving tour. We did the Jenny Lake scenic drive, then took a long dirt-road drive to beautiful Spalding Bay on crystal-clear Lake Jackson.
We then drove up Signal Mountain where I spoke at some length with a wildlife photographer from Montana who travels in his Alaskan-brand camper (the truck camper I had hoped to see in Fort Collins but was unable to).
We then continued to the Signal Mountain turnaround where we had a spectacular view of the Snake River valley below. We found our own personal turn-out and had supper while watching the shadows start to paint the valley.
On the way down Signal Mountain we saw the biggest buck mule deer I’ve ever seen. It could be mistaken for an elk. It’s massive eight-point rack was in heavy velvet.
Driven on by our seeing the muley, we took the dirt road to Two-Oceans Lake and along the way had yet another sighting, this of a trophy bull elk. As we drove along I glanced left up a small rise and there stood the monarch, looking like he was posing for a commercial. What an incredible sight.
We then drove up nearby Pacific Creek road in the twilight and soon came to the park boundary. But it ran into the Bridger-Teton National Forest so we kept going. In a few miles the road ended at Pacific Creek campground. This one is apparently quite the jumping-off place for horse-trekking. We passed a large outfitter’s place along the way and at the trailhead was another large outfitter with what looked like a few dozen horses in the corral. The trailhead parking lot was jammed with horse-trailer rigs, apparently owned by people who rode their horses into the National Forest to camp.
We had the Pacific Creek campground to ourselves, though. I don’t mind paying half-price ($10) for very nice, private little campsite out here in the boonies.
I spent the rest of the evening blogging while Labashi read about the Oregon Trial along the Snake River.
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Tuesday, 8 Septemer-
Our temperature overnight was 30 degrees but we were very comfortable. We love these 70-80-degree sunny days and colder nights.
I thought we’d be entering Grand Teton National Park this morning but we had some errands to run in town (Jackson). We’re thinking we’ll be away from civilization for a week or so and had better stock up on supplies. I also wanted to go back to the Teton Moutaineering outdoors store for some ultra-lightweight long-johns for sleeping these cooler nights.
We spent an inordinate amount of time shopping at the Albertson’s grocery store but it really worked out well. We’re happy to find some variety. For example, in the past we’ve had some excellent low-carb tortillas from a brand called ‘La Factory’ but seldom can find them. At Albertson’s we found multiple choices in low-carb tortillas.
After shopping, we had lunch in the parking lot then went back inside to use their free wi-fi connection. I love this new trend…. upscale coffee shops and free wi-fi in grocery stores. They haven’t quite figured out they should be providing power receptacles but for the most part the wi-fi connections have been very good.
We then went to the visitor center at the National Park and bought maps and guidebooks to help us select some hikes for the next few days.
Finally, by 1500 we were on the trail. We chose to hike from Death Canyon Trailhead to the overlook for Phelps Lake. It’s only about a mile but a steady uphill and at this altitude (around 6500 ft), that will be a good start.
At the overlook I was surprised to hear my cell phone ring. I always carry it but we’ve been out of cell-phone coverage quite a bit this trip. Brother Orat called to arrange a Skype video call tonight.
After our walk we drove south and out of the park at Teton Village (ski resort) and circled back into Jackson. We found the Teton Community Library and had supper in the parking lot, then went in and made the call in one of the library meeting rooms. We both loved this fine little library. The auditorium was in use for a presentation about how to make your home ‘green’; the computers were all in use; wi-fi users and newspaper readers were strewn throughout the building; and yet it was the quietest library I’ve been in. A quick walk through the stacks and periodicals area told us it’s well equipped and up to date.
After the call we returned to the Gros Ventre campground for a second night. It was almost 2200 by the time we arrived so we went right to bed.
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Monday, 7 September – (Labor Day)
We left Whiskey Grove campground and the Bridger National Forest this morning and drove to Pinedale (WY). There we visited the Museum of the Mountain Man, a really nice and very thorough museum in the midst of the Green River rendezvous country.
The fur trade was based on demand for beaver which was made into a very fine felt, mainly for hats. Though beaver fur was used for hats as far back as the 1600s, it had never been available in such quantity until the North American fur trade began.
A beaver fur hat doesn’t look rustic as you would expect. In fact, most of them were made as fancy top hats. The Western fur trade blossomed in the early 1800s and lasted until about 1840, when most of the beaver were gone and silk and South American nutria fur replaced beaver fur as the material of choice for hatters.
The rendezvous idea was that of a St. Louis trader, William Ashley. Until 1825, trappers and Indians had to bring their furs to the trader. Ashley decided to take goods to the trappers and mountain men and return with their furs. He scheduled the first rendezvous to be held at Henry’s Fork, a tributary of the Snake River in 1825. That one lasted a day. Ashley realized he had made a mistake by not bringing liquor to that one and remedied that mistake the next year. As fur commerce grew, a Rendezvous could last for weeks with hundreds of trappers and thousands of Indians attending. Games of wilderness skill, games of chance, storytelling and of course massive drinking and the inevitable fighting marked the Rendezvous.
There were 16 Rendezvous all but three in Wyoming and six of those in the Upper Green River Valley outside of Pinedale.
After lunch in the museum parking lot, we drove northwest through the Teton-Bridger National Forest to Jackson (a/k/a Jackson Hole). We spent the afternoon walking the streets of Jackson, checking out the western clothing and artwork. That evening we had an excellent filet mignon and salads at the Cadillac Grille before leaving Jackson and driving to the nearby Gros Ventre (“Big Belly”) campground in Teton National Park for the night ($19).
We are definitely off the Oregon Trail up here. Being so close to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, we just had to take a bit of a detour. I had been to the Tetons briefly about ten years ago while on a business trip to Salt Lake City. My plane had landed at Salt Lake in the afternoon and I had driven eight hours or so to Jackson, arriving late. I got up early and drove in to the Park only to find the Teton Park road only open for a short distance because of snow (this was mid-May). I took a short walk to Taggart Lake in the snow (in my business shoes), then drove up to Jackson Lake, which was solid ice. I had to leave by noon to make it back to my hotel in Salt Lake that evening for my business meeting in the morning. So I’m not sure I can say I really saw much of the Tetons on that trip so we’re making up for that now.
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Sunday, 6 September-
We had rain in the night and I swear I heard sleet against the roof. When I checked the thermometer, though, the temp was in the high Forties.
This morning we idled down Horse Creek Road in the early-morning light, hoping to see some wildlife. We saw two mule deer, with their comically large ears, and a few hawks, chipmunks, and gray-jays but that was about it.
We parked beside the Wind River Gear shop where we had picked up a wi-fi signal from the nearby coffee shop. While I stopped in the shop for a cappuccino, Labashi worked on her email update to the family in the van.
I then also connected to the web to take care of some chores and check the weather for our drive this afternoon.
After lunch we found Union Pass Road and took a long, leisurely drive across the Pass. This pass across the Continental Divide was first crossed by whites— Astorians -- in 1811. After another Astorian tried it in winter and had to turn back, the Crow told him of South Pass, the pass heavily used by emigrant wagon trains beginning in the 1840s.
After a long, steep climb to Union Pass via many switchbacks, the road leveled out and we soon began traversing beautiful high-mountain meadows, one after another.
On the Continental Divide, we crossed from Shoshone National Forest to Teton National Forest and in doing so crossed the Continental Divide Trail. But the trail crossing was only in theory for us. We didn’t see any markers, trailhead, or even a sign about the Divide, just the “Welcome To Teton National Forest” sign.
We worked our way down to Mosquito Lake, then to the Green River valley, arriving by 1600. We wanted to stay in the National Forest tonight so shortly after crossing the Green, we turned in at Whiskey Grove campground and took a site ($7).
After supper we were thinking of going for a walk when I noticed a low tire. A pressure check verified it’s losing air. This is the new tire I just got 12 days ago in Normal, Ill.
Upon removing the tire I found a roofing nail firmly embedded in the tread. I elected to plug the tire and put it back on rather than use the spare. I installed the plug and began to inflate but my stupid little el-cheapo air compressor locked up after only getting the tire up to 7 psi. I had to do the rest with my beat-up old hand pump I use for the bicycle tires.
With everything back in place we decided to take the walk after all. We met and had a pleasant chat with a couple from nearby Rock Springs, up for the holiday weekend.
As we turned back from the far point of our walk we heard oddly-familiar sounds and soon saw two sandhill cranes grow from tiny specs off in the distance and land nearby. We walked as close as we could without disturbing them and watched as the male executed the jumping-up-and-down mating dance. The female appeared to ignore him and they both turned to feeding. We retreated rather than risk disturbing them any further.
Back at the van we blogged and read. I’m reading a mid-1800’s guidebook for emigrants and am finding it fascinating. Along with practical advice on what to pack, how to hobble the horses for the night, how to cross a stream, etc, there’s medical advice based on the theory that disease comes from noxious vapors emanating from swamps and riverbanks. It’s fascinating reading.
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Saturday, 5 September-
Our campground was at an altitude of over 9000 feet so we had a cooler night. The lowest temp I saw was 38 degrees. It’s a bit odd to have these low temps at night when our daytime temps are in the mid to high Eighties.
I generally try to park the van in the shade to keep it from being overheated by the sun for our sleep. But here we’re feeling the evening cool down rapidly as we take an evening walk and afterwards it feels good to get in the nice, warm van. Last evening our walk was a moonlight one. The full moon had just risen over The Pinnacles east of our campsite at Brooks Lake and enabled us to walk without flashlights and see the lake and Sublett Peak bathed in the silver moonlight.
With the lower temperatures we fired up the Buddy heater to both warm up the interior of the van and warm up some water for our morning wash-up. The heater wouldn’t start at all at first. But that often happens when I didn’t have my window open during the night as I often do. My theory is that heavier-than-air CO2 from our breathing lays in the bottom of the van and that makes the oxygen level too low for the oxygen-depletion sensor on the Buddy heater to allow propane to flow to the pilot. To remedy this, we have to open the door and allow the CO2 to flow out. And we can help it do that by turning the ventilation fan in the roof to pull in air from outside, thus pushing on the ‘bad’ air to exit.
Today this worked great—at first. Because of the significantly lower oxygen in the air, the heater would only run for about ten minutes before the O2-depletion sensor would turn it off again. After a cycle or two of this, we decided the wash-up water was warm enough and we really didn’t need to warm the interior any more.
After our wash-up, we decided we needed a morning walk. Brooks Lake is in the Washakie Wilderness of Shoshone National Forest, just east of the Continental Divide. Immediately west of the Divide is the Teton Wilderness. How could we NOT take a walk here?
We decided to walk to the Jade Lakes and return. It’s only a two-mile walk but it’s an uphill one and altitude approaches 10,000 feet. We started out with light-winter jackets given the cool morning but soon took them off as we walked fairly steeply uphill. We stopped to catch our breath more often than we’d like to admit. But our excuse was to look at the stunning scenery.
Our trail wound along the edge of a steep hill, giving us spectacular views of Brooks Lake and of Sublette Peak on ‘our’ side (the west side) of the valley and The Pinnacles on the far (east) side.
We never did make it to the Jade Lakes. We were only about .2 of a mile away (we think) but the trail had taken several forks and we weren’t sure we were on the correct branch. We took a break and decided the altitude and uphill trail had given us enough of a workout.
After lunch in our campsite, we headed to town (Dubois) for better maps plus ice and a few supplies. We found ourselves wandering around with maps with too little detail. The GPS knew the main trail (the Yellowstone Trail) but didn’t have the side trail to the Jade Lakes.
Since this is Labor Day weekend, we thought it likely to be disappointing to continue on to Grand Teton or Yellowstone. So we need better maps so we can cruise the Forest and BLM roads. We found them in the form of the Wyoming Road and Recreation Atlas at an outdoors-gear store called Wind River Gear.
Once re-supplied and better-mapped, we headed north out of Dubois on Horse Creek Road. This soon turned into Forest Road 285. We dropped in to Horse Creek campground to check the prices and availability on this busy weekend and saw they’re charging $15 for a primitive campsite with no potable water nearby and pit toilets. That seems like a bit much.
We wanted to continue exploring anyway so we continued further into the backcountry on FR 285 toward Double Cabin. And what a great decision that was.
The road itself is shown as primitive but the surface was fine—it’s just narrow and winding. The landscape around us just kept getting better and better. Before too many more miles we were looking at Yosemite-type mountains.
Twenty miles in we reached the campground at Double Cabin and we stopped beyond it at the horse camp. I loved seeing twenty-or-so horse trailers in the meadow, the horses corralled in temporary corrals, and white canvas wall tents with wood-stove pipes. From here wilderness trails go off in several directions. We’re in a high valley with rock spires all around. Now THIS is cowboy-camping.
As we drove we had picked out several dispersed-camping sites so we re-traced our steps to the best of those and set up for the night. As I type this, I’ve been watching the shadows creep across the Absoroka Range. I can see a high peak in the distance which has snow on it. LeGeed (our GPS) says we’re at 8500 feet so I’d guess I’m looking at 12,000-footers. All evening long I’ve watched the interplay of light and shadow, sometimes calling attention to one peak, canyon, or high meadow or another. Then with a change of light, an entirely different set of geographic wonders is highlighted.
Nice.
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Friday, 4 September-
With daylight we find we’re in a really, really nice campsite. A small meadow lies beside us and Cottonwood Creek is across the road. The overnight temperature dropped to 42 and once I fired up the GPS I realized why--- we’re at an elevation of over 7000 feet.
After breakfast we walked for an hour or so, just taking the camp road up to its intersection with Green Mountain Loop road and then walking another quarter mile or so to another intersection and then return to the van--- about an hour’s walk total.
With the sun warming things up to the point we could take off our jackets, we decided today’s the day to clean out the ice box. And once we had the cooler out of the van, we might as well clear everything out and sweep out our living space and do a general clean-up.
Once everything was back in place we headed up the mountain. We had come in via a loop road so we took the other side of the loop to go back. This led us up to an altitude of 9400 feet through beautiful pines to wonderful views of the valley below and the nearby mountains. We explored a side road to Wild Horse Overlook and found the views well worth the extra six miles.
By late morning we were back to the hard road and headed toward Lander. But along the way we took the turn to South Pass—the famous Oregon Trail crossing of the Continental Divide.
Our guide book took us off the hard road a few miles to an out-of-the-way historical marker. We realized we had turned onto the Oregon Trail as it crossed the Continental Divide. On our left were the Oregon Bluffs, where emigrants first entered the Oregon Territory. On our right were the peaks of the Wind River Range, beyond which lay Yellowstone National Park.
We walked the Trail to a stone marker put up by Ezra Meeker in 1905 and tried to envision what it would have been like to see the emigrant wagon trains passing this spot.
We then drove back to the hard road and turned for Lander. There we spoke with the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service offices, getting some tips on places to stay and making sure we understand the rules for dispersed camping in BLM and National Forest lands.
We drove for another three hours, pushing through to Brooks Lake campground in the Shoshone National Forest, arriving about a half-hour before dark. While Labashi cooked supper I walked to the lake and found the Yellowstone Trail. It’s possible to walk to Yellowstone National Park from here.
We did a little reading and blogging but we’re tired puppies tonight so that didn’t last long.
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Thursday, 3 September-
We were awakened at 0530 this morning by a worker at the golf course beside our campground. As soon as we had light, he began mowing. I guess they have to get an early start to stay ahead of the early-bird golfers.
After long, luxurious showers we drove to the nearby Register Bluffs site. This is a massive rock face inscribed by pioneers when they camped nearby. The oldest date we saw was 1850 but somewhere on that rock is an 1825 inscription. We’re now a day’s wagon-train travel from Fort Laramie and the area is beautiful. We’re along the river with a flat area perfect for an encampment and for the animals to graze. The bluffs give us a pleasant view and we can see the Laramie Mountains in the distance.
We then moved on to Casper (WY) to visit the Historic Trails Interpretation Center. Though by now we’ve seen and heard a lot, we still learned new things at the Center. One of the fun things we did was to take a virtual wagon ride across the Platt. The ‘wagon’ is a simulator. We sat on crates and barrels in the bed of the wagon and our view out the front was a video screen. Our wagon followed our two trusty oxen down an embankment and into the river, jolting us from side to side and front to back. We saw another wagon ahead of us and it was stuck. As our wagon neared, the other wagon’s wheeltree broke, dumping the driver and supplies into the river, a common occurrence on the Platte. As the men helping with the crossing went to the aid of the other rig’s driver, we managed to skirt by and climb a steep embankment out of the river.
After a late lunch in the van, we drove into Casper to the Lou Taubert Ranch Store (“Nine Floors of Everything for Your Ranch!”). We thought they might have the skort Labashi is looking for and they did indeed have one—but not the ‘right’ one.
We took a brief drive through town to get a feel for it, then went to the Wal-mart to pick up some groceries and have a tire checked. We then moved on to Independence Rock, about an hour southwest of Casper. This geographic anomaly is interesting for its geology but that wasn’t the point for the emigrants. To them, it was an important milepost. If they had made it to Independence Rock by the Independence Day, they were almost assuredly ahead of the Fall snows in the Rockies. Labashi and I walked around about half of Independence Rock but did not climb it.
As darkness neared, we began looking for our campsite for the night. We had found a cryptic entry on a Bureau of Land Management map for a campground. But it turns out that campground can only be reached by trail.
With darkness falling we searched out another campground. This one – Cottonwood Campground-- is 11 miles back a dirt road and up into the mountains. We arrived just as the last light of twilight was fading. Labashi made a scrumptious supper while I walked down to the iron ranger to pay our $6 fee.
We spent about an hour reading and catching up the blog but struggled to keep awake. It has been a long, very fruitful day.
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Wednesday, 2 September-
This morning we went to Ed Carroll Motors, the only dealer for Alaskan-brand truck campers in the lower 48 states. I’ve long been fascinated by these campers, ever since seeing one in the early Seventies. They are unique in that they can raise and lower the top portion of the camper body to provide good gas mileage while travelling and good headspace in camp. They also have hard panels which fold into place rather than a tent fabric for the extended portion. And they are well-insulated and supremely simple. (Unfortunately, they also cost $25,000).
I was disappointed to find that the dealership had just last week sold the last one in stock and they won’t be getting any others in for two months. However, I was able to talk at length with their specialist in these campers.
I really, really like these campers but it only took a half-hour’s conversation with Labashi to realize they aren’t as practical for us as Mocha Joe. First, we don’t have a pickup so we’d have to not only pay the $25K for the unit but that again for a ¾-ton pickup to haul it. Therefore, I think we could replace Mocha Joe (outfitted as we like it) for half the price.
But as we talked through how we’d use it (compared to how we use our van today), we realized there’s a very bad day-to-day usage tradeoff. Today, if one of us has to use our on-board porta-potty, it’s very accessible. Just pull into a parking area, go around to the side doors and there you are. But with a retractable-top truck camper, you’d have to first push the button to raise the top and wait the minute-or-so for that to happen. But once that top has lifted up, the folding panels are not in place. You wouldn’t necessarily have to put them in place just to use the potty but if the weather is rainy or cold, you’d either want to do that to keep out the weather or you’d risk soaking the cab-over mattress. That’s not good!
So, it appears the Alaskan camper isn’t for us. When Mocha Joe needs to be replaced, we’ll probably go with another van-style design.
With that settled, we had a few more little items to do before heading out. We tracked down a General Nutrition Center to buy some protein powder for our morning yogurt/pecan cup breakfast (yummy!) (for our low-carb diet). We also had to track down the local AAA for a map of Wyoming which would meet the navigator’s (Labashi’s) exacting standards.
After a quick lunch in a local park, we headed back up I-25 to Wyoming. Our goal today was Fort Laramie.
At the Fort we learned of the storied history of the Fort. Briefly, it had been put in place as one of a chain of supply forts for emigrants as well as the chief site for treaty negotiations with Indians of the northern Plains. Unfortunately, by the 1870’s it was a key site for staging troops for the Indian Wars on those Plains. Eventually, though, its mission was eclipsed by Fort Robison (which was nearer the reservations) and was shuttered. Today, the Fort has reconstructed buildings, many of which are completely furnished with historically-accurate furniture, clothing and goods.
After our Fort Laramie tour, we drove West about a half-hour to Guernsey, WY where we visited the Oregon Trail Ruts site.
Tonight we camped at a small campground across from the Trail Ruts. You can’t beat $7.50 for a site and hot showers.
We spent the evening blogging and reading.
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Tuesday, 1 September-
We had a doozy of a night last night. In the evening, the wind started building and by bedtime it was howling. We had parked in the open and the wind noise was so bad that we had to move to a more sheltered parking spot close to the Wal-mart building. But we couldn’t get close enough. Though the wind was quieter, it was still rocking the van from side to side, keeping us awake. We thought through everywhere we had been through the day as to whether those locations would offer better protection but none did. Around midnight I went into the Wal-mart to buy two scissors jacks to stabilize the rolling. But they only had one jack in stock, so I gave up on the idea. I wasn’t very happy with it anyway given that I’d have to spend $40 or so. We thought of going to a motel but we had noticed the local Motel 6 was charging $70 a night so that wouldn’t be cheap. I’d rather just stay up all night and then sleep in once the wind dies. And if it didn’t die by morning, we could move to the heavily treed city park (which is closed at night).
But we finally got lucky. Shortly after I returned to the van from my shopping trip for the jacks, the wind began to die. Twenty minutes later, the wind had died enough for us to get to sleep and we slept very heavily until 0700 and awoke refreshed.
We left Chadron with the GPS set for Cheyenne, Wyoming, about three hours away. The drive was wonderful. We had great scenery both nearby and off in the distance (the buttes) as we crossed the very verdant grasslands.
We hadn’t had a full shower for a few days so Labashi wanted to wash her hair. We happened upon a pull-off for an historical marker which was perfect for this. It was deep enough that we were off the road by 50 yards and I was able to park the van across the wind to create a wind-less area with the warming sun directly on us (it was about 60 degrees out this morning).
I heated up two small pots of water to slowly dribble over each other’s hair for the soaping and rinsing processes and we soon were squeaky-clean and refreshed. We like these little road-side adventures—at least in this warmer weather. Washing up outdoors is a lot less fun when the temperature is below 50 or we can’t get out of the wind.
We then carried on toward Cheyenne until the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. This site is the location of an ancient waterhole which existed in a very dry climate. Animals had to stay within walking distance of the waterhole but in dry years they’d eat all the grass within walking distance and die of malnutrition, typically near the waterhole. Over time this left a remarkable bone pile which was uncovered at the turn of the 19th-20th Centuries.
The remarkable find was made by the ranch owner. He invited university specialists to his ranch and scientific history was made.
The rancher also collected Indian artifacts and his collection is also in the visitor’s center.
After our tour of the center, we walked to the nearby fossil digs in the middle of this 90-degree day. The sun was intense but with the low humidity, we were very comfortable. We walked three miles and this time I had my camera along in case of another encounter with a rattlesnake (but no such luck).
After a late lunch we continued to Cheyenne, where we finally were able to get the filet mignon dinner we were looking for yesterday.
I didn’t like the looks of the Wal-mart at Cheyenne (the parking lot sloped too much) so we continued on into Colorado to Fort Collins.
There we found a pleasant little Wal-mart and then drove to the nearby library to spend two hours catching up on email and posting the blog before returning to Chez Wally for the night.
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posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
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