RV travels with Rich and Judy: 2015

We were sorry to leave the Cody area, but it was time to move on. We had no reservation for our next stop, which was on the other side of Yellowstone, so wanted to get there about the time folks began to leave in order to score one of the walk-up sites. Most public campgrounds have at least a few walk-up sites (not available for reservation) so we left camp just before 6 AM for our 120 mile drive across Yellowstone. (The park loop drive is laid out in a figure eight, with two of the access roads exiting from the top part of the eight, and out from the bottom loop, entrances from the east, west, and south.) The drive would be about two and a half hours and the forecast was 37 degrees and rain with possible slides and flooding later in the day.

As Rich drove, I was scanning the rocky cliffs, still hoping for a glimpse of a bighorn sheep when I spotted some light-colored movement high up the mountain. I whooped (in what I thought was glee, but Rich thought was fright). I finally managed to verbalize what I had seen and we stopped for a look. Using the binoculars, we saw what we thought were two adult and two young bighorn sheep. We watched for a few minutes and I got some photos and we were stoked. A s I was working with the photos some time later, I was able to enlarge them enough to see that they were actually mountain goats, not bighorn sheep, but since we had no expectations of seeing the goats, we weren't disappointed.

The drive through the park was, happily, slide free with little traffic. Although we had seen some fumaroles on our first foray into the park, we took the opportunity to stretch our legs when we saw the tell-tale steam rising from a spot just before a parking area. While Rich was checking tires on our rig, I walked over to the path to the hot spring. It was around 45 degrees no one else around. As I walked down the path toward the spring, I heard a hissing sound and the closer I got, the louder the noise. As I walked around a curve in the path, a big sulphur cloud swirled past. The air reeked of sulphur and the spring was bubbling and hissing and spewing foul smelling steam – it was eerie as

can be. There's a video (admittedly poorly done, since I forgot to take my tripod...) of the spring, but fortunately, it's not in “smell-o-vision”.

We had another 10 hour day trip on the 17^th from the West Yellowstone entrance up to the entrance at Mammoth Hot Springs and back. Superlatives elude me as they did our previous day in the park and I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Suffice it to say, it's awe-inspiring and while some parts have a soft beauty about them (the lake with the trumpeter swans), and others rocky piles of broken-down mountain (sheep eater cliff), and yet others are noxious, bubbling springs that threaten death nestled amid some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. It's all amazing in its own way.

June 18 Wolf & Grizzly Discovery Center

The next day we went to the Wolf and Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, an AZA accredited, not-for-profit wildlife park and educational center. There are eight grizzly bears, six wolves, and a number of birds of prey that call the center home. All have had to be removed from the wild for their own safety. Some will be rehabilitated and returned to the wild, others will live out their lives at the WGDC. There is a large bear habitat into which one grizzly at a time is moved after young volunteers helped park workers hide appropriate treats under rocks,

logs, and other natural features. The bears are also used in product testing “bear-proof” products. A large display of damaged and destroyed coolers and garbage cans attest to the strength and ingenuity of the grizzlies.

There are three wolf habitats for the three wolf packs. The day was already well on its way to the mid-eighties, so the wolves were making themselves scarce and we weren't able to watch them.

There are informative videos, a fairly large museum, and eleven different talks on a variety of interesting topics – many geared toward teaching children about respecting and enjoying nature. The

center is undergoing a large expansion – adding a riparian habitat for river otters and we plan on returning the next time we're in the area.

While the Discovery Center was a great experience, lunch at the number two rated food spot in West Yellowstone wasn't. Las Palmitas is food truck, and while we've had some great, authentic Mexican food at some, this wasn't one of them. I threw most of my lunch away and Rich didn't finish his. Happily, we did find Wild West Pizzeria and Saloon – they make a good pizza and have nice, icy cold beer.

A couple days later we drove up to Bozeman, MT through the Galatin National Forest. From West

Yellowstone. Bozeman, at 89 miles and an hour and 46 minutes away, is the closest town with some larger grocery stores, and Rich was ready to upgrade to a smart phone! (The two grocery stores in West Yellowstone were adequate in a convenience store way, but we needed more than that.) The drive was beautiful and we stopped to take a look at a couple of campgrounds along the way. At Target, we picked up Rich's new cell phone – even called Consumer Cellular to be sure we got the right SIM card for it, and (hoped) to ready it for use. (Long story short – Consumer Cellular strikes

again. In spite of reading the info on the SIM card package to the CC agent, we ended up with the wrong card and couldn't get on line or transfer Rich's contacts. Ended up driving another 100 miles to town for a 3-in-1 SIM card, as we were instructed to do by CC. After several phone calls and several days, they finally figured out that once again we had been told to get an incorrect SIM card, they mailed the right SIM card. After driving 400 miles, buying two different items, and numerous calls, we were finally able to get the phone to work properly. Grr.)

On the 23^rd, we headed out at 6 AM and 35 degrees to Teton National Park, which is through Yellowstone and south toward Jackson Hole (Mammoth was north). Believe it or not, there were already cars in line to enter the park. On the way to Teton, we'll be going past Old Faithful and a couple of other areas in Yellowstone we have yet to visit, but figure this trip will give us an idea of where we want to stop on our next visit.

The trip through Yellowstone was, of course, amazing. We saw a coyote hunting for food, some great old cars, and a lot of steam plumes from the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins, which we'll visit in a couple of days.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. visited the area in the 1920's and was dismayed by the haphazard development, bought up and later donated more than 32,000 acres of the Jackson Hole Valley to the federal government in order to protect the spectacular scenery.

Rockefeller played a part in conserving other national parks including Yellowstone, Yosemite, Acadia, Shenandoah, and the Great Smoky Mountains.

Neither of us was prepared for the Tetons. As different as night and day from Yellowstone, the Tetons are huge, dark, rocky peaks that loom over everything within miles – Grand Teton rises more than 13,700 feet above sea level while Yellowstone's Eagle Peak is a lowly 11,372 feet! The rocks at the core of the Teton Range are 2.7

billion years old – some of the oldest in North America, but the mountains themselves rank among the youngest in the world. The geologic history of this part of the country fascinates me.

The drive through Teton was beautiful with many turnouts for hiking trails and spectacular views, but with a seven-hour total drive time from camp and back, we drove with an eye on the clock. As one travels through the park, five diverse habitats emerge: Alpine, Forests, Sagebrush Flats, Wet Meadows, and Lakes, Ponds,

and Rivers. It was difficult for me to pay attention to anything other than the peaks, and I had to remind myself to look around as well as up.

We stopped at Jenny Lake, a beautiful, peaceful spot, which was created by rock debris deposited by glaciers around 12,000 years ago. The lake is estimated at 423 feet deep and as of 2005, still considered pristine. As you can see, it is beautiful.

After about five hours in the park, we headed home through Teton Pass, 8,431 feet above sea level and on into Idaho. Much of the drive over the pass was a 10% grade, which made for some picturesque views. We stopped in West Yellowstone to pick up dinner – a yummy pizza from Wild West Pizzeria and headed back to camp after another long but amazing day.

We spent the next day in camp – I baked bread and we restrung the window shades in the RV. It was a bit confusing, but after the first

one it went quickly. The following day, we drove to Idaho Falls (108 miles away) for groceries and a new iPad for Rich, since his old one had stopped charging. We had great lunch at Red Robin – the first one we'd ever been to. We had wonderful burgers and a decadent dessert, chocolate fruffles -chocolate coated brownie sticks with sea salt and sugar and a dish of berry ketchup for dipping. We could barely move when we left!

Next stop: Rainbow Point.

South Fork Old Stage Road

Just across the river by the campground is the South Fork Old Stage Road – still used, and I'm sure it's as bumpy as it ever was. It is a spectacular drive through Shoshone Canyon, which is a gorge formed by erosion through Rattlesnake Mountain. Rattlesnake Mountain was born about 66 million years ago, about the same time dinosaurs became extinct. The uplift from the drove rocks vertically about 2,000 feet along the fault line. The rocks exposed range from 230 million years to 2 billion years, the age of the granite at the dam.

We were told Big Horn Sheep were often seen at the end of this dirt and gravel road, which was a Big Horn Sheep Sanctuary so we packed a lunch and headed out. The road wound around behind the mountains you see in some of the campground photos and continued through some beautiful and wild country. We saw a big male pronghorn soaking up the sun – it seems that the males and females stay in separate herds this time of year and the older males tend to be more solitary. Fairly typical, don't you think?

We came upon Castle Rock and found from the

nearby sign that John Colter passed this landmark in 1807 while looking for Indians with whom he could trade. He was also searching for salt caves, which were reputedly located near the headwaters of this stream, the “stinking waters” later named the Shoshone River. Colter was the first recorded white man to visit the Upper Wind River, Jackson's Hole, and the Yellowstone area. I can't imagine being here all alone with only a horse, maybe a couple of pack animals, and some provisions – it gets really dark out here not to mention cold and windy.

Attached to the sign about Castle Rock was a nesting box and there was a pair of mountain bluebirds waiting patiently for us to drive on before feeding their little ones. We didn't move on, and their nestlings were protesting loudly so the pair took turns going to the mouth of the nest to give their youngsters fat, orange grasshoppers. Presumably they enjoyed them more than I would have...

As we drove along, we saw what first appeared to be a pile of tree limbs that had collected in the stream, but after closer inspection, decided it

must be a beaver lodge. We didn't see a beaver to confirm our thoughts, though.

The road wound through some amazing territory – some late-melting snow-capped mountain tops causing waterfalls, rushing mountain streams threatening to overflow the banks, and ranches an hour from anywhere. Mailbox houses are common out here, giving a hint at the weather in the winter. Cody gets only 29 inches of snowfall annually, but up here there is considerably more. One spot had several mailboxes in what looked like a shelter for kids catching a school bus.

We're not in Florida any more.

In the pasture of one of the ranches we came across a large herd of elk cows, feasting on the lush grass. We dallied there for a while then headed out again. We came upon a mudslide over the dirt road not far beyond the elk herd, so backed up to a spot wide enough to turn around and headed back to camp. In spite of not seeing any big horn sheep, we had a great day.

From Camp to Yellowstone to Chief Joseph

Highway to Camp

The campground is located on South Fork Road and goes through the Shoshone National Forest, then into Yellowstone National Park. We drove this road several times and one day spent about ten hours driving the northeast loop in Yellowstone then over Chief Joseph Highway, and back through Cody to Camp. We saw all sorts of beautiful scenery, wildflowers, animals, thermal features in which grow a wealth of microbes, and several different micro climates. I'm still overwhelmed with all we saw and learned, there is so very much and it is all so

different from anything we've seen before. I'm not even going to try to describe or explain. If you're interested, a great place to start is the paperback “Yellowstone: The Official Guide to Touring the World's First National Park” published by Yellowstone Association. It has beautiful photos, and gives descriptions of each of the main roads as well as information about what you will see. It is a must for anyone who hasn't been to Yellowstone.

Chief Joseph Highway

After leaving Yellowstone, we drove Chief

Joseph Highway back to Cody. The route was amazing – going from craggy mountains to the plains in about an hour. We went from near twilight to bright sunlight as we got high in the mountains, then a storm as we descended again. Nine-and-a-half hours of beautiful, eerie, harsh, and any other superlatives you can think of. We're still marveling at the sights of the day. I'm glad I saw the Grand Canyon first, because for my money, Yellowstone beats it hands down.

Our next stop is Baker's Hole CG on the other side of Yellowstone, if we can get a spot. Keep your fingers crossed.