Somewhere around the halfway point of the Northfork Rd, which takes you to the east gate of Yellowstone is a Firemans memorial. It also starts you on the trail to get you to a couple trails. Aparently once upon a time you used to be able to drive the two miles to the trail head, but lack of a 4 wheel drive vehicle, it's not all that reccommended today.
The trail starts off on the road you used to take, and currently that you take to get to a place where you can ride horses. The trail starts out over this....(to me at least) ominous looking bridge..it kinda resembles logs cut in half and nailed on either thinner tree branches or possibly 2x4's.. I didn't look at the underside to really know. I just know it didn't feel teh most stable to me, so I didn't like it. The majority of the trail was a gentle grade up the mountain, except for one spot where my lungs and legs were screaming at me.
The thing that sucked about the trail was it wasn't well marked, and there were lots of briars along the side, making it a bad trail to decide to wear shorts on. We saw several mule deer along the way, which is always a fun sight, and much to my delight there were many wildflowers along the way. I haven't compared my pictures to the guide to local wildflowers we have to know what we saw for sure.
There were a few trees fallen across the trail, which made for a fun time going around them. The worst though.. was the swampy sections. We had to rock hop the one time to keep going, which was less than fun... but no one got wet.. at least nothing more than a toe or so. We finally came to a point, where there was a tree or two across the trail that may as well have been saying.. you shall not cross... we didn't see any way around it, at least with me having a day pack and Randal having Sierra in a pack. We turned around and tried looking for the parking lot across the river. I off trailed it to get a better look and found the trail that crosses the creek...which wasn't possible today as it was far too fast moving and deep today. On the way back up, I discovered the actual trail and other than a minor rock hop and some ill placed briars on the only dry spot, it was a far better route than the one I took to get down to the creek.
It was a nice 4 mile round trip hike (or around that anyway).
Apparently the actual trails start around where the tree stopped us.. The one takes you to two very nice memorials to teh firefighters who lost their lives. One sits on the spot where they died, the other stands in the spot where the survivors were rallied to so they would survive. Apparently vandals have destroyed most of the signs and trail markers. What a shame! Randal wants to hike it all the way at some point and possibly get a community service project going to restore the signs and such...it is after all a memorial trail for brave men whom gave their lives many years ago. I guess the actual trail is about 7 miles long.. and fairly strenuous... joy! I don't suppose I'll be seeing it for myself anytime soon..I'm still trying to acclimate myself to teh altitude and trying hard to lose weight so that maybe those longer hikes won't be the death of me.
Even though I didn't like the mud for walking in, it does provide useful information, such as what animals have been in the area.. we saw a partial print of a big cat.. probably a cougar, a possible bear track, and a canine track.. most likely either coyote or someones pet.. although, it was the only time I saw a dog track, and it wasn't going in the right direction to be traveling with people, so I'm thinking its a safe bet it was a coyote.
There were also other signs of wildlife.. lots of little areas dug up a bit. It could be a bear rooting for roots, bulbs and insects.. could have been a badger or wolverine...althought wolverines are extremely rare, digging for bugs.. could have been a coyote scavenging, or any number of other critters.
I enjoyed the hike. Sierra slept through half the hike, and fussed anytime Randal got off trail on the way back lol. We guessed the hike took us about 2 hours. We forgot to check the time when we left and I forgot to grab the cell phone ..which is mostly used as a clock lol.
until next time...
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
boredom will get you every time! (catching up still)
A most anticipated time in our move was the friday we were supposed to get our phone, cable and INTERNET... I never realized how truely addicted I was until I had no access to the internet. Three came... then 4.. then 5.. 6..a phone call was made.. no.. you are scheduled for Monday. ...HUH!? Argh. We sat around frustrated and bored the rest of the night, and plotted for what to do with out weekend. We hadn't really set any plans, so I was on Randal's tracfone with mom, when Randal suggested we go to Glacier National park for the weekend on Saturday morning. I've never been there..and have wanted to go there for a long time.. I mean.. who can resist a glacial covered mountain that supposedly has giant grasshoppers embedded in the ice?!
The phone call to mom got cut short, and I was packing away for our trip while Randal kept Sierra occupied. In no time we were ready for our oddessy, and on the road.
We got up to Columbus Montana and Randal showed me a bit of the town where he once lived. As we left to head back on our way we started going up a pretty good mountain grade...and the most god-awful noise was made by the car. I suggested we get to a gas station and check the oil...not 100% sure what was wrong.. but since we barely made it up the hill and couldn't rev the engine without it sounding like it was dying, I knew it wasn't good. We limped back to Columbus to a gas station and put in 2 quarts of oil. It sounded much better after it got running so we thought we were off again.. but this time we were heading back home, because we were pretty sure we didn't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere and weren't sure what was wrong or how much it would cost. We were going along pretty good, when the car made an even worse noise than the last time. We limped to Laurel Montana. We accidently turned a little too quick and the car stalled when we tried to back it up. We knew things weren't looking very good at this point. We got it started again and limped to the gas station, I'm thinking we barely made it. I called AAA and used my road side assistance towing. We hauled it to the chevy dealer just down the road and stayed at the best western across the street. Of course the mechanics had gone home by noon, so we had no way of even thinking about getting it fixed until monday... which is a press run day for Randal, and not optional to miss generally.
I got online and used the walkie talkies to talk to Randal and give him coworkers phone numbers to try to find a ride home, since it's only about an hour and half to laurel. We finally found someone who was home and could give Randal the person's phone number he was looking for. We also found out we had a back up plan at least if she couldnt get us.
Our story made one of his bosses night.. she had a good laugh at our distress. I guess if it didn't suck so bad, we may have too at the time. She told him she'd call back in a bit with a plan. We ordered pizza and hung out at the hotel room waiting for either the pizza or the phone call. At hte very least we had tv, a phone and internet, even if it was just a public use terminal.
She called back and said she had a rental car at the airport in billings waiting for us. ..We just had to get to the airport.. about a half hour away or so. Of course the hotel didnt have a shuttle. Argh. So we knew we'd be getting a Taxi, which didn't sound like the most fun on earth, but oh well.. at least we could get home Sunday.
The pizza showed up, and Sierra was trying hard to help herself. She got little bits of the soft part of the crust and was fairly satisfied. At one point, she tried to get the pizza box which was on a end table between Randal and I. I was engrossed in the tv show for a lil longer than I should have and looked just in time to see her falling off the bed..I caught her before she hit the floor thank god. I felt pretty bad about it for quite a while. I was just thankful she didn;t actually get hurt.
Later just before we went to bed I realized we didn't grab the water for Sierra's bottles in the car. I grumbled but threw shoes on and headed across the street. I got to teh parking lot and was feeling a lil anxious cuz it was fairly dark outside. All of a sudden music started playing softly. I freaked...it felt like a bad horror movie. If I didn't need the water for her bottles so bad I'd probably have ran back across the street screaming like a lil girl lol. I noticed a window partially open in one of the vehicles parked there.. I eyed it warily, not sure if I remembered it being there before. I hurridly grabbed the stuff I needed from teh car and ran back to the hotel whimpering to Randal about the whole thing. I didn't really sleep very well because of it lol.
Randal rode in the taxi the next morning, to get our Rental. About 10 minutes before checkout I started lugging our stuff out to the lobby...which isn't fun when you have an infant in one arm. Randal showed up with the rental shortly after I got the room cleaned out. I made him carry the stuff to the car. On the way home, he told me about the small nitemare at the car rental place. He got there and they didn't have the reservation. Luckily they still had cars, so we got a Chevy Malibu. We discovered we really hate that car. It has a small, high rear view mirror and the seats are set up so its not very easy to get to Sierra to give her toys or a bottle.... you know.. important things to a mom.
Monday came.. and no phone call from the dealership. Tuesday, we called.. ..."um.. well, we need more time.. we're really not sure what is wrong with it. We talked about our options and decided if it was gonna cost more than 2000 we may as well go for a new vehicle as I really doubted his car was worth more than that. We went shopping online and found a couple cars the dealership had on sale and decided that was probably what we were doing. Word came from teh dealership teh next day.. rods and crankshaft.. 2500-3500.. OUCH!! new car! So we fillde out the online app only to discover we hadn't been in town long enough. ugh... So, my dad came to the rescue and cosigned so we could get the car. We did super good. a 2008 chevy Impala it was much cheaper than blue book value.. we got a great deal on it.
I had been planning on saving money for a new car.. I just wasn;t planning on getting one quite so quickly.
Our internet and stuff got connected monday.. we joked with them and asked if they would pay for the car since it was their fault we got bored and killed the car lol. For some reason they didn't think it was their bill. hmmph.. lol.
so, we got a new car to go along with our new life in Wyoming.. it's funny how things tend to work out so nicely sometimes....even if I still havent saw Glacier NP yet.. but have no fear.. I will.
The phone call to mom got cut short, and I was packing away for our trip while Randal kept Sierra occupied. In no time we were ready for our oddessy, and on the road.
We got up to Columbus Montana and Randal showed me a bit of the town where he once lived. As we left to head back on our way we started going up a pretty good mountain grade...and the most god-awful noise was made by the car. I suggested we get to a gas station and check the oil...not 100% sure what was wrong.. but since we barely made it up the hill and couldn't rev the engine without it sounding like it was dying, I knew it wasn't good. We limped back to Columbus to a gas station and put in 2 quarts of oil. It sounded much better after it got running so we thought we were off again.. but this time we were heading back home, because we were pretty sure we didn't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere and weren't sure what was wrong or how much it would cost. We were going along pretty good, when the car made an even worse noise than the last time. We limped to Laurel Montana. We accidently turned a little too quick and the car stalled when we tried to back it up. We knew things weren't looking very good at this point. We got it started again and limped to the gas station, I'm thinking we barely made it. I called AAA and used my road side assistance towing. We hauled it to the chevy dealer just down the road and stayed at the best western across the street. Of course the mechanics had gone home by noon, so we had no way of even thinking about getting it fixed until monday... which is a press run day for Randal, and not optional to miss generally.
I got online and used the walkie talkies to talk to Randal and give him coworkers phone numbers to try to find a ride home, since it's only about an hour and half to laurel. We finally found someone who was home and could give Randal the person's phone number he was looking for. We also found out we had a back up plan at least if she couldnt get us.
Our story made one of his bosses night.. she had a good laugh at our distress. I guess if it didn't suck so bad, we may have too at the time. She told him she'd call back in a bit with a plan. We ordered pizza and hung out at the hotel room waiting for either the pizza or the phone call. At hte very least we had tv, a phone and internet, even if it was just a public use terminal.
She called back and said she had a rental car at the airport in billings waiting for us. ..We just had to get to the airport.. about a half hour away or so. Of course the hotel didnt have a shuttle. Argh. So we knew we'd be getting a Taxi, which didn't sound like the most fun on earth, but oh well.. at least we could get home Sunday.
The pizza showed up, and Sierra was trying hard to help herself. She got little bits of the soft part of the crust and was fairly satisfied. At one point, she tried to get the pizza box which was on a end table between Randal and I. I was engrossed in the tv show for a lil longer than I should have and looked just in time to see her falling off the bed..I caught her before she hit the floor thank god. I felt pretty bad about it for quite a while. I was just thankful she didn;t actually get hurt.
Later just before we went to bed I realized we didn't grab the water for Sierra's bottles in the car. I grumbled but threw shoes on and headed across the street. I got to teh parking lot and was feeling a lil anxious cuz it was fairly dark outside. All of a sudden music started playing softly. I freaked...it felt like a bad horror movie. If I didn't need the water for her bottles so bad I'd probably have ran back across the street screaming like a lil girl lol. I noticed a window partially open in one of the vehicles parked there.. I eyed it warily, not sure if I remembered it being there before. I hurridly grabbed the stuff I needed from teh car and ran back to the hotel whimpering to Randal about the whole thing. I didn't really sleep very well because of it lol.
Randal rode in the taxi the next morning, to get our Rental. About 10 minutes before checkout I started lugging our stuff out to the lobby...which isn't fun when you have an infant in one arm. Randal showed up with the rental shortly after I got the room cleaned out. I made him carry the stuff to the car. On the way home, he told me about the small nitemare at the car rental place. He got there and they didn't have the reservation. Luckily they still had cars, so we got a Chevy Malibu. We discovered we really hate that car. It has a small, high rear view mirror and the seats are set up so its not very easy to get to Sierra to give her toys or a bottle.... you know.. important things to a mom.
Monday came.. and no phone call from the dealership. Tuesday, we called.. ..."um.. well, we need more time.. we're really not sure what is wrong with it. We talked about our options and decided if it was gonna cost more than 2000 we may as well go for a new vehicle as I really doubted his car was worth more than that. We went shopping online and found a couple cars the dealership had on sale and decided that was probably what we were doing. Word came from teh dealership teh next day.. rods and crankshaft.. 2500-3500.. OUCH!! new car! So we fillde out the online app only to discover we hadn't been in town long enough. ugh... So, my dad came to the rescue and cosigned so we could get the car. We did super good. a 2008 chevy Impala it was much cheaper than blue book value.. we got a great deal on it.
I had been planning on saving money for a new car.. I just wasn;t planning on getting one quite so quickly.
Our internet and stuff got connected monday.. we joked with them and asked if they would pay for the car since it was their fault we got bored and killed the car lol. For some reason they didn't think it was their bill. hmmph.. lol.
so, we got a new car to go along with our new life in Wyoming.. it's funny how things tend to work out so nicely sometimes....even if I still havent saw Glacier NP yet.. but have no fear.. I will.
Friday, May 15, 2009
yellowstone may 9 and 10 (trip 5 and 6
Saturday - 09 May 2009
It was bear-fest 2009 (so far) in the park over the weekend. Didn't get into YNP until after 2:00 PM on Saturday due to a lunch stop at the Clarks Fork and Spoon while driving in via the Chief Joseph. Very nice burgers...definitely keeping it on the list of places to stop when hungry.
Bears 1-3 were in the meadow (Round Prairie) just south of the entrance to Pebble Creek...a mom griz and two cubs. The cubs played and tumbled about while mom kept a watchful eye and soaked up the sun. It was a great sight, albeit one that was at the fringe range of our binoculars and well out of the range of my camera. Bear-gers can't be choosers though.
Bear 4 was between the Yellowstone Picnic area and the Yellowstone River bridge near Roosevelt Junction. No binoculars needed...it was just below the road in a small meadow with a herd of 15 or so bison glaring in from the sage. It caused quite the traffic hassle, but was a great view to see the tension between griz and bison (well, the bison were tense...the bear acted like he/she/it could care less).
Bear 5 was a black bear foraging on a hillside above one of the tiny lakes (Blacktail Ponds) on the side of the road between Roosevelt and Mammoth.
We were three and a half hours into the park and had already seen five bears. I don't know if the numbers back me up, but I cannot remember a previous spring in the park where I've seen/just missed seeing so many bears.
Anyhow, we'd decided to "wing it" with the night's plans...considering the time we got into Mammoth, we went down into Gardiner to grab a room and dinner. Took a short late-evening hike from Liberty Cap up the Beaver Pond trail a short ways and then up to the back side of Narrow Gauge Terrace before hooking up with the upper terrace drive and walking back down on the main terrace boardwalks as the sun set. Incidentally, if anyone else has taken this trail...just before you reach Narrow Gauge, there's a grade that heads down toward Mammoth that looks like it was as old trail or, from the width, possibly a road. I'm not aware of any routes that ran this way, but given the proximity to the Eaton and Bathtub Spring I'm curious about it's origins. The route was actually grown over by Narrow Gauge and the route above that was harder to follow via eyeball, but it appeared to trace the hillside, possibly linking in with the upper terrace drive in the New Highland Terrace region...it was getting dark so I wasn't able to sniff around as much as I wanted.
Sunday - 10 May 2009
The little one decided wake-up call was 6:00 AM...I was okay with it, but I think mom wasn't too keen on how Mother's Day started out.
After a breakfast at the Mine in Gardiner, we went back to the terraces. On an earlier trip to Yellowstone this spring we'd heard rumblings that a couple black bears had been frequenting the upper terrace area during the early morning hours. Since it was early morning and we'd seen five bears the day before...hey, why not? Surprisingly, no bears. It was fun to see the difference in coloration on the terraces from twilight the previous night to early sun in the morning.
Bear 6 for the weekend was actually between Mammoth and Norris and gave me the first opportunity to witness my first incidence of touronism in '09...a couple photographers determined to ignore the 100-yard rule and wander through the trees toward the griz because taking the clear shots from the road were obviously too blase.
We stopped at Norris to wander the back basin. It's always been one of my favorite places in the park...not sure why. Maybe because I get the same thrill standing by Steamboat that I do when I buy a lottery ticket -- hey, lightning might strike. Unfortunately, my luck with Steamboat matched my luck in Powerball and all I got was a few splashes. Better luck next time...
The rest of the trek through the basin was pretty ordinary...some small splashers, nothing dramatic. I always feel nostalgic walking past Echinus remembering many picnic lunches devoured at its side waiting for eruptions. Hopefully future generations will get to see it play in brilliant fashion like I remember, but if there's one truth in Yellowstone, and especially in Norris, it is that change is constant.
From Norris we rode without incident toward Old Faithful with a brief pause to honor an age-old tradition of sitting at the Flood Geyser overlook and watching an eruption. We waited for a chilly half an hour with the wind blowing down the valley. A river otter swimming in the Firehole behind the geyser and an osprey swooping down to pick up a fish before soaring off kept us occupied while waiting for the eruption.
At Old Faithful, I delivered the Mother's Day lunch I promised my wife in the lodge...the first time she'd witnessed the inside of the Lodge. I don't know how she felt, but I'm always awed looking up at the ceiling whenever I pass through the entryway. After food and some shopping in the gift shop (attention...if you've authored a cookbook about the west, my wife is easy money...), it was time to walk the basin...we'd been here opening weekend, but the walks were still mostly snow-covered and it was just too cold for the little one so we'd retreated after an eruption of Old Faithful and a quick skim of Geyser Hill.
This time we went straight for Grand, determined to hit the part of the basin we hadn't seen on opening weekend. We found out Grand had just entered its 4-hour eruption window. I know Grand sometimes erupts early in its window, but I've never seen it go in the first hour, so we decided we'd risk it and head down to Morning Glory and back. The Giant platform was playing with some vigor...Grotto Fountain (I think...) had an eruption as we approached. Took a moment to admire Norris Pool, another favorite place for some reason as I have seen it go from muddy area to bubbling mud pot to muddy geyser to the clear pool it is today in my lifetime.
Got back to Grand just before the mid-point of its window and lucked out that it hadn't erupted yet. The hillside marmots made the three Turban cycles before eruption pass fairly quickly and we were treated to a nice eruption of Grand with one re-start. Even the 8-month-old ooh'd and ahhh'd and bounced at its bursts.
While a lot of the Grand crowd headed down basin to begin the sit on Riverside, we went the other way as we'd decided it was time to head back home. The drive over the Divide and around West Thumb was without wildlife. A bald eagle just past Steamboat Point brought a momentary pause and then it was up and over Sylvan and down the North Fork to home.
It was bear-fest 2009 (so far) in the park over the weekend. Didn't get into YNP until after 2:00 PM on Saturday due to a lunch stop at the Clarks Fork and Spoon while driving in via the Chief Joseph. Very nice burgers...definitely keeping it on the list of places to stop when hungry.
Bears 1-3 were in the meadow (Round Prairie) just south of the entrance to Pebble Creek...a mom griz and two cubs. The cubs played and tumbled about while mom kept a watchful eye and soaked up the sun. It was a great sight, albeit one that was at the fringe range of our binoculars and well out of the range of my camera. Bear-gers can't be choosers though.
Bear 4 was between the Yellowstone Picnic area and the Yellowstone River bridge near Roosevelt Junction. No binoculars needed...it was just below the road in a small meadow with a herd of 15 or so bison glaring in from the sage. It caused quite the traffic hassle, but was a great view to see the tension between griz and bison (well, the bison were tense...the bear acted like he/she/it could care less).
Bear 5 was a black bear foraging on a hillside above one of the tiny lakes (Blacktail Ponds) on the side of the road between Roosevelt and Mammoth.
We were three and a half hours into the park and had already seen five bears. I don't know if the numbers back me up, but I cannot remember a previous spring in the park where I've seen/just missed seeing so many bears.
Anyhow, we'd decided to "wing it" with the night's plans...considering the time we got into Mammoth, we went down into Gardiner to grab a room and dinner. Took a short late-evening hike from Liberty Cap up the Beaver Pond trail a short ways and then up to the back side of Narrow Gauge Terrace before hooking up with the upper terrace drive and walking back down on the main terrace boardwalks as the sun set. Incidentally, if anyone else has taken this trail...just before you reach Narrow Gauge, there's a grade that heads down toward Mammoth that looks like it was as old trail or, from the width, possibly a road. I'm not aware of any routes that ran this way, but given the proximity to the Eaton and Bathtub Spring I'm curious about it's origins. The route was actually grown over by Narrow Gauge and the route above that was harder to follow via eyeball, but it appeared to trace the hillside, possibly linking in with the upper terrace drive in the New Highland Terrace region...it was getting dark so I wasn't able to sniff around as much as I wanted.
Sunday - 10 May 2009
The little one decided wake-up call was 6:00 AM...I was okay with it, but I think mom wasn't too keen on how Mother's Day started out.
After a breakfast at the Mine in Gardiner, we went back to the terraces. On an earlier trip to Yellowstone this spring we'd heard rumblings that a couple black bears had been frequenting the upper terrace area during the early morning hours. Since it was early morning and we'd seen five bears the day before...hey, why not? Surprisingly, no bears. It was fun to see the difference in coloration on the terraces from twilight the previous night to early sun in the morning.
Bear 6 for the weekend was actually between Mammoth and Norris and gave me the first opportunity to witness my first incidence of touronism in '09...a couple photographers determined to ignore the 100-yard rule and wander through the trees toward the griz because taking the clear shots from the road were obviously too blase.
We stopped at Norris to wander the back basin. It's always been one of my favorite places in the park...not sure why. Maybe because I get the same thrill standing by Steamboat that I do when I buy a lottery ticket -- hey, lightning might strike. Unfortunately, my luck with Steamboat matched my luck in Powerball and all I got was a few splashes. Better luck next time...
The rest of the trek through the basin was pretty ordinary...some small splashers, nothing dramatic. I always feel nostalgic walking past Echinus remembering many picnic lunches devoured at its side waiting for eruptions. Hopefully future generations will get to see it play in brilliant fashion like I remember, but if there's one truth in Yellowstone, and especially in Norris, it is that change is constant.
From Norris we rode without incident toward Old Faithful with a brief pause to honor an age-old tradition of sitting at the Flood Geyser overlook and watching an eruption. We waited for a chilly half an hour with the wind blowing down the valley. A river otter swimming in the Firehole behind the geyser and an osprey swooping down to pick up a fish before soaring off kept us occupied while waiting for the eruption.
At Old Faithful, I delivered the Mother's Day lunch I promised my wife in the lodge...the first time she'd witnessed the inside of the Lodge. I don't know how she felt, but I'm always awed looking up at the ceiling whenever I pass through the entryway. After food and some shopping in the gift shop (attention...if you've authored a cookbook about the west, my wife is easy money...), it was time to walk the basin...we'd been here opening weekend, but the walks were still mostly snow-covered and it was just too cold for the little one so we'd retreated after an eruption of Old Faithful and a quick skim of Geyser Hill.
This time we went straight for Grand, determined to hit the part of the basin we hadn't seen on opening weekend. We found out Grand had just entered its 4-hour eruption window. I know Grand sometimes erupts early in its window, but I've never seen it go in the first hour, so we decided we'd risk it and head down to Morning Glory and back. The Giant platform was playing with some vigor...Grotto Fountain (I think...) had an eruption as we approached. Took a moment to admire Norris Pool, another favorite place for some reason as I have seen it go from muddy area to bubbling mud pot to muddy geyser to the clear pool it is today in my lifetime.
Got back to Grand just before the mid-point of its window and lucked out that it hadn't erupted yet. The hillside marmots made the three Turban cycles before eruption pass fairly quickly and we were treated to a nice eruption of Grand with one re-start. Even the 8-month-old ooh'd and ahhh'd and bounced at its bursts.
While a lot of the Grand crowd headed down basin to begin the sit on Riverside, we went the other way as we'd decided it was time to head back home. The drive over the Divide and around West Thumb was without wildlife. A bald eagle just past Steamboat Point brought a momentary pause and then it was up and over Sylvan and down the North Fork to home.
catching up a bit--yellowstone
I really have some work to do catching up here! We have already taken trip 7! Admittedly, I'm never going to remember some of the first trips, and in some ways probably won't remember which trip we did what, sooo... with that in mind.. keep an open mind that my memory sucks and I'll do my best lol! actually... I may steal randals trip logs from his yellowstone site trip reports.. ...at least then you will get more accurate info.. it just wont have that personal feel I would give it, since it's not a post he wrote for family and friends, but an informational report.
so.,.. I'll post them from what he's written.. and maybe add some commentary later =)
so.,.. I'll post them from what he's written.. and maybe add some commentary later =)
catching up a bit --wild horse range
I'm not even going to try to get things right in a time line right now.. If Randal wants to.. more power to him lol.. I am doing well remembering how the trip yesterday went!
With that being said... I will attempt to catch you up on a few things we've had going on out here.
There is certainly nothing lacking in the things to do or places to explore dept of Wyoming, and really in our immediate area. After begging a lil Randal finally took me out to the Pryor Mountain Horse Range. IT wasn't that he didn't want to go, but unbeknownst to me, there are roads that are not exactly maintained in Wyoming, so it is always good to know what the conditions of the roads are out here. Part of the horse range is on a road that is suggested to only be driven on by 4 wheel drive vehicles with tough sidewalls.. who would have guessed!!
We finally discovered that there was a road that we could take, so our adventure began. The pryors are a bit of a smaller range, but still mountains.. not to be confused with things a few other states try to pawn off as mountains lol. The wild horse range is in part of the big horn resevior (sp?) For anyone thinking of visiting, it's 5 dollars, unless you have a interagency pass which gets you into any federal land. We drove down all the roads, and discovered a HUGE ..and I do mean HUGE lake! I think its about 70 acres long and really deep. It has just about any fish you could imagine...definetely drool worthy to fishermen! There was also a really nice view, pretty scenery.
We ended up going on a mile long hike a lil farther down the road. IT was the stateline trail.. the border of Montana and Wyoming meet there. It was a desert like trail that warned of rattlesnakes.. which we really didn't need to worry about too much since it wasn't really warm enough out yet. Sierra enjoyed riding on our shoulders for the trail and often tried to get us to giddy-up lol. I didn't take the entire trail, I probably stopped about a quarter mile shy of the end because the landscape wasn't exactly friendly for carrying Sierra. The view was really pretty, overlooking a canyon. Randal went the distance and took a pic of the end of the trail. I missed a lil scenery, but not enough to justify the risk it would have entailed since we didn't have our back pack yet.
From there we went down another turn off.. and were just in complete awe.. There was a huge canyon that just seemed to pop out of no where. We watched a golden eagle soar below. The river was a beautiful shade of green. Had I not saw a wild horse, I wouldn't have felt cheated.
We kept driving, and finally found a single horse. It was much too far away to get a photo of. After a little more driving, we finally found a small herd of about 7 horses. We noticed 2 pregnant mares and made a note to come back a little later in spring to see the foals. We snapped a few pics, although nothing was really close enough to get a great picture. It was great just watching them though.
We kept going and due to needing a pit stop found an old cabin. I briefly peeked at it from a short distance. We decided we'd check it out on another trip.
The road turned to dirt shortly after the cabin turn off, so we turned around since we definetely don't have a 4 wheel drive vehicle. The horses were a bit closer on the way back, and we snapped a few more pics. Still nothing to really write home about.
We stopped at the visitor center on teh way back, and met a presumably lonely ranger who was very talkative. He was very imformative..to teh point of telling a HUGE story when a simple 1 sentence answer would have done the job lol. It was alright though. We got a couple books including a really yummy recipe book. One our our books was free simply for spending more than 25 dollars. It is very imformative about the big horn rec area.
We've been back to the horse range several times now. Both foals are now born, and we've saw as many as about 10 or 11 horses now. It's still just a small herd compared to the 200 or so that roam the pryors. Occassionally they cooperate and get fairly close, but most of the time they don't. We have always saw horses, even if they aren't close enough to do much.
We took another trail to an old ranch site/ town. It was kinda interesting. The down side was when we got home I found a tick on Sierra. Luckily it hadn't attached itself yet.
With that being said... I will attempt to catch you up on a few things we've had going on out here.
There is certainly nothing lacking in the things to do or places to explore dept of Wyoming, and really in our immediate area. After begging a lil Randal finally took me out to the Pryor Mountain Horse Range. IT wasn't that he didn't want to go, but unbeknownst to me, there are roads that are not exactly maintained in Wyoming, so it is always good to know what the conditions of the roads are out here. Part of the horse range is on a road that is suggested to only be driven on by 4 wheel drive vehicles with tough sidewalls.. who would have guessed!!
We finally discovered that there was a road that we could take, so our adventure began. The pryors are a bit of a smaller range, but still mountains.. not to be confused with things a few other states try to pawn off as mountains lol. The wild horse range is in part of the big horn resevior (sp?) For anyone thinking of visiting, it's 5 dollars, unless you have a interagency pass which gets you into any federal land. We drove down all the roads, and discovered a HUGE ..and I do mean HUGE lake! I think its about 70 acres long and really deep. It has just about any fish you could imagine...definetely drool worthy to fishermen! There was also a really nice view, pretty scenery.
We ended up going on a mile long hike a lil farther down the road. IT was the stateline trail.. the border of Montana and Wyoming meet there. It was a desert like trail that warned of rattlesnakes.. which we really didn't need to worry about too much since it wasn't really warm enough out yet. Sierra enjoyed riding on our shoulders for the trail and often tried to get us to giddy-up lol. I didn't take the entire trail, I probably stopped about a quarter mile shy of the end because the landscape wasn't exactly friendly for carrying Sierra. The view was really pretty, overlooking a canyon. Randal went the distance and took a pic of the end of the trail. I missed a lil scenery, but not enough to justify the risk it would have entailed since we didn't have our back pack yet.
From there we went down another turn off.. and were just in complete awe.. There was a huge canyon that just seemed to pop out of no where. We watched a golden eagle soar below. The river was a beautiful shade of green. Had I not saw a wild horse, I wouldn't have felt cheated.
We kept driving, and finally found a single horse. It was much too far away to get a photo of. After a little more driving, we finally found a small herd of about 7 horses. We noticed 2 pregnant mares and made a note to come back a little later in spring to see the foals. We snapped a few pics, although nothing was really close enough to get a great picture. It was great just watching them though.
We kept going and due to needing a pit stop found an old cabin. I briefly peeked at it from a short distance. We decided we'd check it out on another trip.
The road turned to dirt shortly after the cabin turn off, so we turned around since we definetely don't have a 4 wheel drive vehicle. The horses were a bit closer on the way back, and we snapped a few more pics. Still nothing to really write home about.
We stopped at the visitor center on teh way back, and met a presumably lonely ranger who was very talkative. He was very imformative..to teh point of telling a HUGE story when a simple 1 sentence answer would have done the job lol. It was alright though. We got a couple books including a really yummy recipe book. One our our books was free simply for spending more than 25 dollars. It is very imformative about the big horn rec area.
We've been back to the horse range several times now. Both foals are now born, and we've saw as many as about 10 or 11 horses now. It's still just a small herd compared to the 200 or so that roam the pryors. Occassionally they cooperate and get fairly close, but most of the time they don't. We have always saw horses, even if they aren't close enough to do much.
We took another trail to an old ranch site/ town. It was kinda interesting. The down side was when we got home I found a tick on Sierra. Luckily it hadn't attached itself yet.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Waitress...check...er... my kid please!!
...first off.. I'll be honest.. I don't remember things in sequence at this point, so I'm adding stuff at random for a while, stories that demand to be shared, awesome adventures, crazy times, all that sorta stuff. so.. bear with me till I/ we get caught up lol.
During one of our first nights in town we went into Cody to have a decent dinner. More or less to celebrate getting an apartment, and starting a new life so to speak, in a place we both love. We found this historic looking place called the Irma.
The Irma is very cool. ...and very historical. It is a hotel and restaurant that Buffalo Bill Cody owned. The bar is still the original, and is very awesome looking. I haven't ventured past the restaurant and bathroom, but what little I have saw, its a very cool place and I highly reccommend it.
The waitresses couldn't get enough of Sierra. They kept coming over and dolling all over her. She of course was soaking it up in true Sierra fashion.
We had a great meal, and a really good time. We felt very welcome to the community.
fast forward several weeks later. We we're already in town possibly for a sporting event capped off with a drive up the north fork road. By the time we got back it was about 7:30 and we both were hungry for some good prime rib, which the Irma claims to have the best in teh west.. I'm not sure it's the best in the west.. but its very good... trust me.. I'm not a prime rib fan.. but I like it!
sadly the buffet was closed, but we still found good food. I had a barbeque special and he got meat loaf. While we were eating, Sierra was getting lil morsels of food like mashed potatoes, bits of bread, stuff liek that. The staff had dolled on her a bit but nothin too major at this point. We were just finishing up our meal when one of the staff came over and scooped her out of her booster seat and was carrying her around the restaurant. I was a bit nervous to say the least and kept an eagle eye on her. I was ready to pounce for the kill if need be. She took her past every table, and every single person told Sierra how cute she was....she is going to be so conceited by the time she is 3 lol. Sierra enjoyed playing at the mirror behind the bar. ..She loves mirrors.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only 5 minutes tops in reality, she returned Sierra to us. I'm not sure what nationality she was, but she had a very cool accent when she was talking to us and Sierra. Sierra tried to steal her necklace, but wasn't able to.
I'm slowly getting used to people being super friendly out here. I'm definetely not used to this at all. It's kinda cool, but really nerve wracking too. I'm pretty sure come summer she won't be taking my kid for a walk around the place...but when there was only 5 other people in the place it wasn't tooooo bad.
During one of our first nights in town we went into Cody to have a decent dinner. More or less to celebrate getting an apartment, and starting a new life so to speak, in a place we both love. We found this historic looking place called the Irma.
The Irma is very cool. ...and very historical. It is a hotel and restaurant that Buffalo Bill Cody owned. The bar is still the original, and is very awesome looking. I haven't ventured past the restaurant and bathroom, but what little I have saw, its a very cool place and I highly reccommend it.
The waitresses couldn't get enough of Sierra. They kept coming over and dolling all over her. She of course was soaking it up in true Sierra fashion.
We had a great meal, and a really good time. We felt very welcome to the community.
fast forward several weeks later. We we're already in town possibly for a sporting event capped off with a drive up the north fork road. By the time we got back it was about 7:30 and we both were hungry for some good prime rib, which the Irma claims to have the best in teh west.. I'm not sure it's the best in the west.. but its very good... trust me.. I'm not a prime rib fan.. but I like it!
sadly the buffet was closed, but we still found good food. I had a barbeque special and he got meat loaf. While we were eating, Sierra was getting lil morsels of food like mashed potatoes, bits of bread, stuff liek that. The staff had dolled on her a bit but nothin too major at this point. We were just finishing up our meal when one of the staff came over and scooped her out of her booster seat and was carrying her around the restaurant. I was a bit nervous to say the least and kept an eagle eye on her. I was ready to pounce for the kill if need be. She took her past every table, and every single person told Sierra how cute she was....she is going to be so conceited by the time she is 3 lol. Sierra enjoyed playing at the mirror behind the bar. ..She loves mirrors.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only 5 minutes tops in reality, she returned Sierra to us. I'm not sure what nationality she was, but she had a very cool accent when she was talking to us and Sierra. Sierra tried to steal her necklace, but wasn't able to.
I'm slowly getting used to people being super friendly out here. I'm definetely not used to this at all. It's kinda cool, but really nerve wracking too. I'm pretty sure come summer she won't be taking my kid for a walk around the place...but when there was only 5 other people in the place it wasn't tooooo bad.
Monday, May 4, 2009
yellowstone via the east entrance
May 1st marked teh openeding of the east entrance, which of course meant Sunday we packed a cooler with food and drinks, loaded the car with all teh essentials one needs for the park-- bear spray, the backpack to carry Sierra in on hikes, layers of clothing for the different temperatures of the park, cameras and binoculars.
Before we ever got to the park the drive up the North Fork Rd was very kind in giving us ample wildlife opportunities. We watched several bighorns bouncing around on the side of a mountain, while a larger herd of them crossed the road in front of us. Farther down the road we watched two male and one female bald eagle ...we presume they were feeding on a carcass, but we were too far away to know for sure. We would have watched longer, except 3 young men who had stopped next to us for a few minutes soon chased the majestic birds off in an attempt to satisfy their curiosity.
It was a rather chilly morning, and between the cold and the chocolate milk I had for breakfast it wasn't long before I was dancing in my seat looking for the first available bathroom. I'd leave this out normally, but I feel I am doing a public service announcement for you all here... After a 11 can long line to get into the park, which seemed like it took forever.. and ironically enough.. there was only one vehicle behind us in line..ugh! ...anyway, there were pit bathrooms just past the entrance stations. Beggars can't be choosers, especially at this time of the year. Now here comes the part you all need to take notes on. Apparently the NPS likes to play a cruel joke in the winter/ spring. You see, the roofs tend to be cracked from the long, cold winters, and while they make an attempt (I think..) to caulk the cracks... there are strategically placed water droplets. ..lemme tell ya... it was a very glacial good morning I recieved. I certainly wasn't expecting it, but when the cold water made contact with my skin, I was definetely awake!
After complaining about their sense of humor, we were on our way again. We worried a little about their signs that suggested snow tires or chains, but figured maybe they just forgot to take down the signs, or that they really do have a warped sense of humor. The roads were all defintely passable where they let you go through, although some of it was less than fun. The scariest section was in an avalanche zone. The snow was plowed above the tops of vehicles, and you could see in various places where there were mini avalanches, and snow that had fallen making snowballs ...building a snowman would have been easy if you could have reached any of them without causing an avalanche!
We were in winter for a while, and as we were driving, we found a pull off with several cars, spotting scopes, cameras and a ranger.. usually a good sign of something really cool. It was an otter playing in the river. Definetely not what we were expecting, but very cool indeed. The thing we learned about this experience... otters look a lot like the loch ness monster when they are playing in the river, and they are also incredibly hard to get a good shot of! They are very cute though! ...I also realized just how much I really want the monster lens I saw on Amazon.com for 250. After watching him for a while, and after Randal finished talking to the Ranger, we moved on again. We saw teh normal critters, elk, bison and deer. Even saw teh first baby bison in the park. We found a place that had a ton of vehicles, people, cameras, binoculars, etc.. and several rangers.. we had the window down just in time to hear the ranger tellin the people next to her that there was a bear down there and they didn't know where it went, and if it pops out right here.. we are WAY too close. That was all we needed to hear. several seconds later we were pulled over, parked, and checking things out. The black bear never showed itself to us, it stayed hidden under the boardwalk for the terrace of Mamoth. ...Foiled again. Were were told of grizzly bears, black bears with cubs, and wolves all that we had apparently missed as well.
We went to Artists point to see the waterfall and we were gonna have lunch there when I realized I forgot to pack the bread for sandwhiches. argh. We decided we'd buy a loaf at the Canyon store since it wasn;'t too far away. The ice formations around the falls was pretty awesome.
We headed to Canyon and walked around the store, only to discover they didn't have any decent shirts for Sierra, and they didnt have any bread. We considered getting some hot food from the snack bar, until we saw 5.50 for a hot dog! I expect to pay a lil more for food there, but holy cow, thats highway robbery!
WE had lunchmeat and cheese rolls instead haha. Improvise when you have to! We hiked a little at the mud volcano area, but it started snowing and sleeting. It did the same thing to us at the waterfalls.
We also stopped at undine falls, a very nice little waterfall that I dont think I'd saw before. I was treated to an elk on the other side of the river, looking down teh canyon. I didn't really have enough of a lens for the shot, but I took a picture anyway.
We were a fraction of a minute too late (during a pretty good wet snow downpour) to see a bear AND a wolf in the same location. I'm almost not sure I'm sorry we missed that one.
We went home via cooke city and the chief Joseph scenic highway. We discovered a very important piece of information... Cooke City raised their gas by about 20-40 cents a gallon since Thursday!
talk about price gouging just cuz tourist season has begun!
The drive home was fairly uneventful, we saw lots of mule deer and elk, and drove through rain and mist most of the way. Which I might add is far better than snow.
I'm sure I missed a few things here and there.. but Randal can fill you in if I missed anything super important. For now, it's late. I promise to update this more often very soon. I will be done with college for the semester soon, so I can put more effort into this!
Before we ever got to the park the drive up the North Fork Rd was very kind in giving us ample wildlife opportunities. We watched several bighorns bouncing around on the side of a mountain, while a larger herd of them crossed the road in front of us. Farther down the road we watched two male and one female bald eagle ...we presume they were feeding on a carcass, but we were too far away to know for sure. We would have watched longer, except 3 young men who had stopped next to us for a few minutes soon chased the majestic birds off in an attempt to satisfy their curiosity.
It was a rather chilly morning, and between the cold and the chocolate milk I had for breakfast it wasn't long before I was dancing in my seat looking for the first available bathroom. I'd leave this out normally, but I feel I am doing a public service announcement for you all here... After a 11 can long line to get into the park, which seemed like it took forever.. and ironically enough.. there was only one vehicle behind us in line..ugh! ...anyway, there were pit bathrooms just past the entrance stations. Beggars can't be choosers, especially at this time of the year. Now here comes the part you all need to take notes on. Apparently the NPS likes to play a cruel joke in the winter/ spring. You see, the roofs tend to be cracked from the long, cold winters, and while they make an attempt (I think..) to caulk the cracks... there are strategically placed water droplets. ..lemme tell ya... it was a very glacial good morning I recieved. I certainly wasn't expecting it, but when the cold water made contact with my skin, I was definetely awake!
After complaining about their sense of humor, we were on our way again. We worried a little about their signs that suggested snow tires or chains, but figured maybe they just forgot to take down the signs, or that they really do have a warped sense of humor. The roads were all defintely passable where they let you go through, although some of it was less than fun. The scariest section was in an avalanche zone. The snow was plowed above the tops of vehicles, and you could see in various places where there were mini avalanches, and snow that had fallen making snowballs ...building a snowman would have been easy if you could have reached any of them without causing an avalanche!
We were in winter for a while, and as we were driving, we found a pull off with several cars, spotting scopes, cameras and a ranger.. usually a good sign of something really cool. It was an otter playing in the river. Definetely not what we were expecting, but very cool indeed. The thing we learned about this experience... otters look a lot like the loch ness monster when they are playing in the river, and they are also incredibly hard to get a good shot of! They are very cute though! ...I also realized just how much I really want the monster lens I saw on Amazon.com for 250. After watching him for a while, and after Randal finished talking to the Ranger, we moved on again. We saw teh normal critters, elk, bison and deer. Even saw teh first baby bison in the park. We found a place that had a ton of vehicles, people, cameras, binoculars, etc.. and several rangers.. we had the window down just in time to hear the ranger tellin the people next to her that there was a bear down there and they didn't know where it went, and if it pops out right here.. we are WAY too close. That was all we needed to hear. several seconds later we were pulled over, parked, and checking things out. The black bear never showed itself to us, it stayed hidden under the boardwalk for the terrace of Mamoth. ...Foiled again. Were were told of grizzly bears, black bears with cubs, and wolves all that we had apparently missed as well.
We went to Artists point to see the waterfall and we were gonna have lunch there when I realized I forgot to pack the bread for sandwhiches. argh. We decided we'd buy a loaf at the Canyon store since it wasn;'t too far away. The ice formations around the falls was pretty awesome.
We headed to Canyon and walked around the store, only to discover they didn't have any decent shirts for Sierra, and they didnt have any bread. We considered getting some hot food from the snack bar, until we saw 5.50 for a hot dog! I expect to pay a lil more for food there, but holy cow, thats highway robbery!
WE had lunchmeat and cheese rolls instead haha. Improvise when you have to! We hiked a little at the mud volcano area, but it started snowing and sleeting. It did the same thing to us at the waterfalls.
We also stopped at undine falls, a very nice little waterfall that I dont think I'd saw before. I was treated to an elk on the other side of the river, looking down teh canyon. I didn't really have enough of a lens for the shot, but I took a picture anyway.
We were a fraction of a minute too late (during a pretty good wet snow downpour) to see a bear AND a wolf in the same location. I'm almost not sure I'm sorry we missed that one.
We went home via cooke city and the chief Joseph scenic highway. We discovered a very important piece of information... Cooke City raised their gas by about 20-40 cents a gallon since Thursday!
talk about price gouging just cuz tourist season has begun!
The drive home was fairly uneventful, we saw lots of mule deer and elk, and drove through rain and mist most of the way. Which I might add is far better than snow.
I'm sure I missed a few things here and there.. but Randal can fill you in if I missed anything super important. For now, it's late. I promise to update this more often very soon. I will be done with college for the semester soon, so I can put more effort into this!
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