Kings Mountain – Lake Wylie – and my first “niner”
Hello….is anyone still out there?????
My apologies for taking so long, but I’ve been very busy with my new job and all. Yes, it turns out I was hired on by the sign company about three weeks ago or so and have been busy training, studying, and trying to get a handle on things since then. The jury is still out as to whether or not this is something that’s going to work for me, though the folks sure are nice. Turns out the reality of it is quite a bit different from the picture that was painted for me those many months ago. Surprise! We’ll see how it goes.
I’ve been camped on the shores of Lake Wylie for over three weeks now at a State Park called Ebenezer Park. Just lovely. For only $15 a night, I get a large, wooded site with full hook ups including wi-fi. For those of you not in the know, this is a bargain and a half! The campground is actually in South Carolina, just over the border from NC and is about an hour drive from the office in Charlotte (which I only have to go to once a week). Like many lakes in this neck of the woods, Lake Wylie is long and skinny with lots of arms shooting off from the main body. The average depth is only 21ft and this summer, I bet it’s a fair bit shallower than that due to the lack of rain. There is a spot just off shore from where I often sit to read or study and I crack up at the number of boats who constantly run aground there as evidenced below.
In addition to the many Canadian Geese who make their home here, I’ve seen several Blue Heron and a long-legged white bird which I figure to be an Egret. Check out the Heron below during his morning fishing expedition.
Look closely. He caught himself a fish.
This past weekend I took some time to visit Kings Mountain, NC, which is a National Military Park so designated for its significance during the Revolutionary War. It seems a battle was fought atop Kings Mountain between the Patriots and the Loyalists that turned the tide of the War, which had been in a stalemate at that point. What an interesting day. There is a 25 minute movie and a museum, which can be followed by a mile and a half interpretive walk through the woods, around and up the mountain/battlefield itself. Misty, Mosely, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
There are two monuments on top of the quarter-mile long ridge where the battle came to a climax with the Patriots finally making the ridge and pinning the Loyalists in a crossfire. The first, pictured below, was erected by the descendents of those who fought and the second one, strongly resembling the National Monument in DC, was erected by the US government to commemorate the battle.
Monument number 2
In addition to Kings Mountain, I climbed Nan’s Mountain as well. Back in the day, there was an iron ore pit mine here as well as another Revolutionary War battle, albeit a far less significant one. This was my first “niner” and I’ll have you know, I climbed it solo and without the aid of oxygen. The elevation at the summit was a whopping 976ft, hence the “niner” designation. Phew! That was a tough one, but I made it all the way up the gravel road to the top.
Stay tuned. My sister and I are heading up to Stone Mountain State Park in the northern NC mountains on Friday for a long weekend and I’m sure I’ll have some fun stories and photos to post as a result.
Skyland Camp and Cashiers, NC
Well, hello there. Long time no see. How ya’ll been doin’?
Thanks to my sister’s neighbor, Pam, I have been motivated to catch you up on the goins’ on over the past 10 or so days.
Let’s see, after I left the Great Smokey Mountains, I headed about 30 miles east to Clyde, NC and Skyland Camp for Girls, my childhood summer camp. Sing with me, “On a hill not far from Clyde – You could find it if you tried – Lots of girls in green and white – Sing camp songs on Sunday nights…” What wonderful memories I have of those many summers on Skyland Hill. I was 12 years old my first summer there and kept going every summer, moving from camper to Counselor In Training to Counselor along the way until I was 20 years old. Go Big Tro!
Here’s a shot from the Chalet overlooking the upper portion of the camp. You can see the barn, the riding ring, and if you look closely, you may be able to make out the tennis courts in the trees just above the barn. Skyland was founded in 1917 and has been run by the same family ever since. If anyone is interested in learning more, you can visit their website at www.skylandcamp.com.
Here is a shot of the now retired Director, Bunny Brown alongside Mark Rathbone, a well-respected local man without whom Skyland Camp as we know it would not have been possible. The donkey is Mark’s friend, Jake. I wasn’t introduced to the cow, so can’t tell you her name.
While staying with Bunny at Skyland for a few days, I got Dora all lined up to have her compartment door repaired and visited with an old camp friend, Suzanne Hoover Klimek, who now lives nearby. This is Suzanne rocking on top of Chambers Mountain after our hike up with her husband Alan in the background. Everyone say hi to Hoover and Alan!
It took a few days to get organized after driving the 5,810 miles it took to get from Anchorage to Clyde, so I didn’t get down to my parents house until this past Monday, but here I am now in Cashiers (pronounced CASH-urs), in the far southwestern corner of NC. My family has a long history of spending summers in this neck of the woods too, so I’ve been enjoying being here again. This is a shot of the view from my parents porch. That is Rock Mountain on the left and Chimney Top on the right.
The leaves are beginning to turn on the sugar maples.
This is the High Hampton Inn. When I was a young child, my family drove up here for summer vacations to escape the Florida heat as did my Mother and my Mother’s Mother before her.
This is the view across the lake to Rock Mountain as seen from the Inn.
This section of the lake was developed for swimming, boating, fishing, etc. I remember sitting around here fishing with a hand line. In my case, a hand line consisted of a stick with a length of white string tied to it. My Dad tied a safety-pin to the end of the string to serve as a hook, and I used a single corn nibblet as bait. No, I never caught anything, but at age 6, I sure had fun trying.
And finally, this is Biscuit, the resident pot-bellied pig at the local Farmer’s Market.
That’s it for now. Dora is supposed to be ready for pick up tomorrow, if so, my parents and I will drive up to Clyde to get her. They haven’t met her yet and are anxious to do so. What fun. I love showing Dora to interested parties.
Oh, and for those of you wondering about my finances, I have a job interview set up in Charlotte for October 4th. Hopefully, I’ll be a revenue generating traveling salesman shortly after that. I’ll keep you posted, so stay tuned.
Nothin’ Could Be Finer Than To Be In Carolina…
It’s good to be back in the North Carolina Mountains. There is nothing like it. There are surely higher and more striking mountains elsewhere, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for these, particularly the southern North Carolina Mountains, perhaps because I spent so many summers here as a child and young adult. I’ve decided I require dual citizenship, Alaska and North Carolina.
It was just too hot coming across Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, so I made a beeline, driving almost 800 miles in 2 days, for the elevation of the NC mountains, which took me from an average daily high of about 96 to a much more civilized high in the low to mid 70’s. The dogs thanked me profusely as they were really having a rough go of it in the heat. Take a look at how they were spending their time prior to our arrival in the cool mountain air.
With the handful of National Parks I’ve visited along the way, none had anything like the approach that the Great Smokey Mountain National Park has. Most of the NP’s I’m familiar with are, at least in part, surrounded by National Forest, State Park, BLM land or some other such natural border. This is most assuredly not the case with the Western Entrance to the Smokies.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, Pigeon Forge, the Las Vegas of the Appalachia and home to Dollywood. It all begins while you are still on the Interstate with billboard after billboard advertising the many Can’t Miss offerings of the area, much like South Of The Border, for those of you familiar with that except these Billboards are state of the art electronic signs designed to force your attention to them. After this bombardment, you exit into Sevierville, the birthplace of Dolly Parton, which is the warm up to Pigeon Forge located just a mile or two further down the road.
Try to picture wall to wall over the top theme hotels and restaurants. One example is a restaurant called, Titanic, which is built as a replica of the ship and must be at least a quarter scale model of the original Titanic. It is ENORMOUS and comes complete with an actual bow wave since the bow portion of the building is sitting in a faux ocean filled with real water. Now please, who can tell me what on earth the Titanic has to do with the Southern Appalachia or Dolly Parton, or The Great Smokey Mountains? Anybody?
Intermixed with these over the top hotels and restaurants were Biggie Sized Wacky Golf courses, Water Parks, Mini Amusement Parks, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, and Casinos boasting $2.99 steak dinners complete with “side” and salad, presumably to entice folks to come in to gamble. And let me not leave out the Hill-Billy Ho Down, the Country Jamboree, and the Gospel Singers of the Appalachia. I truly have never seen anything like it outside Las Vegas. And, of course, it was filled with people and bumper to bumper traffic. I wanted to stop to take pictures so I could prove the existence of such a place in eastern Tennessee, but was torn between finding a parking spot big enough and getting the hell out of Dodge. I opted for the later.
After making it through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg, TN, I was finally able to continue on into the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Up over the top (highest elevation around 6,600 ft) and on into the NC side I went so to camp in a well shaded campground next to a clear running stream. Lovely.
Yesterday, I decided to hike a small portion of the AT (Appalachian Trail). There is a geocache at the Ice Water Spring Shelter 3 miles down the trail from Newfound Gap, so that’s where I headed. For those of you who may not know, the AT is one of the longest footpaths in the World. It is 2,150 miles long and stretches from Georgia to Maine. 70 miles of it runs North/South along the ridgeline in the Smokey Mtn NP. Many backpackers hike the entire length, from Georgia to Maine, in one season, May to September. These ambitious and hardy folk are called Thru-Hikers.
Here are a shot of the Smokies looking East toward the Blue Ridge Mountains.
And here is the northbound entrance to the AT from Newfound Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina border on the ridge line in the Park.
And here, you can see the white rectangular blaze of the AT along with a view down the trail.
This is one of the many shelters along the AT. You can’t really see, but in the dark depths, there is a two layer, wooden sleeping platform running the width of the shelter along with a fireplace.
And, since Black Bears can be a nuisance, the trail maintenance volunteers have installed multiple Food Hanging Pulleys a short distance from the shelter. I’ve never seen this and wonder if all the shelters are similarly equipped. Heather, can you comment? In addition to the food hanging pulleys, this shelter also boasts a fresh water spring and privy.
Southbound hiker. This guy jumped on the trail up in Damascus, Virginia and is almost finished since he’s getting off at Newfound Gap, here in the Park.
That’s it for now. On Friday it’s off to Skyland Camp For Girls and some friends who have known me since I was knee high to a grasshopper.
Stay tuned.
Mosely, We’re Not In Kansas Anymore
I’m somewhere in Missouri now, but let me back track through Kansas to catch you up. As stated, I left the Denver area and headed East on I-70 toward Stratton and Bernie’s RV Service Center. Thanks to the Nuvi, I drove right up to the thriving establishment (photo to follow) and Bernie pulled up not 5 minutes after me. It took him less than a minute, literally, to determine that I was a moron. He could not have been nicer saying that it could have happened to anyone etc. Turns out, one of the many valves pertaining to the water system had gotten turned off (who knows how) which prevented water from flowing anywhere in Dora. What a relief. Somewhat embarrassing, but a relief nonetheless since no new water pump was needed. It reminded me of when I have whined and complained about an appliance or computer or some such thing not working only to be asked if it was plugged in and to find that it wasn’t. Whatever. You know the deal. Anyway, after the fiasco with the dog meds, it was surely a relief to be on my way so easily.
Here is Bernie’s RV Sales & Service, and yes, that is a confederate flag.
Driving on the interstate across Kansas wasn’t bad at all. I thought Kansas was flat with nothing but corn to see, but that’s not the case. Kansas undulates nicely and, while there are certainly corn fields galore, there are also hills and trees and silos and farm houses and barns, and cows, etc. In Central Kansas, the larger fields of corn, soybeans, and hay give way to beautiful ranches and then beautiful prairie. It’s quite nice. Maybe it’s Nebraska that is flat with nothing but corn to see for miles and miles. Who knows. I’m completely ignorant when it comes to these middle States.
Here are some shots I took out the window while heading down the highway.
I saw these grain depots every 20 miles or so. Notice the train pulled up to the right.
And here is a windmill farm. Sorry its a bit off center.
Another thing, besides the undulating scenery, that helps pass the time is NPR. Now that I’m in a more civilized part of the country, I can get something besides Christian radio on the radio. Yesterday, Click and Clack had me cracking up on Car Talk and today it was A Prairie Home Companion. It was nice to catch up on some news too. Who loves Public Radio? I do. I do.
And when did Rest Areas get so nice? I remember when you felt like you were risking your life or at least your virtue to stop at a rest area, but that has surely not been the case on I-70. They are very nice, with well groomed grounds complete with covered picnic tables and grills actually being used by traveling families and couples. Most have large shade trees and some sort of Historical Marker board explaining some tidbit of history. Some have had wireless internet, and I just noticed today, that many have RV dump stations. How ‘bout that? AND, there is usually a geocache to boot. What more could you want?
Since all I’m doing for the next several days is bookin’ down the interstate at high speed, I decided that the whole Wal-Mart thing makes sense, so after about 300 miles, I pulled into my second Wal-Mart in two days. This one was quite popular with the larger RV’s as there were already 5 present when I pulled in and two more came in after me AND this Wal-Mart didn’t get any of my money. After claiming my spot for the night, I used my Nuvi to locate a pizza delivery place and ordered up a small pizza with pepperoni, green peppers, and onions. When asked for my address, I told them the Wal-Mart parking lot, the RV in the southeast corner with the Alaska tags. 20 minutes later a nice young man knocked on my door and I had my dinner. Yum.
Today, I drove another 300 or so miles and am somewhere in Missouri, east of Kansas City at a tiny little country Wal-Mart (3 for 3) all on my own, where it has finally cooled down from the 96 degrees it was for most of the day. The dogs have finally stopped panting and looking at me with eyes that could only be saying, “can’t you do something about the heat?”
Before we got here, however, we had a bit of a situation in Topeka where I stopped to get a resupply of Misty’s dog food (location also found on my Nuvi). Turns out, I am now in need of an RV body shop for Dora. Poor thing. It seems a bollard decided to jump out and scrape down her pristine side for no particular reason whatsoever. I don’t want to talk about it. But if anyone knows of a good body shop in the Asheville area, please let me know.
Tomorrow it’s off to Paducah. That’s in Kentucky. Stay tuned.
Mueller State Park, Pikes Peak, and Denver, Colorado
The drive from Rocky Mountain NP down to Mueller State Park was stunning. Highway 9 from Silverthorne, to Frisco, to Breckenridge, over Hoosier Pass on the Continental Divide, and ending in Fairplay follows the Blue River, which is really just a creek, through the mountains and is lovely. I’d turn around and do it again if I didn’t have so much driving to do in the other direction. All these communities look so vibrant and outdoors oriented.
Driving in and around the mountains and hills of the Rockies, some of you may realize having a gas engine instead of a diesel engine makes Dora more like the Little Engine That Could instead of one of those sleek ICE supertrains of Germany. Bless her heart, she has not come close to giving up or even overheating, but floored, she goes about 20-30mph depending on the severity and length of incline. She always get to the top, she just has to take her time, much like me when I’m hiking. This was the case heading up Hoosier Pass just south of Breckenridge. Once at the top, we pulled over to take a breather, let the dogs poke around in the woods, and find a geocache. When we got back to Dora and Lil’ Pea, they were surrounded by Bikers taking pictures, so of course we had to take pictures too. Can you see Dora?
Since I was headed to Pikes Peak, I had looked up area campgrounds and found Mueller State Park, which is about a forty-five minutes west of Colorado Springs and about an hour and a half southwest of Denver. As a result, it is full to capacity every weekend, which is why I could only stay one night having arrived on a Thursday. What a nice Park and campground and at xxxxxxx elevation, I found even the simplest of activities taxing my lungs.
Here’s a shot of one of the views from the Campground in Mueller State Park.
The next morning it was time to find Pikes Peak. The road leading to the top is a 19 mile ribbon of steep asphalt with plenty of switchbacks to keep a driver occupied. No RV’s or trailers allowed, so I had to leave Dora behind. Misty, Mosely, and I hoped into Lil”Pea and headed onward and upward. Folks fearing heights might not like this drive too much as there is a ton of exposure and not too many guard rails. We made it to the top after paying our $12 fee, took some pictures, avoided the giftshop, found the geocache, and headed back down, which was a lot trickier than driving up. Urgent signs exclaiming “Use 1st or Low gear” and “Hot Brakes Fail” were helpfully placed at intervals on the way down. And after 6 miles, there is a mandatory brake check. I little man comes out of a booth with some sort of handheld brake checker and tells you if you may proceed or not. I got a 205, which earned me a compliment on my use of low gear and was allowed to proceed. We got safely to the bottom, hitched up, and were on our way to Denver….not to Limon, which is where we were supposed to be going. You see, over the past many days, since before my visit to Rocky Mountain NP as a matter of fact, I have been trying to order and receive meds for Misty and Mosely. What a mess, but I’ll spare you all the details and angst. Suffice it to say that after much ado, I had to drive to a Fed Ex office in Denver through Friday afternoon traffic to get the package, which of course turned out not to have all the correct medications. It did have the important ones, so that’s all good.
This is the sign at the beginning of the road up to Pikes Peak. Did you know that Pikes Peak is also known as “America’s Mountain”?
And here is the sign at the Summit. Unfortunately my other pictures taken up top seem to have disappeared. I can’t say I’ve done a 14ner since I drove up, but my friend Devin has hiked the 12 mile trail to the top of this Summit. What an avid mountaineer she is! I wonder if she needed wind goggles and oxygen?
Finding myself on the outskirts of Denver at 7pm with a broken water pump, oh, did I forget to mention that when I went over a particularly bad bump near Pikes Peak, water drained by the gallon out of Dora’s fresh water tank and the water pump ceased to operate? Yes, well, it did, adding greatly to the already happy day of tracking down pet meds all over the State of Colorado. While waiting 3 hours for the driver with my package to return, the nice guys at the FedEx motor pool tried to help me with my pump, to no avail. It must be replaced was the prognosis, so using my indispensible Garmin Nuvi, I looked up RV Service Centers and found Bernie’s, which was located about 127 miles East on I-70, the direction I was heading. I called Bernie and made arrangements to meet him on the morrow, in the meantime, where was I to stay the night. Back to the Nuvi I went and looked up, dare I say it? Wal-Mart.
Bingo! There was a Wal-mart Supercenter less than a mile from FedEx, so off I went for my first night in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
For those of you not in the know, most Wal-Marts around the country open their expansive parking lots to overnight guests such as RVers and Truckers etc. I guess it’s a win/win since the drivers get a free place to stay, and Wal-Mart gets parking lot security as well as whatever each driver comes in and spends. My free night at Wal-Mart cost me $82.
Tomorrow, its off to Bernie’s and on into Kansas, so stay tuned.
Rocky Mountain High – Colorado
Let’s take a moment for the late, great, John Denver. You can’t be here without thinking of him…at least I can’t. At the moment he’s on my i-pod, singing to me as I write about my time here in his muse. Makes me sad he’s not still with us. Wouldn’t it be awesome to see him concert here in the Colorado Rockies? “You fill up my senses. Come fill me again.”
As I ended the last post, I was literally shooing a herd of Elk from my camping spot here on the west side of the Park just north of Grand Lake. I love Grand Lake. It’s a pretty mountain lake surrounded by trees with wooden cottages and lodges mixed in. The village of Grand Lake is enchanting as well, with a history of early tourism dating back to the mid 1800’s. I could spend some time here. Gosh, I think I’ve said that before.
Rocky Mountain National Park , northwest of Denver, is set up in similar fashion to Glacier NP in that there is a West side and an East side with a road over the top of the mountains that connects the two. In this case, the East side, which I call the postcard side, is far more developed and therefore more populated, which makes me glad I have camped on the west side even though this is the least attractive NP campground I have seen so far. The road over the mountains, called the Trail Ridge Road, rises to an elevation of 12,154ft at its highest point. Where’s the oxygen? Poor Misty Moo, she’s been breathing hard just from walking for a few minutes around the campground, which is at elevation 8,800ft. I thought she might get pulmonary edema when we drove over the top to the other side, but she was fine. No oxygen or emergency descent necessary, thank goodness.
The trailheads on the west side of the Park are mostly between 9,000 and 10,000ft, so I did my best to hike the flatter of the hikes available. Here are a few shots taken while I was out and about on the trails.
This is a shot of Mineral Peak (11,488) across the Kawuneeche Valley where I scared up a resting herd of elk while I was on the hunt for a geocache.
This is the Colorado River not far from its headwaters.
And these are some big horned sheep ewes I spotted high up on the rocky ledges while hiking near the Colorado River.
This morning, I went into Grand Lake for a massage as my back, neck, and shoulders are a bit sore from driving 3,835 miles. Yes, folks, I have driven 3,835 miles since leaving Anchorage on August 8th, and I haven’t spent the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot yet. That seems like a lot of miles, but I guess if you are going to drive around the Country, you’ve gotta log some miles. I haven’t checked, but I think I have a little over a thousand more to go. It won’t be long before I turn left into Kansas and then it’s a straight shot to the mountains of North Carolina.
After my massage, the predicted thunderstorms were rolling in on the horizon, so instead of hiking, I grabbed the dogs and Lil’ Pea for the drive over to the other side. Here are some shots I took along the way. The most fun was watching a Bull Elk gather up his cows and run off another Bull Elk. You see, it’s what they call the “rut” also known as mating season, and the Elk are quite riled up as a result. The best I could tell from what I saw today was the Alpha Bull had gathered up a harem of about 25 cows, some of which are pictured here.
The bugling Alpha Bull.
Across the road and up the hill a bit was another large Bull with only two cows. Poor fella. The Alpha Bull clearly wanted ALL the cows because he ran partway up to the three of them, stopped and bugled for all he was worth, I guess telling the two cows to ditch that good for nothing Bull and come join him. After a time of shaking his antlers, bugling, stomping his feet, and showing off in general, the cows must have decided that he had more to offer than the Bull they were with, so they did indeed ditch the inferior Bull and run over to join the harem of the Alpha Bull. Too funny. In addition to these theatrics, there were also two young Bulls hanging around the main herd/harem. The Alpha Bull tolerated these youngsters, but only on the periphery. When one of them got too close to the cows, the Alpha Bull would run over and bugle at him to back off, which they did. Most entertaining. I could have watched for hours, but was run off by the thunderstorms that finally hit. I found it interesting that, at over 12,000ft, it was rain and not snow. Shouldn’t it be snow? Guess not.
Here are some shots taken from high up on the Trail Ridge Road as it was going over the top of the mountains. This first one was taken at about 12,000 ft.
And this one is Longs Peak, which is the highest peak at 14,259. Rocky Mtn. NP hosts some of North America’s highest peaks…outside Alaska, of course.
It’s about 8pm and I just took the dogs out for a turn around the campground. I wish you could have heard all the noise coming from the adjacent meadow. It was crazy. All the bugling and squealing sounded like a cross between stuck pigs and a very loud hinge being worked back and forth. Those elk sure are having high times these days, that’s for sure. It reminds me of the moose in the Powerline Pass in Anchorage. They gather there this time of year for the same reason, and boy are they ever riled up. It’s best to steer well clear unless you want to be charged from a half mile away.
That’s it from Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s off South to the Pike’s Peak area tomorrow, so stay tuned.
Shoshone National Forest and Dinosaur National Monument
Since last I wrote, I took my leave of Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons and traded them for the Shoshone National Forest and the National Dinosaur Monument. It was not a good trade, but I’m happy for the experience nonetheless.
I wanted to go to Lander, WY as it had been highly recommended, plus, it’s the headquarters for NOLS (the National Outdoor Leadership School), so thought it would be good to swing North and East to accomplish this instead of heading directly south to see the Dinosaurs. Well, I got to Lander and couldn’t quite see the draw. I drove around for awhile, looking here and there. I got groceries. I got gas. Hmmmmm. What am I missing? I must be missing something. Unfortunately, I still don’t know and will have to ask my friend what drew her and I’ll have to Google NOLS to see if I can determine the reason they are in Lander. Anyway, I ended up driving on through and got to experience my first “dispersed” camping on National Forest Land.
Dispersed camping is when you camp where there is not an established campground, it’s just open land. You simply find a spot that looks good to you and you set up camp. Most National Forests and BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Lands around the Country are open to dispersed camping.
I had learned about a great dispersed camping area south of Lander in the Shoshone National Forest, so off I set. It seems that I was not the only one who had “heard” of this area since, by the time I got there(late Saturday afternoon), I had trouble finding a spot. After driving down Fire Road 300 toward Louis Lake as the internet instructed, I found several likely spots already taken, it being Labor Day Weekend and all, so I kept driving up and down until I spied a spot off to the left with only one other camper, so I pulled in and had the most lovely evening out in the middle of nowhere although not quite as alone as I might have been had it not been a Holiday weekend. The stars were so numerous and bright that night, I felt like I was in a planetarium and best of all, Misty and Mosely could run around off leash for the first time in quite awhile because you see, in National Parks, dogs on leashes at all times is a rule that is taken seriously.
As a result of going up through Lander, I not only was able to experience my first dispersed camping, but I was also able to drive through the Flaming Gorge and over the Flaming Gorge Reservoir Dam on my way south and back west to see the Dinosaurs. The drive through the Gorge was very pretty. It is called the Flaming Gorge because…..
This is a picture taken up toward the top of the Gorge where the rocks are a young and spry 49 million years old.
And this one, taken at the Dam, show the deep red rocks which are an elderly 1.1 billion years old.
And this shot is of the reservoir. It was a hot and sunny day and there were lots of families boating and fishing etc. The island you see is an Osprey Nesting site. There were a few flying about when I was there. Interestingly, there is a geocache at the base of the island, and I do mean the base. It is only accessible with Scuba gear, needless to say, I didn’t get that one. I did get the one at the Dam, however, and in order to claim it as a find, I had to learn which President turned on the hydroelectric power (Kennedy) and which First Lady dedicated the Dam (Lady Byrd Johnson), and what bird is called the Sky-diving Fisherman (Osprey).
After about 150 miles or so, I arrived in Vernal, Utah where I drove around for awhile looking for internet with no success, so ended up driving on over to the National Dinosaur Monument and camped at the Green River Campground therein. It was 92 degrees when I got to the campground and was most fortunate to find a spot in the shade near the river. Misty and Mosely were SO hot as I could not keep Dora cool enough for them during the drive. I had taken them for a dunk in the reservoir and as soon as I parked, I took them for a dunk in the Green River for which they were most thankful.
Here is an evening shot I took near my campsite. Pretty isn’t it?
The next morning I was on the first shuttle out to the Dinosaur/Fossil Quarry to see all the T-Rex and Brontosaurus’ etc. I had read that this quarry has produced many of the Dinosaurs seen in museums around the world. So, I’m on this guided walk through the quarry and the girl is pointing out fossil after fossil ranging in size from a quarter to a dinner plate, all of which look like rocks to me. After about a half hour of this, I asked where all the big guys were. What big guys, she asked. Well, the T-Rex and the other big dinosaurs. Oh, we don’t have any of those, we have these fossils. Well, why do you sell postcards with T-Rex on them? Oh, I’m not sure, but the larger dinosaurs we do have are up at the old Visitors Center. Are we going to see them? No. Why? Because that area is closed. Closed? Since when? Since 1996.
Well. That’s all I have to say about that except that a lady from Minnesota and I about fell down laughing all the way back to the shuttle since she and her husband had also come specifically to see the large dinosaur fossils. How lame. Anyway, here is a shot of some pictographs we saw on a rock while there. There are three. Can you see them?
I am now in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado where I had to shoo a herd of elk from my camping spot and will post again in a few days after I’ve had a chance to explore a bit, so stay tuned.
Oh, I didn’t take the time to proofread this post, so please forgive any mistakes, typos, etc. Thanks!
Rocky Mountain High – Wyoming – Grand Teton National Park
Today is Thursday. I arrived Monday, in the rain, with a cold, but have no fear, it all worked out A-OK because the weather improved as my cold improved and by the time the sun came out (today), I was fit and ready to play. I didn’t do much on Monday or Tuesday except sleep, watch movies, drive around a bit, and sleep some more. I’m staying at the Gros Ventre Campground, which is on the banks of the Gros Ventre River and has a lovely view of the mountains. Here is a shot of Dora and Lil’ Pea in our spot. 
Yesterday, while it was still a bit drizzly, I drove about an hour or so south of here to Granite Hot Springs where I soaked for about 2 hours and met the nicest couple who summer here in Wyoming and choose a different place to winter each year. They recently wintered in Moab and gave me lots of info on hikes etc. Here is a shot of the Hot Springs. The hot water flows out of the rocks you see and the swath of darkness along the bottom of the pool is some sort of heat loving algae that grows along the path of the hot water. And, much like the Skyland Camp pool of old, the far end of the pool has a spillway, allowing water to spill out at about the same pace as new water is flowing in. The water was 102 degrees the day I was there. Perfect. Oh, and by the way, sometime during these 2 days or so of rain, the Tetons got a dusting of snow down to about 8000ft. Lovely.
There is a Rodeo every Wednesday and Saturday nights from Memorial Day to Labor Day in Jackson. Cowboys from area ranches come to compete for money in such activities as bull riding, calf roping, barrel racing, and bronco riding. What a treat! I hadn’t seen a Rodeo since I was in Jr. High School, and that was a Prison Rodeo in Texas.
I tell you, this Jackson Hole area must be full of good God fearing, Christian people who love their Country. I hadn’t been in the stands a half hour before I was called upon over the loudspeaker (no less than 5 times) to Praise Jesus for this and let the Lord lead me to that. And not to let the Stars and Stripes play too distant a second fiddle to Jesus and the Lord, we (the audience) were reminded several times in the same half hour of our Great Country and our Great Flag. I felt a bit like I was attending a Patriotic Tent Revival instead of a Rodeo, but that’s really neither here nor there.
It was getting dark as the rodeo began, so most of my pictures didn’t turn out too well what with the combination of fast action rodeoin’ and darkness, but here are a few that did. It was a great time.
The Anthem.
A bull rider getting on his bull.
Today, as AccuWeather predicted, the sun is out in full without a cloud to be seen. My plans included a drive up to Jenny Lake, a shuttle boat over to the other side, and a 9 mile (R/T) hike up past Hidden Falls, and Inspiration Point, and back into Cascade Canyon. The first mile or so up to Inspiration Point was a zoo of people, but after that, it was very nice. I’ve included lots of photos taken along the way as every inch of the hike was more beautiful than the next. I guess the highlight was getting up close and personal (by accident) with a Mama black bear and her cub. They weren’t nearly as excited to see me as I was to see them, which I guess is a good thing seeing as how my bear spray was inconveniently located back in Lil’ Pea. Oh well. Wait til you see the cub, who is the cutest thing ever!
But first, may I present…….. The Tetons, complete with buffalo herd.
And again.
And here are some photos from the hike beginning with a shot of the Jenny Lake shoreline.
And Mt. Teewinot (elevation 12,325 ft), which could be seen for all but the last 2 miles of the hike into the Canyon.
Hidden Falls.
One of the many lovely meadows along the way.
And a badger. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a badger before. And now that I think of it, that critter I saw on top of Mt. Washburn might have been a Badger instead of a yellow-bellied marmot. Hmmmmmm.
AND, the best for last, the baby black bear. How cute is she? He?
Here are some additional shots I took while driving around. Did you know we, the USA, had a National Elk Refuge? I didn’t either. Apparently way back in the early 1900’s the ranchers’ fences blocked the normal migration of the 10 thousand or so Elk that had been migrating to this area for the winter since the dawn of time. As a result of the fences, the Elk could not get to their winter food supply and were dying by the thousands. One fella took it upon himself to create a refuge including food that has lived on and is still active today.
There are real, live, ranches all over the place here. With real Cowboys. This is one of many I saw and on one of the entrances is a plaque stating they are members of the Dude Ranchers Association. How cool.
Misty and Mosely enjoying the shade and the view from the campground.
And that’s it for now. The sun is shining and I’m going bike riding on a trail that runs along the base of the mountains and just in case I don’t get back to the blog before I leave, my plan is to leave tomorrow and head to Lander, Wyoming for a day or two before dropping down to the Dinasour Fossil place on the Utah/Colorado boarder whose name escapes me at the moment.
Cheerio.
.
Yellowstone Continued
It seems some of you have an interest in my speeding ticket, so here is some additional info. The speed limit in the Park is 35 and drops to 25 or increases to 45 on occasion. I thought I was in a 45 mph zone, but was in a 35mph zone and happened to pass one of the many “speed traps” the Rangers seem so fond of around here going 52 mph. It is a Federal Ticket, which means if I don’t pay it, the US Marshalls will come knocking on my door, but as such, it also means that my home state of AK should never hear of it, which in turn means that my Insurance company should never hear of it. Thank goodness because as many of you already know, my driving record is quite colorful without this added bonus.
Alright, back to more photos taken over the past few days. The next day I spent in the Canyon area and may have the name of the waterfalls mixed up, but here they are. This first one is Tower Falls, I think.
‘
And I think this one is Upper Falls. Either that or the Lower Falls, or maybe even this is the Tower Falls. I can’t remember, but isn’t it pretty?
And this is the Canyon that the Yellowstone River is squeezed through after dropping over several sets of Falls.
This is the Yellowstone River just above the Falls and Canyon.
And on the way home, a number of cars were held up due to this Bull Bison courting a cow first on one side of the road, then the other, then in the middle (they kept wandering between the cars). The Bull was about the size of Lil’ Pea, maybe a little taller.
So, let’s see, I guess that brings us to yesterday. The Lone Star Geyser day. And here is the Lone Star Geyser in all its glory and unlike Old Faithful, it erupts from a cone.
And again.
And here the three of us are before the storm hit. I forgot to mention earlier that it hit when we were about a third of the way back to the car. Thunder, lightening, rain, and hail. Yes, hail.
Everyone say hello to Dan and Joanne!
And that brings us to today. My last day in the Park. I decided to check out the West Thumb Geyser area which sits on the shores of Yellowstone Lake and look what I saw on the way. Now do you think this guy would break a record? I’m inclined to think so. No, its not a statue.
Here you see one of the deepest Hot Springs in the Park with Yellowstone Lake in the distance. Again you can see the different colored micro-organisms living at different temperature levels and notice how clear the water is. If you look, you can really see quite a distance down.
To me, this hot spring looks like a photo taken from outerspace. You can really see down deep in this one.
I love the story of this one, whose name I have already forgotten. It’s nickname, however is Hook and Cook because back at the turn of the century, people would stand next to it and catch a trout in the lake on a long pole, then swing the pole over the Geyser and dip the fish in it, thereby cooking it without ever taking it off the line. Of course they don’t allow this practice anymore due to damage to the cone and injuries etc.
Its the afternoon here and another storm has blown in, which I’m told is supposed to bring snow, but at the moment has only brought rain and wind. I’m off to the Teton Natinoal Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming tomorrow. It’s only about a 2 hours drive from here, which will be nice.
Stay tuned.
The Yellowstone Hook Up
How fortunate I was to get the Yellowstone Hook Up, and from a surprise source, no less. Thank you Hill.
I was introduced via email to Dan and Joanne Schaub who are working here for the summer. Hearing that I had been having trouble finding camping spots due to the crowds at the National Parks, they said they could hook me up at the Employee RV Park here in Yellowstone, if I was interested. Was I interested? Heck yeah. They set the whole thing up and when I arrived; there was a spot with my name on it for $15 a night, for as long as I wanted. Wow! Can you say what a deal? The site comes with full hook ups which means 50amp electrical service, water, sewer, propane, and my own private Bison herd. (photos to follow). AND as if this weren’t the best already, they offered me the use of their wireless internet at their dorm, which is only about a mile away. I tell you, you can’t beat that with a stick! Thank you, thank you Dan and Joanne!
I paid for 5 nights and have been enjoying the Park ever since. Each day I have chosen a different part of the Park to see the sights and hike the hikes and it’s been great. Hot and sunny, well until today that is. We have been having some much needed rain all day.
Good Lord, a bull bison the size of Lil Pea just walked by my window and gave me a start. You can’t swing a cat around here without hitting a bison, that’s for sure.
Anyway, Dan, Joanne and I had planned to meet this morning at 8:30 and head down to Jenny Lake in the Teton National Park to hike its perimeter, but about half way there the skies grew ominous and Dan’s Doppler Radar app told us to turn around and make a new plan as thunder storms covered the entire area South of us, which included Jenny Lake. So, it was on to Plan B, which included the 4 day old, newly dedicated, Visitor and Education Center at Old Faithful as well as a hike out to the Lone Star Geyser. Since all of us had already seen Old Faithful erupt, we opted for Lone Star instead. ( so don’t get your hopes up for photos of Old Faithful, because there aren’t any…unless you’d like me to dig up my ones from 7 years ago, which I’d be happy to do if anyone feels compelled to see them). We checked out the impressive 22 million dollar Center, found out what time Lone Star was due to erupt and hopped in the car for the short drive over to the trailhead. Once there, we knew we had to hoof it fast if we were going to cover the 2.5 miles before the expected eruption, so we did just that and we’re glad we did, because it had just started to blow immediately prior to our arrival and it blew and it blew and it blew for the 10 minutes or so we were there before an incoming storm sent us packing. It was great to see and there were maybe 4 or 5 other people there at most. Had we been at an Old Faithful eruption, we would have been fighting hundreds for a spot, so this made an especially nice alternative…plus the hike through the woods and along the Firehole River was an added bonus. Afterwards, we headed back to the Old Faithful area to have lunch at the attractive Old Faithful Inn, which was built in 1903 and at 188,000 square feet, is the largest wood structure in the World. It reminded me just a bit of the High Hampton Inn in Cashiers, NC, except on a much larger scale.
Our lunch of Roasted Red Pepper soup with smoked Gouda, Bison Burgers, and Huckleberry ice-cream over crumb cake served near the fireplace was a delight and since it was still gray and rainy upon our finishing, we decided to forego the other sights on our list and head home for a nap. How nice.
Here are some of the shots taken during my visit thus far.
We’ll start with the Bison herd that passes by Dora about twice a day. Please note the nursing calf.
These guys pass as close as 4-6 feet from Dora. I have to really look around before letting the dogs out because sometimes they get tired and lie down right there next to me and stay for hours.
This is a typical sight when driving the roads here on the East side of the Park. Makes me think of a time before we white folk overran the West.
And on to Day One, when I hiked up to the top of Mount Washburn, my first 10,000 footer. Ha!
There was supposed to be a herd of Big Horned Sheep near the top, but all I saw was this critter. I think he is a Yellow-bellied Marmot, but I haven’t gotten confirmation.
Day 2 found me way up in the North end of the Park with an enormous speeding ticket and Mammoth Hot Springs. What happens here is the hot water from underground is forced upwards through limestone. During this process, the water brings calcite up with it and deposits it above ground creating these amazing terraces of hot pools. This area is so active that entire boardwalks can be overtaken in a matter of a few years. The different colors you see are different microorganisms that thrive at different temperature levels.
The area in the North end of the Park is almost desert like as you can see from the huge fields of sage brush below.
Alright, this is taking too long and daylight is burning on my last day here, so I’m going to stop for now. Will post the rest of the shots later, so stay tuned.
Cheerio!
Alaskamarge Travels 