Skipping the Rat Race

Why is the weather nice all week, but as soon as the weekend approaches, the forecast turns gloomy? Despite the high likelihood of rain, Friday morning found us hooking up the camper and heading for Nye. We weren't sure we would be able to get the spot we wanted, what with all the hunters, but amazingly enough, it was wide open. We set up the camper right next to the Stillwater River. I spent some time with the camera along the river, then we drove the short distance back to Benbow to ride. We rode through a beautiful mix of pines and yellow aspens and cottonwoods. It sprinkled on us just enough to make a big, bright rainbow. As we stood on a high point overlooking the valley stretching miles and miles away below us, I thought about how much I prefer the wilderness to the rat race. 


After dinner, we took an evening ride in another direction. We rode up toward Picket Pin Mountain, stopping often to avoid (and admire) deer in the road. We saw lots of does and fawns, as well as a few small bucks. But the whole point of this ride was to get up high enough to photograph the stars without all the ambient light in the valley. We found our spot and got out the camera. As Dan was getting the tripod set up, we were treated to a couple of shooting stars and some distant lightning. Eventually though, we realized that the clouds were coming between us and the stars, so we packed up and returned to the camper. 

How many stars will we see through the clouds? 

The Big Dipper is the only constellation I can ever pick out. 

Saturday morning was misty, but our intrepid friends showed up just as scheduled. So with rain gear donned, we were back on the road to Picket Pin. When we came to a less-traveled road, I led the way into the woods. The road quickly deteriorated into a trail (more fun to ride anyway), which continued to get rougher and narrower until it dead-ended. Getting turned around was a little tricky, but we made it without incident. Back on the main road, we traveled on to the point where we stopped the night before. Cold and damp, we debated whether to continue. We went on a little farther to a more protected spot, where the guys built us a roaring campfire. Now warmer and at least somewhat dry, we called it a day. Rain or not, it was another great ride. 

Playing in the Park

Grand Tetons

 Hold on one second... did you read Part 1?

Ok, NOW you're ready....

When one makes plans to visit Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in September, snow is not usually the first thing one adds into the equation. But as we drove home from South Dakota through the rain on Wednesday evening, it was definitely a possibility. Thursday morning, with clearing skies and nicer days in the forecast, we loaded up the camper and set out for Gardiner. We drove through sunshine, then rain, then sunshine, then snow...

The only elk we photographed all weekend

Once in Yellowstone, we skipped the Mammoth Campground in favor of the Indian Creek Campground. The only problem being that that one closed on Monday. Oops! On to Norris CG. Open, but blocked by construction. We finally got a campsite in Madison Junction. We quickly set up camp and proceeded to the Old Faithful area to hike to Mystic Falls in the Biscuit Basin. The sun low in the western sky didn't make for the best photos, but the falls were beautiful nonetheless. 

Mystic Falls

Frosty spiderweb

Friday morning found us up early and on the road to Grand Tetons NP. It was COLD, but the steam and the fog and frost made for gorgeous scenery. Eventually though, the sun burned through, and while wildlife and fall color both proved to be scarce, we did enjoy photographing the mountains and waterfalls. 

Lewis Falls

We got back to the camper just before dark and made supper. Over dinner, I continued my winning streak at the cribbage board. Until, that is, the lights faded and the fan on the furnace slowed to a stop. I am glad that Friday night was warmer than Thursday, because the battery was DEAD! But we survived, and Saturday was a beautiful day for the drive home. 

Moose Falls

This picture is just for those of you who prefer your water "soft."

Summer and Winter in South Dakota

...and we were only there for two days!

The Presidents, from Iron Mountain Road

With my anniversary date coming up at work and unused vacation time still left, Dan and I took the week off. We spent the first half of the week in Keystone, SD. 

We enjoyed clear skies and balmy temperatures all the way from home to our destination. After getting settled into our lovely cabin and eating dinner, we set out to explore. Because the famous faces are toward the East, we knew we wouldn't have good light for pictures. Therefore, we picked another direction. We ended up on Iron Mountain Road. Narrow and twisting... talk about a Pony road! Dan was having way too much fun driving my car around those hairpin curves! We came to a meadow just as the full moon was coming up. GORGEOUS!! Eventually, though, we turned around and retraced our track. 

Tuesday morning dawned damp and dreary. I felt like Rip Van Winkle - I must have slept through fall and woke up in winter! We had brought the golf clubs, so play we must. And play we did. Well, sort of... It was only a light mist, but after 18 holes, we were pretty much drenched. We retreated to our cabin for the rest of the day.  

When we awakened on Wednesday, the skies weren't much brighter, but we made up our minds to take the scenic route home anyway. Back to Iron Mountain Road, but this time I was driving. YEE-HAH!! As we approached the very first "piggy-tail" in the road, I realized that there was a tour bus on the road above us. I pulled over as much as possible and stopped to let it by, only to discover to my horror that it was going OUR way!! So much for fun driving - I was stuck averaging 15 mph (and nearly stopping in the curves) for mile after mile. FINALLY, after forming a long-enough train, the bus pulled over and we were free. We dropped down through Custer State Park and turned back north and west by way of the Needles Highway. (Another awesome road!) Then it was back to interstate driving. We met Dan's brother in Sheridan for dinner and drove the rest of the way home in the rain. 

Needles Highway... appropriately named

Check back soon to find out what we did with the second half of the week. 

Oh What a Beautiful Day!

This is why we camp: the view from the front door... back door...only door. :)

Several weeks ago, Dan promised me that we would go camping this weekend. (It was largely in compensation for the fact that I didn't get to go to camp for the trail ride last weekend. I offered to let him guest-blog his adventures, but he refused quite emphatically.) So on Friday, we headed out for the Boulder River. Unfortunately, with the holiday weekend, a lot of other people had the same idea. We drove 16 miles on the gravel road before we found an open campsite. 

See "She's Over the Top"

Same river with a lot less water

Once we were settled, we took the ATV's back the 16 miles to Natural Bridge. There we had enough cell service to let our friends know where we were camped, since they were meeting us to ride on Saturday. Of course we had to take some pictures while we were there. Then we rode back to camp and made dinner. 

As it started to get dark, Dan suggested that we go for a night ride. I've never done that, so I agreed. We rode to Box Canyon where there were no lights and no clouds in the sky. We sat for a while just staring up at the countless stars before we went back and went to bed. 

Saturday morning, my alarm woke me up to the sound of raindrops on the camper. (Much, much better than raindrops on the tent!) I figured, "So much for a group ride." But I underestimated our friends. Just as I was finishing my breakfast, everybody pulled up. On to Independence!

The rain made for great puddles, and we had a lot of fun blasting through them. But after a while, as it became obvious that this was NOT a passing shower, the rain became rather tiresome. But since we were already drenched, we rode all the way to the ghost town. As we stood overlooking the valley below Independence, Ronny burst into song: "Oh, what a beautiful morning; oh, what a beautiful day!" It was good for a laugh, but we'd had enough and returned to the camper, where I immediately put on the teakettle. Some hot cider and dry clothes brightened the spirits immensely. Wouldn't you know it ~ the sun came out as we were leaving. A rainbow made a nice ending for the day. 

Fall comes early in the mountains.

Three Lakes and a Little Bear

Kersey Lake

How can it be August already? Our summer is slipping away! Must. Play. OUTSIDE!! But how? We had to spend all day Friday in town, so we didn't have time to take the camper out. Dan's 4-wheeler is in Powell for a little TLC, so we couldn't ride either. Guess it's down to foot-power.

Lillis Lake with Pilot and Index Peaks

We took the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway down to Cooke City and the Clarks Fork Trailhead. Our destination was Lake Vernon, but in reality, this was a "lake hike" from start to finish. From the trailhead, the river just sort of "spread out." The three actual lakes - Kersey, Lillis, and Vernon - were separated by small sections of forest and a lot of marshy stretches. Unfortunately, that much standing water makes for happy, productive mosquitoes. We were swarmed!

When we reached Lake Vernon and sat down on the rocks to eat lunch, the skeeters magically disappeared. Whether it was the sunshine, the breeze, or divine intervention, it was a welcome relief! (Maybe the dragonflies flitting among the water lilies had eaten all the larvae.) Eventually, we returned to the trail and the mosquitoes. 

Lake Vernon

As we came out of the woods into one of the marshy little meadows, Dan stopped abruptly. BEAR! I was thinking "Camera," and while he was, too, he was also wondering, "Where's Mama Bear?" We spent several minutes standing back-to-back carefully scanning the edges of the meadow and the surrounding tree line for the slightest movement. Seeing nothing, we very cautiously crossed the bridge and entered the woods on the other side. Now we were not only looking back and all around, but also up. Black bears do climb trees, and the last thing we needed to do was to "tree" a cub and have him bawl for Mama! But there was no sign of him, so Dan decided that perhaps he was a juvenile, newly independent, who decided just to vacate. Though we stayed on "high alert" for the next quarter-mile, we finished the hike without incident. 

Seven and a half miles of hiking made us hungry, so we went on down into Cooke City, had dinner, and came home over the famous Beartooth Highway. We even got home before dark, for once. 

 

No More Soft Tacos

It has been said that tent campers in grizzly country are just soft tacos for the bears. We have avoided camping in some very beautiful areas such as Red Lodge and the Boulder River valley for just that reason. Well, we are soft tacos no more! We are now the proud owners of a 2015 19ft Jayco Jayflight camper. 

Our very own "private" riverfront property

Woodbine Falls

We bought the camper the weekend before our "city-girl" daughter came to visit, so this was our first chance to get it out. We got to Woodbine Campground just after noon on Friday, so we had several campsites from which to choose. We snagged one right on the river and set up camp. Then it was off on a hike to one of our favorite waterfalls. It was only a four-mile hike, so we were back in plenty of time to start dinner. After supper, we played a game of cribbage (I won - shock, shock!) and roasted marshmallows. 

I can't say that we were up early on Saturday morning: we slept way too well for that. But by 10:30, we were packed up and down the road to the Stillwater River Trailhead. We have been there several times, but had never made it as far as Souix Charley Lake. Now we have. It is three and a half miles to the lake, so we ate our lunch overlooking the tranquil (though not still) water. It's not really a lake, at least not to a Michigan girl. It's more of a wide spot in the river. But it is pretty, nonetheless. 

 Flood Creek

I had read about another waterfall around mile 5 on this hike, so we continued up the trail. There was a waterfall just after we left the lake, but it would have taken some serious bush-whacking to get to. We couldn't even get a picture through the trees. At mile 6, we came to the bridge over Flood Creek. It was a lovely little creek, but not a waterfall by any stretch of the imagination, so we turned back. 

We got back to the truck at about 5 pm. This is where we usually have an hour or more to drive home, then fix something for dinner. But not this time! It just so happened that I had brought about twice as much food for dinner Friday night than what we actually needed, so we cooked that, then left for home with tired feet and happy bellies. 

I just have a feeling that we will be going camping a lot more often now. Stay tuned...

Surely beats an air mattress on hard ground, especially a flat air mattress!

Stillwater River ~ not quite "still"!

"I'm Gonna Die!"

One more post before I have to go back to the real world...

On Thursday, we had one more ghost town in mind for Ashley. Independence is a "local" town about 30 miles up the road from Natural Bridge (see "She's Over the Top"). It has fascinated us for years, but we really had no way to get up there, as it is too far to hike and too rough a road for the pickup. Once we got the ATV's though, Dan and I have made the trip two or three times ("The More the Merrier"). Ashley has been far from enthusiastic about the 4-wheelers, but the desire to see Independence outweighed her fears. She gamely climbed on behind Daddy and held on for dear life. (Dan says he has bruises on his hips from her knees being dug in so deep!)

Despite Ashley's common refrain ~ "I'm gonna die!" ~ we made the trip without incident. We peeked into the buildings and worked our way up a little waterfall that was above the town. Then we went as far up the road as we could on the machines. Another guy in a Jeep had gotten stopped by the same snowbank, and Dan started chatting with him. I took the camera and wandered off. I kept expecting Dan and Ashley to catch up, but I wasn't particularly worried when they didn't. I meandered my way back to the road, figuring that now I would have to catch up to them. But I couldn't see them anywhere on the plateau. I kept walking, thinking that they had to be out in front of me... somewhere. Finally, I gave up and turned back. I wasn't concerned about getting lost - I could follow the road. However, this IS grizzly country, and I was hiking alone and unarmed. (Now I was the one thinking, "I'm gonna die!") One can imagine my relief upon seeing them up ahead waiting for me. 

Dan and Ashley spotted this showoff
while I was headed off on my own
little adventure on the plateau. 

By now, it was late afternoon, so we made our way back down the mountain and to the truck. As we were nearing Natural Bridge and pavement, the chances of seeing wildlife were getting slimmer all the time. Ashley had been disappointed that we had spent nearly a week in prime country for large mammals and had seen nothing bigger than deer. I was praying that we would see something special in those last few moments. That was when Ashley spotted a moose down in a tree-lined marsh. Dan stopped the truck and we walked back with the camera. This was special indeed ~ Mama Moose had twin calves with her! She watched us  watching her, but seemed totally unconcerned about our presence. We spent probably five to ten minutes just relishing the peaceful scene. It was a great ending to a good week with our girl. 

Magic moment...