Monday, August 25, 2014

October 14, 2011 - October 17, 2011 (Friday - Monday)
Goblin Valley State Park
Dave and Christine

Dave and I went on this trip without the kids. We left at 1:20 and arrived about 5:30. Mom and Dad met us there.

We enjoyed star-gazing each night. On Saturday we explored the Valley of the Goblins where there are hoodoos and other interesting rock formations.

Dave, me, Dad
Mom and Dad

On Sunday we went to the Little Wild Horse slot canyon.
Dad at Little Wild Horse canyon

We left Monday morning.



May 18, 2012 - May 20, 2012 (Friday - Sunday)
Diamond Fork
Dave and Christine

We arrived about 7:00 PM on Friday. It was a little chilly when we arrived, but beautiful. On Saturday we wanted to hike to the hot springs. We drove to the trailhead and found there were two ways to go. We took the path through a gate because there was a sign telling where the path led and how far to get there. We knew the hot springs were 2.5 miles away and even though the sign said “Jock’s Canyon”, it was 2.5 miles away, so we went that way. 

We must have gone 3 miles or so before we ran into some mountain bikers. We talked to them and they told us we had taken the wrong trail. We decided to turn around and head back. We saw several groups of dirt-bike riders also. Even though we took the wrong trail, it was a pleasant hike.

For dinner we bbq’d steak on Dave’s new Camp Chef. They turned out great. Now we’re sitting around enjoying the pleasant weather. We’ll go home tomorrow.



June 29, 2012 - July 1, 2012 (Friday - Sunday)
Marsh Lake
Dave and Christine

We had reserved a spot at Payson Lakes for this weekend, but they called us several days before and said they had to cancel all reservations due to fires in the area. We searched online for a place where we could make reservations and found Marsh Lake, which is next to the Wyoming border.
We left at 5:00 PM Friday and stopped by Kmart to get fire starters. We were on the road by 5:15. We didn’t arrive at our campground for another four hours, partly due to the fact that it was a long ways away and partly because we took a couple of wrong turns. The turn off wasn’t well marked, but we got there. We had enough light by which to park the 5th wheel, but we had to use the flashlight to complete the set-up.

We enjoyed the rest of the evening and slept in until about 8:00. We had a small problem with our water in that when we heated up the water with the water heater and turned on the hot water faucet, it smelled really bad. We filled the water tank at home before coming and the cold water didn’t stink, so we’re not sure what the problem is. Basically, we’re not going to use the hot water on this trip.

After breakfast Dave and I took our new bikes for a ride. We rode on the dirt road that we used to get here. It was a bumpy ride. We rode our bikes to a dam and rode across it. It was a pleasant ride although the ride back was strenuous in places as we had to go uphill several times.

Me with my new bike

Dave and his new bike



Now it is nearly 1:00 PM and we are enjoying the lovely day. It is in the 70’s. At home it has been hot and in the upper 90’s, so this is nice.




July 13, 2012 - July 15, 2012 (Friday - Sunday)
Wasatch Mountain State Park (Site 78)
Dave and Christine

This is a new place for us. It’s pretty and has full hook-ups. We arrived Friday evening about 6:30. It was a really tight fit to get the trailer in, but we did it.

It’s been humid all weekend and has rained off and on. The temperature has been in the 70’s. We went on a hike on Saturday and Sunday. We tried mountain biking, but it was too difficult for me, so we stuck to hiking.

We’ll come back to this campground again.




August 9, 2012 - August 14, 2012 (Thursday - Tuesday)
Yellowstone National Park
Dave, Christine, Mike, Laura

We left Thursday at 5:00 PM and drove to Rexburg, ID to the WalMart, where we were planning on spending the night in our RV in the parking lot. This is called boondocking and is a popular way for RVers to make a quick stop on their way to somewhere else. On the way to Rexburg we stopped for dinner at Sonic--the orange-cream drink was NOT good--and stayed for 45 minutes. We arrived at the WalMart at 10:00 PM. Of course we went into the store and bought a few things. There was one other RV there, and they ran their generator until late. Though the day had been warm, the night was pleasant and we slept with all the windows open in the RV.

We got away by 8:30 the next morning and arrived in West Yellowstone about 9:40 AM. We noticed the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center and decided to check it out. Though it was $10.50 each to get in, it was worth it as they had live exhibits—several wolves and bears. We spent about an hour there, then went to a pizza place to have lunch. Laura and I split a veggie pizza with white sauce. It was tasty. Laura didn’t like as much as I did. We finished about 12:30 and decided to forgo shopping and instead head into the park.

We saw some elk, and of course bison, as we drove toward Fishing Bridge. As we arrived at our site, it began raining. We got set up and relaxed for a bit. We ate an early dinner of chicken fajitas, then decided to go find some wildlife. We’d heard that a bear had been spotted at Le Hardy rapids, so we went there to see. Sure enough, on the opposite bank was a large bear. We couldn’t tell if it was a grizzly or not, but it was eating a carcass. We watched him for about half an hour before we left.


We drove further, toward Hayden Valley, and saw lots of bison. One did a bluff charge toward a car, which was entertaining. We didn’t see any other significant wildlife.

Here's a video of the bluff charge. It's a little blurry, but still kind of fun.

Saturday, August 11

On Saturday we decided to hike to Mount Washburn from the Dunhaven Pass parking lot. We packed our Cambelbacks (Laura had a new one) and headed out. First we stopped at Le Hardy rapids to see if the bear was there, but he wasn’t. The carcass was stripped clean. (The previous night it didn’t appear to have a lot of meat on it.) We set off on our hike at 12:30. It was 3.2 miles each way. The way there was mostly uphill. A the top was a fire lookout station. There is a small residence there where a ranger lives all season. The hike down was easier—we saw one bighorn sheep—and we reached the car around 4:00. 
Mike, me, Laura, Dave on the hike to Mt Washburn

We drove back to the trailer and took naps (Laura read), then went out “bear hunting”. We didn’t see any bears, but we saw a large herd of elk. Also, we went to the wolf overlook with our tripod and saw a couple of wolves. That was cool.

We’re going to go on some new hikes this trip. Mount Washburn was new to us. Tomorrow (Sunday) we’re going to Cascade Lake, then to Lamar Valley.
We bought a can of bear spray because Monday we’re hiking Mary Mountain and there are grizzlies in the area.

Monday morning, August 13
Yesterday we went on a 10 mile round trip hike to Grebe Lake. It was the Cascade Lake trailhead. It was a good hike—long, but not too hard. There were biting flies in the late morning.


In the afternoon a bison came through the campground. We had been thinking about going to Lamar Valley, but were tired from our hike. When the bison came through we felt energized. Also, we spoke to a worker who told us that in Lamar Valley there was a bison carcass and the wolves had been eating it in the evening. We decided to go.


In the Hayden Valley Dave spotted a coyote on a river bank. We pulled over and watched him for a while. He was trying to get some critter but was having trouble. We went on. In Lamar Valley there were many cars. 
All these people were hoping to see the wolves.
We found the bison carcass (with the binoculars) and waited for over an hour and a half (until the sun was fading) and the wolves didn’t come. We did see a pair of pronghorn deer, and a herd of bison worked their way closer to us. On the drive back we saw a deer in a meadow and an elk in a different clearing.

Today we’re hiking the Mary Mountain trail. If we see any bears, I hope it is only from a safe distance!

Monday evening
We hiked the Mary Mountain trail for about 1 mile, until we came to a group of bison. They seemed to ignore us, but as we got within 100 feet they became agitated. They had a baby with them them and it was sleeping. There wasn’t a good way around, so we decided to turn back.

Because we had to cut the Mary Mountain hike short, we decided to hike the Natural Bridge trail instead.


Afterwards we drove to Canyon Village to do a little shopping, then we came back and bbq’d pork chops. It was nice out so we ate outside. That evening we were tired so we didn't go out "bear hunting." Tomorrow we go home. We will miss Yellowstone.


August 24, 2012 - August 26, 2012 (Friday - Sunday)
Spruces (Site #10)
Dave and Christine

We arrived Friday at 5:30. It was beautiful—in the low 70’s.
On Saturday Val, Blake, and Bronx came up for a few hours. Bronx spent the night with us. He wanted to “camp in the mountains”. He was fascinated by the squirrels.
We had a good time.


August 31, 2012 - September 3, 2012 (Friday - Monday) (Labor Day weekend)
Kodachrome Basin State Park
Dave and Christine

We arrived Friday night about 7:30 PM. We got set up and it began getting dark. Thunderclouds were present and we could see lightning in the distance. We set up our chairs and enjoyed the show. Eventually it began to rain so we went inside. Here's a picture as we drove toward Kodachrome.


Saturday morning we went on a hike—Panoramic Trail. We went to Panorama Point then “cool cave”. The entire hike lasted nearly 3 hours. It was a good hike, though a little warm.
Right now it is 2:00 PM and 80 degrees. It feels pleasant though. There is a chance of thunderstorms.

On the hike at Panorama Point.


It is so quiet and peaceful here. Also beautiful with the red rocks, lots of green trees, blue sky, fluffy white clouds, and some gray clouds as well. I love it here!


Monday, 9:00 AM
We’re getting ready to go. We had a nice time. We were going to hike in the slot canyons yesterday, but there was too much water flowing through it. We went on the “Grand Parade” hike instead.
Yesterday afternoon we had thunderstorms, which was fun. We’ll come back again.


October 5 - 8, 2012 (Friday through Monday)
Escalante State Park
Dave and Christine

We left home about 3:00 PM Friday afternoon and arrived about 8:30 PM. We set up in the dark. It was pleasantly cool (lower 60’s). Saturday we had breakfast and walked around the campground. We discovered that near the campground there are four nice sites with electric and water hookups. The best one is “B”, if no groups are using the group site. “A” is a great option too. “C” and “D” would also be good. These are also pull-through sites and can be reserved. 

We went on a drive earlier to check out the calf creek campground. It is beautiful but they were full and the host told us that they fill up very fast. 



November 2 - 5, 2012 (Friday - Monday)
Goblin Valley State Park (Site 15)
Dave and Christine
Mom and Dad were in site 14

We left home about 2:20 on Friday afternoon. We stopped by Annette’s to pick up a craft project that mom had left up North. We stopped in Green River for dinner and arrived at Goblin Valley about 6:45. Mom and Dad were already here. Dad says we’re at 5000 feet. It’s been chilly — 30’s or 40’s at night, 60’s during the day. Clear skies.

Valerie’s baby girl is due November 20th, but she could have her any time. Today is Saturday. We drove to a spot about 7 miles from camp where there is cell service. My T-Mobile didn’t work, but Mom’s Verizon did. Blake said Val isn’t in labor yet but to check back tonight or in the am. We will. Right now it is 5:45 on Saturday night. Dave built a fire and we are enjoying its warmth.

Monday 8:00 AM
Sat around yesterday and read. We drove  to the “calling point” and called Val (yesterday morning). No labor yet. She was having contractions on Saturday afternoon, but they stopped. We’ll check with her when we get on the road this morning.

Here are a few pictures:






FIRST TRIP of 2013

April 12 - 15 (Friday - Monday)
Kodachrome Basin State Park
Dave and Christine

Left home at 3:30. Had to stop at Les Schwab’s tire place to replace the stem on one of the trailer’s tires. They did it quickly and at no charge. We remembered that we’d let mom and dad keep our step stool and we needed to get one, so we stopped by camping world and bought one. It was about 4:15 when we got away. Along the way we saw a herd of 20+ deer on the side of the road.

We had a bit of a hard time parking at our site as it was a tight turn to get in. It was a U-turn type site, very private and nice, but hard to get in with our trailer. We needed to use the pillows to level the trailer and had to fill them pretty full. Good thing we bought the step stool — we needed it!!
The weekend before, we bought a new mattress — a full-size queen — and enjoyed sleeping on it.
We brought our bikes—Dave bought a hitch so that we could more easily carry them. We went on a bike ride on Saturday morning and enjoyed it.

After a short rest we decided to visit Grosvenor Arch and then go to the Cottonwood Narrows. As we drove on Road #400 (which was a dirt road), the car in front of us pulled over. Their tire was flat. We stopped behind them and Dave helped them figure out how to get the spare off of their rental car. We stayed until they’d changed the tire. They were visiting from Maine. Another couple stopped by—they were from North Carolina—but they weren’t needed and they went on.

We stopped by the Arch then drove a few more miles to the trailhead for the Cottonwood Narrows. It was a 1.5 mile hike through a slot canyon. It was an easy hike. Then we had to hike 1 mile back along the road. A lot of uphill.

We came back and showered, then noticed that the vent cover over the bed had blown off—it was windy—so we went to the ranger station to see if they knew of a place where we could get duct tape. The ranger had some at his residence and he met us back at camp with it. Dave climbed o the roof and taped down the snapped-off vent cover.
Dave fixing the vent cover

Sunday morning we decided to move to a site with hook-ups. We moved to #24. Though site 12 is pretty, it’s tight to get in and out of. Number 2 looks good as it’s more private and has full hook-ups (although they’re on the wrong side of the site)
It’s a bit windy again today, but quite pretty.

Monday, April 15, 2013
Windy today. Yesterday after lunch we did the hike to Shakespeare Arch. It took about an hour. It was a good hike.


We’ll be leaving soon. It would be nice if we could stay longer.





May 3 - 5, 2013 (Friday - Sunday)
Wasatch Mountain State Park (Site 48)
Dave and Christine

Dave and I arrived Friday evening and as we were backing  in to our site (#77), the ranger came by and said we could use the camp host site, which is a pull-through, because the host would be there for another week. We moved to that site. We decided any of the pull-through sites on the perimeter would be fine.

It’s 10:20 AM on Saturday and it’s a nice day. Sunny and a slight breeze and in the 60’s. It’s peaceful here. 




May 17 - 19, 2013 (Friday - Sunday)
Diamond Fork
Dave and Christine

Arrived at 5:00 PM Friday. It rained off and on. It was a relaxing weekend. I wrote a lot on “Imprisoned”. Next time we’ll try another site. Most have long driveways. Loop B would be fine too.



May 31 - June 3, 2013 (Friday - Monday)
Escalante State Park (Site A)
Dave and Christine

Arrived Friday about 9:00 PM. It was still a little light out. It was breezy and cool.

On Saturday we drove out to the slot canyons. 

We went in the first one (Dry Fork), but came across a raven lying under a large boulder. To get over the boulder we’d have to step where the raven lay, so instead we turned back. We went to the next slot canyon, which required us to climb up a wall before we could get started. This canyon was called peek-a-boo.

We followed it to the end then traversed the surface until we came to the head of the next canyon (Spooky). We hadn’t approached this one from this direction before, or come this far before. So we weren’t sure what to expect. There were a couple of difficult spots, but the most difficult was one where we had to climb down a hole about 10 feet deep, then slide down another rock for another 10 foot descent. I was really nervous about how we’d get down there and if we even could, but I didn’t want to have to go back the way we’d come as we’d come quite a ways. Plus a man and woman had just gone through and had made it, so I knew it was possible.

Dave went first and easily reached his foot to the rock where he needed to step. My legs are shorter and there was NO WAY I could do the same. Then Dave suggested I use his shoulder for a step — a stroke of brilliance! He was far enough down that I still had to use my arms to hold myself in the air for a moment before stepping on his right shoulder with my left foot, then I think he squatted down some so I could reach the rock with my right foot. 
First part — done!
Next, he slid down a rock, then had to jump down about five feet. Being smaller, I actually fit through the hole that surrounded the slide easier than Dave, and he helped me with the 5-foot drop. My hero!!
Here's a video showing where we had to climb down.


There were a couple of other tricky spots, in fact we came at one from a different direction than we had before. The last time we’d had to turn back because we couldn’t scramble up (although our son Mike did). This trip we came at it from above so we were able to climb down. All in all it was a fun hike. We also saw a dead baby rattler on a rock. We saw a number of lizards, including a couple of quite large ones.

As we drove back along Hole-in-the-Rock road, a motorcyclist flagged us down. One of his companions had crashed quite a ways away and had broken his leg in multiple places. He gave us the GPS coordinates and said though he’d asked others to report it, he wanted us to report it as well. A few miles on we had cell service and I called 911 and reported it. They’d already gotten the info.

Sunday we hiked to Lower Calf Creek. It was kind of hot, though the scenery was beautiful —red rock and green trees and bushes. When we got to the falls, we took off our shoes and waded in the ice-cold water. The sand was extremely soft. There was a pretty hummingbird that hovered over the water. On the hike back there was a group going to the falls carrying a large cooler. That must have been heavy to carry for the 6-mile round-trip hike.




In the evening Dave was outside reading and I was inside when he called out that he saw a deer. I had the camera in my hand and I wanted to hurry but be quiet, so, graceful as ever, I fell down the trailer stairs — well, really I fell to the side into the dirt. That gave Dave a scare, but besides a little scraped elbow, I was fine. We saw the three deer up the ridge by our campsite.
Now it’s Monday morning. We’ll eat soon, then leave.

Another fun trip.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Never Trust Your GPS - Escalante State Park (Labor Day weekend 2011)

September 3-5, 2011 (Labor Day)
Escalante State Park
Dave, Christine, Mike

We left about 5:15 PM on Friday, September 2nd. However, our reservation didn’t start until Saturday. The plan was to stop at the Flying J in Beaver and spend the night in the 5th wheel, but as we traveled south on I-15, we turned on the GPS. The GPS lady said to take the exit by Scipio (a small town), which was an alternate way to go. Feeling adventurous, we decided to go that way, which was a new way for us.

It was getting dark by then, but we faithfully followed the GPS lady’s directions. Twice, she took us on half-loops that went on unpaved roads and then brought us back to the road we’d been on originally. On one of these loops (really more of a U), we saw two deer, so that was fun. Back on the main road we saw something in the road (it was fairly dark by then) and had to swerve to avoid a deer curled up and sitting in our lane. We hope he wasn’t hurt—not sure why he was sitting in the road. We saw another deer on the side of the road earlier too, so we saw 4 deer.

On one of the detours, we drove past a house kind of out in the middle of nowhere. A family was bar-b-quing on their front porch and they stared at us as we drove past, probably wondering what in the world we were doing driving past their house on a seldom-used dirt road pulling a 5th wheel.

Eventually the GPS lady told us to turn off of the highway onto an unpaved road. We did. (Why? You may ask. It was dark and we couldn’t tell it was unpaved until we’d already turned onto it, and it’s difficult to turn around when pulling an RV, so we decided to go forward.) We had to drive about 40 miles. Since we couldn’t go faster than 25 - 30 miles per hour, it took a while (The name of the road turned out to be “The Devil’s Backbone”!) It was about 10:00 PM when we started on this road, so we were getting tired.

Two different times, a rabbit ran across the road in front of us. The drive looked like it would be a pretty during the day, but we were tired and it was dark. The road actually wasn’t too bad for an unpaved road, but it was bumpy at times. As we approached the end (according to the GPS at least), Dave noticed that the light for the trailer brakes wasn’t on (this is a small light near the driver that is green when the trailer brakes are not applied, and turns orange/red when the trailer brakes are applied), and we’d been going downhill. He got out of the truck and we could smell the distinct odor of overused truck brakes. All the bouncing around had caused the brake plug to come out, so we'd been using only the truck brakes to slow the truck AND trailer. Not good. Luckily, Dave just had to plug the cord back in, and we were one our way.

Twice along the way we had to stop and use a flashlight to check a sign to make sure we took the correct fork in the road. Also, a few times we saw RV’s well off the road, camping. We considered doing the same (evidently it was BLM land where you can camp if you want), but it didn’t seem wise to drive off of the road while pulling the trailer when we wouldn’t be able to see where we were going. Plus it was just Dave, me, and Mike and it creeped me out to be away from everyone when who knows who was out there.

At about 11:45 PM, when we reached the end of that leg, the GPS lady told us to “turn right”, but the scenery looked the same. We were expecting to reach a paved road, but didn’t see anything. Then we noticed a  road sharply to the right. We would have to make a U-turn with the 5th wheel to go that way and it seemed to lead off into the darkness.

After stopping in the middle of the road (not that there was ANYONE around), Dave took the flashlight and walked down the road the GPS lady wanted us to take, to see where it led. He discovered that it led to a creek and then seemed to stop. We decided to continue on the way we’d been going and the GPS lady recalculated. Fifteen minutes later we reached the town of Escalante. 

Needless to say, we bought a map of the area the very next day! 

So it was about midnight when we reached Escalante. First we drove to the campground to see if our spot happened to be empty (though we weren't due until later that day). It wasn’t. Then we drove through town, looking for an inconspicuous place to park. There was a large motel (Prospector’s Inn) and we pulled into the parking lot. At the end  of the parking lot was a large gravel area. We pulled in there, got ready for bed, and went to bed. We slept with the slide-out slid in so it wouldn’t be obvious that we were sleeping in there.

We slept without incident. Saturday at 7:00 I woke up and got dressed. Mike and Dave got up too. A short time later we pulled away from the Inn and drove down the main street, looking for a place to eat breakfast (I didn't want to prepare a meal in the trailer until we got to our campsite). We didn’t see any place to eat, so we pulled into a gas station and asked where a place to eat was. Ironically, he sent us back to Prospector’s Inn where there was a restaurant.

We had a good breakfast, then drove back to the campground to see if the people in our spot had left. They hadn’t. It was 8:30 AM. We went back to the Visitor’s Center, which is where we bought the Utah Almanac. Then we  went to the Escalante River Trailhead and began the Escalante Natural bridge hike.

Right at the beginning we had to cross a stream about ten feet across and less than a foot deep. We took off our shoes and socks to cross it. Both banks had deep sand, so it was fun to be barefoot. We put our shoes and socks back on and continued on. 

Mike after we crossed the creek

Apparently we missed the place where you are supposed to cross the creek again, because as we went on, the trail became hard to see and difficult to walk through, but we kept going. 

Mike and me on the Escalante River trail

Eventually we had to stop because the only options were to jump in the river or climb a rock wall. Here is a video of what the area looked like.


Here's a funny video of Mike jumping across a narrow section of the stream. He thought the other side was a little more stable.




We turned around and headed back and saw a group of people crossing the river at the place we missed. We were ready to get to our campsite, so we headed back to the beginning of the trail and got back to our truck. We drove to the campground and arrived just before 1:00 PM. The people had left and we were able to pull in to our spot and get settled.

On Sunday we drove out on the Hole in the Rock road to the Dry Fork Road trailhead. There are several slot canyons there. We hiked three of them:  Dry Fork, Peek-a-boo, and Spooky. There were some extremely narrow areas, but it was fun. 




We also had to do a bit of climbing from time to time. In fact, to even get started on one of the slot canyon hikes, we had to climb up about 25 feet to get into the opening. It’s harder to climb down it (for me) than to climb up. Here's a video of me climbing up. You can judge if my 25 foot guess is accurate. I'm not very good at telling measurements. The rock is sandy, which makes it slippery and I was afraid of slipping and falling!



The hike back to the car was strenuous as we were tired and there were a lot of uphill sections. All told, we were there nearly four hours. Next time we need to bring more water. We had 4 16-ounce bottles and Mike had his Camelback, but we could have used more. It was a fun time.

Here are a few more pictures from that hike:

Mike and me

Mike

Mike

On the drive back we saw this sign and thought it was funny.

Dave in the cat pasture

We came back and showered, had dinner, and watched a movie. (Our campsite had electric and water hookups, which was nice).

NOTE: Soon after, Dave and I invested in Camelbacks for ourselves and have really enjoyed them.

Spruces (August 26-28, 2011)


August 26-28, 2011
Spruces
Dave and Christine

Dave and I arrived at the Spruces campground (up Big Cottonwood Canyon) about 5:20 pm on Friday. We set up camp and started dinner, then Val, Blake, and Bronx arrived about 7:30 to have dinner with us and sit around the campfire. Bronx was excited and had a good time. They left by 9:30 pm.

Bronx - 20 months old, sitting by the campfire



On Saturday, Dave and I walked around the campground, then drove through another campground a little further up Big Cottonwood Canyon—Redman—it's pretty but only has a handful of sites where we could fit our 5th wheel. And they're all first come/first serve.
We drove further up the canyon to Silver Lake and took the walk around the lake. 

Dave and me at Silver Lake

We came back and showered, then relaxed. 
Mike came up for dinner (Laura was working).
That night there was a big thunderstorm that came through. LOUD thunder, lots of rain, extra bright lightening.
We were up by 7:00 am on Sunday and had a quick breakfast. It is now nearly 8:00 am and we'll be packing up and leaving soon.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Yellowstone (August, 2011)

August 11-16, 2011 (Thursday - Tuesday)
Yellowstone
Dave, Christine, Mike (21 years old), Laura (17 years old)

We left at 5:00 pm on Thursday and drove to Rexburg, ID to a Walmart with the idea that we would spend the night in their parking lot, then get an early start for the rest of the drive the next morning. We arrived just before 10:00 pm, then went into the Walmart to get a few items. Though we were pretty tired, it was fun to go shopping. There were hardly any customers, and the workers were stocking the shelves for the next day. We spent an uneventful night in the fifth wheel, then left the next morning about 9:30. 

We arrived in West Yellowstone about 11:00 am and had lunch at Wild West Pizza--which was delicious--then we drove into Yellowstone. The weather was very pleasant--low 70's--and beautiful. Laura had a cold and was not feeling well. We saw plenty of bison, as they are always a reliable animal in the Hayden Valley.


We stopped by the Canyon Village and took a couple of pictures.

Laura and Dave

Laura and Mike


That evening (Friday) we went “bear-hunting”, which is when you try to spot bears and other wildlife. We've found that our chances are better as dusk approaches. We saw three grizzlies, which were in a group. We think it was two adults and one cub. We watched them for a while, but they were too far to get a picture.

On Saturday Mike, Dave, and I got up at 6:00 am and drove to the look-out point (10 miles north of Fishing Bridge). A ranger was having a program at 7:00. Fog blanketed the valley as we pulled in to a parking space. While waiting for the fog to burn off, we listened to the ranger, Christeal, who was from San Francisco. She had four pelts for us to look at and touch: wolf, coyote, fox, and bear. They were all about the same softness, but the bear pelt had the longest hair.

Wolf pelt

Bear pelt

A short while later the sun burned off the fog and we were able to see two of the grizzlies from the night before. As the night before, they were too far away to photograph.

When we got back to the trailer, Laura was awake but still in bed. Still not feeling well, she declined the offer to hike with us to Natural Bridge. Dave, Mike, and I went on our own. The hike was relatively easy and we had fun.

Mike and Dave

We came back and had lunch, then all four of us drove out to Lamar Valley. We saw lots of bison as we passed through Hayden Valley (as we did all the days we were there), but no other wildlife. We arrived at the Trout Lake trailhead and set off. 

Dave, Mike, and Laura (I guess I need to have them take pictures of me once in a while!)

This was a short hike, which led to Trout Lake, then around the lake. Laura led for a portion as we circled the lake and saw a garter snake in the path. It slithered away before any of the rest of us could see it.

After the hike we retraced our path through Lamar Valley. This time through, we saw a small creature cross the road and clamber up the hillside. We pulled alongside it. We think it was a badger.

We drove on further and finally saw a group of four pronghorn deer. They ran through the meadow, then across the road. Between the hike, the badger, and the pronghorn, we felt satisfied with the long drive out to Lamar Valley.

On Sunday we drove toward the Geyser Basin. We took the easy, but long (5 mile round-trip) hike to Lone Star Geyser. No one was there when we arrived. We sat on a log in the shade and looked through the log book that the rangers had left there. People from all over the world had written in it over the past year. Laura added her contribution. 

Mike and Laura reading the log at Lone Star Geyser

We ate our lunch as a few other people arrived. An hour and a half later the “minor” eruption began, shooting hot water forty-five feet into the air. We watched that for a while, then hiked back to the parking lot.

Next, we drove to the new Old Faithful Visitor's Center and enjoyed the exhibits. We had ice cream, then drove back to camp. 

Me and Laura

After relaxing for a while, we went “bear-hunting” in the Hayden Valley. We saw deer, elk, of course bison, but no bears. Here is a pretty sunset picture that Laura took.


Today is Monday. We plan on going to the Grand Tetons. We've never been there before and are excited to see what it looks like and hope to see some wildlife.

Tuesday—today we'll be going home. It is 7:10 am and everyone but me is asleep. It's 38 degrees outside today.

Yesterday started out overcast. In fact, we drove into Grand Teton park and when we stopped at an overlook to eat our lunch, a thunderstorm with pouring rain rolled through.

Me and Dave

Mike and Laura

Last night we went to our favorite overlook point to watch for the wolves. After about a 30 minute wait (about 7:45), the wolves came out. We saw five of them. Some were dark, others were tan. Through our scope we could see their tails wagging as they played. Very cute!

When we drive home today, we'll go through the Tetons. There has been a grizzly sow and cubs seen along the roadway. We're hoping they'll be out as we come through.


--We didn't see any bears.

Here's a short video of a bison causing what they call a "bison-jam". We love it when the bisons walk right next to our truck.



Thursday, January 2, 2014

Goblin Valley (November, 2010)

November 4-7, 2010 (Thursday-Sunday)
Goblin Valley State Park (Our first time here)
Dave, Christine, Mike, Laura

Highs in the 60's, lows in the 30's. Beautiful weather.
Arrived Thursday evening and set up camp. Not many people here.



Friday went to the “Valley of the Goblins”. We climbed on rock formations.

Mike and Laura

Mike, Dave, Laura


Saturday we went to “Little Wild Horse” slot canyon. Lots of narrows. We had to scramble several times. Pretty and fun hike!

Mike and Laura

Laura and Mike

Laura



Saw trillions of stars on the first and second night. The last night was cloudy, so we couldn't see as many stars.

Me