Jackson Hole, WY

Tue (9-13-11): We are here at the Virginian RV Resort for the next 4 nights.  Had dinner at the restaurant here tonight and the meatloaf was wonderful and much more than we could eat.

Wed (9-14-11):  Headed out of Jackson Hole and up to Moose Junction, WY where we went to the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center.  Wonderful displays there and a great movie about the Teton Park.  At the end of the movie, the screen was raised and the curtains pulled back behind it, and there was the beautiful Teton Range for us to see.  Next we stopped at Menors Ferry and got to see the store, ferry and the Chapel of the Transfiguration.  Then it was up the road in the park to Jenny Lake.  We parked at the boat launch area and had our tailgate lunch.  Then the sky got really dark and we decided to head back into Jackson Hole for some sightseeing there before the rain came.  We stopped in to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and while we were inside the rains came and went.  We did a little shopping and then headed back to the campground.  Patty made a spagetti dinner and we all visited over a couple bottles of wine.

Tolsons and Hellrungs under Elk Antler Arch in Jackson Hole Town Square;

there are 3 more arches like this one on each corner of the Square

Million Dollar Cowboy Bar downtown Jackson Hole

Cowboy Chuck at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar

Patty and I "in the saddle" at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar--

not a very comfortable seat

 

More Pics to Come

Thu (9-15-11): Today is Larry and Patty's Anniversary!  Great picture taking day today after a very foggy morning!  Got our grocery shopping done (bought some elk rib eye steaks and buffalo burger to take home) and then headed out on the Moose-Wilson Road to Teton Village for a great lunch at Nick Wilson's Deck and Bar where we could watch the Tram go up and down the mountain and the hang gliders.  From there we continued on into the Teton NP again where we had beautiful scenery of the Teton Range and the many lakes.

Teton Village - Lunch with a View

Hang Glider at Teton Village

Fri (9-16-11): Supposed to rain this afternoon, so we headed out early to try and get some more pictures of the Tetons.  We didn't get to see the top of the Grand Teton Mt, but once in awhile we got a sunny glimpse of the lower mountains.  We went up to the Snake River Overlook to see if we could get a picture of the Grand Teton Mt--no luck.  It was in a very gray cloud.  We headed back to Antelope Flats Road and then down Mormon Row.  This was a homesteaded little Mormon town settled in the 1890's.  About 1930, this land was acquired to expand the Grand Teton NP and these folks moved into Jackson and other areas.  What a beautiful view they had of the Teton Range!

John & Bartha Moulton Homestead on Mormon Row with

Tetons in the Background in the Clouds

Outhouse on Mormon Row with Tetons in the Background

 Barn on Mormon Row WY with Teton Range

in the Clouds in the Background

Thomas Alma & Lucille Moulton Barn on Mormon Row in WY--

My attempt at reproducing the pic that Ansel Adams took here!

Kelly, WY--Little town just north of Jackson Hole

We stopped here in Kelly, WY to warm up with coffee and hot chocolate at this little sandwich shop.  We continued up to the Gros Venture Road and traveled it up to the Lower Slide Lake.  There had been a large land slide here back in the 20's which created this lake.  Shortly after this slide happened, a mud slide rushed this water down the valley and all about destroyed the little town of Kelly, WY.

Well, tomorrow we start heading east and will probably stay at the Wal Mart in Casper, WY for the night.

West Yellowstone, MT

Thu (9-8-11): We are here at the Grizzly RV Resort (Good SAM) [406-646-4466] in West Yellowstone for the next 5 nights.  They have 191 sites and are mostly full as there is a Prevot Rally coming in on Sat.  We left Cody, WY this am and headed west into Yellowstone.  The smoke from the fire on the east side of Yellowstone Lake was blowing in our direction.  There are several fires burning in the Park, but this one is the only one that we've noticed so far.

Red Indicates Active Fires in the Park

Fire Damage in the Park Heading to Yellowstone Lake Area--

We should see more fire damage as we head thru the park and south

to Jackson, WY on Tuesday.

 

We encountered quite a bison road block as we drove north thru Hayden Valley.  Seems the bison herd

 

 

Fri (9-9-11): Drove from West Yellowstone into the park on the western side up thru Mammoth Hot Springs and out the park into Gardiner, MT where we did a little shopping and got an ice cream.  We were here in 1991 and saw the 1988 fire damage.  It was great to see it now with beautiful green pine trees everywhere along this drive.

Pics to come

Sat (9-10-11): Chuck and I (Hellrungs feeling under the weather) drove north out of West Yellowstone on Hwy 191 and then west on Hwy 287 to view the Madison River Canyon Earthquake Area this morning. This is in the Gallatin National Forest. On the beautiful moonlit night of Aug 17, 1959, a 6.3 foreshock was immediately followed by a 7.5 earthquake triggering a massive landslide which sent over 80 million tons of rock crashing down into the canyon, blocking the Madison River. The water backed up behind the rocks and formed the new Earthquake Lake. High velocity winds and a gigantic wall of water swept through the area. Three sections of Hwy 287 fell into the lake. Hundreds of people vacationing in the area were trapped and 28 people lost their lives most by the huge avalanche of rock and trees that cascaded off the south wall of the canyon just above the campground. Unfortunately, the Visitor Center closed on Labor Day, which has a DVD presentation and a working seismograph on display. After we left the slide area, we turned south on Hwy 87 and saw a herd of Pronghorn. We also saw many ranches and crossed the Continential Divide. This highway deadends on Hwy 20 that does back into MT and that is how we made the loop back to West Yellowstone.

http://visitmt.com/history/Montana_the_Magazine_of_Western_History/Spring03/earthquake.htm

http://www.seis.utah.edu/lqthreat/nehrp_htm/1959hebg/i1959he1.shtml

Effects of Madison River Canyon Earthquake

21-ft Fault Scarp Severed this Old Campground

Shaping of Earthquake Lake

Earthquake Lake

Rock Slide Area

Sep and Oct 1959--Spillway was Made and Then Deepened Across Slide so the

Madison River Could Continue to Flow Into the Valley

Pronghorn Along Roadway on Hwy 89

SW Montana Ranch - US or JS PONDEROSA

Into IDAHO

On Driveway to Ranch Giving Trail Rides

Our campground allows coach washing, so that is what Chuck and Larry did this afternoon.  Patty was feeling a little better later, so we went over to the Imax Theater just down the street from the campground and saw "Yellowstone" on the big screen.  After, we spent a short while at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center next door.  Two of the large grizzlies, Sam & Illie twinsiblings, were cubs found wandering into a fishing village when their mother was probably killed at Katmai NP near King Salmon in Alaska.  They are much larger than Yellowstone grizzlies and weigh 1,000 and 750 lbs respectively!  There are two wolf packs at the Center.

PICS TO COME

Sun (9-11-11):  Chuck and I drove west and then south on US 20 out of West Yellowstone to the Mesa Scenic Byway and ended up in Ashton, ID.  Another beautiful sunny day with beautiful white clouds to our north.  Stopped at the Lower Mesa Falls.  A few more miles down the road, we had a nice view of the Teton Mt Range.  Found miles and miles of wheat fields and then seed potato fields.

Mesa Falls Scenic Byway

 My Cowboy at Mesa Falls, ID

Mesa Falls, ID

Mesa Falls Canyon and River

Teton Mt Range Over in WY - View from Mesa Scenic Byway in ID

Grain Silos in Downtown Ashton, ID

Frostop Drive-In, Ashton, ID on US 20--We had a great burger and fries

here where a car hop came out and took our order and served us. 

This drive-in has been open since 1965.

Teton Range from US 20 in Ashton, ID

Back to the coach in time for Chuck to wash the truck and then we got a thunderstorm.  Rain is surely needed here as there is a high fire danger.

Mon (9-12-11):

Cody, WY

Fri (9-2-11): We are here at the Ponderosa Campground (Good SAM) [307-587-9203] for the next 6 nights.

Sat (9-3-11):  Drove to Red Lodge, MT; then thru the Beartooth Hwy up to 11,000 ft; in the 40's; patches of snow! Met and talked to a couple from MT that had a Spyder motorcycle. Came back thru the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. Met our camping neighbors who have a 600-acre ranch in east central MT. Was so interesting hearing how they went to school living in a dorm during high school and going home on the weekends because they were about 35 miles from their school. Now that's different!

Sun (9-4-11):  Buffalo Bill Historical Center today here in Cody, WY.

Wagon Used to Travel West

Poster Advertising Buffalo Bill's Show

How'd you like to have to wear one of these ladies?

Ret Senator Simpson Signing His Book at the Museum

Mon (9-5-11):   Meteetse, WY--BBQ lunch with locals in the Lion's Park, Mini Chuck Wagon Races and RODEO today, which is how they celebrate Labor Day. This is their 99th year celebration. This is a small western town about 30 miles from Cody.  There are about 300 people in the town and from 115 to 130 students in the school, which is K-12.  The high school football team has only 6 players and they use an 80-yd field and have to travel pretty far (over night) to play similar size schools.  Most of their graduating classes go on to college!  Rodeo was fun, except for the hot sun that we sat in on the bleaches--our cowboy hats helped!  Were surprised to see such young kids competing in the rodeo!

Downtown Meteetse, WY

Mini Chuckwagon Races

This Burro Didn't Want to Walk on a Rope!

Meteetse Rodeo Children (Hellrung Photo)

Litte boy about 3 yrs old practicing working with a lasso--he was GOOD!
(Hellrung Photo)

Tue (9-6-11):  Drove into the eastern side of Yellowstone today thru the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway in the Shoshone National Forest and made it up to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. 

Beautiful Bald Eagle Sitting High up in a Dead Tree

Wed (9-7-11): Down day to get wash done, coach cleaning and some Wal Mart shopping as we won't have one again until we leave Jackson Hole, WY!  The guys drove up to the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center.  Patty made her famous margaritas (3 pitchers full!) and we cooked in tonight.  I think this is only the third time since we left home!  Decided to check out Cassie's as everyone we talked to said we needed to go there for "local color."  Not a great night, but there was a guy singing that sounded just like Wiley Nelson!  Patty and I traded in our husbands for two good looking cowboys.  They sure look good in cowboy hats!  Was disappointed that no one was doing the two step.  Would have loved to have been there on a Saturday night!  Weren't ready to call it a night and headed downtown to the Irma Hotel, which Buffalo Bill Cody built, where a cowboy band was playing out on the porch.  We sat at a picnic table and got to talking with a gentleman from Texas who worked for an oil company who was with friends and going elk hunting in the morning.  Tomorrow is the first day of the season and the elk are in rut, so he was real excited to have gotten the lottery to hunt for the next week.

Our Cowboys for the Night!

Sheridan, WY

Tue (8-30-11): We are camped at the Sheridan/Big Horn Mt KOA [800-562-7621] for the next three nights. There is a Walmart Supercenter here in Sheridan at 1695 Coffeen Avenue.

Wed (8-31-11):  Drove north up I90 from Sheridan into Montana and visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.  Saw a coyote coming across a wheat field.  Shopped in Sheridan in afternoon.

Thu (9-1-11):  We found cooler weather today!  It got down to 45 deg on our travels through the Big Horn Forest today where we got up to almost 10,000 ft heigh.  From Sheridan, we drove the Scenic Byway 14 up to Burgess Junction and stopped at the visitor center there and watched a film about Medicine Wheel.  From here we turned onto 14a and continued west.  We saw a herd of elk up on the mountain crossing a field.  Couldn't believe how many there were all walking in a line.  Estimated that there were about 100 elk!  Stopped at Medicine Wheel and then continued on 14a till it came down toward the Bighorn Basin where the grade was 10%!  Turned around and drove back about 4:00 pm, which was a good time to see alot of elk and moose.  We ran into VERY THICK pea soup on the way back and Larry couldn't drive more than 25 because you couldn't see anything in front of us.  Thankfully it cleared up before we headed down the 8 % grade S-curves coming down the mountain back to Sheridan. Ate at the Wyoming's Rib and Chop House that evening.

Chuck and Larry on our 3-Mile Round Trip Hike

up to Medicine Wheel at just shy of 10,000 ft -

Slow Going for Me with a Head Cold

Patty and I Found Some Snow on Our Hike Up to Medicine Wheel

Marmot - We saw several of them and heard their loud whistles when

they communicated with each other, especially when we came close.

Pika--These little guys were all busy taking big green leaves into their homes

 for the winter, which is right around the corner for them.  Pikas don't

hibernate so they have to store alot of food.  They also steal from

each other during the winter.

Medicine Wheel - This wheel measures approx. 80 ft in diameter, with 28 spokes radiating out from the center, probably constructed between 1,200 and 1,700 A.D.,

and sits above the treeline at 9,642 ft above sea level on Medicine Mt. 

Medicine Wheel Spiritual Offerings