The Grand Tetons

We looked at routes into West Yellowstone and realized that going through the park from the east was not an option because of the mountain passes and narrow roads. We had planned on going north through Montana but we had also tried to figure out how to include Grand Teton National Park south of Yellowstone in our itinerary. It would have been out of the way to go there after Yellowstone but it looked like we could go that way before Yellowstone. We had the time to spend a full day in Grand Teton and still get to West Yellowstone on time so we did it.

From Keyhole State Park we drove southwest to Casper where we visited the National Trails Interpretive Center. This building has information on the wagon trails that went through Casper on the way to Oregon and California. The multimedia presentations are great and it made us appreciate all the more our relatively easy trip across 3/4ths of the U.S. to get to this point. Eight hours of sitting in a diesel powered motorhome is about the equivalent of two weeks of walking for the pioneers.

We then drove on for about two more hours to Riverton, WY and an overnight stay in a funky little RV park. Some grocery shopping and a stop to fuel up both of the rigs in the morning and we were on for a three hour drive to Grand Teton National Park and some boondocking (no hook ups at all). Coming into the Tetons from the west on US-26 as we did is the way to do it. We saw the mountains for about an hour before we entered the park itself and some of the views were spectacular.

Friends from the Jewish RVing Chapter, Shalom Roamers, Sandy and Carl Greenbaum, are volunteers in the park to direct traffic and keep visitors away from wildlife. However, as it was our luck, they had the day off when we were visiting so they volunteered to show us around the area. The great thing is that they have been doing this for many years so they know everything about the park and were able to tell us lots of things as they were taking us around. It was fun.

The first day we arrived, they came to see us after work and we took a short trip to Mormon Row, where there used to be a pair of Mormon farms back before the park was formed and the buildings are still there looking onto the mountains. They are kind of iconic sites for photos of the mountains. We were there late in the day so the sun was behind the buildings but I took some multiple exposures and processed them into HDRs and they came out great.

Then we had a wonderful Shabbat dinner at Myra and Dave’s RV. The next day, Geoff got up early and headed out to take some sunrise pictures of the mountain, a once in a lifetime chance as this was the first time he was in the park overnight. He was not disappointed except that the sky could have used a few clouds to pickup the morning rays.

When everyone else got up, we headed out early and spent the day driving up to Moran Junction, which was where we came into the park, and then around in front of the range past Jackson and Jenny Lakes on Teton Park Road. We stopped at Jackson Lake Lodge for lunch.

We also saw a lot of wildlife, especially on the river. There were some beaver dams and lodges but we did not see any beavers. We did see lots of ducks including a Mother duck with about 23 youngsters. Wow! The views were magnificent and we had a great day. Finally, we make it to West Yellowstone after another 3 hour drive over Teton Pass. Should be fun.

The Wild West

Our continuing journey westward has taken us from the Black Hills of South Dakota into the state which is synonymous with the Wild, Wild West, Wyoming. Miles and miles of open range, lots of cattle grazing, and a lot of deer too. Mule Deer and White Tail Deer we have seen so far. Our first stop was just 8 miles into the state at the Vore Buffalo Jump. This active archeological dig was found in 1971 when I-90 was being built and is the site of buffalo harvesting by several different Native American tribes over about 300 years.

The tribes would lure the buffalo toward the cliff and then chase them until they toppled into the sinkhole where they would kill and process them and be able to feed the tribe for months. This was the only method they had for hundreds of years until the Europeans introduced them to horses.

After lunch we continued on to Keyhole State Park near Moorcroft, WY, where we stayed for two nights. This was a convenient place to stay to allow us to spend some time at Devils Tower National Monument north about a half an hour. The trip there and back was half the fun, as the GPS took us over some gravel roads and open range where cattle and deer were present in large quantities. The mountain was visible a short time into the trip although it was still about 20 miles away. As we approached, it was apparent we were in for a treat, as the skies were clear and the weather was cooler than we had had for a while. Our best find was a pasture where there were two buffalo grazing right in front of a perfect view of the mountain, making for a “post card” worthy picture.

We drove up to the visitor’s center and did some looking around. Unfortunately, the light was wrong from that angle as it was mostly behind the mountain. Geoff and Dave decided to take one of the trails down and around the mountain to try to get some better angles. It was about a mile but was pretty easy because it was mostly downhill. Geoff only had sandals on but they are very comfortable sandals so there was no problem. Ellyn and Myra drove the car down and met them at the bottom. The pictures came out great!

After our visit to Devils Tower (by the way, the name does not have an apostrophe due to a typographical error when the monument was registered), it was off to find lunch. Ellyn found a restaurant in the nearby town of Hulett. When we got there, we found the restaurant closed but the attached bar was open and they had food, so we were saved. It turned out to be a great choice. We had buffalo, elk, and asparagus fries and played the juke box (which was much more advanced a unit than you would expect to find in this little bar in rural Wyoming). The bartender and waiter was great and a local native who helped us a lot. However, stay away during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August because the place is packed.

Back at the campground, we sat by the reservoir for a while and watched the boaters, kids jumping in the water, and diving birds fishing. It was a relaxing afternoon and got us caught up on our rest for our next push across Wyoming to the ultimate destination of the Great Rolling Yellowstone Caravan.

Spearfish, Lead, and Deadwood

Ok, we had one day off from touring and it was a good one to take off, because it was the hottest. The temperature hit 100 degrees, but it was a dry heat. We did a few errands and then hit the pool. It was very refreshing, even with all the kids splashing around and making a lot of noise. It wasn’t the Sun-N-Fun pool in more ways than one. We enjoyed it though.

So the next day was much cooler; about 24 degrees so. Wow! It did not start off well though. Geoff tried to apply a new charge to the air conditioning in the car, which had been having trouble keeping up with the heat lately. He tried the “AC Pro” we had seen on TV and it seemed pretty simple. However, the A/C compressor started making some strange sounds right afterwards and it seemed to be over pressurized. Bah! Now it looks like we will have to get it looked at on Monday and hopefully they can fix it in one day, the last one we are scheduled to be in South Dakota.

Anyway, we took Dave and Myra’s car and headed for the Northern edge of the Black Hills. The first stop was in Spearfish, where we visited the D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery. It was developed to hatch trout and populate the South Dakota streams, which did not have any trout. They went all the way to Yellowstone to get the eggs and then bring them back and raise the fish to pan size before sending them to the streams in a rail car. They still raise the fish but now receive them as fingerlings from other hatcheries. They also house archives of all US hatcheries.

After a great lunch in Spearfish, we headed down the Spearfish Canyon, a stunning drive through towering cliffs along Spearfish Creek.

From the end of the canyon it was a short drive into Lead (pronounced “leed”, not “led”). The name refers to a vein of gold that “leads” to a richer strike. Gold was mined in the area a lot from the 1900s to the end of the Twentieth Century. We visited the Black Hills Mining Museum which has a simulated mine which is pretty good. Also, Ellyn and Myra panned gold.

Finally, we moved on through Deadwood to a monument created by the actor Kevin Costner called Tatanka, The Story of the Bison. It was originally going to be a hotel and destination as a tribute to the Native Americans of the Black Hills region, but it is just a visitor’s center and a very impressive sculpture garden depicting a buffalo jump, where buffalo are chased off a cliff. Although the light was wrong for some good pictures, Geoff took multiple exposures which could be processed into HDR images. They came out really nice.