Our Journey : Grand Teton National Park

Showing posts with label Grand Teton National Park. Show all posts

6/12/2013

June 10, 2013 - The Tetons, Yellowstone, and an Adventure

We left our great little site and headed north through Grand Teton National Park.

We were treated with these beautiful animals up close. WOW!

We were going up a little hill and the motor home started to get slower and slower and slower. We made it up and over and pulled over in one of the overlooks. Oh-oh! After a while, it was okay so off we went.

We entered Yellowstone National Park and same thing happened again so we took it slow into Grant’s Village and found a mechanic to take a look. They felt it was a bad fuel filter but they did not have one and would not be able to get one for a day or so. We found out that there was a Napa in West Yellowstone who had them so off we went - 50 miles each way. When we came back, they put the filter in and we did a few test drives and although we did not feel it was right, the mechanics could not find any other issues. They did give us the names of a few places in Bozeman, Montana if we had more problems.

So we left the garage at 5 PM with Andy driving the motorhome and me driving the Tracker separately. No problems to the campground.

We are staying at Baker’s Hole National Forest Campground - a great little place with electric. Ann and Roy are here and we spent the rest of the evening talking about our troubles.

A little about Yellowstone - we made the trip from Grants Village which is near the south entrance to the west entrance, three times today. The scenery is beautiful but I did not take many pictures. Someday we will be back and spend LOTS of time exploring this park.

Two photo’s from Yellowstone - we were thrilled to see the trees coming back since the 1988 fire. I was here in 1981 and those pines were majestic. Andy and I came through in 1997 and it was sad to see so much destruction especially since I saw it before the fire.

So many hot springs:

We are still not sure what we are doing next.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 127 miles (Motorhome only) - Add another 150 or so for the Tracker

Routes Traveled:

Wyoming: Gros Ventre Road; US-191; US-20

Montana: US-20; US-191

6/10/2013

June 9, 2013 - Our Last Day in the Tetons

Ann called us this morning to let us know about the moose who was hanging around the RV’s. I did not go out but watched thru the window - another WOW!

After saying our goodbyes to Roy and Ann of http://roanontheroad.blogspot.com who are headed north, we got our acts together and went to the service at the Church of the Transfiguration. This was the church we visited the other day:

This was our view for the entire service - it was inspirational.

After the service, we stopped in the visitor center in Jackson Hole. The center also includes a museum on the National Elk Refuge which is located slightly north of Jackson. The refuge is the wintering grounds of over 4500 elk.

We were looking for information on Yellowstone Park also. And to our dismay, we found out that there is no place for us in the park for the next week - !. So we are not sure what we are doing at this time.

After that stop, we went to the local flea market and I got to talking with a woman who did dichroic glass in her RV and the equipment she has to do that craft. A while ago, I decided that my next hobby would be either quilting or dichroic glass and she made the glass hobby more realistic than I thought.. Hmmmmm....we will see.

Back home we just did some odds and ends and had supper over a nice campfire. Later this evening, I finished all the blogs and hope to upload when I have access.

In 1997, we were in this area and remember it fondly. Over the past week, this fondness has grown. If we could afford it, we would have a summer lot here. Between the mountains, valleys, animals and scenery, all I can say is oh, my!

Tomorrow we are heading north - still not sure where so stay tuned.

Enjoy today!

(If you have called me or left me any notes on the internet, I am still off line. Hopefully over the next few days, I will be able to log on and get/send calls.)

To Denis and Sandra of http://letendrestraveljournal.blogspot.com - Hopefully our paths will cross again.

Enjoy today and stay tuned for our next adventure.

June 8, 2013 - Moose and Music

This morning’s adventure took us to the Moose-Wilson Road. (Just to let you know, there really is a place called Moose, Wyoming ).

It is a 2 lane road with no lines and many aspens, pines and ponds.

We came upon this pond with many cars on the side of the road and also a ranger present. Look real close at the right side of the pond. I pulled off the road, grab my camera and away I go. (Poor Andy, I just left him there and took off running.)

What a magnificent creature (this lady was a little too close and the ranger told her to move).

WOW and more WOW - my visit here is complete! Enjoy!

Blowing bubbles in the water - first time I saw that .

The ranger said that this fellow has been here for the last couple of days. He is there to make sure that people stay at least 30 yards away from the moose.

After a long while, we continued on our way. We crossed over this river:

The rivers are really flowing this time of year.

There were also beaver homes along the way but not a good place to pull off and take pictures.

From there we went to Jackson and made a few stops - bookstores, gas, and Smiths Food Market.

Back home we relaxed a bit before we headed out to the Bar J Chuckwagon with Roy and Ann. I have to give lots of thanks to Ann for finding this. Andy and I had the Bar-B-Que Beef for $22.00 and that included the meal, tax, gratuity and show. While the meal was good, the show was OUTSTANDING!

We arrived early and walked around - they have a nice set up here, especially for families.

Here we are - Roy, Ann, Andy:

Diane, Andy, Ann:

One of the exhibits - notice the moose to the right of the waterfall - he looked real !

Horse drawn wagon rides throughout the park - we decided to do the walk instead:

The Stage:

The owner, Babe Humphrey, who started this over 35 years ago.

The Bar J Wranglers entertained us for the rest of the evening - Outstanding. They sang old and new songs and their harmony (without instruments) was unbelievable. If you are ever in this area, I highly recommend going here for an evening of entertainment.

Thanks Ann for finding this gem in Jackson Hole.

(And to Denis and Sandra, fellow bloggers at .... sorry we missed you )

Another wonderful day - we are so blessed.

June 7, 2013 Buffalo, Water, and Flowers

Since we initially planned to move after a few days, we were not very conservative with our tanks. Because we really like this campground we decided to stay for a few more days. So you know what is coming...this morning we had to go and dump our tanks and refill with water. (Just one of those things - ).

When I signed up for a few more days, I found out that there is Wi-Fi right behind the campground office. So after we reset up, I spent an hour there uploading a few blogs and checking on some items. We have little to no cell phone service and occasionally I do get and can send some emails. It has been nice to unplug for a while.

After lunch we went on another road trip. We were heading to the Jackson Dam and Reservoir but we made a stop at the Elk Ranch Flats Overlook when we saw the buffalo herd:

There were lots of babies - :

Another view from the overlook:

We made another stop at the Willow Flats Overlook and I found this interesting:

Our next stop was the Jackson Lake Dam and Overlook:

Swallows flying all over the dam - many nests:

There are fifteen 2.5 ton gates at the base of Jackson Lake Dam that control the reservoir level by controlling the amount of water released. This is one of the controls:

Almost 50% open:

Jackson Lake formed 10,000 years ago when water filled a glacial depression. To store irrigation water, the Bureau of Reclamation built a temporary dam at the mouth of Jackson Lake in 1906. The dam partially failed in 1910 but within a year the new dam was created and water was being stored again.

Jackson Lake Dam is part of the Minidoka Project that provides irrigation water to southeast Idaho. It is one of the 9 dams that irrigate over 1.2 million acres that was once sagebrush flats.

Jackson Lake Dam is the furthest upstream. Irrigators rarely draw their full share of water, allowing Jackson Lake Reservoir to remain above natural lake level.

Our next stop was Signal Mountain Overlook where we took a nice 5 mile drive up the mountain from the valley floor.

The views were spectacular:

The flat area covered in yellow flowers is Elk Ranch Flats where the herd of buffalo are in the above picture. Through the binoculars we could still see the herd.