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Bev's Journal We Proceeded On... Part II: The Journey West |
| 14 October 2002 Shadow Mt. Bridger-Teton National Forest Near Jackson WY As I write this, we’re parked on a hill (7800’) across the valley (or ‘hole’, as in Jackson Hole) from the Grand Teton range. It is an awesome sight to wake up to, and we are enjoying seeing the Tetons in different lights. We are surrounded by mountain meadows, with stands of aspens here and there, with mountain ranges on all sides. The weather has been gorgeous – sunny and 50’s in the daytime, in the 20’s at night – and no precipitation predicted for the next week. I think we’re having a bit of an Indian summer. We drove over to Jenny Lake yesterday and walked around a bit. I was disappointed that the exscursion boat across the lake wasn’t still running, but apparently they stop the boat service when the campground and visitor center close in early September. ‘Jenny’ was the Native American wife of a trapper named Richard “Beaver Dick” Leigh, who, it is said, ‘could trap beaver where there warn’t any.’ |
| 12 October 2002 Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park West Yellowstone MT We finally arrived at Yellowstone, and have been here the last four days. Yellowstone NP really is all they say – it’s certainly the most geographically diverse place we’ve been yet. The highlight for me was the geyser basin on the shores of huge Yellowstone Lake, with mountain ranges in the background – truly awesome. We did the north and south loops of the park, and marveled at the changing landscape. We had beautiful fall weather, and the park was not crowded at all, so we could explore at our leisure. Of course, we saw Old Faithful, and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, and all the old standbys. Saw lots of widlife, too – mostly elk; in fact, we thought we might be going to see two bull elk fight it out for possession of the herd of female elk, but although there was a lot of bugling and staring, it never came to that. Never saw any bears; maybe they’re hibernating. Caught up with some housekeeping type things – finally got my hair cut (3 months!), got the truck an oil change, and did an avalanche of laundry. This camp is the best one we’ve ever stayed at – they’ve really tried to think of everything to make it a real oasis for Rvers, especially ones like us who’ve been boondocking in the national forests for a month or more. Such a luxury not to have to conserve water so drastically, to use the microwave and tv without hooking up the generator, and to be able to do your laundry using 7 or 8 machines instead of just 1 or 2. West Yellowstone is your basic tourist town, mostly motels and shops and restaurants for the touristas. Winter is severe here, with lots of snow and temperatures down to –50 – brrrr! We head south today for the Grand Tetons. |
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| Lower Falls of the Yellowstone - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River |