One week and counting...

Lake Louise in the Fitzpatrick Wilderness in the Wind River Mountains

Most people that visit Wyoming go to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks and until this year, David and I were no exceptions.  While both parks are outstanding and should be on everyone’s list of ‘must see’ places, we are discovering that there is a whole state out there worth exploring.  We aren’t just here killing time before the eclipse, we are having a blast.

Continental Divide National Recreation Trail at Brooks Lake near our campground

Since we don’t have a lot of time left this summer, we are concentrating our efforts in Wyoming’s Wind River Country.  So far, we have hiked three great trails, two in the Shoshone National Forest, our nation’s first national forest, and one in the Bridger-Teton N.F.  One of our hikes into the Fitzpatrick Wilderness required a little rock scrambling up to gorgeous Lake Louise with views of glaciers.  Another hike took us high into the Teton Wilderness with nearly 360 degree views of mountain ranges in every direction.  And the third hike was to Jade Lakes in the Absaroka Mountains with tall cliffs reflected in emerald green lakes.  These last two hikes had some of the most beautiful wildflower meadows we’ve seen this summer.

Jade Lake in the Absaroka  Mountains

Paintbrush field, Cindy and Jade Lake

Holmes Cave Trail, Teton Wilderness with Grand Tetons about 20 miles away

High mountain view from the Holmes Cave Trail in the Teton Wilderness

We’ve driven some great backroads into beautiful high-country areas with more glacier views.  We’ve seen mule deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, golden eagles, hawks and a black bear.  Not to mention lots of smaller birds and mammals.  We visited the Bighorn Sheep Museum in Dubois and learned much about the iconic Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep.  I never knew that Shoshone meant ‘sheep eaters’ and that these native peoples were so dependent on the bighorns.

Wildflower field high in the Teton Wilderness

View of Washakie Wilderness from trailhead in Horse Creek Canyon

Maya was with us on this drive and we didn't hike this trail - looked too rocky for all of us!

The haunting Wind River near Dubois

We could have camped here for the eclipse
Believe it or not people will camp here - the campgrounds around Dubois are full.

There is so much history in this area.  Driving to Dubois on WY Hwy 28, we went through South Pass, where many settlers came through on their way west.  Without the discovery of South Pass, a relatively easy grade route across the Continental Divide, the history of the United States’ westward expansion might have been a lot different.  A marker on Hwy 28, commemorates “Parting of the Ways,” where many emigrants said goodbye to friends they would likely never see again as some were traveling the Oregon Trail to the Pacific Northwest and others went on to California or took the Mormon Trail to Utah. 

Wildflowers near Jade Lake

We’ve found that Wyoming folks are just as friendly as Texans.  The locals have been so welcoming to us and have told us about their favorite places in Wyoming to camp, fish, hike or just go and see.  We won’t make it to all those places this year, it is a big state, but we will be back.  And we still have six more days to cram in more sights and trails before the eclipse.

Black Bear sighting in the Grand Tetons

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked   4

Rain Days       1 
Total Miles Hiked   20.37
Ave. Miles per Day      5.09
Total Elevation Gain     3,809
Ave. Elevation Gain per day  952

Countdown to Eclipse

David looks out over the hazy Whiskey River Basin from the Glacier Trail

It is now 9 days before the eclipse.  Wyoming skies are very hazy from all the western fires and on top of that, there have been lots of clouds and rain.   While we knew fires were possible as well as clouds, our thinking earlier in June was that Wyoming would have a good shot at being clear for the eclipse.

We made an exploratory trip to the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole and it was even hazier there than when we first arrived in Wyoming.  Very disappointing as the Grand Tetons are one of our most favorite places.  Other campers have told us that Idaho skies are just as bad or worse and we keep hearing about the crazy prices that are being charged to camp in parking lots or fields with no water or other services.  It is looking now like Nebraska would have been a better choice.  Oh well, even with perfect weather, one stray cloud with poor timing can drift across the sun at just the wrong 2 minutes – so we’ve decided to stay in Wyoming and take our chances.

Mt Moran in the Grand Tetons -- pretty hazy with all the nearby fires

Mt Moran in October of 2012 -- our first year on the road

Skies were so much clearer then

Luck was with us on finding a campground.  Northwest of Dubois in the Wind River Range of the Shoshone National Forest, we found a great National Forest campground for $10 a night!  And we even have electricity.  Falls Campground is on Brooks Lake Creek and there is a beautiful water fall within easy strolling distance.  Honestly, if we hadn’t found this place, we would still be wandering around wondering where we were going to be for the eclipse.  We have Trudy at the forest ranger’s office, to thank for helping us find such a beautiful and remote place to camp with many trails to hike and three wilderness areas nearby.

Meadow at Falls Campground where we hope to view the eclipse

Our plan is to stay in our little campground without the crowds and hike and maybe make some day trips to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone or other places nearby.  Dubois, Jackson Hole and other towns are having several eclipse events – lectures, concerts and tours and we may try to take advantage of some of those things.

Brooks Lake Creek Falls by our campground

So, we won’t be fighting crowds or desperately seeking a parking space/camping place at the Casper, WY Walmart after all.  I will try to make a blog entry or two before the eclipse but because of our remoteness, the nearest Internet service is in Dubois about 25 miles away. (Which is where we are this morning having a great breakfast at the Cowboy Café.)  You will hear from me for sure right after the eclipse as we will be streaking home in Silver for the start of school on August 28.

Now if only the rain and wind will clear the smoke away and the skies will not be cloudy all day, we could see an eclipse.

Wildflowers and Moose

Dumont Lake and fireweed

Our campground in the Routt National Forest

Fish Creek Falls near Steamboat Springs

We hiked to falls while we were staying in town.

After our stay at Lostman Campground, not only did Silver need a good charging but everything electronic we had needed power.  Originally, we had planned on taking Silver the rest of the way on Colorado Hwy 82 through Aspen and staying in Carbondale or Glenwood Springs.  But it was the weekend and both places were booked up completely.  We needed electricity and not another forest campground so, we went back through Independence Pass and over to I-70 then up to Steamboat Springs where we did find a commercial campground to suit our needs.

A family does Yoga at our campground in Steamboat Springs

Our energy restored, we traveled about 20 miles east of Steamboat Springs to Dumont Lake Campground in the Routt National Forest.  This campground was at 9,600 feet, one of the lower elevations we had camped in several weeks.  We had a good camping spot with some large trees to shade us but we also made plenty of solar energy during the middle of the day.  The generator and the refrigerator were happy to be at the lower elevation as well. We were still having thunderstorms, however it rained lightly or missed us completely most afternoons.  But the very best thing about our campground was the wildflowers.  The surrounding meadows were just bursting with yellows, blues, reds and purples.   The trails were lined with wildflowers, the lake was surrounded – it was a beautiful place to stay.

Wildflowers around Dumont Lake

David hikes through fireweed on the CDT/Wyoming Trail

One morning as we were hiking on the Continental Divide Trail / Wyoming Trail, we saw two moose (a cow and calf) near the lake.  As we walked, they started towards the lake and went swimming across.  We were at a good distance and watched their progress for several minutes.  As we continued along the trail we paralleled the moose and kept our eye on them off and on for half an hour.  We lost them in the woods but as our trail left the lake and entered the forest, we saw three more moose, this time a bull, cow and calf.  We don’t know if it was the same cow and calf with a bull or three different moose but what a great morning!  Neither one of us had ever had such a long sighting or seen so many moose at once.

Moose cow and calf swimming in Dumont Lake

Bull in velvet

Three moose in the forest

We hiked every day, took Maya for afternoon wildflower walks and hiked a trail in the Sarvis Creek Wilderness, another new wilderness for us.  Our last afternoon at the campground a big thunderstorm rolled in and we not only got rain but about an inch of hail!  It was pea-size or smaller but it really came down hard.  The temperatures dropped from the 70s to the 40s in a matter of minutes.   We were glad to have Silver’s protection and felt sorry for all the tent campers around us.  Most of the hail didn’t melt and it was in the 30s when we woke up the next morning.  Just a reminder that weather in the mountains is very unpredictable.

After the hail storm

Well, it is August and time to be thinking of that eclipse that seemed so far away at the beginning of our adventure.  We are in Rock Springs, Wyoming and are heading over near the Grand Tetons in a couple of hours.   It was so hazy driving here yesterday.  The many fires in the west are making visibility a challenge and it is likely to stay hazy for the next month.  So we aren’t sure exactly where we will be for the eclipse.  We don’t have reservations in a campground and have heard that some places are charging $250 a night for a camping spot!  Some campgrounds have a four-night minimum requirement, so $1000.  Hard to believe.  David and I may be viewing the eclipse from a Walmart parking lot.  Stay tuned for our eclipse adventure.  It is sure to be one.

Elephant head

This was the summer of paint brush

Last year it was columbines, but this summer the paint brush have been outstanding.

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked 4 

   
Total Miles Hiked  16.65   
Ave. Miles per Day      4.16
Total Elevation Gain     2,001
Ave. Elevation Gain per day  500

East of Aspen

Looking east from the Continental Divide at Independence Pass

Pass Gas, last chance for gas before heading up the pass

From our campground near Twin Lakes it was only a few miles until Colorado Hwy 82 through Independence Pass started twisting and turning its way upward toward the Continental Divide.  Soon the sign appeared: “Vehicles over 35 feet not allowed.”  Maya and I were in the car following David and Silver through the pass because we would have been too long to go through hooked together.

Looking towards Independence Pass from near top of Lostman Trail

There was all kind of traffic headed up – cars, motorcycles, small RVs, bicycles, and even a group of three people in formation on some sort of ski-skates!  This looked crazy-dangerous to me.  But going through Independence Pass by whatever means you can, seems to be some sort of ‘rite-of-passage’ for many.  David slowed Silver down to almost a stop a few times as he had to pass the bicycles and skaters carefully on the narrow road with practically no shoulder and so much traffic in the on-coming lane.  But all in all, it wasn’t too scary and we made it to the top of the Continental Divide and started our descent towards Aspen.

Independence Lake from Lostman Trail at 12,500 feet

There are three campgrounds between the top of Independence Pass and Aspen and we were hoping to find a place at one of them.  We had already ruled out Difficult Campground, the nearest to Aspen, as too difficult to get into because it was reservation only and summer reservations must often be made a year in advance.  The first of the two campgrounds left for us to choose from was called, Lostman.  This campground, at over 10,500 feet in elevation, was small with only ten campsites nestled in a dense lodgepole pine and spruce forest.  A small tributary of the Roaring Fork River ran next to the campground.  Since there was a nice site available and Lostman Trailhead was just across the highway with trails we wanted to hike, there was no need to look further.  We set up camp just in time for the afternoon thunderstorms.

High country on Lostman Trail, Independence Pass in distance

Looking down on Lostman Lake from the top of Lostman Pass at 12,800 feet

So Lostman, east of Aspen, became our home for the next week while we took hikes in the high country and drove into Aspen a few times.  Forty years ago this summer, David and I spent our honeymoon in Aspen.  My dad had a friend with a condo there and we were able to spend a week in Aspen.  We had a fabulous trip and even went to mountain climbing school for a few days.  But in all this time, we have never returned. 

Maroon Bells, tops covered with clouds

Maroon Bells, almost the 'Full Monty'

Maybe we had other things on our minds for our honeymoon, maybe our memories are fading or maybe a lot can change in 40 years but we didn’t recognize too many things in Aspen.  It is still a beautiful skiing town with some historic buildings and many million-dollar plus homes (a lot of plusses on that million) and it has grown.  But the things we did remember – the forests, Maroon Bells peaks, the Roaring Fork River Valley and the mountain (or mostly a rock pile) where we learned to climb – were all the same.  Just more people…

This is where David and I learned to climb on our honeymoon

Maya makes friends with some backpackers on the bus

One day we took Maya with us to hike around Maroon Lake.  Because of the great numbers of visitors to this area, only busses are allowed in between 8 am and 5 pm.  So, we all rode the bus and Maya was quite popular.  Everyone wanted to give her pets and she shamelessly encouraged them.  When we arrived, Maroon Bells were shrouded in clouds but by the time we left, the clouds had mostly lifted and the ‘Bells’ were strutting their stuff.  It was fun to see this beautiful place again and good that the forest service is trying to keep the area from being just one huge parking lot.

Exploring large rock formations along the Grottos Trail

Since our campground had some shorter easier trails nearby, it was nice that we could take Maya for walks with us after we took our longer hikes. Two of those longer hikes took us well above 12,000 feet.  David and I may be ready to visit Peru and climb Machu Picchu soon.  Well, we were breathing hard on the climbs so maybe a bit more training is needed.  

Linkins Lake, 12,008 feet

Yellow-bellied marmot near Linkins Lake (a.k.a. whistle pigs for the sound they make)

It did rain on us every day although we managed to stay dry on most of our hikes.  Because of the shadiness of our campground and the cloud cover, we didn’t make much solar energy and thus had to be very careful of power usage.  Normally, when this happens we can run our generator but as we were camping above 10,500 feet, the generator wasn’t tuned for high altitudes and wouldn’t start.  Even the refrigerator complained and had trouble from time to time.  We learned some lessons about camping in our RV at high altitudes and hopefully can be better prepared next time we stay for more than just a day or two above 10,000 feet.

Cascade in Lostman valley

Several of our hikes were in a new wilderness area for us

David’s Stats:

Days Hiked  4

Rain Days      1  
Total Miles Hiked  18.30  
Ave. Miles per Day      4.58
Total Elevation Gain     3,146
Ave. Elevation Gain per day  787