Idaho/Wyoming/Idaho/Wyoming (7/22/24)

 

I definitely feel like we are zigzagging quite a bit in our travels this summer. It’s mostly because we are in search of cooler temperatures- it is a very elusive thing to find right now, but then again, nothing competes with how hot it is back a the house!

Looking at the map while at Dinosaur National Monument, another national monument caught Paul’s eye- Fossil Butte National Monument- and it was only a few hours away.

On the way there we drove through a national forest campground, just to check it out, and liked it so much we decided to spend a night there. It was the first night cool enough to have a campfire!

While there we drove down to the visitor center at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. We walked along the ridge, looking at the reservoir, but elected not to do any hiking.

The following day we arrived at Fossil Butte, mid afternoon. We have a dispersed site, so, no hookup, and therefore no reason to swelter, so we headed for the visitor center.   We also managed to find time to drive the scenic drive, which gave a decent view of the entire area, most of which had been Fossil Lake 52 million years ago.  

This area has some of the best preserved fossils in the world.

The one thing that Paul really wanted to do was do his own digging for fossils. You can’t do it in the national monument, but there are several quarries nearby that let you dig, if you pay them money. Paul bought a 2 hour window, and I elected to watch.

Traveling in the truck camper for months, he didn’t want anything too big.  There is more to finding fossils than we thought, but the workers were more than willing to show him how to do it. You use a chisel to slice the rock, a little at a time, hopefully exposing a fossil.

Of course, most of the time there isn’t much there, but Paul actually did good- finding one piece with 3 fish on it (he even got both halves) and a snail that was so detailed, the guide asked for a picture of it. So it only took  an hour or so in the sweltering heat to find all he wanted.

They also explained how to preserve them so they won’t fade. The nonprofessional way of doing it is to fill a tray or bucket, whatever the piece fits into, with a 10:1 solution of water to Elmer’s Glue. The kicker is it has to be original Elmer’s, not the newer “school” version. Turns out its a little harder to find.

We are still continuing our trek north, although we were planning on being a little further west by now-but the cooler temperatures at Henry’s Lake near Yellowstone National Park were calling our name. Paul grew up coming to this area so he never minds visiting. We stopped for a few days in Irwin ID on the Snake River to check it out, on our way.

This area of the Snake River is really beautiful, with powerful water…

… a reservoir for boating activities, and gorgeous scenery.

We drove around taking it all in. What it didn’t have, that we could see, was any Bald Eagles. Lots of Osprey nests but no Bald Eagles. In fact, we haven’t seen a single one this summer. Bummer.

 

Arriving at Henry’s Lake, we immediately extended our stay from two to 4 days.

The weather was just a little cooler than anywhere else. At one point we watched a storm come across the lake- always fun, as long as we remembered to pull the awning in.

I guess cool is a relative term because our first day we elected to drive up the nearby mountain to check out Black Butte- the highest peak in the Gravelly Range.

We packed a lunch, so we could take our time. The gravel road up the hillside was a pleasant surprise, lined at times with bright wildflowers, and other times with ponds and meadows. 

At the top, of course, was Black Butte.

We continued our drive to make a loop through West Yellowstone. Our first stop was at Quake Lake. Quake Lake is actually part of the Madison River.

In August of 1959 a massive earthquake shook the region. Within seconds, one side of the mountain essentially collapsed down into the valley below and continued up the other side. You can still see the scar left behind from the falling hillside.

There were almost 300 people camping in the valley along the Madison River. Falling rock created hurricane force winds as it displaced the air below, and sent the waters of the Madison River flying in every direction. The debris settled in the valley, cutting off the river, creating Quake Lake.

The visitor center displays placards with the stories of the families and individuals who were there that night. Although most of the campers made it out alive, 28 people did not survive.

Our one hiking day we opted for a 4 mile hike to Coffee Pot Rapids. The first part of the trail was along a quiet river-Henry’s Fork.

The trail was great and when we reached the rapids, the river was no longer peaceful and calm.  It was fun though.

Continuing our drive we stopped at Big Springs. Big Springs is one of the headwaters of the Snake River. 120 million gallons of pure water gush out of the ground here every day. Enough to supply the water needs of a million people. The whole area was beautiful and there was a paved trail, which we walked for a bit.

Our final stop of the day was the grocery store, to pick up a few things before leaving the next morning. 

Buffalo, WY (08-17-20)

The high plains of Wyoming are a sight to behold....seems like everywhere you look, the rolling hills go on for miles and miles. A few of them are sporting some artwork.

My favorite was a historical fort that had the silhouettes of Indians on horseback atop a nearby hill. It was too far away to get a good Picture though.

Paul and I couldn’t imagine making our way through this area 150 years ago, without getting lost. Our truck is behind one of these hills.

Buffalo is a small town, population 4500 or so, and sits at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains. Our first full day we packed a lunch and headed up the hill. Going up in elevation also got us out of the heat, and it was a cool 56 degrees when we started our hike.







The day didn’t go perfectly, as I forgot to download the trail map, and we headed the wrong way on the trail. We finally found the “right” trail, which had a nice lake and stream along the way.

It also had a few places where we pretty much had to forge our own trail- that part wasn’t too much fun, and I was trying so hard not to fall that I didn’t get a picture.
















The last section was wooded, and pretty cool. All told we went about 5 miles.

The following day we were looking to explore more by truck, less by walking, but we still headed up the mountain.

This time we took the very narrow, very scenic road through Crazy Woman Canyon.













Eventually this road met up with the main road that goes up and over the mountain. We continued on our way till we saw a sign for the fire tower.

We knew they allow visitors so off we went, down a long dirt road. The trail to the tower is pretty short, but pretty steep as well. The rock formations were awesome, as was the view from the top.

Our busiest day was the day we went exploring scenic Rte 14.

The first part of the day was spent hiking Tongue Canyon Trail. Not surprising the trail follows Tongue River through a Canyon.








After hiking in a couple of miles we elected to turn around.  Paul had seen a sign for a cave, so of course he wanted to go check it out.

 Not me, I took off my shoes and cooled off in the river. 

In fact, it was so hot, I dunked my head under, several times.
Turns out it was 100 degrees when we got back to the truck.

Done with our hike, we followed Rte 14 up the mountain, where the views were pretty good. 

Every once in a while there would be a sign pointing the age of the rock on the side of the road.

This whole mountain is littered with small federal campgrounds and day use areas built in the 1930s by the CCC. Their work in this country was incredible- seems like everything they built was built to last.

On the way home we stopped in the small town of Dayton for an ice cream, which is sold at the mercantile store.  We bought some local syrups as well, and couldn’t resist the fresh kettle corn.

 Payment is on the honor system, so I told Paul we could buy as big a bag as we had the right change for- of course we managed to find enough for the largest bag.













Our final day in Wyoming we took it easy and headed to Petrified Tree Education Area. There is a .8 mile long interpretive walk that takes you past petrified trees.




 Before we started on the trail we chatted with a couple of volunteers. One of them screamed as she approached us....scared us all....turns out there was a rattlesnake sleeping within a foot of the trail. He was sound asleep, for sure. He barely moved as we watched him for several minutes.

Because the growth rings are still visible, they estimate the trees were 800-1000 years old when they were buried.

One of the stumps was partially excavated to show more detail.













The fencing surrounding it was part of an Eagle Scout project- I think that was just as interesting to Paul as the petrified wood.

On to Wyoming (08-11-20)

We've left Colorado and have begun our short meander through Wyoming .

We have a week booked in Buffalo, with 3 days to get there. About halfway between
Loveland CO, and Buffalo, is Glendo Lake- it looked like a nice place so we booked two nights at the state park.

That left us only one day to explore, so we tried to cram in as much as we could. We started the day with a hike, no surprise. Unfortunately we still can’t seem to outrun the heat, and our 3.5 mile hike became 2 miles. As it was, it was 97 degrees when we got back to the truck, around noon.

After lunch we made the trip to Fort Laramie, about an hour away.

This fort started as a trading post, and was taken over by the government when the number of pioneers trekking west swelled to the point where a military presence along the route became necessary.

We chatted with the volunteer ranger, who decided he liked us enough to show us his favorite tree on the property. It was an enormous willow tree.

He explained that the fort was more of a truck stop along the “highway” from East to west. Pioneers on the Mormon, California, and Oregon trail would stop here to rest, and resupply. It was the primary hub for transportation and communication in the Rocky Mountain area, until it was abandoned in 1890.




Although both the Oregon and Mormon trails follow the North Platte River for much of the way, The Mormon trail is slightly different than the Oregon trail, largely due to the fact that the Mormons didn’t want to associate with outsiders, so they usually traveled on opposite sides of the river.

Some of the buildings are still ruins, and some have been restored.

By the time we were done with Fort Laramie, it was getting late in the day and we still had an hour drive home- but we couldn’t resist a stop at nearby Oregon Trail Ruts. This small park is well done, with a paved walking path leading to the ruts, complete with signs explaining the history of the area.

The ruts can be as deep as 4 feet in the sandstone, and were usually made by the wagon wheels, but sometimes they were deliberately made, to make the trail smoother.
It is amazing to me to look at these and think about the tens of thousands of pioneers who passed this way, headed west, looking for a better life.








Just a little further down the road is the Pioneer Registry, where people passing by carved their names into the limestone cliffs- we would have like to see it- but we were tired and hungry, so we called it a day.