The pics from Tetons and Yellowstone are up, including altitude and GPS plots.

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A full week since my last post, but a combination of frantic activity and lack of electricity made it inevitable.  Here’s a summary of activities since we last chatted:

Wednesday:

• Woke early drove into Yellowstone.
• We see Bison and Elk in Lamar Valley
• Went to the backcountry office in Canyon and got permits for an overnight spot at Grebe Lake for Friday night
• Secured a campsite at the coveted Norris campground
• Toured the all the major Geyser basins except Norris – Monument, Midway and Old Faithful as well as Fountain Paint Pot
• My favorite spot, Artist Paint Pot, is closed for a boardwalk rebuilt
• Attend Ranger campfire talk on the lives of Bison
• Attempt to repair leaky air mattress
• Cynthia and I forcefully befriended by Chris, the 10-year old Colorado boy from a nearby campsite
• Buy firewood and build an anemic campfire

Thursday

• Wake up on a flat air mattress.  No park stores have a new one (should have bought it in Teton when I had the chance)
• Tour Norris Geyser Basin
• Drive through Mammoth.  Cynthia unimpressed after a day and a half of thermal features
• Swim in the Boiling River at the designated spot where a hot spring meets the cold river
• Showers at Roosevelt Lodge – I think we were supposed to pay for this, but no one charged us.
• Buy fishing license, flies, bear spray at Canyon Sport shop. Also buy 6 wt fly line marked down to an irresistible $5
• Do some fishing on the Gibbon River near camp with my back-up rod.   Bison bull comes out of nowhere and walks within 25 yards of me when I’m trapped in a bend.  I walk away avoiding a sure goring.
• Fish are rising, but not to my stuff.

Friday

• Hike 9.6 miles from Norris to Grebe Lake campsite 4G5 through lots of burned forest.
• Set up camp.  Mosquitos are biblically oppressive
• Fish and actually catch fish – 3 Fluvial Arctic Grayling.
• Cynthia builds roaring campfire that barely helps keep mossies away
• Tent not attacked by bear during the night

Saturday

• Wake up, decamp, walk back the way we came, arriving in 4 hours.
• Both of us are seriously blistered
• Lay low rest of the day staying near camp
• Checking out Museum of the National Park Ranger
• Fish the Gibbon some more, but the fish aren’t active
• Go to ranger talk on Grizzly Bears
• Burn rest of wood in campfire

Sunday

• Wake up, decamp.  On the road by 8:45am
• Leave through East Entrance, turn on cell phone

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Short and to the point since I’m on the BB:
We woke up at 6am for some wildlife watching. This proved a bit tricky
since we don’t have binocs, but we still managed to spot the elk herd
and a few of them crossed the road just a few feet away. Next, a 6
mile hike around Bradley and Taggert lakes. The weather was perfect,
the trail was verdant and there weren’t many people. The Teton
rockscapes and canyons reminded me of Desolation Wilderness.
On the way back, we had a late lakeside picnic lunch at the Chapel of
the Sacred Heart, then headed back to the cabins for a much needed
nap. Cynthia was out like a rock and slept till almost 4:45.
Afterwards, we paid $7 between us for showers.
At 6pm, we drove out to Jackson Lake lodge for a ranger meet and
greet. We didn’t find the rangers but did locate the Blue Heron Lounge
for drinks. Next, fishing license in hand, we drove back to a fishing
spot on the Snake river I’d scouted earlier. The mosquitos we’re
absolutely swarming – the were literally hundreds buzzing in my
personal space – so thick it was hard to see well enough to thread the
flies. Thankfully, Cynthia had picked up a vial of industrial strength
99% DEET. I only picked up a few bites, but might grow a third arm.
I could wade far out in to the river, but struggled with my longer
casts since I’d really never had the chance to use them. I am getting
slowly better and was casting best in at the end. The cutthroat were
rising all around me but I couldn’t get a bite. Even so, I
fundamentally love being in the river striving for tight loops, water
cool through my waders as the sun sets and the heron fly over.

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7 hrs of driving later and we made it to our spacious tent cabin with
a covered porch. A storm rolled through (the first rain in three weeks
apparently), and we were glad to not be in our 2 person tent, unable
to cook and miserable. After dinner we did a short hike out to Jackson
Lake and got some incredible shots of stratified clould over the
Tetons. We also checked out a couple of ranger programs on elk and
how indians lived in the park. The second speaker was an Native
American and had a really relaxing cadence that got us in the mood for
bed (in a good way). Tomorrow we stay in Grand Teton for wildlife
viewing, hiking, and fishing.

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Cynthia’s ailment has passed and I seem to have dodged the same
bullet. We’re rolling through McDermott, NV on our way to Nampa for a
visit with the mother-in-law, and then we’ll head for the Tetons and
Yellowstone, hoping for some luck with first come first serve
campsites and/or backcountry permits. Otherwise, it might be a short
trip with a lot of driving.

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