Thanks, everyone. Interestingly, I was at Grand Teton NP when the shutdown hit. There were about 200+ photographers present at sunrise the first morning of the shutdown at Oxbow Bend, which is between Moran and Yellowstone, close to Moran. No one kicked us out, but the barricades were at the entrance immediately after sunrise, so I could not re-enter. I shot the other areas that day - overlooks, Cunningham Cabin, and Mormon Row but the many of the Forest Service Roads were closed already, I believe due to both sequester cuts and weather. For the first time in my life, I seriously contemplated civil disobedience, but decided if arrested it would be too inconvenient for my family.
The Jeep and fenders were both awesome.
I was glad to have my Jeep as it allowed me to drive some Forest Service roads that a stock vehicle would not have allowed. I took the JK and the trailer down the Forest Service Rd to Brooks lake on Togwotee Pass on my way out of town. What a beautiful area.
With the parks closed and bad weather in the forecast, I headed back 2 days early, cutting short the Grand tetons by 2 days and the Badlands.
I had a couple of mishaps along the way...in addition to the Bison attack
On my first day of camping at Yellowstone, I was sliding my camp chuck box back into the JK, when it caught the bear spray on my belt. Somehow, it managed to dislodge the safety lock (you see where this is going) and sprayed me in the face. thankfully, the spray was not terribly long, but it hit me square in the eye. Obviously, I couldn't read the canister because my eye was so incredibly irritated and the non-affected eye was watering, too. A gentleman from Colorado at the adjoining campsite was kind enough to read it for me and after about 10 minutes of eye washing, I was OK. Of course, this necessitated showering and washing of those clothes.
If a freak accident can happen, it will happen to me. I am that person.
The second incident could have been pretty bad, but thankfully it was all OK. I was plugging my way up Craig Pass on my way out of Yellowstone and pulled off to the side on one of the pull-offs to let faster traffic go by. It was a bigger drop off than I had estimated so there was quite a jolt when pulling over. As I went to get back on the road, I realized something was not right with the trailer. I stopped and realized I had not latched the pin on the pintle hitch and the jolt had popped the pintle open and disconnected the trailer. Thankfully, the safety chains did what they are meant to do. Unfortunately, I was on the road, a very steep road with regular traffic and I needed to reattach the trailer. With the tongue now touching the ground and gravity doing its thing due to the incline, there was no way I could lift the tongue of that trailer to reattach. I pulled out the jack and began to try to work with it when a very kind British guy pulled over to give me a hand. It only took the 2 of us about 15 secs, total, but it would have been much harder by myself. Maybe a really big, really strong guy could have pulled it off without assistance, but I think it would have been tough. I doubt I will forget that pin on the hitch, again.
Otherwise, it was all an uneventful trip.
I enjoyed Wyoming, but I missed the wide open space and more open space in Colorado and Utah.
I have some photos from my real camera up on
FB photography page for those who are interested. Thanks for the help and advice along the way. I am already contemplating next steps for the trailer.
