My Journey

[Jeeper11]

Hahahha i look like such a foreigner on the jeep! Montana is very photo-genic! Post more pictures of yukon!! lastly, some pictures you took of the nature like the mountains, should be copied and pasted on a big wall! Thats how good the pictures are! Keep it up! Safe travels!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Here's some more random pictures taken in the canyon:

The mallards swam right along with me...........





The bald eagle..........







The eagle poops as I'm taking his picture.........



The trout were plentiful..........



Our campsite...........



The note that built up my ego which isn't a good thing I know..........



I have no idea why that attached thumbnail is there nor how to delete it ??

 

[Wainiha]

I saw my first and only bald eagle in Montana.

No cool notes though....:elkgrin:

 

[ClayH]

Booty call! Are you going to see her?

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Anne had been thinking of a story she knew....of a dying slave who is asked by a priest where he thought he was going after death. The slave answers not to heaven, as expected, but whispers instead, with an ecstatic upward smile, "To--- Africa"---and he was gone. Phillips Verner Bradford and Harvey Blume, Ota Benga: The Pigmy in the Zoo

So you've probably noticed that I've started adding some things that I find in my readings. I thought that I'd like to save them and share them as well. I thought that this would be an excellent place to save them as I assume this is forever. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

It's Friday morning and we are off to southern Idaho for a bit. Looking at the extended weather forecast, it looks as though we won't go south for a few more weeks. Today we plan to stay off the interstates and continue on the secondary roads as well as one back country road (this one follows the Lewis and Clark Trail). I've got a few towns to visit such as Virginia City and Dillon, Montana. Then we're off to The River of No Return Wilderness Area in Idaho. That has to be one of the most awesome names of a place ever. It sounds majestic or mysterious to me. I can't wait to get there. Not sure when I'll be posting up again............

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Our first stop out of Bozeman was the Madison River. It was a great opportunity to get cleaned up and let the dogs have some swim time. Unfortunately it ended on a sad note when Yukon stepped on a broken beer bottle and got a deep gash in her left front paw. It was difficult to stop the bleeding and I had to deal with it off and on all day. And it was so bad that she could barely walk and I had to lift her into the truck. I honestly believe that she got depressed after the accident. Anyhow, we continued west and by lunch we arrived at Virginia City, Montana. People told me to check this town out.....that it was a neat town. It was OK.....a bit touristy for me but it was....well, OK.





Our next major stop was Dillon, Montana. It was late afternoon when we drove into town and things were heating up in Dillon. It was in the upper 90's....way too hot for us. But it was a real struggle to leave town since the rodeo was Saturday and Sunday night. I've been dying to see a rodeo but the desire for cooler temperatures had us leaving town and going to the mountains. We continued driving west and found ourselves a nice spot to camp not too far off the road so it worked out well for us. We had some amazing views of the river valley below us.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Saturday morning the plan was to take Lemhi Pass (this is what Lewis & Clark took) across the Continental Divide and into Idaho. Unfortunately I missed the turn off which the locals said that "you can't miss" and that it was "well marked". I never saw a sign so we missed the more scenic drive and took the Bannock Pass (this was the traditional Indian route). The drive was still very scenic although we were headed in a southerly direction which was not per plan. Once we reached the paved road (Route 28) we drove north to Salmon, Idaho. That was a cool little town along the Salmon River although it was here that I found the highest price for diesel in the states ($4.19.9 per gallon). The day before I paid $3.75.9 in Dillon, Montana. We had lunch at the town park, did a little shopping in town, stopped at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, and then the BLM office. I got lucky at the BLM office since they were closed due to the holiday but I got an employee there on her day off and she was a big help with local national forest information. Then it was south on Route 93 for maybe (10) miles and then we headed east up a forest service road, up a canyon, and found ourselves an excellent spot to set up camp for a few days. We were right along a creek that had succession of small waterfalls (maybe 2' drops), with a backdrop of scree and cliffs. Lots of tall cottonwoods, cedars and hemlocks. It was beautiful.

The Bannock Pass road............





Statue of the famed dog that traveled with Lewis & Clark...........



Camp for Saturday & Sunday night...........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Saturday morning we disconnected the Jeep and did some four wheeling in the canyon. We hadn't been out of camp for more than a minute when I spotted a most beautiful black bear walking along the creek towards our camp. As I went for my camera (iphone) he became startled and darted into the thick brush, therefore no bear pictures again. We continued up the canyon and I imagine that he wandered through our camp a bit later. I was actually looking for elk herds but saw none. After the sound of the Loons, the bugling of Elk must be my second favorite sound. I sure did want to meet up with an Elk herd. But the scenery was great and the three of us had a blast exploring the canyon in the Jeep. We drove up the canyon several more times over the weekend but didn't see any other wildlife. Other than that the days were spent reading in my lawn chair, soaking up the sun, doing a few crosswords, a nice cold bath in the creek, and very short walks since Yukon was still unable to walk properly.

Up the canyon road...........



Looking west one evening...........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

For Monday morning my original plan was to climb Borah Peak (12,776'), Idaho's tallest mountain. Yukon was still limping very badly and that didn't seem like it was going to happen. We loaded up and hit the road none the less and drove south on Route 93. It began to rain and cloud up which made it easier to drive by Borah Peak without a summit. I decided to go for Idaho Falls, Idaho and spend the night at a WalMart. We drove for the better part of the day although we did make a stop at EBR-I Atomic Museum. At first I drove right by it but decided what the heck and turned around (since I saw a sign saying it was free.....this just isn't my kind of thing). You can Google it for more information but it's "the first power plant in the world to produce usable electricity using atomic energy". A guided tour took you through (15) stations and discussed the stuff that they did. I lasted (2) stations before I noticed my eyes getting cross eyed from listening to all that stuff, and I went on my own self guided tour (which was so much shorter than the guided tour). After that we continued east and arrived in Idaho Falls last night.

The plan now is to go east to Jackson hole, Wyoming. I checked the weather forecast there and this week looks good with cool to cold nights and nice days...........

These guys got us into this mess............











I took a wrong turn and ended up going this way before being told to turn around...........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We are still in Idaho Falls, Idaho hanging out. I've really been concerned with Yukon's cut paw and I noticed that she can walk well on the nice mowed grass. It's improving but very slowly. Therefore I've decided to hang out in town for a bit longer. The Snake River runs through town and there's a nice walkway along the river with lots of manicured areas & mowed lawns. So yesterday we spent the majority of the day along the river. I also checked around town for antlers and found an amazing place to purchase antlers. I've never seen anything like it. It was overwhelming but I left with none.....still thinking. Yukon's paw was much better this morning so might leave this evening or tomorrow. Not sure..............

Snake River..........



This is the best I can do for wildlife...........





Cool tree (those are leaves)............



So many antlers...........

 

[Wainiha]

Saw the pic of Lewis and Clarks dog. I had throw this in here. I have owned many Newfoundlands-great dogs.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

That's a beautiful dog and they must be an incredible breed from what I'm reading in my Lewis & Clark book.

Yesterday I got bored hanging out in Idaho Falls so in the afternoon we took a drive to Pocatello, Idaho, about (50) miles south on Interstate 15. It was a waste of fuel but it was nice to get out again. We spent the night at the local WalMart and hit the road early this morning returning to Idaho Falls for a shower and groceries. By 10:00 a.m. we were driving east on Route 26, made a quick stop at the BLM office for some information on camping in Targhee National Forest. Our next stop was for lunch along the Snake River. Oh man that is one incredibly beautiful river !!



After lunch we continued east until we hit Swan Valley and then turned north on Route 31 into the Targhee National Forest. We arrived here about an hour ago and we are loving our new camp. Check out the pictures of our camp and you can see why. Of course the iphone pictures do the scene no justice. How could it ? The temperature is perfect and there's a nice breeze. It's great is an under statement........





And here's the view.......





The dogs have been trying to get this mouse or something in this rock pile for over an hour. It's kinda funny...........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Here's a few pictures of tonight's sky with the mountains. First looking east to the Tetons then west for the sunset. Hope this works. Loaded from the iPhone and not an easy task.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Here she ended her days, enjoying free rides on the white men's stage coaches, well supplied with U.S. government rations, treasuring the papers given her by some "great white chiefs", never happy unless she could see the mountains, thanking the spirits every morning for the new day, worshiping the little white flowers that grew at the snow line, which she thought must be the spirits of little children. Description of Sacajawea before she died.......excerpt from Lewis and Clark, Partners in Discovery, a biography by John Bakeless

If there's a heaven and if I go there, I swear I hope it's like this place. We've enjoyed our short stay immensely and I believe this spot must be in my top ten camps of my lifetime. It's been great............So we haven't actually done that much. We spent our days either hiking in the mountains (with bear spray at my side) or taking long rides in the Jeep looking for bear and elk. I saw neither although I did hear the elk bugling one evening and one morning. That's such a treat. In the afternoon we had a fairly violent storm pass through. The Rockies are famous for these afternoon storms and looking east towards the Tetons it reminded me of my days climbing there and having to make a quick exit from a summit attempt. Last night we watched a cowboy herding sheep through the mountains. I found it interesting to watch his (5) dogs working the sheep as well as watching him on horseback. Afterwards we drove to a bluff and watched the sunset. It was good one, I think. I guess we'll move on today although I hate to do it. But then that's what you do when you travel.............

Camp.......





Herding the sheep.......





Looking for bear and elk........



I've seen many bear warning signs but never like this one........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

And a few more pictures to share with you...........

Sometimes you wonder how it can be so beautiful............







Time to wake up...........





I spend a lot of my days watching the clouds float by............