No Country for Cold Men

[Ursidae69]

May 25th 2008 Part 1

May 25th 2008

My night-time jitters left me feeling not very well-rested, but hey, I’m sitting in Yellowstone National Park on a fine morning with birds singing, so a little loss of sleep is acceptable in my book.

The weather was still gloomy, but not as bad as the day before. Before we get back out to the main road we come across several dozen vehicles pulled off and everyone has their spotting scopes out. It must either be a bear or wolf I think. Turns out everyone was watching a wolf den waiting for the momma to make an appearance. We watched the den for a while too and we got to see a few of the wolf pups running around and that was good enough for me. I can now say that my first time seeing a wolf in the wild was at Yellowstone. Too cool. :victory:

We headed back to Mammoth Hot Springs, then south. We wanted to get to Canyon Village by lunch and then see the falls after lunch. Along the route the numbers of bison and elk were amazing.

After lunch we headed down to Inspiration Point to see the falls, but things were still pretty socked in. After a few shots in the rain we went around to Artist Point for a better view. One cannot go to Yellowstone without making a stop at Artist Point to see the falls. As we were pulling into the parking lot, we noticed a few patched of blue sky overhead and then we thought, no way, it’s finally going to break! The views of the falls were spectacular and the flow was really high with all the snowmelt and rain. We snapped a few photos in the good light.

We headed south along the Yellowstone River and started smelling the sulphur that the volcanic areas here are known for. We stopped at Mud Volcano and Sulphur Caldron for a few photos.

 

[Ursidae69]

May 25th 2008 Part 2

Once we got down to the shores of Yellowstone Lake, I was really impressed with just how large it was. The lake was still frozen over too, so the whole area around the lake felt like being inside my WAECO fridge!!

We head on down to West Thumb where we take the turn west toward Old Faithful, another must-see when you come to the Park. The parking lot was half full, but still, it was a lot of people. We had a little over an hour until the next blast from Old Faithful, so we looked around the Old Faithful Inn and grabbed a beer and some appetizers in the bar. The Inn is a must-see in and of itself because it is so gorgeous. My pictures from the inside do not even convey how big the place is and all the logs!

Then it was almost showtime, so we walked over to the now full boardwalk.

After the show we headed south in the late afternoon light toward the Tetons…

 

[Moody]

This has been fantastic to read. Thanks for sharing the words and photos. Keep it coming.:coffeedrink:

 

[WolfSoul]

May 24th 2008 Continued

I’d love to sit here and tell you that I manned-up and opened the rear hatch and looked out to see what the hell was out there, but I didn’t. <SNIPPED> I’m a cancer, and we are an emotional bunch…

All I have to say is that it's good for KC and the rest of the campers within a 3 mile radius that Chuck didn't see a griz that night. I know from painful experience that he screams like a little girl when he even sees a medium sized spider! :xxrotflma I can only imagine the the air raid siren like sounds that he would screech out upon seeing a 500 pound griz outside his camper. Some wildlife biologist, huh?

Enjoyed the tag-team trip report guys!

No pics of the wolf cubs though???


Wolfie

 

[Ursidae69]

All I have to say is that it's good for KC and the rest of the campers within a 3 mile radius that Chuck didn't see a griz that night. I know from painful experience that he screams like a little girl when he even sees a medium sized spider! :xxrotflma I can only imagine the the air raid siren like sounds that he would screech out upon seeing a 500 pound griz outside his camper. Some wildlife biologist, huh?

Enjoyed the tag-team trip report guys!

No pics of the wolf cubs though???


Wolfie

No, no pics of the wolf pups, no way to shoot photos through a scope and they were really far off. As for the rest of your post, neener neener. :elkgrin:

 

[awalter]

All I have to say is that it's good for KC and the rest of the campers within a 3 mile radius that Chuck didn't see a griz that night. I know from painful experience that he screams like a little girl when he even sees a medium sized spider! :xxrotflma I can only imagine the the air raid siren like sounds that he would screech out upon seeing a 500 pound griz outside his camper. Some wildlife biologist, huh?

Wolfie,

You hit the nail square on the head with this one.

Al

 

[T.Low]

Excellent read, KC, and great pics. I love the snow walls, we get them up at Mt. Baker all winter.

Maybe I'll post pics of ourf trip that weekend as we were a state and a half away from you in southeast Oregon, in Owyhee River canyon and surrounding areas.

You guys are a lot tougher than I am; I can't take the cold anymore unless I know I can jump in my hot tub at the end of the day. Yeah, I'm a wuss.

 

[kcowyo]

"When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May..."
- The Temptations


Mark Twain once said, "The coldest winter I've ever spent was a summer in San Fransisco." Well I guess ol' Mr. Snodgrass never made it up to Yellowstone National Park on Memorial Day...

Upon our arrival in Yellowstone, I conned & manipulated my running buddy into letting me drive his Tacoma, while I left my truck in camp to reserve our spot. I assured him that letting me drive would allow him a better chance to rubberneck at all of the goodies the north region of the park offers. A convincing argument I thought, even if Chuck's first reaction was as if I'd asked to take his girlfriend out on a date.

So what if my primary motivation was to drive a Tacoma on tall & skinny 255's? I've been following the build of this truck since the day he bought it and I've been a passenger in it several times. Heck, one time I cacked up a meatball sub out of the passenger door when Chuck got me excessively drunk and drove us down the twistiest road he could find in New Mexico. Ah, memories...

But I've seen the dedication and the attention to detail he's put into his truck. Most times when I call him on the phone, he's outside working on his latest and greatest mod. He takes a ton of pride in his truck and deservedly so. It handled like a champ, even though I struggled to find first gear a few times. But I count myself fortunate to be among the very, very few who have taken his love for a spin around the horn.

While travelling through the park, we saw a few other interesting vehicles too. I love national parks and their campgrounds for spying what other travellers are driving and their camp set-ups.

Ford F-250 with an All Terrain Camper -

Nissan Frontier customized pickup truck -

Toyota FJ60 Landcruiser on 35's -

Tacoma with a Four Wheel Camper -

Dodge D250 with a Four Wheel Camper - (nice custom fairing I thought..)

 

[kcowyo]

I have to take some responsibility for Chuck's long night, sitting in his BVD's in the cab of his truck, with scenes from the movie, "The Edge" running through his head...

In an attempt to get him pumped up about the trip, I had called him a week or so before he left, to let him know that the first grizzly tracks had been spotted in the area. In spite of the cold & snow we would likely encounter, I thought the possibility of seeing a grizzly would excite the guy whose handle is "Ursidae69." That's not Latin for birds folks, and I'm sure I don't have any idea what the 69 is for. Pervert....

But instead of pumping him up, the news of the tracks apparently spooked him somewhat. All of his phone calls to me after that news, all centered around what type of firearm he should bring in case of a close encounter with the carnivorous kind. I tried my best to assure him that a bear would be the least of our problems but I still envisioned him rolling into Wyoming, packing more heat than an infantry battalion...

So not even a night kicking back in the camper in the rain, watching a movie on the laptop, eating chips & dip and playing cards could settle his nerves apparently. Heck, I even let him beat me at my own game of cards just to make him feel better about himself.

Fortunately he survived the night but he looked like hammered crap the next morning. While I had slept soundly in my bunk, rain dumping on us throughout the night, Chuck didn't get much rest. Who hasn't freaked themselves out at night in camp upon hearing strange noises in the dark?

You, raising your hand, you're lying...

As a consolation to his restless night, we stopped on the way out of Slough Creek for a little wolf spotting practice. In the Fall of '95, shortly after the wolves were first released in Yellowstone, I stood in nearly the same spot and watched a pack of wolves on a fresh elk kill. It was my first wolf sighting and there was a black wolf in the pack. A rare wolf to see in the wild. That was a moment that will stay with me forever.

On the morning with Chuck, he was able to spy a wolf den and a few pups. In addition, he spotted and recorded some new-to-him birds. The bison were still ambling about, uninterested in us, but awesome to watch up close. For a wildlife biologist, this had to be a special moment too.

A few miles down the road, we pulled over in a large 'bear jam' to see what was going on. Off in the distance on a high ridge, I could hear a strange barking sound. I thought some traveller's dog was going off at the scent of a bear. But it was actually a cow elk, standing on the ridge, looking down to a grove of trees below.

I've heard an elk bugle in the wild, a stirring moment in any outdoorsman's life, but this was different. Apparently there was a bear in the small grove of trees and the cow elk was barking out a warning to her herd or to the bear. Without a clear visual of the bear, I directed my binocs onto the cow elk. A few yards above her on the ridge came a bighorn sheep into view. He had a full curl and stood briefly to see what all of the noise was down below and moved on. Spotting a bighorn in the wild is another powerful moment that any outdoor enthusiast should savor.

With all of the animal sightings, the sleepless night Chuck had spent inside his own head had seemingly vanished. With a new spring in his step, we proceed to head towards Old Faithful and onto the Tetons and Jackson Hole. He is in the moment, and as happy as I've ever seen him. The rain & cold couldn't damper his enthusiasm. He was sold. All I had to do was guide us down the road.

And so I did.

 

[FourByLand]

KC,

Will you do a bio of my life... I'm sure you will have readers hangin on to every word!

:bowdown:

Keep it comin'!

 

[ntsqd]

Toyota FJ60 Landcruiser on 35's -

Stolen for future ref! :0

Your story telling makes me feel like I was there, but was hung over for a day or two and missed some things. :-*

 

[kcowyo]

I found a thread on Mud about that 60 and his trip to WY, that weekend.

The guy is from Denver. His 60 has a 5.3 swapped in and an HF55 5 speed. He averaged 16mpg+ with stock 3.73's and 35's. It's got custom bumpers and sliders, that's it. No dead weight at all.

Kind of funny that the one pic I got of it is at the pump.

 

[FourByLand]

Did it get the wheels turning for your build?

:lurk:

 

[sinuhexavier]

Good to see winter is back, even if it is just for a season.

Great story to go with the entertaining pics..

 

[Ursidae69]

May 25th 2008 part 3

May 25th Part 3

After days and days of rain and snow, the sky really started opening up. You couldn’t ask for better timing as we rolled into Teton National Park as the afternoon light was starting to get intense.

We continued south to the Snake River Overlook.

To the east of us more storms were hitting, but were still in the clear.

At dusk we found a few open spots in the Signal Mountain Campground as another excellent day came to an end.

:costumed-smiley-007