Rocky’s Web

Archive for September, 2008

Fly that Flag!!

Well, I am sitting here not a happy camper in Gilman, MT. the computer ate what I wrote on Saturday. I am handling it without throwing a hissy of any kind. Bet a few of you can guess what is going through my mind to call this modern invention, but I will be nice and just “cowgirl up” and start over.  Like getting back on after being dumped, but at least then I was dealing with an animal that I can understand.  These little puppies have a mind of their own and usually are smarter than I am.

Gilman is a small town about 140 miles from the Canadian border. There is a historical marker at the edge of the road that explains the history between both Augusta and Gilman.  The railroad was what either made or broke a town, and where Augusta was established, the railroad ran to Gilman first, so most of the businesses in Augusta moved to Gilman. Once the railroad finally decided to come to Augusta, most of the businesses moved back and Gilman ended up pretty much abandoned. A couple of the old buildings are still here, but there aren’t many businesses even in Augusta. Paul and I stopped in the general store, and I got some junk food and an inexpensive throw blanket for those times that it gets cold in the early morning hours and there is no heat. Guess you have figured out by now, I don’t like to be cold.  At least the past couple days the temperatures have warmed up to the high 60’s and low 70’s during the day, and high 30’s low 40’s at night.

We spent the weekend in East Helena at their rodeo grounds, it is only a couple miles out of Helena, but they were going to charge us $160. To stay there for 2 nights and the one in East Helena had no signs, and was free ,the pens and arena were locked, with the exception of one large pen, that almost looked like it was put up to hold calves or goats, but it worked for the horses. There was also water and electric, so it worked as a home base. For a capital city, there really wasn’t a lot to get excited about. The Capitol itself was located off the main drag, know tv seems to be putting on lots of ads about their present governor who is running for reelection. I read an editorial on him in a western magazine, and he doesn’t seem to be well liked by the ranchers and farmers, though he is suppose to be one of them. Politics, yes it is that time of year, though we missed the Democratic Convention coverage, not that any of us really cared about that party, we did catch the Republican one and heard the speeches by both Sara Palin and John McCain. So that we aren’t completely in the dark as to what is happening in the world. Hate to admit it, but I was blown away by the cost of Cindy McCain’s outfit of over $3000, well she has money in her own right, and can spend it anyway that she wants, and she did look nice. That dress was more than I paid for my used horse trailer and Big Horn saddle. Ok laugh! A girl has to have priorities, and after all this is America, so we have freedom of choice.  We did make a few trips to Walmart and I got my education on tvs from Rocky, because I have no clue on anything to do with technology. There was a Chinese place to eat called the Jade Garden that is in the top 100 places to eat in the country. We did go there and it was packed so went to another place that served a Chinese buffet. Cowboy magazine did say that the museum in Helena was one of the best in the state. We didn’t visit it though. In New Mexico, it rated the Chama Railroad as the best railroad.

We passed through the towns of Harrison, which was a couple stores and that is about it. One gentleman there made a comment on the weather, because that was a real cold morning and snow was in the mountains from the night before. He was beating on an Indian summer and sure enough that is what they are forecasting for the weekend. We also stopped in the small town of Winslow to wait for Rocky and visited the store there and the man was very nice. We had planned on eating lunch at the steak place next store that didn’t open until noon, and the owner told us we were going to have to move because we were taking up space for paying customers. Paul told him that we planned on eating there, but if that was how he felt we would move on. He asked the guy in the store if we could move up in that space and he said no problem, so we had soup and sandwiches for lunch. The owner of the steakhouse lost 3 sales, and I know if I ever get to this part of the country again, I will not eat there.  It could be a top place to eat, but after the rude treatment, he won’t get my dollar.  That area is known for the Lewis and Clark Trail, and has lots of history tied to it.

We did camp at a truck stop at the intersection of interstate 90, and there was a Lucky Lil’s there. Yes, it is a gambling place, but can only play poker and keno on machines. I am not a card or game player in the least, so passed on the experience. It provided about an hour or so worth of entertainment for Rocky and Paul.  Neither one were winners, but had fun playing. The girls there were very nice coming around asking about drinks and free snacks. No they weren’t dressed as saloon girls, jeans and a t shirt that said Lucky Lil’s. Montana only allows these games on non Indian land, and they can only serve beer and wine. The Indian casinos can serve hard liquor and has other games. Paul is hoping to go to one on the Blackfoot Reservation once we hit the Browning area.

I have been reading a couple of the books that I bought on the history of the area. One, JENNY OF THE TETONS, by Kristiana Gregory, was very enjoyable since it gave a lot of the background information on how some of the lakes were named in the area around the Tetons. Jenny was a Shoshoni  Indian woman who married the Englishman, Dick Leigh, who lead people out to see the West, and lead the founder of Jackson Hole there. Jenny Lake was named after her, there is also Leigh Lake and other places named after him.  The book follows how the family lived from the perspective of a white girl who was orphaned when her parents were killed going west and taken home by Dick to help Jenny. There were many places mentioned that we had visited like Henry’s Lake. I did see a sign that said Rexburg, Idaho, where the cemetery is located for the family. Jenny and her children all died of smallpox, and she was only 27. Dick moved away to another part of Idaho, but continued hunting and leading people into the mountains and did remarry. The book even though it was a book written for kids was very informational, and really gives you a feel of what it was like to live in those times.  I also read one of a trip on the Oregon Trail that was written as a girl’s diary, there weren’t too many surprises there. It did reinforce what John, the ranger at Yellowstone said that most of the people that died, that was almost equal to death by disease was from drowning, because many of those people never  learned to swim and the heavy clothes that they wore didn’t make it very easy for those that could to stay afloat.

Please remember to fly your flags on SEPTEMBER 11in case that I don’t get back on the computer before then. Know as time goes by, it is easy to put the past out of our minds, but let’s all try to think about the lessons that we learned as a country on that day and never let it happen again.

Will stop here so the computer doesn’t run out of battery and this can get posted.  So take care of your selves and keep those comments and questions coming. We love hearing from you, no fashion questions though, for that ask Stacy and Clinton, on What Not to Wear. My daughter has threatened to send me to them, but there would be tears if they tossed my boots, jeans, t-shirts, and warn clothes, just so I could make a fashion statement. Never happen!

Helena, MT

We got into Helena on Friday and decided to take a break.  We had water and electricity as well as one large horse pen for the 3 horses at the East Helena rodeo grounds.  All of the pens and access to the rodeo arena were all locked, but it worked out, after all.  Saturday, we just relaxed and explored Helena (which isn’t really very large, being the state capitol).  It did rain most of the day and continued through Sunday.  Sunday, we took our exploration trip north on Hwy 15 to see if the route I had planned to ride was O.K.  The two back roads and trails ended in private property or someone’s house.  That ended that option.  Plan B was to start at the “Gates to the Mountains”, which was just off of Hwy15 and the crew would meet me 15 miles later.  No…..that didn’t work out, either.  I couldn’t ride Interstate 15, so we by-passed it and would start on Hwy 287 as it leaves Interstate 15 and heads North.  That became the plan.  I couldn’t ride the trails in the mountains, because we were told that the 4-6 inches of snow completely covered them this past week.  So the Hwy 287 became the route.  We were also watching the temperature.  Monday was suppose to be warmer and no rain.

September 8, 2008 (Monday)

Got up at 6:30 and the temperature outside read 34 degrees.  I went around to start up the pickup, but there was ice on the windshield and on the side of the door.  I started riding on Hwy 287 at about 8:00 and should get in at least 20 miles.  The map showed 20 miles to the intersection of Hwy 287 and Hwy 200.  That’s where we plan to spend the night.  I’m riding Blackie and he seems to have a lot of energy this morning.  I hadn’t gone 45 minutes, and I saw a heard of about 10 mule deer along the road.  Later, I saw 3 good size bucks and after that another heard of about 8-9 does.  I jumped about 12 prairie chickens and Blackie wasn’t like Soldier.  He got spooked and almost jumped off the hill I was riding on.  When they flew out from under Solder, he just kept “marching” along.  The landscape is just rolling hills with no trees.  Not much water or creeks along the way.  That part of Hwy 287 is sparcely traveled.  I don’t know why, because there arn’t very many roads going north through this part of Montana.  The ditches are wide (20-30 yards) and plenty of room for  me to travel and be away from any traffic on the road.  I did get off the road, for a while, riding an old road that ran parallel to the highway.  After opening and trying to find 5-7 gates, I decided to just get back in the bar-ditch on the hwy.  I ended the day with 22 miles and 7 hours.  We were able to watch football while in Helena on Sunday, but we couldn’t get Monday night football where were were camped for the night.  So……I tuned in my Sirius radio and listened to Greenbay and Denver win their games before going to sleep. 

September 9, 2008 (Tuesday)

Boy!!  It was cold last night and this morning.  Since we don’t have an electric hook up, I’m not running the heater in the camper.  When I got up, it was 35 degrees, but within the hour, it had already started warming up quite a bit.  The high for the day got over  75 degrees.  After 10 miles, I met the crew on the road for lunch and headed on out.  In about another mile, road construction started.  The road turned from asphalt to dirt.  I wasn’t riding on the road, anyway, but it did slow down any traffic going through.  It lasted for the next 9 miles and Pepe did just great going past the large construction vehicles and I finally got her to cross the two bridges just before entering into Agusta.  Agusta was a small town, but I took the alley ways for the 3 blocks through town and on out the other side on Hwy 287.  The road north, now has very little room beside it for traveling.  I only had to go 2 more miles to meet up with the crew for the night, who was parked on a county road going into Gilman.  There is a historical monument just across the road that tells the history of the two towns, Gilman and Agusta.  Altogether, I rode 23 miles and 8 hours.  We listened to the weather and it looks like it is suppose to be light showers tomorrow morning, ending in the afternoon, then 4 good weather days.  We’ll see what it’s like in the morning.  If everything goes right, we should hit the border within a week.  We do pass through the Blackfoot Indian Reservation and we’ve been warned by at least 3 individuals to be leary of the Indian towns we pass through.  I don’t really know why, but hopefully we don’t have to find out.

Montana Weather!!

September 3, 2008

It was to be a short day.  The route is from Harrison to Hwy 90 on Hwy 287.  It was cold to start with (55 degrees) but warmed during the day.  I rode Pepe because it was a short ride and he gets tired on the longer ones.  He also does pretty good in traffic and along the ditches.  I ended riding 15 miles and 4 hours.  I ended at the 90/287 junction.  We camped at a truck stop, there and there happened to be a small Casino in the station.  Paul tried, but still loss about $25.  We got a good rest and will start tomorrow on a ride to Toston.

September 4, 2008 (Thursday)

Left Hwy 90 junction, north towards Toston and Helena.  The temperature was in the lower 50’s and the wind was blowing in my face, making it a lot colder.  I was riding Soldier and he was moving O.K., but he looked like he has a “hay” belly, after us feeding them a lot of hay and feed the past few weeks.  He just doesn’t seem to stop eating.  He needs the useage and exercise.  After about 6 miles, it started to drizzle.  That and with the lower temperature made me decide to not to go much further and safe my “health” so I can complete this trip.  I completed 6 miles and I met the crew on the road and we loaded up and went on to Toston.  With the rest of the day available, we took advantage and stopped in Townsend at a local stock yard, put the horses in the pens, disconnected the pickup and took an exploring trip into Helena.  Also, we scouted the road for my next leg, riding into East Helena, tomorrow.  When we got to Helena, we found the fair grounds and asked if we could spend a couple of days, until I could ride out, again.  WOW!! Talk about a rip-off.  We have stayed in many rodeo grounds on our trip and have only had to pay for 2 of them.  Helena fair grounds office wanted $15 per horse per night and $20 per vehicle per night, but would let us stay 2 nights for $160.  There was no waivering on their charges or giving us a “break”.  This is just to let all know.  I believe that any rodeo grounds, roping arena, or stock yard should let any equestrian riders or campers stay there without charge!!  Otherwise, it is hard to find any place to camp with horses except along roadsides and then the horses have to stay in the trailers for safety reasons.  If you have any influences on the fair or rodeo grounds in your area, please bring this up as an issue and support our equestrian friends.  There is no reason to charge our horse people for staying overnight in their areas.  There aren’t very many of us left!!

September 5, 2008 (Friday)

First, let me say “HAPPY BIRTHDAY DALYN” (my grandson).  Again, a cold morning and a cold start.  I left Townsend at about 8:30, riding Soldier, again.  The weather seemed O.K., for a while, but then started to turn “nasty”!!  I rode 14 miles and the wind and rain started coming in.  Luckily, the crew weren’t too far ahead and I was able to meet them, load up, and avoid the weather.  We went on into East Helena at the rodeo grounds and set up camp.  The weather man said that it is to be seasonally cold, with showers and wind throughout the weekend.  We’ve come pretty close to setting new record lows for Montana at this time of the year.  It would happen when I’m trying to get something done!!  I guess we’ll try again on Monday.  The horses are in good shape (probably better than I am) and we have electricity so we can run the heater as well as the TV.  I guess we won’t get too bored.  I plan on just resting.  We barbecued tonight and Paul did a good job (as always) fixing the meat.  We did our shopping at Walmart today, so we’re up on our food supply.  R&R is what we (as well as the horses) need right now.  At least we can all see the end of the tunnel, which is more than we could do when we first started this.  Thanks, again and again for the support of Paul and Kathy.  Remember the troops and remember 9/11.

Darn!!! It did Snow Afterall!!!

September 2, 2008 (Tuesday)

Boy! Was it cold this morning!!  I looked outside at about 6:00 and the sky was clear but I could see the near mountains in the west and the tops of them were pure “white”!!  I guess they did get that 1-3 inches of snow that was predicted.  It was 37 degrees in the camper and when I went outside to feed the horses, there was frost on the window of the pickup.  They said it got below 30 degrees during the night.  You don’t have to convince me of it.  After breaking camp and having a little breakfast, we found the local feed store and bought some hay and feed for the horses.  The hay was $8 a bale and $9 a bale if certified.  The grain was $16 a bag.  I started riding halfway between Norris and Ennis because I was waiting for it to warm up a bit.  When I started riding it was about 50 degrees and the sun felt good, but the wind was a little breezy.  I got into Harrison at about 2:00 and had covered over 16 miles.  Paul had found a good place to stay, beside the local stockyard and we were able to keep the horses in the corrals.  We then spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the roads and which direction to continue the ride.  I had planned on taking Hwy 359 to Hwy 69 and then following Hwy 15 into Helena, but the ditches were too narrow and there was no place for the horsetrailer or camper to even pull off the road, so I have to continue on Hwy 287 north to Helena.  We should be there in 3-4 days.  I rode Blackie today and will ride Soldier tomorrow.  I can tell you that when the sun goes down, it starts to get a little “chilly”!!  It looks like most of the rest of the trip will be along Hwy 287 so the crew can stay with me.  There are very few roads in this part of the state and I’ve had to alter my route a few times already.  As much as I hate riding the roads (and main ones especially), I’m having to do it this way to beat the weather and keep my crew support.  This is the first day that any of us have actually discussed the possibility of reaching the Canadian border and what we are going to do “when” we get there.  I hope the next 3 plus weeks go O.K.

Please….No Snow!!!

Labor Day already, I can’t believe it is here.  One thing I am hoping that the weather we are having here in Ennis, MT is not an inkling of an early winter. It is raining, in the high 30’s,  so overcast that we can’t see the mountains in one direction. There was to be 1-5 inches of snow in elevations over 6500 feet, as there was a storm warning on the internet last night. We are at 5,000 feet according to Rocky’s GPS.  Don’t know if the snow actually happened, but it would not have surprised me, the wind was whipping at about 35 mph, even though the sun was out, and the temperatures were in the 60’s it felt a lot cooler. We are camped at the rodeo grounds here in Ennis, it is privately owned grounds, but nobody   Rocky called about the fees returned his call. It has become a camping area for the evacuees from the area around the Madison River, but there were only 2 other rigs here this morning. When we checked the weather in the area last night to plan for today, there was a flood watch.  Paul said around 11 pm last night members of the Ennis Fire Department knocked on his door to see if he was from the Madison River camping area. He said no, but a dam broke along the river and this was the area that people who needed a place to stay were to come. They were holding a special town meeting in town to discuss the issues.  Ennis is a bigger town then most that we have been through, but still on the small side. Lots of touristy places, no big stores, mostly motels and places to eat, this weekend in town is the Fly Fishing Festival, and there is a big statue of a fly fisherman in the square, along with lots of large painted ceramic fish in the park. Along the same lines of the painted ponies in Santa Fe, NM, they had buffalos in West Yellowstone, MT, hope a couple of those designs get posted, They were really neat. Yes, this crazy lady was trying to track down as many as I could to photograph. The designs were fantastic and so in tune with the both the past and the present.  Some of the stores are selling the smaller ones that are collectibles costing $50-$75, along the line of the Painted Ponies. I am trying to contain myself and not buy anything that will collect dust or take up space.  As for t-shirts, if anyone has seen my collection they can understand why I don’t buy more. We have been in some western wear stores, but there wasn’t much that attracted my attention and being a catalog junkie, keep up with the prices and know where to buy the same or a similar item for less.

The rain is coming down a lot harder now, and is just plain dreary. I have to say that we have been lucky with the weather, because this is only the second time that it has been a weather day. The good thing is having a place to stay that is warm and dry, and not having to be out in it. Yeah! I guess the older I get the more I enjoy the creature comforts, and not having to worry about wet sleeping bags, and packing up soggy camping gear. I really hope that the hikers are doing ok out in the weather. Rocky and I met a lady hiker traveling alone in Yellowstone from the Netherlands, in her 40’s, and she was waiting for her post office drop to come, it hadn’t arrived at the Old Faithful Post office when she had checked earlier that morning. I give her a lot of credit, because I know I wouldn’t want to undertake an adventure like that alone. She was telling us there were bears outside her tent a few nights before. Rocky told her that 2 other hikers were headed to the closest camping area, and why didn’t she head there, her site for the night was 8 miles away and didn’t think that she could make it there.  That way, there would be other people around in case of danger. The other 2 men had told us they had seen a buffalo in the meadow, I told them thanks for the warning, to prevent a rodeo. The buffalo wasn’t there, but when we were leaving the park we did pass one that was walking down the middle of the road. Paul told us some of the people he talked to while we were out riding told him that they had to wait about a half an hour in traffic while a herd of 150 buffalo crossed the road. It must have been an awesome sight, but it all comes down to timing. Think it has to do anything in life and nature, being in the right place at the right time.

Well back to last week, we left Jackson, WY around noon, after doing laundry. All I can say is thank goodness for the places along that way, that we can stop and use the facilities, because as much as I can picture myself being a pioneer woman, washing clothes in the creek does not rate very high on the list. I will say my favorite modern conveniences are the washer/dryer, microwave, and computer. The cell phone has moved higher on the list as it is my only means of communication at the moment, otherwise it was only for emergencies. We took a route through thru Teton Pass, into Idaho. I know Rocky put all the route #’s down. I really will miss those mountains, they were special and it was sad saying good bye to them. It was one of the prettiest spots I have seen on this trip. We went into West Yellowstone and found a camping spot for the night and be able to head into Yellowstone for our ride on Thursday.  We have a differing of opinion of which towns we like best. I was kind of partial to West Yellowstone, because it was less touristy, but had a homey feel to it. Paul said that if he wins the lottery he is going to move to Jackson, WY, and Rocky liked Steamboat Springs.  I guess I could pretty much live anywhere, that wasn’t too developed, as long as there were some services and towns a reasonable distance away .Out here a lot of people have to depend on themselves and their  neighbors. From my reading, that is the one thing that the people who live and are raised in the West are afraid of, is that the new people who are buying up the land understand the principles that the West was founded on. I did notice that some of the new houses that are built along public roads have put up gates with both padlocks and gated key pads. Respect the fact it is their property, and they can do what they want, but where it is public land, there should be away to get by on horseback or hiking. I can understand why they don’t want cars and 4 wheelers going thru their property, the majority of the people are probably just out for an enjoyable day with family and friends and are willing to be good neighbors, but there is always the few bad apples that ruin it for others.      

The big day, yes the ride through Yellowstone. Riding in Yellowstone itself will be a once in a life time experience, but was even more special because of the work that Rocky went through to make it happen. Well, that means my Fabton Trail saddle is now going to be a permanent item in my tack collection, because that is the one I rode the park in. I had it for sale a couple years ago, because I found one I liked better, but since it didn’t sell started to use it more on my rides in 2007, when I didn’t want to use my Big Horn.  I have only used my saddle a few times on this trip, because when I have ridden in on the pack horse after catching Rocky on the trail used his Big Horn saddle, which is my favorite brand, it is comfortable enough, but the fit isn’t exactly right. Back to the ride, we were up and ready to leave by 6:30 in the morning, and it was chilly, down in the 30’s, so the tough part was deciding what to wear, so dressed in layers, a t-shirt, flannel shirt, and a fleece lined windbreaker, and it worked, didn’t take it off all day, because there was a breeze blowing, and being in a wooded area didn’t feel the need to. Also had my gloves along, and through a bandana in my horn bag, and raincoat in the cantle bag. Yes, I learned my lesson after the last rain storm that I was caught in. Had about 4 bottles of water and some granola bars for meals. Yes, girls it isn’t like riding with you, where we stop and get our sandwiches, munchies, and have periodic rest stops.  We did have some laughs though, because I couldn’t find my way out of a maze of downed trees, and Pepe didn’t want to step over some of the higher ones. Rocky to the rescue, he got Pepe out and back on the trail for me. Puzzles are not my thing, so it was kind of mind boggling to try to figure that out. I should have just followed Rocky, but he said try going around, it was like a dead end road, with buildings ahead.  Another spot that we ran into trouble, was there was a tree across the lower part of the trail and one higher, when trying to lead under it, it caught on the saddle horn, so another problem to solve, short of unsaddling, so we figured out that by me standing on the roots of the lower tree, it kept it down so the horses could be lead under without the horn being caught.  It was an area that I would recommend that nobody try riding alone, because there was so much unknown. There was no cell service, Rocky had his trusty GPS, which helped a lot, because trail signs were few and far between, and we had SPOT. I think that the more I have seen on this trip, I would recommend that everyone who does a lot of trail riding invest in SPOT or a similar item, especially if you do a lot of trail riding alone for whatever reason. Team work also came in handy when Pepe didn’t want to cross a wooden bridge they had some across some of the creeks and through the marshy area. Other places we had to cross rivers and streams, and it came in handy there when Blackie refused to come   down in the river and had to be lead, he pulled back once, and came in the second time, and followed Pepe across.  After that he was willing to come along and even go first. Horses, wonderful but not always predictable creatures, who knows maybe he just wanted to show off for the group of hikers that were across the river. We let them cross first on the logs and then worked on getting Blackie across. Some of the bridges were not in the best shape and I could understand why a horse would refuse to cross them. Some of the hills were steep, both going up and coming back down, glad I have many years of trail riding under my belt, because the whole ride would be a bit frightening to a novice rider. Will say that both Blackie and Pepe handled the whole experience well, even when we came up on the Lonestar Geyer that had just finished erupting there was a little dancing and anxiety, but the ground was making noise and steam and smoke were in the air. It was an unforgettable sight out in the middle of nowhere, liked that more than Old Faithful, the area around there was the crust and the water that was part of the volcanic area that John had told us about on Tuesday. Riding the area reminded me of Otter Creek Horse Trails in Glenfield, NY, especially the northern end, with the pines, creeks and hills to climb though the soil there is sandy here it is gravely. I was disappointed that we didn’t see more wildlife, but Rocky explained because of the downed trees and the new pines growing in from the fire of 1988, there was nowhere for it to go. We did hear some birds, but not many. One was a woodpecker of sorts, but didn’t see it up close and personal. I did see a couple of chipmunks, and there was one that sat on a log and watched me go by, I would of liked to have picked him up and brought him along, but figured that he really would of given me a run for my money, never mind would of bitten me, even if I was quick enough to catch him, and that is a laugh, because quickness and coordination are not part of my genetic makeup. We did see an injured baby bird on the ground, either a chickadee or a sparrow from my book, but that was about all while we were riding. We did see more elk as we were leaving the park in the truck, along with the road buffalo and a few others off in the trees at another spot. I am still waiting to see a bear and a moose. Well if I don’t see them on this trip, I will go up to NH to my sister Joanie’s house that she has there and try to see them. We rode 26 miles that day, but it was an experience that I won’t forget, a new place to ride, a good horse and a riding partner that was fun and dependable to be with. A perfect day and all caught on film and have the saddle as a reminder of the ride. We finished the ride about 7:30pm after mounting up at around 9:30 am. I have quite a few hours to log on my AQHA ride the other breed category. I sure hope that someone back in New York has gotten on Print, so he isn’t turning into a lazy slug, and forgetting his manners. My friend Inga has told me, he is in love with her daughter’s mare Kelly. After looking at the falls, where Paul was parked we headed out of the Park, and back to West Yellowstone to eat and camp. At least leaving the park we didn’t have any problems. The arrival in the morning was written about in Rocky’s blog. All I can say is being treated like we were by public servants that our tax dollars are paying really makes you want to avoid places where you are given a hassle over issues that should be on the bottom of the priority list of our government. It makes you appreciate more the polite people that you come across out in public and the ones who know what customer service and we are your public servants means. I don’t mean sit there and take it when people are rude and impolite to you, but at least try to be helpful, and for the people in the stores know your merchandise, and that it is our $$’s that are paying your wage, no matter how small you think it is. That is one thing I notice, that the jobs in this area of the country are in retail or food service.

Henry’s Lake was really a pretty area to camp. I really like the water, but am not a swimmer, boater or fisherperson, but would if I had someone who wanted to take me along. There have been a lot of fly fisherman along our route, but have heard that this is a catch and release area. Well I guess the fish sandwich that I ate at the Dairy Queen will just have to do for my fish story.

Hope that you all are having a safe Labor Day weekend, and yes we are keeping up with what is happening with the hurricane down in LA, viva Sirrus radio. I know it is Hanna that I am going to keep an eye on since they are saying she is headed up the Atlantic Coast and may be hitting my old stomping grounds in MA.

Take care and like I have said before keep those emails and comments coming, we love hearing from you. James, I totally love all those comments that you are sending Rocky via email, and agree with you 100%. Wish I had the chance to meet you down in New Mexico.   

Yellowstone and Beyond!!

August 28, 2008We were camped on the west side of West Yellowstone, Mt which is just outside of the Yellowstone national Park’s western entrance.  We got up at 6:00 and headed into the park by 6:30.  We stopped at the entrance with Paul driving the horse trailer and all 3 horses in the trailer.  The lady ranger asked if we had any hay and we told her “no”.  She then wanted to see the inside of the trailer and I showed her.  She said it was too dirty inside (we had just cleaned it out the day before) and our vehicle was “dirty”.  She could make us turn around, but she would let us go, this time.  I told her that the trailer is fully enclosed and we weren’t told about any restrictions on an enclosed trailer.  I said I would like to see the regulations regarding such issues.  I believe that is what made her change her mind.  She just gave me a brochure that had general information in it.  Another “gestapo” tactic of the rangers there at Yellowstone.  I don’t know what the issue is with “weeds” into the park, but any vehicle (not just horse) has the possibility of distributing weed seed into the park.  No one knows where each vehicle has been or driven through.  Why don’t they check, stop, or inspect every vehicle??  Since there wasn’t any place for Paul to turn his trailer around, we had to go all the way to the South entrance to turn around and come back to where we were going to drop the horses off and ride the trail that Ranger Milo and Ranger John advised us to ride.  It was going to be over 20 miles and no one knew what the trails would be like although is is suppose to be part of the CDT that goes through Yellowstone.  That’s also why we decided to ride it.  We started the trailhead at about 9:45.  It was labeled “Dogshead trail” and sent to Shoshone Lake.  I’m riding Blackie and Kathy is riding Pepe.  It is pretty dense forrest with a lot of old downed trees which make it impossible to ride anywhere except the trail.  The day is beautiful, clear, and 60 degrees.  Before we got to Shoshone lake, we had at least 6 tree obstacles across the trail.  There were 2 of them that we thought might turn us back, but we negotiated them.  The trees would fall across the trail and to the left and right of the trail were all dead trees that looks like “pickup” sticks and no way can you even get around or get into them.  We just got lucky.  When we got to Shoshone lake, we had to cross the river that flows into the lake.  It was shallow (about 18 inches at the most) and once the horses started across, they were all right with it and continued across.  It was about 20 yards wide.  We crossed many more creeks during the day.  Sometimes the horses would step and walk across and other times, she would just jump across them.  We got to one creek that Blackie just refused to go into, so we had Pepe lead him.  He still pulled, but Pepe stood his ground in the middle of the creek and Blackie had to “jump” in.  After that, he just walked on across.  I have a problem with all the horses when they start to enter any creek, initially.  After they get their feet in, they seem to be O.K. and walk on across.  Even if they can see the rocks and the creek bottom.  We continued through the hills (some which were pretty steep) and surrounded by the forrest and downed trees to the geyser basin.  With just about 2 miles to go, we came to the “lonestar geyser”, which is suppose to be one of the largest geysers in the park and can only be reached by hiking to it from the trailhead at the highway.  We got to see the tailend of it’s last eruption.  Kathy said we now have “geyser” proof horses.  They were both pretty spooky of the geyser and the noise it was making.  The horses had to step over the hot water coming from the geyser and cross some hot ground.  Blackie then became aware of the small seep holes we came to, where a little steam was coming out of them.  We then hit a dirt road that then led on up to the highway where Paul was waiting with the trailer.  It was almost 7 o’clock and we had traveled over 26 miles and almost 10 hours.  A once in a lifetime experience and I have a feeling there will be less horse travel through Yellowstone in the future, with all of the restrictions and not maintaining the trails.  Hikers can maneuver them O.K., but horses will have more and more problems.  It only takes one tree to stop horse travel through any of those trails.  We loaded the horses and went back to West Yellowstone. August 30, 2008 Saturday and Labor Day WeekendHenry’s Lake  We trailered over the pass to Henry’s lake, which was only about 15 miles and did so because of a safety issue of riding the horses on Hwy 287 which had a narrow area on side of the road and I didn’t want to take any chances.  We spent the night at Henry’s Lake and the next morning, I started riding the ditch along Hwy 87 till I came to a county road and took it to Hwy 287 and along 287 for 6 miles to a bridge where I could cross the Madison River and then another 2 miles to Lyons Bridge and camp.  I was riding Soldier.  By 9:30, I crossed over the Continental Divide and Kathy and Paul met me there, on the road.  About a mile further, where I was to take the back roads to 287, there was a sign on the trail that read Continental Divide Trail.  I looked back to see where it came from and there was no trail to be seen.  The road split up ahead and still no CDT designation.  Like I said, the CDT is not well marked and doesn’t exist in places.  By 10:30, I was about 10 miles in and was in a valley that has hills rising on both sides and a small creek following the road, in between.  The right side hill looks like New Mexico (not a tree) and the left side looks like Colorado (full of beautiful pines).  It’s like the creek and road is a natural divide.  Then, I noticed some large tracks along the side of the road.  They kept going and I couldn’t decide if they were a cat or a dog. Cat meaning “mountain lion” and dog meaning “wolf”.  I took a picture of them with my hand beside one and it was the full length of my hand.  I couldn’t see any claw marks, so I thought they might be cat.  When I got back to the trailer, Kathy had a book on animal tracks and it then looked more like a wolf track.  All I can say is if it was a domestic dog, then it had to be a great dane!!    I finished 24 miles and 8 hours.  We spent the night along the river where it rained most of the night and the wind blew pretty hard.August 31, 2008 SundaySemi clear and overcast with the temperature this morning in the 40’s.  I didn’t know what the weather was going to do so we drove on into Ennis and found their rodeo grounds where we could camp.  Seeing that the weather might hold off,  Paul dove me back to where I was to start riding to ride into Ennis.  I started around Cameron (Hwy 287) because there were only a few bridges that cross the river to get to the roads on the other side.  The wind came up and it was blowing straight into my face at 25-35 miles per hour.  The temperature was finally in the 60’s, but the wind made it seem like the 30’s.  I could hardly keep my hat on for the rest of the ride.  I walked Pepe across the bridges and he did good along the state hwy 287 which is different from the federal hwy 287 that I was riding  earlier.  I rode over 15 miles and 6 hours.  When I got to the trailer (at the rodeo grounds) I could sense a change in the weather, so I got on the internet and found out there was a flood warning out for Madison county (which we were in) and along the Madison River.  Not only that, but there was a winter weather advisory out for the mountains along the continental divide above 6,500 feet, with the possibility of 1-3 inches of snow.  The temperature started dropping, clouds coming across the mountains and light rain.  The weather indicated it to be bad through Monday with clearing and warming into Tuesday, Wednesday.  That meant another layover because of the weather and another delay.  In the meantime, we’re listening to hurricane Gustov as it hits the Lousiana coast and New Orleans.September 1, 2008 Monday (Labor Day)Weather is “lousey”!!  Overcast with light rain at times and the temperature in the 40’s.  We’re staying inside, running the heater at times and playing catchup on the computers.  The horses are in the corrals and will do fine.  They have hay and water.  We’ll see how the weather is, tomorrow.  We’ll also be looking for a feed store to get more hay and feed for the horses.