Rocky’s Web

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.

Rules!!

Well today is Sunday, August 24, so since Cotton and I are here chilling for tonight and Paul turned on the generator, so he could cook his supper and probably watch part of a DVD.  Jazz went with Rocky, they left the Green Valley this morning a little after 8, and weren’t sure rather they would be in tonight. A man who had been 4-wheeling and fishing here in the Teton National Forest said that he was probably 26-28 miles out, so we will see them tomorrow. He did say they were through the worst of the bear country. Paul had taken a ride down by Crystal Creek Campground which is farther down the very rough road with the truck only and said he saw some bear tracks, and they have the metal storage tins for the camper’s food. He wasn’t sure rather there was one on the hill or not, he tries to scare me by saying “snake”, just to see if he can get me to freak out. Hate to disappoint him, but am not a girl who scares easy. It will probably be like the boy crying wolf, and one day there will actually be one and I won’t be looking. I wear boots most of the time, or sneakers, am not much of a flip flop or sandals kind of girl, being around livestock like to keep my toes from being broken.

Saw my first buffalo today there were 3 of them on the hill as we entered the Teton National Forest. Of course, traffic was lined up the road, but was able to get some pictures of them. It was an awesome sight. This whole area is beautiful, the scenery is something that you would see on a picture postcard, with the snow still in the mountains, all the streams running through the area, and we are camped above Slide Lake, it would  be a great place to have a house, but would be a little rough to get out in the winter. The color of the water was beautiful, and it looks clear. The color changed as the afternoon went on there were some people out there with their boats and kayaks.

Coming into the park we had to pass through Jackson Hole, it is a pretty city, but has money written all over it. There were tourists galore and cars parked on both sides of the street, was I glad to get though there, because there was hardly any room to maneuver the rigs. Paul has to go back in and see if he can find a water pump for his horse trailer, but think he will just take the truck. There was a wildlife refuge, and one for elk, and a Wildlife Art Museum, bet that is interesting. We went back into town after we found our camping spot, but went to K-Mart, there is a lot of stores in town. Also, think no matter what your hobby, you could find a place to do it, there was rafting trips, and ATV’s and motorcycles to rent, a tour bus service, and even a stagecoach ride, that one would interest me. Hey, maybe I could pay for my ride by being the one cleaning up the manure. There was a guy with a broom and wastebasket. Can’t say I am not qualified for job, after all the years of shoveling I have done.

I didn’t realize that telling you about the Red Desert was part of my narrative until I read Rocky’s blog. I think I covered everything else he had me down for. If you have any questions like I said before ask.  We write from different perspectives, but sometimes “great minds think alike”.  Ok, that was a joke!  Back to the Red Desert, to tell you the truth we hadn’t heard of it until one of the hikers or bicyclist had commented to Rocky about it. I looked it up on the Google site, and it was listed in the top 3. It is suppose to be one of the last areas of the country that has remained untouched. I can see why, if you scraped all the sage off, it was nothing but sand underneath, and there were no water holes or creeks for miles. That area really looked like New Mexico all over again. I did see that the National Wildlife Federation is trying to keep that area the same as it has been for centuries.  There are other Red Deserts in other states. I didn’t find much interesting reading on the site, but at least it will give you an idea about the area we are traveling through.

Here are a few facts that may interest you. Jackson Hole is named after Davey Jackson a partner in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, which was booming in the early 19^th Century. Three sides of Jackson Hole is surrounded by the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The Bridger part of the forest is named after Jim Bridger the famous mountain man, explorer and partner in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.  The National Forest was established in 1911, and contained 1.7 million acres, which included the Wind River Mountains. In 1973, it merged with the Teton National Forest and now has 3.5 million acres. 

Will stop here, Cotton wants to go out, and I have to feed and water Pepe, who is left with us. Want to get it done dark, because don’t need to deal with any critters that go thump or growl in the night.

Can’t believe that this is Labor Day weekend, where did the summer go?  Today is Friday and we are sitting in Henry’s  Lake in Idaho for the night.  We left West Yellowstone this morning, and drove thru part of Idaho and found a place to camp, then headed off on a scouting mission in MT, so Rocky could plan a lot of his route for the next couple of days.

It has been a pretty busy week. Monday, Paul and I went back into Jackson, so he could get his water pump for the trailer, and then we went to Kmart.  While we were in town, Paul found the rodeo grounds incase Rocky wanted to move into town.  When we got back to our camp in the Rocky was close enough to give us a call on the radio and ask us to come out and get Jazz. . It was a dirt road, so we drove about 10 miles out and found them, also brought lunch for Rocky. Took the pack off Blackie and rode him in. Rocky was on Soldier. It was 10 miles, but we were able to cut cross country some and crossed a river, a lot of it was on a gravel road, but the colors on the mountains were pretty between the green from some of the vegetation, red in the soil, and the sand. There was a ranch called Red Rock Ranch and you could see why, because the mountain across from it was pure red. We also rode by it and they must raise paints because there were 3 pastures, which had to be 20 or more acres each were irrigated, and had about 20-25 horses in them, mostly paints. They came running over to check us out as we rode by. That was also where a couple of men/boys were out in the field shooting, and every time a shot went off it made Blackie dance around some. It took us about 4 hours to get to our campsite at Upper Slide Lake it was a pretty ride with the Tetons off to the west, the lakes, both Upper and Lower Slide, the river and the green trees. Yes, I am a fan of creeks and pine trees. It is so much nicer to look at than desert and plains. We left for Jackson once we got into camp and settled at the rodeo grounds. They charge $15/ stall, but are the canvas kind you see at many horse shows, not pens. Electric was $10 a night. Jackson has a rodeo on Wednesday and Saturday nights there on the grounds at least until after Labor Day. Horseback riding in the area is expensive, about $45-50/hour.  I saw a flyer while doing laundry on Wednesday that offered and overnight ride with 2 days of fly fishing for $550, It just amazes me these prices, but then most of my vacations were horse camping with my own horses, and horse activities, that were pretty low budget, so I could afford to keep them year round.  The USA TODAY, did an article in the Aug. 29 edition on multi activity family vacations and featured the Tetons and Yellowstone. We have been to both of them.

Tuesday we headed up to check out Yellowstone National Park. Well, let me tell you, you best follow the rules. The park rangers were tougher on us the border patrol.  We got up to one gate, about 50 miles from Jackson, and got told we were only allowed to bring certified weed free hay in the park, and had to have proof with us it was, either that had to take it back to Jackson and dump it at the waste  facility. We drove back to Jackson and asked for a copy, where we bought the hay to certify it was weed free. On the way back to Jackson, we stopped at the Teton Park visitor center, and toured the exhibits, they had some nice ones, took quite a few pictures.  They had a lot of books, but have to say that I contained myself and didn’t buy any. We also asked the ranger there about the hay, and she made a few calls, and we actually had to have written proof that it was weed free. Today, here in Idaho there are signs going into the parks stating the same thing. Our bases are covered, we have the documentation. I plan on keeping that piece of paper and framing it. They are sticklers on those weeds. One of them is thistle, there is a whole flyer published on the subject. To take hay into Yellowstone it has to be covered and covered completely. We had the certification, but while we were in the visitors center trying to get information on trails head ranger John McElvoy came over and said it had to be covered, so we put a tarp over it, with his help. He and Rocky went to make a call to the backcountry office to check on trails and see what Milo could come up with for us. We had to ride another 20 miles down to the Grant office to talk to Milo. It appeared that there aren’t many horse trails in Yellowstone, will tell you about riding the ones we did later. There are a lot of rules for horse owners wishing to ride the park. You are only allowed to camp in certain stock areas, ride on the trails only, not on the roads, or off trail because Yellowstone is on a volcanic crater, and there is only about an inch of crust and then you sink down into hot water, so you have to be careful where you go. You have to graze your animals, no feed can be brought in, the horse camp area we saw there was hardly any grass. If you have a horse that paws, you have to hobble, and no tying to trees or high lines are allowed.  They are environmentally conscious and if your horse is a problem by digging etc, they will ask you to leave, I will let Rocky to tell you about the trail selection, all I can say is when you think of a National Park as big as Yellowstone, you think  miles and miles and that is not the case.  After stopping at the Back Country office we stopped at the Grant General Store, they had a lot of nice things, Paul bought a leather jacket, that has beading, fringe and Indian design on it. I was good and settled for a soda and candy bar,  We did go up and see Old Faithful, and visited the visitors center  there and a couple of other stores. There were quite a few people, and a lot of them were foreign visitors. Seeing Old Faithful erupt was interesting, but   maybe I was expecting more, or had better study geology to get a bigger WOW out of it. We left and drove out the gate at West Yellowstone, and on our way out of the park did see some elk grazing in a marsh.  We ate at McDonalds, and when we went to drive back into the park, since there is only one way through it to head back to Jackson the ranger stopped us, and made us put plastic bags around the hay that was sticking out with duct tape, because she couldn’t get John on the phone.  She said it has to be completely  covered, and gave us a lecture on having a dirty truck, because the weeds can be carried in your tire tread, behind your license plate, or truck bed. We finally were able to head back to camp and arrived at 11 pm.

Well am going to check email, but if I don’t get back to you later tonight, will finish as Paul Harvey says, the Rest of the Story in the next post.

Preparing for Yellowstone!!

Well, I got to do a once in a lifetime adventure and that was to get to ride part of the CDT trail in Yellowstone National Park.  I’ll explain the issues, later, but I can tell  you that no horse can do the CDT completely through Yellowston NP and that is also according to the Rangers and Backcountry Rangers within the Park.  If you could see the old and downed trees that we went through, you could understand.  There are parts of the trail that haven’t been maintained within the last 15 or so years (according to the Rangers) and that being said, the downed trees and the fire of ’88, left the park with trees like “pickup sticks”, where no horse could go over or around.  If it weren’t for the trail being maintained where we went through, you couldn’t even go 50 feet.   On with this week……

August 24, 2008

I left Pinedale and took Hwy 352 to the Green River  and Bridger-Teton National Forest and started on the forest road 600 or Upper Pass Road, then forest road 620 towards the Darwin Ranch.  I wasn’t in but an hour, when a pickup stopped to talk (2 couples out of Dubois on a Sunday drive) indicated they saw bear tracks on the road not more than 100 yards back.  I thanked them and started on.  I’m riding Soldier, and ponying Blackie.  I have Jazz with me, to help “scare” any animals I might come across.  About then, I heard a grunt in the  small canyon to my left and Soldier heard it at the same time, jumped, and tried running away.  I figured it was the bear, because the horses can smell and sense them, also.  I didn’t see anything, but, again, I really didn’t want to see anything.  I did begin to see the bear tracks in the road and they were “huge”!!  I couldn’t tell by the claws on the paw print, but I believe it was either a large black bear or a grizzly.  The length was as big as 2 hands put together. When I got up this morning it was 38 degrees.  The days are getting shorter and the temperature is getting colder.  Paul had talked to someone that had just come down from Glacier National Park and they said they were getting snow in the park, already.  I’m not going through the park, but will be a little east of it (I’ll touch the park in the southern portion).  At about 3:45, I hit the Darwin ranch, operated by Lorring and Melody.  Lorring showed me how to get through the pasture, over the creek and to the trails on the other side.  He said it was O.K. to ride the horses through, but he didn’t want any motorcycles!!  He said to just follow the orange diamonds on the trail (snowmobile trail).  Jazz is tired, but she is staying up with us.  There has been plenty of water for horses and Jazz all through the day.  Weather has been good, a little cloudy and overcast.  For lunch it was a snickers bar, beef jerky, Vienna sausages and water.  At 5:00, I heard an ATV coming up and he stopped to chat.  His name was Dale Peterson.  He worked in Jackson and even offered me a Dr Pepper!!  I decided to stop at 6:00.  The trail came onto the Gros Ventre Road and there just happened to be an old wooden corral there, where I could put the horses in and not have to tie them for the night.  This time, I made certain they couldn’t get out.  I set up the tent and got set for the night, not knowing if there were any “critters” in the area…..or not.  I rode 27 miles and 10 hours.

August 25, 2008

I got up and got off by 7:45.  It was 38 degrees this morning but by the time the sun came over the mountains, it started warming.  I’m in a beautiful valley with high mountains on each side.  I follow the valley on out the road leading to Jackson Hole, and Slide Lake.  I’m riding Soldier and leading Blackie.  It seems to be a good horse combination, at this time.  There is plenty of creeks for the horses to drink and Jazz seems to stop at every one of them.  She has plenty of energy in the morning, but soon drains by afternoon.  Although the temperature is in the 60’s during the day, the sun is pretty hot on a black dog!!  By 11:00, I got my first glimpse of the Tetons as I rounded a bend in the valley.  It was quite a site and I knew that was where I was going to end up.  Further on, I met Ron.  He works for the Goose Wing Ranch (a large dude ranch in the area).  He is a Viet  Nam Vet and is enjoying his job here in the mountains.  At 12:30, Paul and Kathy found me on the road.  They had set up camp at Slide Lake and found the road I would be riding in on.  I was glad to see them, ate lunch (which they brought), put Jazz in the pickup and Kathy said she would ride Blackie the rest of the way.  It was a total of 24 miles and 9 hours. 

August 26, 27 2008

We went into Jackson Hole for a rest and restock of supplies for the horses and ourselves.  We stayed at their rodeo grounds, but it cost us $10 per night for electricity and $15 per night to stall our horses.  We had electricity, so I even was able to use my heater in my camper for one of the first times.  It was getting pretty cold in the mornings.  On Monday, 26^th, we took a trip to Yellowstone, to talk to the rangers on entering and riding the trails.  It was quite an adventure.  We had to pass through the Teton National Park first and this is the only road in western Wyoming that goes on out of state.  It is a major highway (287/191) and even though it is a major highway, you have to pay to pass through both national parks.  Check your Wyoming map.  It is quite ridiculous!!  Anyway, as we came to the entry into the Teton NP, I was driving my pickup, which has  our feed for the horses in back (hay, grain, water, etc.).  The gate guard asked if the hay we had was “certified weed free”.  I said I didn’t think so.  Wrong answer!!  They would not let us pass through.  This was after driving 30 miles from Jackson Hole.  We went back to Jackson Hole and found the local feed store.  It had a sign that said they were closed and had gone out of business.  Luckily, next door, the auto supply store had 2 stacks of hay stacked outside.  I asked inside and they were for sale at $16 a bale.  WOW!! What prices.  Anyway, I bought 2 more bales and got a certificate that they were certified weed free and we headed back to the Teton entry station.  When we got there, they asked if the hay we were carrying were certified weed free and I said yes.  They then passed us on.  I have a lifetime card that gets me into any National Park and 2 other guests that might be with me.  That alone saved us $25 just passing through the Teton national Park.  We then got to Yellowstone National Park guard gate.  I showed him my pass and he asked if the hay was “certified weed free” and I said yes and I wanted to talk to the backtrail rangers about riding in Yellowstone.  He said to just pull aside and go into their station (which we did).  The lady inside didn’t know anyting, but to go to the Grants Ranger Station and they might know.  We left the building, but ran into another ranger (John McElvey) who asked if the hay was “certified weed free”.  I said yes and showed him the document.  That was O.K., but we couldn’t go any further, because the National Park regulations said the hay had to be bagged or covered.  We had a tarp and John helped us cover the hay.  When we asked him about riding in the park, he said no one has ever ridden it completely that he knew of and they couldn’t because of the unkept trails in which the logs covered the trails and you couldn’t ride on them.  He said to talk to  one of their main backwoods rangers in the Grants station.  I was to talk to Milo Williams.  We went on.  At Grants, I got with Milo.  He hadn’t ridden in a few years, but knew we couldn’t ride but certain trails with the horses and none of them connected.  He advised we ride the CDT trail/Shoshone Lake trail/lonestar trail that started just above Lewis Lake and came out on the Lonestar trailhead, just below ‘Ole Faithful.  I asked him about the Nez Perce trail that is indicated on all my maps that goes out the west exit of the park.  He said he knew of no trail and when I showed him on my map, he said the trail does not exist, but was the path taken by the Indians, at that time.  I asked him about the CDT trail through Yellowstone and he only knew of 2 segments.  They didn’t really connect, either.  I decided to take his advice and we would ride it.  We then went on to ‘ole Faithful and watched it “go” with a few hundred other people.  At least we experienced it.  I decided to go ahead and leave the park on the west entrance and to try to find a place to stay in West Yellowstone, when we finished our ride.  We found a lot to park in and headed back into Yellowstone NP.  At the guard gate, the guard stopped us and asked if the hay was “certified weed free” and I said yes and showed her the document.  She then said we couldn’t go into the park because our hay was not completely covered.  I told her that one of the main ranger “supervisors” (John McElvey) had even helped us cover the hay.  It didn’t matter, some hay was sticking out on the edges and we couldn’t go through.  She finally said she had some bags and tape and she would help us tape it up, so we could pass (which we did).  We drove straight back to Jackson Hole and got in about 11:00 that night.  The next day, we took a different route from Jackson Hole, into Idaho and north via Hwy 20 to West Yellowstone, Mt (by-passing all the National Parks and their irregulated rules!!).  We weren’t through yet!!