Yellowstone Round two.

The original idea for this day was to visit the Mesa Falls in Idaho (near Ashton ID), then go in to Yellowstone from Idaho and hike to Bechler Falls (it is about 1 1/2 miles from the parking area).and then have a long day on Thursday going down to Jackson Hole Wyoming and the Teton National Park. We got an early start so ultimately decided to go on to Driggs Idaho as Renee said there was a collection of WW2 vintage aircraft (and a good place for lunch), and we could then loop around through Jackson and come back through the Wyoming Yellowstone entrance and out of the Montana entrance (or exit if you prefer). So we would have been in the park from all three states that it resides in.
It was a long day but totally worth it as it allowed us to spend Thursday at Canyon, another great area of Yellowstone.
The Mesa Falls are on a loop road off Highway 20 that goes from West Yellowstone to Ashton and on to Idaho Falls. You come first to the Upper Falls and they are not particularly well marked, or rather there is only one sign, and if you miss that you have to turn around. Fortunatly Renee had been before and knew what to expect. 
The Upper Falls are about 144 ft high and there is an excellent walkway to get to the best viewing sight and while it is a climb it is easy with good footing.
The falls are very impressive and throw off some mist that helps create rainbows. Very pretty. 


 The far wall is covered in grasses 

and moss from the constant moisture and way high in one of the trees is an eagle' eyrie. There is a set of binoculars at the Visitor Center that is fixed and focused on it. We were there around 9 am and there were some other people there but not many. 

The view down river from the Upper Falls

We headed on around the loop to the Lower Falls, which were much further away. They are "only" 65 ft high but seem to go through a more constricted gap and are (in my mind) equally impressive.

Lower Mesa Falls. Viewed from about 1/2 mile away.

The ever present GOCA hat at Lower Mesa Falls

We moved on to Warm River where the road crosses a bridge and there are a concentration of fish (various variety of trout). A family came along suitably armed with bread and it was obvoius that the fish were used to this and performed accordingly!.
There was a small house right by the river and a bigger fancier lodge across the street. rather liked the small house and it's location nestled in to the hillside.

Nice little house on the Warm River

A little way down the road you take a curve and suddenly burst out into a huge valley of very productive farmland and a complete contrast to the last few hours. This area is known (at least to the cognoscenti or those that read the signs) as a major area for growing seed potatoes.
As I go back 40 years or more to my classes in crop management I recall that crop rotation was important and you did one year of wheat, one of barley and one of a root crop like potatoes
I think this originated as a way to prevent the spread of disease and to not overtax the soil. I am equally sure that things have changed but that this quite green farming method is still in use today. That is what the evidence suggests.
We headed to the only entrance to Yellowstone from Idaho. It is about 10 miles up a fairly rough gravel road (not rough by Zambian standards!) to the Cave Falls. There were about 6 or 7 cars there and I think some people would have been off hiking some of the many trails as there were not that many people at the Falls. 
The last time Renee was at the falls there was a cave that you could enter, but the entrance had collapsed at some point in the past couple of months. 
Our plan was to hike to Bechler Falls, as Renee had not been and it was only 1.4 miles away (and described as an easy level walk). 

There were (again) several cars at the trail head and a sign indicating that it was possible to walk all the way to Old Faithful some 30+ miles away. We were not going that far!

Renee at Cave Falls

It was a very pleasant walk and a rudimentary trail with lots of trip hazards. We saw one guy fly fishing in the river just below the confluence of the Bechler and Falls rivers and another person (probably his partner) fast asleep in the woods!!

Can you spot the sleeper?

There was in fact a gentle upslope and the trail moved away from the river after about a mile or so. We followed up the Bechler river trail and eventually could hardly hear the river for 5 minutes or so and then heard a very different sound (no, not a bear!, but the sound of the falls rather than the river running) Right around the corner were the falls and very beautiful they were and well worth the hike. 

Renee Looking the part of wildlife photographer!

Bechler Falls

Down river from Bechler Falls

There was another fly fisherman (he was from West Virginia) who claimed he was not having much luck fishing with crickets and thought the cricket was too big for the fish!!

I think we got back to the car around noon and decided to extend the trip to Jackson WY at that point after a stop in Driggs Idaho.
I will do the Driggs and Jackson Hole portion as a separate post as this one is already long!!
I am only a week behind at this point, but will get caught up gradually.

Earthquake Lake. The power of nature

Earthquake Lake was formed overnight by a 7.5 Richter scale earthquake around midnight on August 17 1958.A total of 28 people lost their lives that night but the quake also moved around 80 million tons of rock from the side of the canyon into the bottom and to the other side of the canyon.
It successfully dammed the Madison River below the Hebgen Lake dam. Check it out on Google Earth. There were lots of tourists and campers as it was the height of the summer season, and the rescue efforts were underway by 11 the next morning. I think that is remarkably quick. It had to be as the water was rapidly rising and there was concern that it could impact the Hebgen Dam adding to the problems.

  This is the view looking west (direction of flow) 

This side is where most of the rock ended up. You can see the river in the center.

 

 

 

The large rocks in the next pictures came from the horseshoe shaped area in the center of the picture

Me in the picture for scale!!

 

Looking back to the East

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking down the river (west) from the destroyed campground

A destroyed building at the campground

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A significant section of Highway 287 that runs through the Gallatin National Forest was also destroyed making the evacuation all the more challenging.

The Army Corps of Engineers had to create a spillway which still exists today. It is gradually eroding and the water level today is about 70 ft down from the peak right after the quake. The belief is that it will eventually erode and the Earthquake Lake will disappear. 

There is (of course) more information at the website. Follow the link. Earthquake lake info

We also found time to go to West Yellowstone for groceries and gas, and stopped at Renee's favorite spot on the Madison River. She says that on a calm day the reflections of the mountains (correction HER mountains) are beautiful. I for one believe her!!

Renee at the Madison River. Renee's Range in the background!!

Yellowstone Part One

I arrived here in West Yellowstone on Sunday afternoon (it is now Friday) It was raining cool and windy, but with better weather forecast for the rest of the week.
My (excellent) host Renee was cooking ribs and had invited some of the other folks from the campground over for supper. Renee had another guest Beth Wagner. All three of us had worked together at Caterpillar in Clayton NC and then gone our separate ways. I will create a special post about Renee and my admiration for her lifestyle and choices.
Beth had been here for a few days and was due to leave for Bozeman on Monday evening for an early Tuesday flight. 
We decided to go into Yellowstone on Monday to see the geysers and of course the most famous one, Old Faithful. I have to admit that I have done little planning for this whole trip but particularly for this portion. Renee has been here since late May and has spent many days in the park so knows it well and also the best time of day for visits. 
It was quite foggy when we got up and the campground is right by a lake. I took a couple of photos that have the peaks of some of the mountains peaking out. Renee claims they are HER mountains so I will call them the Renee Range. I could hear a coyote on the other side of the lake, but could not see him or her through the mist. Rather cool! 
I have also posted a picture of the same range after the fog had cleared so you can see the magnificent view on a clear day. Superb.

Renee's Place

We left for the geysers early Monday morning and traffic was light. The only hold up was a "parade" which is when all the cars stop (sometimes in the middle of the road) to look at animals.
We experienced this within the first hour although there were few cars.

I have never seen a bison (live) so this was an interesting experience all the more so for a close up experience. Park rules do not allow you to get closer than 75 ft from animals other than bears and wolves, and then it is 300 ft. Plenty close if you ask me.

We arrived around 8.45 at the geyser field and Renee checked the estimated times for the various geysers to blow so we could begin to plan a route. There are about 150 geysers and they are spread out over about one square mile. All are well signed and some are certainly more spectacular than others. It was a partly cloudy day and quite cold when the wind blew and the sun was behind the clouds. 
We first went to Daisy Geyser as it was the first to erupt and she did so right on time. As you can see below it is difficult to photo the geyser against a white cloud background!

GOCA hat sighting

Renee and Beth at Daisy Geyser 

We spent the next few hours wandering around some of the other geysers and saw Old Faithful erupt from the lodge near by. It seems to have the most regular and predictable eruptions but is actually not as spectacular as Grand Geyser. The challenge with Grand is that they give you a 4 hour window of when they predict it will erupt, but the eruptions last between 7 and 12 minutes and are worth the wait. There are people who are Geyser Gazers and spend a LOT of time looking at them or waiting for them to erupt. The older ones are actually known as Geyser Gazer Geezers!!  

 We got back around 7pm after a full day and Beth still had to drive to Bozeman. Plans are for a short day tomorrow with a trip to Earthquake Lake!!

 

More Montana and on to Yellowstone

For the benefit of avid map followers (and you know who you are!) I left the last post basically at Georgetown MT. There is a beautiful lake and what looks like a lot of retirement or vacation homes. A beautiful setting with all of the requirements, like mountains and water and relative peace and quiet.

The road goes on to Anaconda MT which was another famous mining town (There was or is a mining company Anaconda Copper) and all that remains of the mine and smelter is the smelter stack and an area around there that is totally denuded of trees and vegetation. The mining was basically done in the late 1800s and there was no knowledge of the potential consequences of spewing acid laden smoke into the atmosphere. There is a similar area of devastation near Copperhill TN on the border between GA,TN,and NC. 

It looks like there is a fair amount of activity in Anaconda but I did not tarry.

Always the one for the road less traveled  headed south towards Wisdom and on to Jackson and eventually Dillon MT. When they talk about "Big Sky Montana" this must be it. There are vast areas of range land and grazing land and irrigated fields. I maybe expected to see more sheep but have actually seen very few.

I stopped to take the photo here and there were 4 guys on motorcycles who stopped at the same turnout. They were attorneys from Texas and had rented motorcycles in Great Falls Montana and were headed to Yellowstone. They still had a good 4 hours of riding ahead of them.

After a night in Dillon I headed up to Twin Bridges and on to Ennis MT with a brief side trip up to Ruby Dam near Alder.  

There are lots of motorcycles around and it is easy to find yourself going 75-80 mph. That is kinda OK as the speed limit outside most towns is 70 during the day. I notice that people tend to observe the speed limits well in town. I have followed suit!!
I basically made a big loop around to Helena over to Garrison and back to Butte MT. 

The scenery was less interesting other than the climb up out of Helena on Rt 12 and a lake and campground that looked inviting in Canyon Ferry, just east of Helena.

At one point I stopped for gas at a truck stop near the interstate, and saw the truck in the picture below. It had this strange looking device on the rear doors and paneling along the lower sides of the trailer. The rear device folds up to the size and shape of the rear doors for unloading the truck.
I asked the driver and he confirmed my belief that they were for improving fuel efficiency. He said that the device on the back improved efficiency by about 4/10 of a mile per gallon and the combination of that and the side panels added up to about 9/10 of a mile per gallon. That is significant and he said the overall improvement took him from around 6.5 mpg to 7.5 mpg. If you drive 200,000 miles a year or so that is significant in dollars and fuel savings.
Just another random piece of learning!!

A whole new appreciation for Lewis and Clark

After a conversation with the desk clerk (and maybe owner) of my motel in Drummond I adjusted my plan (not that I really had one) and headed down the road to Phillipsburg MT which was only about 20 miles away. It is an old mining town (I am discovering that there are lots of old mining towns in MT) but unlike many of the others Phillipsburg appears to be thriving and has made the turnaround. It sits on the side of a hill and has a beautiful and well kept courthouse as well as a place called The Sanctuary, which is billed as a biker sanctuary.
You can find more detail at bikersanctuary.com

Like many towns out here the streets are wide (I recall wide enough to turn a cart and 6 horses?) and this is still put to good use when they deliver the beer or other goods. The trucks just park in the middle of the street!

I had looked on the map the previous evening and decided to test my spirit of adventure and check out the Skalkaho Pass which crosses the Bitterroot Range at about 7200 ft. This on a gravel road. They close the pass in winter and I discovered why.

The first 16 miles are paved and the road is very good and fast, but gets narrower and more curvy and eventually turns to gravel as you start the climb to the top of the pass.
What I had not anticipated is that the climb would be in a forest with views only of the road and surrounding area. 
I came around a bend to find a semi loaded with bridge culvert concrete structures. The driver escort said there were two trucks coming down the grade and would I wait. We chatted and I found out about some waterfalls on the other side of the pass. I eventually got on my way and passed through the construction and to the other side of the pass. There was no view at the top because of the trees. A little disappointing but still a great adventure.

 

The road at this point got very narrow and curvy, and the drop off on the left side going down was at least a couple of hundred feet with of course no guard rail.

I found the waterfall that was mentioned and it was not a huge cascade of water but as I was out looking around I heard a motorcycle coming up the grade, and much to my surprise it was a motorcycle and side car. Not something you see on the highway let alone up on some random gravel road in Montana.

I turned around and retraced my steps eventually coming down to a couple of small rivers and some fly fishermen.

 I turned back towards Georgetown Lake and Anaconda and came across an impressive waterfall right beside the highway

You can see the highway on the right hand side.

I will continue with the rest of the day and Saturday in a separate post. I need to get going to meet up with Renee in West Yellowstone