Grand Teton --- The Tell-Tale Bell

So after yesterday’s run-in with the moose, Kevin prudently decided to invest in some professional-grade bear spray.  He also bought a bear bell, which is just an oversized jingle bell that you attach to yourself while hiking.  It is supposed to let the bears know that you are coming so that you don’t startle them and, you know, get mauled.

At the trailhead for Leigh Lake, Kevin gave me the bell and told me to tie it to my shoe (supposedly it makes the most noise that way – I can vouch for this).  I did as requested, and for the next 20 minutes I slowly descended into madness as I heard an unnervingly loud jangle with each footstep.  Unable to take it any more, I stopped short, untied the bell, and handed it to Kevin with a gruff, “Here, you wear it.” 

I thought I would be free of the jingling, but I had another thing coming.  I was hiking in the lead, and the rest of the way along the trail was like something out of Edgar Allan Poe.  I sped up – the bell sped up right along with me.  I slowed down – and I could hear its relentless ting-a-ling-a-ling coming ever closer.  I couldn’t hear myself think; let alone hear any of the relaxing forest sounds usually associated with a hike in the woods – no soft brush of the wind through the pines, no lapping of waves on the lakeshore, no birds chirping.  Just the jingling.  Forevermore.

When the time came for us to turn back for the van, I let Kevin lead.  Trying to avoid a “The Shining” moment, I purposefully dawdled behind…emptying imaginary rocks from my shoe and taking out of focus photos…anything to let him get out of earshot so that the maddening roar would dull to a faint tinkle.  Honestly, I’m not sure how these bells can actually function as bear deterrents – I wouldn’t be surprised to see some irate bear come crashing through the woods just to take a swat at you out of sheer annoyance.

At any rate, the thing worked.  At no point on the hike were we attacked by bears, trampled by moose, or pecked at by deadly ravens.  In fact, in six miles we didn’t see a shred of wildlife – not a marmot, not a squirrel, not even a chipmunk!  We saw plenty of butterflies, but I’m certain that’s simply because butterflies don’t have ears. 

But once we were back at the van and the bear bell was safely stowed in a sock drawer, we saw plenty of wildlife.  An antelope playing in the field, a mule deer grazing near our campsite – all of Creation came out to enjoy the blessed silence.

 

Over dinner (delicious bison cheeseburgers), we had a discussion about the vile bear bell and whether or not we should continue to use it.  We came to what I like to call “a philosophical difference of opinion” on the matter.  So stay tuned.  There may be more bear bell in our future.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

We got an early start this morning by driving up the muddy dirt road of Mormon Row.  In the late 1800’s a small group of Mormons settled within sight of the Tetons.  Some of the original structures are still standing.

Kevin didn’t love driving down the dirt road, with its many muddy ruts.  What made it worthwhile was when we caught sight of this group of bison grazing right off the roadway.  Home, home on the range!

We drove up towards Jenny Lake and took the ferry across the lake.  On the other side there is a trail that leads up to Inspiration Point, a vista made famous by many painters and photographers.  As we hiked the trail, we came across a couple of moose – a sow and her calf, crossing Cascade Creek.  We gave them a wide berth, you definitely don’t want to come between a momma moose and her baby!

The view at Inspiration Point was incredible.  Today was a gorgeous day for hiking – not too cold, and the sun came out at just the right moments.  When we got to the Point, we decided to hike a little further, into Cascade Canyon.  One of the rangers had warned us that it was still pretty snowy, and she wasn’t exaggerating.  We waded through the snowdrifts in our tennis shoes (to save space we only brought 2 pairs of shoes each – sneakers and flip-flops – we really need to buy some hiking boots, I think).

As we traversed one snowbank, we were met head-on by two adolescent moose who also wanted to cross.  Kevin was in the lead and thanks to my hat brim (and needing to watch my footing) I didn’t see them until Kevin said “Hey, Moose!”.  I was a little freaked out to be staring down a moose at 50 feet – way too close.  Luckily, they didn’t want a fight and we stepped well out of their way as they crossed in front of us.  Scaredy-cat that I am, I kept the camera in my pocket until they were too well camouflaged in the trees to get a good shot, so we have no decent photo of them.  Needless to say, I walked a little more carefully after that!

We also came across some less-intimidating wildlife – this marmot was hanging out at the Jenny Lake ferry dock, just waiting to be fed.  Something about his Ruben-esque figure tells me that plenty of tourists oblige him (we didn’t).

At the end of a long day, we stopped for beers at the Jackson Lake Lodge.  From the deck they have gorgeous views of the Tetons.  We have two more days here, so we don’t want to inundate you all with photos of the mountains, but here’s a nice sundowner shot.

So far no grizzlies sighted, but we still have a couple days to spot one.  We spent last night in the Gros Ventre campground, and tonight we are in the Colter Bay campground.  As we checked in, the lady mentioned that they’d seen a grizzly nosing around the group campsite this morning, so we’ll be sure to have the camera at the ready!

Jackson, WY --- Circle the Wagons!

When we arrived in Jackson early this morning, our first stop was the hospital.  Nothing serious, but Kevin needed to see an ophthalmologist.  After a windy/dusty day in Moab, his eye had been bothering him all weekend.  Turns out he had a small piece of plastic lodged in his cornea!  Five cringe-worthy seconds while the doctor fished around in there with some sharp tweezers, and Kevin was good as new!  So it was on to the Jackson town square (and the arches made of antlers).  They looked pretty sharp – so we kept our corneas away from them.

We had a nice lunch at Eleaven then walked around town a bit.  We just couldn’t resist going into the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar for a couple of overpriced beers, even though it is a total tourist trap.  The bar was inlaid with 1920’s-era silver dollars, and there were saddles for bar stools.  Yee haw!

But we still hadn’t seen any Tetons yet, so we headed over to the Teton Village Tram to get a bird’s-eye view of the valley.  The tram climbs a stomach-dropping 4,139 feet to the summit of Rendez-vous Mountain (height 10,450 feet) where you get stunning panoramic views of the entire valley and surrounding mountains.

At the top, it was actually snowing!  We weren’t quite prepared for that, and made a beeline for the cozy hot chocolate stand.  But not before we got a quick peek at the peaks of the Tetons (behind Kevin).

There was a professional photographer at the top taking pictures, so we let her pose us for a shot (ski-poles included).The highlight of today was a dinner tour.  And not just any dinner tour – a covered wagon ride followed by a cowboy barbecue.  We figured since we’d seen someone literally traversing the country in a covered wagon, the least we could do was try it for one evening.

Bar T-5 Ranch operates a Covered Wagon Cookout where a wagon train of tourists heads into the Cache Creek area of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.  SPOILER ALERT: along the way, there is an Indian attack!

There was a stage at the pavilion where they were setting up to serve dinner.  The emcee called for a “volunteer” to help get the show started and, as usually happens, picked the person who least wanted to be up on stage – Kevin.  Luckily, he wasn’t asked to do anything he didn’t want to do.  In fact, once he found out the task he volunteered willingly.  His job?  To ring the dinner bell and be first in line at the barbecue buffet!

After dinner, there was a talented four-piece band (complete with fiddler) that played some old-time cowboy tunes like “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and “Devil Went Down to Jackson (Georgia)”.  It was a great way to spend an evening, we would definitely recommend it if you are ever in the Jackson area.

Logan and Garden City, UT

When we were planning out the trip, we tried not to make too many reservations ahead of time.  But we did go ahead and reserve our campsites for Memorial Day weekend, just in case things were crowded.  We had reserved a spot in the Cache National Forest near Logan, in northern Utah, and as luck would have it, our friend and coworker Doug and his family live not 7 miles from there.  They invited us for Sunday barbecue dinner with their family (and extended family).  It was such a fun and lively gathering and the food was delicious – best meal we’ve had all week!  The family atmosphere made me miss my far-flung siblings (in Italy, Costa Rica, Scottsdale, Santa Barbara, Thailand) and parents back home.  I miss all you guys!
The Logan Canyon area is just gorgeous, with larger-than-life mountains and a picturesque river running alongside the roadway.  The peaks of the mountains were still snow-capped, and as we continued to climb in elevation the snow came right up to the road.  It was a very nice drive (no ice on the roadway) and we didn’t have very far to go today – just about 32 miles to Bear Lake, a crystal-clear lake that borders Utah and Idaho.

It looks chilly, but once we got down to Garden City there wasn’t any snow on the ground.  We (well, me) still thought it was a little cold, but almost everyone else we saw was wearing shorts and t-shirts so I guess we’re wimps.  But Doug’s wife Lisa had suggested we stop at Le Beau’s for a raspberry shake (the town is known for its fresh raspberries) so despite the fact that we were all bundled up we did sit outside and enjoy a nice frosty milkshake.  Once the sun came out it was actually very pleasant, and there was a heavenly fragrance in the breeze from the nearby lilac tree.
After settling in at the campground (now that Memorial Day weekend is over we are practically the only ones here), we took a walk down to the marina for a closer view of the lake.

The marina was home to quite a number of boats, and there were a couple of sailboats out on the water even though it wasn’t very windy.  One of our brochures calls Bear Lake the “Caribbean of the Rockies” because of its bright turquoise color and clarity of the water.  Our photos don’t do it justice, but we could see how it got the nickname because there definitely was a hint of Caribbean blue in the water.  Then again, maybe it was the seagulls.

Park City, UT --- In the Rain

The Utah Lake State Park campground is kind of quiet and there’s not much to do here – it’s in a residential/farm-type area and there are no shops or restaurants to walk to.  So we thought we’d take a leisurely drive over to Park City and check out the town.  Unfortunately for us, the forecast gave a 50% chance of rain.

The drive over was pleasant, though.  There are so many state parks and other campground areas in this part of Utah that we probably could have camped anywhere. (I’d made reservations thinking that Memorial Day would be crowded, but with the weather our campground isn’t even very full).  Highway 189 follows the curves of a river (the Provo River, I think), and is very scenic – we saw a very pretty waterfall (Bridal Veil Falls) on the way out of town.

Once we got into Park City, it began to drizzle and there really wasn’t much we could do except hit the pub.  We had a tasty lunch at the Wasatch Brew Pub while we tried to wait out the rain.  Kevin accompanied his lunch with a light lager but I couldn’t resist ordering one called the “Polygamy Porter”.  As we ate our lunch, we watched helplessly out the window as the weather deteriorated and the rain started coming down in sheets.  It was disappointing because the main street of the town looked pretty neat and we would have liked to explore some of the shops.  We sat in the van for 45 minutes hoping it would let up but no avail.  Finally we called it, and headed for home. 

On a positive note, I believe we have now finally managed to escape the desert heat.  It’s supposed to get down to 40 degrees overnight here and with the rain it was definitely sweatshirt weather.  (Hats and scarves won’t be far behind, I imagine!)  Here’s a view through the windshield of the Wasatch Mountains covered in snow.  Chilly!

Great Alaskan Road Trip: Week 2 Roundup

Each Friday, I post some relevant (and not-so-relevant) stats about the trip, as well as a little write-up of what it’s like to live out of a van for weeks on end.  Here’s where we are overall:

• Total Miles driven: 1267
• Total days on the road: 11
• Total Miles hiked: 17.5

Here are some interesting stats for this week:

• Fuel stops: 1 (diesel: $4.02 / gallon in Blanding, UT)
• Technical issues:  2  (Kevin broke the powercord for his laptop, I forgot to put the grate on when cooking and scorched the stovetop)
• National Park Service sites visited: 3 (Natural Bridges NM, Canyonlands, Arches)
• Bighorn Sheep sighted: 1 (in Canyonlands)
• Bears sighted: 0 (still hoping)
• Semi Trucks pulling oversized covered wagons: 1 (no photo, sadly)

We weren’t planning on cooking much inside the van on this trip.  Kevin grilled some amazing steaks the other night, and we’ve also gone to restaurants for dinner twice this past week.  But for the most part we have been eating simple dinners (some bread, some cheese, olives) or sandwiches at our campsite(s).  But on Wednesday night I got ambitious and decided to make a fancy dinner (i.e. boil pasta).
I started up the stove no problem and put the stockpot on the burner.  But I forgot that we had stowed the grate that holds the pans up off the fire (it rattled when we drove).  After a while, we could smell something slightly burnt but we chalked it up to using the stockpot for the first time.  Only when I pulled the pot off the stove did we see the full extent of the damage.

Yep, the surface is scorched and I kinda melted the sticker near the knobs.  I will definitely remember to put on the grate next time!  But at least it’s not broken, and the pasta tasted just fine.

Of course, Kevin’s laptop’s broken power cord issue was completely MacGuyver-able.  Nothing that a little duct tape couldn’t fix.

We are now all checked in at Utah Lake State Park.  It’s a nice place and the campsites are well spaced out so you aren’t on top of your neighbor.  Utah Lake is pretty large -- there’s a marina here, with quite a few sailboats (no catamarans, though).  We went for a walk and I took a few photos of the lake, but then it started looking like rain and we realized we had left all the “hatches” open on the van.  So we had to hurry back to make sure the inside of the van didn’t get wet.  You’d think we’d know better by now, but some things never change.

Arches National Park, Utah

We had only one day to explore Arches National Park, so we made the most of it.  We got an early start and our first stop was the famous Delicate Arch (you may recognize it from the Utah license plates).  The parking lot at the 3-mile trailhead was pretty full, so we bypassed that and did the one-mile viewpoint trail.  We could only see the arch from a distance but it was a nice angle for a wide shot and at that time of morning the light was good.  Notice how tiny the people are (they are on the 3-mile trail).  I’d always imagined that it would be much smaller, but it is immense.

If arches are your thing, this is the park to visit.  There are over 2,000 named and catalogued arches in the park.  So pick an arch, any arch.

Top: Landscape Arch, Double O Arch, Bottom: Turret Arch, North & South Windows

We had hoped to do the Fiery Furnace hike, which is a phenomenal ranger-guided hike through the labyrinth of fin formations and tight canyons.  But it needs to be reserved well in advance and because we didn’t know our schedule, we missed out.  (Next time, for sure!)  So we opted to do the Devil’s Garden hike instead.

The Devil’s Garden trail is the longest of the maintained trails in Arches – it’s 7.2 miles long if you do all the spur trails to see the arches (which we did) and you come back by the primitive loop trail (which we also did).  It’s not a particularly strenuous hike (there’s not a big elevation change) but it does require good balance and agility.  As we clambered over slickrock fin formations, we found ourselves executing the very technical climbing move called the “butt traverse” (scootching down on your backside when the incline is too vertical for walking).

What I loved most about the hike was seeing all the varied and fascinating rock formations.  The park is situated on top of a large underground salt bed.  Over time, the salt compressed and shifted the rock above into ideal positions to be sculpted by surface erosion into arches, spires, fins, and precariously balanced rocks.

Here is Kevin on one of the fin formations.  There were some stretches where it was very important to watch where you put your feet because of the drop-offs on either side. 

We were glad we started the hike during the cool hours of the morning.  The weather stayed pleasant all day – a balmy 77 degrees.  It was great to have a cool breeze while we were hiking.  It took us about 4 hours to finish the hike, and we were pretty exhausted but we still had the whole afternoon to try to see as much of the rest of the park as possible.  Luckily it’s pretty car-friendly, with lots of viewpoints and pull-outs.  Here’s one of the arches we saw over in the Windows area of the park.  It’s called “Double Arch” (Full-on Double Arch!  What does it mean?)

This is our last night in Moab.  We had a well-deserved pizza dinner at Paradox Pizza, right by our RV campground.  In the morning we are headed to Utah Lake State Park for a couple of nights.  I don’t think they have wi-fi, so there may be a delay in the next few posts.  Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Moab, Utah -- Colorado River Rafting

I was apprehensive when Kevin suggested we try river rafting while we’re here in Moab.  Prior to today, my only experience rafting has been floating down the Salt River in an inner tube with a beer in hand.  But Kevin eventually wants to do a multi-day trip down the Grand Canyon, so we figured I might as well get my feet wet now.  And what better place than Moab?  It’s known for great rafting trips in the canyons along the mighty Colorado River.

I was leery of booking an all-day trip – what if it was too scary?  What if I fell out and was swept away by the current?  But I needn’t have worried.  Kevin found a tour that listed the minimum age as five.  If a five-year-old can do it and live to tell the tale, then I guess so could I.

Kevin chose Moab Adventure Center’s all-day trip.  From the start, our river guide Melaina reassured us that all the rapids we’d be going through were only Class I, due to the low water level on the Colorado.  (When the river is high, some of the rapids we went through today would be Class III).  So the rapids were fun, but nothing scary at all (note the happy smile on my face).

Our guide was great, pointing out all the interesting natural features and formations as we leisurely floated our way through wide and narrow canyon country.  Every once in a while, we’d approach a rapid and she’d yell “Paddle!” so we got in a decent upper body workout, too.  In our group, there actually was a five-year-old child so I definitely felt at ease.  (Although he did fall into the water at one point – not during a rapid, so he was fine.  Just a little shaken.) 

For lunch we docked at a restaurant along the river and had a delicious buffet with grilled burgers and hot dogs.  (Moab Adventure Center is the only raft tour that does this, all the others just get PB&J sandwiches on the beach.)

One of the other rafters in our group had taken several days to raft the Grand Canyon a few years ago.  As she described the trip it sounded more and more like something that would be thrilling but worth it.  After today, I feel like that will be one to add to our “future travel” list.