Sat Jun 29 2013

The Grand Tetons, coming

I have seen quite some rodeo's.
But this was special. A real family event.
Boys/girls of 3 years old did
some sheep back riding. The real bare back
horse riding was after 10 PM.
The bull roping was so kid and bull friendly.
Barrel racing, for 10 years young girls got more
enthusiasm from the public, even if it takes 30
to 60 sec (the real prof are way below 10 sec).

After the rodeo, passed by the Rustic bar
in Dubois and stick-ed there until the early
morning hours.
Got a very interesting talk with a native
American. His feeling for nature was the
center of his life. Any other religion was
a man made setup/invention/...
Sorry I could not remember the exact word,

And tomorrow, the real Tetons

By the way, Nostalgia Restaurant in Dubois, is superb.
The Fish Pot Pie is exquisite.


Now going into the Tetons and the Yellowstone park.
Probably no internet access for days to come.

Wed, Thu, Fri Jun 26-28 2013

Driving from Lander to Dubois.
Made up the plan to go for 2 nights
wilderness camping, and then an hotel
in Dubois (does this sounds familiar)
to clean up, and especially to enjoy the
local rodeo.

Went up the scenic road over red canyons,
closer to high Tetons peaks, but by far not there yet.

Disappeared the next day in the Fitzpatrick
wilderness.

Anyhow, no mobile service at all in Wyoming.
And no WiFi on any of the campgrounds here.
Explains the delay to update.

Selected the Glacier trail
in the Fitzpatrick Wilderness.

Started at 7516 ft and climbed to 10132 ft
over an ever changing landscape.
Moraines, pine forest, meadows, tundra,
lakes, waterfalls,
and this time only a hint of snow.
But failed to see the Big Horn Sheep.
Would probably need a 5 day hike, deep
in the Wilderness.

Next day, Windy river, and Brooks Creek falls.
Camping next to this waterfall.
This time, at least 100 ft away, so that
a could have a perfect sleep,
without the thunder of the water, but
enough for a relaxing background song.

From there, a beautiful hike from
Brooks lake to Jade lake (and upper
brooks lake).  Hard to belief
that the Teton's would even beat this.

Now in town for the rodeo. Not sure what
to expect.

Tue Jun 25 2013

Gold mining ghost towns

South pass city
Population 
    About 5 people
    Approximately 4 dogs
    Roughly 2 cats
Elevation
    7905 feet

This Historic site has several renovated buildings

Next, Atlantic city. Today here remains a community of
resilient souls where modern homes coexist with the
historic log cabins in one of Wyoming's oldest cities.

Had an interesting talk with a complete Obama
hater. "He is taking away all my guns, my freedom
and totally destroying this country based on lies".
Recognize the indoctrination of the talk shows here.
Refused completely the Obama care, but he was
jealous of the European health care system,

Next, Miners Delight, only has the remains of
the old buildings. For a short period, starting
in 1868 this was a very productive mine.
When the gold boom ended by 1870, the town was soon
deserted. But still witnessed several mini-booms.
People who hoped to strike rich in a short time.

Still in Lander,  Wyoming.

Mon Jun 24 2013

Sinks Canyon

This is where the Popo Agie river disappears underground,

for 1/4 mile, and amazingly, it takes 2 hours
before the water emerges in a large pool,
full of huge rainbow trout, up to 4 ft long.
Fighting for food, thrown by tourist.

A small hike of some miles, further upstream, shows waterfalls.

Plenty of lakes, great views,


Staying now in Lander. A nice, friendly place.
And the Maverick hotel, restaurant, lounge helps
me to forget the emptiness of Rawlins from
last night. 

Sun Jun 23 2013

Taking the scenic off-road (with some rough parts)
over the miracle mile (known by fisherman to catch
some miracle fish).

The Seminoe Dam and reservoir along the way

With some more rough off roading, could go to the bottom
of the dam

Along the way was quite some wild life, as these Antelope's

But wild life could also be rough.

Some important historical markers along the road:

Independence rock and devil's gate, as a milestone
in the landscape for the first immigrants on the
Oregon-Utah-California trail, the Mormons,
the pony express trail, along with the trappers.

The long road, changing from complete flat, to
rolling hills, and steep mountains

Sat Jun 22 2013

Must be Wyoming, the wild horse state.

Territorial Park in Laramie.
An old prison (Alcatraz style) famous
for Bud Cassidy, 2 years imprisonment.
Very nicely restored. Known for broom
production.

Another scenic pass, with hundreds of lakes.
From Laramie, passing Centennial to Saratoga.

Along the way, if you need another save way for transportion
in case there is some snow....

Wed, Thu, Fri Jun 21 2013

In the wilderness, off the grid.

A few days camping in the back country north
of the Rocky Mountain National park.

At one moment I saw this sign, explaining it all
This is a unique Environment

I did not mis-use, the camping was 5 miles back.
Along the river. which kept me awake, due to the
noisy constant water flow.

For the rest of the trip...

Passed a few times the continental divide,
some snow, Lakes, plenty of waterfalls,
marmots, chipmunks, a lot of prairie dogs,
Butterflies, Moose, a coyote.
Just to name a few.
All the good stuff.

One of the prairie dogs on alert 

An American avocets

Another moose in the back country

I totally understand this guy.
Closed the whole thing, a few years ago, gone fishing.....

In the Pedigree wilderness, a recent wildfire destroyed
a big area. Helicopters where dropping hay, to stop erosion.

Another cascade, on the Poudre River.

And should I admit that I visited to
Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fort Collins.
The Clydesdale horses where magnificent.
The plant is impressive huge.
Only the art of beer making ?
There was not even a person on the
production floor. All computer controlled.

Another small hike, 12.08 miles, from 8,782 to 10,529
The Commanche Peak Wilderness
appears to be nothing but trees until
the forest gives way to abundant
alpine tundra.
The Emmaline Lake Trail follows
Fall Creek up to Emmaline and
Cirque lakes. It begins as an old
jeep trail but beyond Cirque
Meadows it is a rugged trail to the lakes.


Crossed now to borders into Wyoming.

Had dinner in "Altitude Chophouse & Brewery", Laramie, WY.
An absolute amazing collection of local seasonal beers.
And perfect food.
Who says that you can not enjoy a perfect dinner
in the US.

Tuesday Jun 18 2013

Just a hike

A series of lakes along the trail.
Bear Lake, the first one.  Seems like a perfect mirror,
early in the morning.

Next lake to pass, Nymh Lake

And on we go, to Dream Lake

And you see in the middle, the pass,
Will be there in a little (!) while.

Next one to pass by, Emerald lake.
By now need to walk over some snow to get there.

And you see the right slope, rather steep, but for
extreme sporters, just a fun downhill. Only, going up ...

Passed a few temporary lakes along the way,
to get to Lake Haiyaha

Later in the afternoon, The Loch Lake

Up yo Mills lake

Higher, and later on the day,
cloudy, threat of a thunderstorm,
but have only seen just a few drops

For the next lake, had to climb over trees, a small
local tornado knocked down most trees, and finally
2 feet of snow blocked me. But, perhaps, by
now, you have seen enough lakes ?

And you must  have seen already to many water falls,
but just to close the day, the Alberta Falls

Some stats of the day.....

Distance                16.88 mi     27.17 km
Total time                7:58
Moving time            5:07
Min elevation          9,117 ft     2,779 m
Max elevation       10,217 ft     3,114 m
Elevation Gain        6,104 ft     1,860 m

Monday Jun 17 2013

Crossing the continental divide

Yes, that is snow. But nothing to block me.
Alpine pass at 11,796 ft, and even a small
hike to the top of 12,304 ft.

And even summer in the snow brings a lot of animals out

Greetings from mister the Marmot

And also greetings from the Chipmunk

Did I already mention the greetings of the hundreds of elk
and  deer

Want to finish this evening with this famous quote.
I hear the whispering, just being in the shadow 

Sunday Jun 16 2013

Rocky Mountain national park.

East Inlet trail (to Grand Lake), to the
Lone Pine Lake. 11 miles, 1450 ft up.

Amazing continuation of waterfalls.

Reached the lake, without any problem (no snow, flooding
or anything else to stop me). But on the way back, a mountain
storm came over with thunder, lightning and some rain.
Started in 10 minutes and was over an hour later.

In the mean time, with a "90 Shilling Ale", found some video
converters from "MTS" to "AVI".

Not sure if this works. Can anyone comment if it works.
The problem was that my camera creates MTS. Not sure
if anyone can play this ? Can not upload this to the blog anyway.
Is AVI the most common format, or do I need another format ?
Now still have to find an editor to cut the video to some
shorter time frame.
Let me now if this already works,  Thank.
Also 100M takes a time ( a few 90 shillings ;-) ) to upload,
and not sure what this will mean for the blog budget ?




 

Saturday Jun 15 2013

Rocky Mountain

Friday Jun 14 2013

Some late updates due to lack of internet
access. Nothing to do with the heat wave here.
And the wild fires in Colorado are hundreds
of miles away from here.

Over the McClure pass (8755 ft) with still
active coal mines.

Along the very fast flowing Cristal River.

A promise myself each day, to take less pictures.
Selecting a few out of 3 to 400 pictures
is a difficult task. But what do you do if
you see this extreme beautiful  landscape
for the first time ?

Glenwood Canyon, along Hwy 70.
This is an engineering masterpiece.
Two directions are sometimes above each
other. At one moment a tunnel for one
direction while the other direction seems
to float over the river.

Following the Colorado river, with plenty
of rafters, and this proud fisher.