500mm lens + doubler + 1.6x for digital =

still not enough magnification.

Wolves! At least 5 of them! Unforetunately, they were on the other
side of a valley, which was about a mile away. I had pulled over to
see what all the people with heavy-duty scopes were looking at. A few
of them do this on a regular basis. They were wonderfully nice; not
only did they let me peek through the scope to set up my shot, but a
family with two small children came by, and the pros took the time to
let all four look through. (And, as you can imagine, it was some work
to get the kids to see the right thing, but the pros took the time,
even while trying to keep up with the pack's movement.)

So, I have some black fuzzy sillouettes in some out of focus pictures.

But I saw wolves!

Yellowstone is on fire!

A comparatively small part of the park is burning in the southern
area. Luckily, I did that area two days ago. I'm now up north. Will
post pictures when I have real net.

A couple of miscalculations later...

I had decided to get into the Western side to see more of the area than most folks do. (I have a hunch a large percentage of people drive into the park, through it, camp once or twice, maybe take a float trip, and that's about it.) So I went back into Idaho and stopped into a bike / outdoor shop to get some advice on picture locations. One guy suggested I go up "The Devil's Staircase"; he claimed it should take me about one and half hours (Ha!) and that there would be alot of great scenery along the way. So, up I went, at about 8:30am yesterday. When I got to the top (in nowhere near 1 & 1/2 hrs), the view was good, but I thought I'd get a little better view a bit further up the trail. Hmmm... the views kept getting better, and I wasn't panting too hard from the altitude. (In fact, I may be becoming acclimated, which would be cool. That means more red blood cells and being in better shape when I return to lower altitudes.)


I was actually hiking along a hanging valley, in and out of snowpack. It was so cool, I kept going and pushing off when I'd stop for lunch. Just after I ate, a couple of teachers from Calgary met up with me. (read: were hiking a much faster pace than me.) We talked for a bit. It turns out I was better equipped for the day - I had a map. So we talked about routes and whether to turn back or keep going for a little bit or go all the way around the canyon. Looking at the map, all the way around didn't look too bad, and not that much further. (Important note, I didn't have my best map of the area on me.)

Well, they went on ahead of me, while I took a side trip to the edge of the hanging valley to get a picture of the three Tetons (and definitely one that's not got tripod-marks). I decided that I wanted to get up to the Mount Meek Pass. Some other hikers had told me that I'd find a hidden lake that was "worth it". I may have been, but, unfortunately, I never did find the lake. Partly because I wasn't quite as far along as I thought. So by the time I made it to the area where the lakes are, I was only thinking about getting back to the car. In no small part because I could see that my shadow was getting longer.

(By the way, another of my misconceptions is how easily I burn, and how easy it is to not notice this when there's a nice cool breeze. Oh, and how much reflected sun can burn, too. I am now a very unbecoming shade of red on my forearms, face, and neck. Ouch.)


One more misconception was that stream crossing would be relatively easy. Most were. Some even had either bridges, fallen trees, or intentionally placed rocks. But, if it's been a really hot couple of days, the snow will be melting faster than the rock-placer expect. This makes crossing streams a decision. In a couple of places, the decision was to cross barefoot, and thus have warm, dry boots after the crossing, or hike in wet, cold boots. Did I mention that these streams are the result of melting snow / ice? That means they're somewhere around 33-34 degrees. Crossings like these were not fun.


Anyway, I did eventually make it out to post about my adventures. (Obviously) I made it back to the car at 8:30. 12 damn hours of solid hiking. Looking at the map, yesterday was about 18-19 miles. Checking altitudes: Trailhead, let's say 6976; Mount Meek Pass, 9726. Difference: 2750.

Just a few minor miscalculations...

Long day

Short post.

Enjoy the pictures.

Morning

Noon

Evening.

Good Night.

in re Tourist Traps

So, I've made it to Jackson, Wy (sometimes called Jackson's Hole). It's the kind of place that's gotta be great to visit, if you have money. One of these days, I've got to figure out some way of getting some of that... It has to be shocking for anyone who grew up in this area just how fast it's become a tourist trap; the town is just barely more than a century old. The town square, which was known for having cattle and elk even into the 20's (and maybe 30's) is now surrounded by some rather pricey shops. The Teton Village is pushing the term "village".

It's not a bad town by any stretch. And I don't mean to imply that all that glitters is evil. It's just a bit of culture shock coming from Montana, where someone had put up signs stating their opinions of a housing development ("high density housing", it was called) that, had it been in Mass, would have been pretty well spread out.

Anyway, the view from the Teton Pass looking into the "Hole" (valley) was nice this am. I'll be heading into the hills for the next couple of days. I'll try to come out to pop my head up and post once or twice before heading up to Yellowstone.

P.S. I now have bear spray. I've been told that, if the spray isn't enough to deter the bear, the last resort is to cover yourself and hope the bear doesn't like the taste. I hope that part's a joke.

A Real Live, er..., not, Ghost Town

So, I just decided to take a detour into Bannack, MT. Possibly the coolest detour I've taken yet. On the MT state maps, they label ghost towns, and I saw that this one was labeled as a National Historical Site, so I took the trip.
Although it was a mining town (and, at least for a while, the capital of the Montana Territory), it is only recently a ghost town. The last residents left in the early 1970's. (Although, there were only a few of them left by that time.) One of the neat things about the site is that it's been taken over by as a State Park, but part of the stipulations in the deeding was that it retain its original ghost town feel and to "not become touristy like Virginia City". (That's as close of a quote as I can remember.)

Since some of the buildings have been lived in for a century or so, you can see how they were updated over time. And, now that they're falling apart, you can really see the different layers of housing. Some were very well done, at one point. The curving stairwell in the hotel was obviously done by someone who knew their stuff. Solid mahogany railing and ballisters, curved plaster wall around the staircase, etc. I heard a couple of guys talking about how there might be interest in restoring the building. Could be neat, if done right. But it will certainly be a of work.


Took me a while, but I did find one ghost in the town. A bartender, as it so happens. Ugly lookin' cur. I wouldn't trust what he's pouring.

A Couple of Detours

In my original plans, on Wednesday, I was going to leave Hell's Canyon area for Craters of the Moon National Monument. After I'd heard repeatedly that it's only kinda worth it to head to, and that Rt 12 through Idaho is a better bet, that's the way I went. Rt 12 is an area rich with history. It runs along (and mostly underneath) an ancient indian trail known as the Lolo trail. This trail was used as a means of trade and communication by the native tribes, as part of the route Lewis and Clark took during their navigations, and as the primary route out of Imnaha canyons by the Joseph Band of the Nez Pierce, as they were trying to escape "relocation" by the US government. ("Nez Pierce" is really pronounced more like Ne-mi-po. Maybe someone can comment in why the two names.)

Due to the time of day, and the winding, mountainous aspects of the road, I don't have too many pictures along Rt 12. The detour was certainly worth it, though. Especially because I would not have taken the next detour I'll talk about. If nothing else, the Lolo Steakhouse would have been worth the detour. (Gotta get a new Food Files going before it gets too long.)

One picture from rt 12 shortly before camping out for the night.