Briefly

We headed out of Bozeman and ended up outside of Elko, NV...Lamoille Canyon.  We visited here last year and although small the hikes are fantastic.  Unfortunately they have had a good deal of great press...good for them but bad for us...the place was full.  Well except for the handicap spot that we could use, but get kicked out of if a "handicapped person' showed up.  Bill did not sleep...worrying.

I slept great...migraines will do that to me.

Off we headed towards the Lake Tahoe area...found the LAST spot at Caples Lake.  Here we sit for until next Sunday when we'll head back to Lamoille.  Weekdays are 'supposed' to be fine.  We shall see.

In the meantime lots of hike here so after resupply in town we've several planned.  Hope Cooper can keep up.

**all links are from last year's trip...enjoy until we have something new**

Resupply and an Oil Change

Off bright and early to Carson City, NV to resupply.  Bill wanted to break all the California regulations and change the oil... in the campground located in a National Forest which is in the Lake Tahoe watershed.  Thankfully no arrests and the car is ready to travel another few thousand miles.

We drove through a piece of Lake Tahoe just top remind ourselves that we don't understand these people's vacations.  It doesn't look particularly relaxing... crowds, cars and cold water.  Anyway Izzy's Burger Spa is still alive so our burger night Monday will be spent at Izzy's.  Fantastic burgers and you just don't think about the decor...or lack of decor.

Route 207 was another interesting road away from Tahoe and down the mountain to Carson City... curvy and wide you could see the huge valley below.  A few bikers were making the trek uphill... ignoring the sign that said "Rough road not recommended for bikes continue at your own risk".  We asked isn't that what you do EVERY TIME you ride a bike on the roadway? 

Back in camp we watched the chipmunks run around trying to get us to feed them.  One critter must have had a death wish or thought Cooper was a snack... the darn thing ran up behind Coop while he was asleep, then it leaped onto Cooper's side.  Needless to say Coop jumped up and looked around for the 'fly' that disturbed his 3:00 PM nap... it was hysterical to watch his face.  Cooper never saw the chipmunk so maybe there critter knew what he was doing... messing with the big dog.  

Once again Coop is on the loosing end of the great battle between the ground squirrels and himself.

A Redo of Sorts

While we were eating our breakfast in Bozeman we chatted about where to head next.  We had thought about heading out to Oregon.  The dry weather and close proximity to fires in Washington we decided to pass on Oregon this year.  So next up was Lamoille Canyon outside of Elko, NV. 

We spent a week in the Canyon last year and enjoyed the beauty of the steep walls.  The fact that a glacier had created the area just seemed so odd.  Bill wanted to see what the beavers had been up to and the weather was going to be much cooler than normal.  Unfortunately there has been an increase in interest in the area and the only campground was full... well not exactly full.  The Host said we could stay in the Handicap Site, but if someone with a handicap plaque showed up then they could kick us off the site.  A problem since there was no where else to go.  We went ahead and set up camp for the night and thought we could score one of the walk up sites in the morning... did not happen.  Those that had planned to leave decided to stay so we packed up and headed west.

The Sierras were about 6-7 hours away, but the area that we enjoy is fairly close to big cities... it was coming into a weekend.  Fingers crossed we headed toward Caples Lake.  We arrived a bit after 4:00 PM... drove through the sites and noticed a fair number of tents in areas that are usually the last sites chosen... hot and exposed.  With only 5 sites left we stumbled onto one that the Host had just removed the occupied sign.  Thank goodness the car in front of us drove past.  

Our site chosen we've planned on hanging out in the area until at least next Sunday.  A number of hikes and drives to explore... just no WiFi or phone signal unless we head into Lake Tahoe or Carson City.  

Who wants to do that?

*Graphic Warning* Grizzly on the Bison Carcass

Just one of the many grizzly bear videos made...

Big Horn on the Rocks

We watched the Big Horns move back up the rocks after getting a drink in the Gardiner River...

Cave Falls

Our last full day in Yellowstone and we drove out of West Yellowstone to see what Bechler Ranger Station looked like on the far south end.  Got to say that those folks coming into West Yellowstone at 11:00 AM are a bit lazy or maybe they are 'uninformed'.  Talk about a traffic jam... miles of people just entering the park and the entrance was 4 lanes wide and jam packed.  The town was no better... thankfully we were headed away from all of that madness. 

 

 

The drive was pretty enough... actually better than the last time since we could see the road.  Our last time was during a snowstorm so this was an improvement.  The road into this area of the Park heads through Idaho and eventually Wyoming.  We checked out the National Forest Campground... pretty nice spot except for the bugs.  Not many campers this far down a 10 mile gravel road... the trailer would be extra dusty by the time we got parked.

 

Cave Falls

We stopped by the Cave Falls... perfect since it was right by the road and we could get to it with Cooper.  Lots of water flowing over the falls since it was well before the canal used to take water for all the Idaho potato farmers.  

 

It is the widest falls in the Park and hard to get to by car since it is totally separated from the main part of Yellowstone...3 hours away.

 

 

 

 

 

Western Tanager

There is... or more like was... a cave at the falls, but it has had a mishap.  There was a rock slide which shut off the cave.  Too bad that would have been cool to see.  Only one critter...a stunning bright yellow and red bird.  We watched as it grabbed a dragonfly midair... it was almost as big as the bird.

The Tetons

Fall River

We got Nothing

When we headed out for the day we had no idea what we'd see on our travel around the Grand Loop.  What we saw was exactly nothing, zip, nada...you get the pictures.  Although in our case we took exactly 2...a lake shot in the high wind and after the thunderstorms a double rainbow. 

Not a single animal shot all day long.  Why?  The animals are much smarter than us evidently.  The storms kicked up by the early afternoon.  I spent some time at Mammoth Hotel using their spacious Map Room to write and Bill drove to gas up and resupply in town.  Ate dinner at the Mammoth terrace Grill and once we returned to camp caught the rainbow.