My visit to Yellowstone has ended. What a great decision it was to come here. Yellowstone has now become a reality instead of something I read about. If I have one regret upon leaving it is that I never backpacked in Yellowstone. Most people come here to SEE what Yellowstone has to offer, but those who hike the back country get to experience this marvelous, thriving landscape.
I slept relatively well in our 40 degree tent, except that the beer i had last night required a 4 am call from nature. Never again.
Otherwise, the day started splendidly. When I poked my head outside the tent, the temperature was 26°, but the sun was trying to break through, and within two hours did, and for most of the day it was nothing but blue sky and pleasant temperatures, relatively speaking.
I joined Lenty and Radim them for breakfast, but since they slept late, I had already eaten my usual breakfast of orange juice, a banana, and several helpings of Oatmeal. They offered better fare. We soon after said our goodbyes and promised to meet up again when they return to the East Coast next month.
I broke camp later than I wanted to, but who is in a rush? I drove through my last sites of Yellowstone, and made my way some 30 miles distance to the Grand Tetons. I had planned to stay at a National Forest camp that Radim had recommended, but decided that I wanted to make more time on the road. The drive through the Tetons was extraordinary. For a good part of the drive the Tetons loomed ever so large to the west. They truly are grand. What I find fascinating about the experiences I have had is that there is no comparing one mountain with another. Truly, no two mountains are alike. And it is more than the mountains that are the attraction, as every piece of landscape untouched by man has beauty in its own right.
By the time 3:30 rolled around, I decided that I would take the first open camp instead of trying to make more time on the road. Unfortunately, all but two of the camps in the Grand Tetons were closed, and a ranger directed me to one just a few miles down the road, Gros Ventre. The camp is in a marvelous setting, but occupied mostly by RVs and only one other tenter. And although generators are not allowed to be used in this particular loop, two of the RVs are ignoring that restriction. The host was not really hospitable towards tenters, and although she told me I had to store my food in bear lockers, none was provided at my campsite, and the common locker several hundred yards away was no larger than Donner's daily food box. This told me that they really aren't concerned about bears, although one other camper here told me that two local bears occasionally pay a visit. If that is the case tonight, I am in for a repeat of Lake Tahoe, because I had to leave Donner's extra food and my daily food boxes on my roof rack. Hopefully, if that is the case, Donner will earn his keep for this trip.
Tomorrow, I will venture into Jackson Wyoming to service the Defender, take a well-deserved shower, resupply some of my containers, and go through various other chores before moving on. I will probably try to visit Craters of the Moon, and because of the gigh winds there, look for campsite well beyond that. My plans for after that or still up in the air, although i am think about options. So far, i have not had to camp at a campground i visited before, and i may want to continue that.
The good news is that we are camped more than 2000 feet below our campsite at Yellowstone, so then night should be a little bit more pleasant then it has been the last five nights.
Time to get some shuteye, although I will try to sleep with one eye open to keep on the lookout for bears.
There goes that damn generator again. Some people just don't know how to follow rules. It's lazy "campers" like this who give all RVers a bad reputation. My guess is that they need it to watch Archie Bunker reruns on their wide screens while they munch on a box of donuts and devour a tub of ice cream kept chilled by their freezers in their spacious heated prisons. I am tempted to spread Donner 's salmon and rice kibbles around their RV, but they might eat it themselves. I cannot use my ear plugs or pop an Ambien because i want to hear the bears, if the stop by.
Ed and Donner, from the Grand Tetons.
