A slow morning was followed by lunch at a far out-of-the-way restaurant, Boondocker, in Island Park.  The food was excellent.  We followed lunch with a trip to the Island Park Dam and Lake, the start of Box Canyon, and Henry’s Fork Anglers in Last Chance, ID.  Henry’s Fork Anglers is owned by Mike Lawson, and I had the opportunity to spend some time with him and the late Gary Lafontaine at a Southern Council Conclave in Mountain Home in 1999.  He just happened to be in the store and I said a quick hello.  We found prices in his store, though, exceedingly high compared to Blue Ribbon in West Yellowstone.  We wanted to fish the Henry’s Fork just to say we had, but one of their employees told us that the Henry’s Fork was too warm and we should go north for dry fly action.

We drove back to the RV park for our fishing stuff, then headed north, opting to fish the Madison in Yellowstone National Park.  The water looked benign enough, but the current was very strong, and there were very few hatches and NO rises.  I struggled with wading, and after a half hour, we drove upstream to water that appeared a bit more quiet.  We again only saw a few hatches, and one rise, though last night about 7:15 PM, caddis were coming off like crazy.  I fished it hard for a half hour or more, fighting the current the whole time.  And, it was much warmer than expected.  Picking up again, we drove further north to the Gibbon which we fished yesterday, and fished it real hard.  Kay had one miss under a cut bank, and I didn’t have so much as a look.  The river, set in a few scattered trees in a large meadow, looked awesome, and late in the afternoon there was a good caddis hatch; perhaps it was the clear sky today, as opposed to an overcast sky yesterday, but we had no significant luck.

Today was going to be the day.  Finally, we decided to fish, come heck or high water.  Actually, one of the great things about fishing the rivers out here is you don’t have to worry about reservoir releases for generation.  But, you do have to worry about wild animals—grizzly bears, bison, and elk!
As our day began, we enjoyed a great 3-mile walk to Henry’s Lake and back.  Upon returning to the RV, we printed out some affidavits for both Idaho and Montana, as part of an ongoing legal mess regarding our neighborhood back home.  After readying for an afternoon and partial evening out, we drove to Island Park to seek a notary public for the aforementioned affidavits, but could find none.  Changing directions, we drove to West Yellowstone to First Security Bank, found a notary public, and signed the papers—at no charge.  Then to the post office for mailing.  Legal stuff sure gets in the way of having fun.
A rendezvous was taking place on the outskirts of West Yellowstone, and went there hoping to see mountain men and women, Indians, horses, trade goods, fiddle playing, and all the other things that might have been included in an real-to-life, authentic rendezvous. After reading all the historical fiction books about the fur trappers’ rendezvous, I was disappointed as this one only seemed to be about selling stuff, none of which we needed (one exception—Kay bought a handmade butter bell). 
Driving back into Yellowstone National Park, we found that they were paving the road from West Yellowstone to Madison Junction, with loose gravel everywhere.  We finally made it past Madison Junction, and turned north to near Gibbon Meadows, a place Kay had identified earlier as one she wanted to fish.  We began by fishing from the bank of the Gibbon River, but soon discovered there were too many mosquitos and that to really fish the Gibbon, we would need to wade—so it was back to the car to don waders.  We had a great afternoon, with several hits on a hopper, and even more on a caddis.  Only two fish were caught—a brookie and a brown.  Fishin’ Journal details follow.
TIME:  4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, breezy, low 60s
WATER CONDITIONS:  Clear, cool, and from 2 to 4 feet deep
LOCATIONS FISHED: Gibbon River, immediately downstream from Gibbon Meadows
ROD USED:  7’ 9” 2 wt Winston
FLIES USED:  #10 Dave’s Hopper, #16 Tan Caddis
HATCHES:  Dark Mayfly, Occasional Caddis
OTHER:  I fished with Kay.  Received several hits on both the hopper and the caddis, but only caught fish on the caddis.  There were a few rises, but fish were typically laying under the cut banks, though most of the bites were in slow water a couple of feet from the seem between the slow and fast water. 

Today marks the start of our 4th week here at Red Rock RV Park; my, how time flies.   Kay “needed” a cut and color and visited a “beauty” shop in West Yellowstone about mid-morning, while I walked to Henry’s Lake and back.  After a late lunch, a nap, and a brief rain, we drove to the Upper Coffee Pot Rapids of the famed Henry’s Fork River looking for hatches, rises, and access.  Just outside the RV park, we spotted a mule deer doe with twins, both still with spots; even the little ones have long ears!

We parked at the Upper Coffee Pot Rapids campground, and hiked the Henry’s Fork riverside trail downstream for about 3/4 of a mile, and only saw a few hatches—caddis and a brown colored mayfly—and even fewer rises, and even fewer fishers.  We finally met a young fly fishing family, and the father said the fishing had been slow, and the fish small; he was using a beadhead fly, but didn’t know the pattern.  As we began driving back to the RV park, rain began falling—seems like an every afternoon sort of thing—forcing us in the rest of the night.

After two long days on the road, we awoke to a bit of normality this morning; it was good to sleep at “home” snuggled under the down comforter, with the welcoming aroma of fresh brewed coffee when we awoke.  The church we’ve been going to is hosting the Gideons this morning, and we opted to play hooky—and we don’t miss church very often.  We used the time to catch up on washing/drying of clothes, reading and responding to emails, posting the blog beginning from last Wednesday, and editing and posting new photos to the web album.  By the way, Kay is becoming quite a good photographer, and we’re using more and more of her photos in both the blog and the web album.

We finally got “caught up” with our chores a little after noon, but clouds began rolling in from almost every direction.  Mid-afternoon saw a ferocious thunderstorm with pea-sized hail covering the ground.  When it cleared, and the sun came back out, we did our daily 3-mile walk.  Just about all the wildflowers along the RV park road are gone now, and as we walked up the mountain a bit , saw that most of the wildflower blooms were beginning to wane, with the exception of fire weed.  As we rounded a bend and came upon a small meadow, we spotted a female mule deer that we had seen in the same area on prior walks.

Clouds began forming again, but rain held off long enough for Kay to start Bunko.  How the players remained dry on the patio amidst the rain and wind is amazing, but when it comes to Bunko…

The Centennial Saga.  We watched another installment of Centennial.  If you’ve been reading the blog, you may remember that we had trouble with the old DVD player, and bought another when we first arrived.  Centennial was a Christmas gift Christmas before last, and one of my all time favorite mini-series.  We thought we had watched the whole thing, but questioned each other about gaps in the story.  After the last DVD was played week before last, Kay asked to see the box, and exclaimed that she didn’t remember us watching some of the episodes.  We popped a DVD back in the player, studied the screen real close, and detected a very small green box around the segment to be played; we had to look real close to see the box, and otherwise, the menu said simply “Play All”.  Well, it didn’t mean play all, it meant play the segment with the tiny green box around it.  Gosh, did I ever feel like a fool!  So now, we’re catching up watching the “other half” of Centennial, and it makes a lot more sense.  We’ve not missed television too much, mainly in the morning to catch up on news and happenings, and Kay misses Brian Williams on the NBC Evening News.  We do have the mini-series, John Adams, and several Sam Elliot westerns waiting in the wings.

This road trip is a vacation from vacationing!  Seriously, the trip to the canyon area, Roosevelt Lodge, Lamar Valley, Red Lodge, and Bozeman was a bit too much for one day, so we spent the night at Roosevelt Lodge.  It is a rustic old place, with a log main dining room and lounge, and log cabins that offer the most basic services—a bed with clean sheets, towels, ceiling and bedside table lights, and a wood burning stove—no insulation, but clean and we share a bath house with other guests just like most campgrounds.
After a full day yesterday, I hit the bed early and awoke a couple of hours later to the sound of a mouse rattling some papers.  Said to heck with it, and went back to sleep.  It was chilly when morning broke, so we started a fire and it quickly heated the little cabin.  When Kay got up and went through her stuff, she found that the mouse had been in the peanut butter and crackers, and multi-grain bars.
We dressed, but it was too early for coffee in the dining room, so we headed for Tower Falls, the remaining major attraction in the area that we hadn’t seen.  At 6:30 AM no one else was in the parking lot, and we had the falls to ourselves.  At slightly less than 100 feet high, it seemed a bit small compared to the magnificent centerpiece falls of yesterday.  Our return to Roosevelt Lodge to checkout found the coffee to be strong and hot, just the way we like it.
The Lamar Valley awaited us, and as we arrived a few hardy wildlife watchers were already plying the road looking for grizzlies and wolves; they were not to be seen.  We drove towards the northeast entrance, but were stopped by a herd of bison crossing the road, allowing us to get up close and personal.  There were hundreds of them scattered across the fog covered valley, with lots of young calves born just a few weeks ago.  We traveled through Cooke City, and stopped at Silver Gate for breakfast.
After the late breakfast, we began Kay’s first trip on the Beartooth Highway—Charles Kuralt named it one of his top 10 drives in the US.  The road gradually wound up the mountains with meadows gently falling away on the downhill side.  Even the switchbacks were somewhat passive.  Many lakes and small snowfields dotted the landscape, and there were lots of motorcycles on the road as the Sturgis rally is going full bore and this was just a short day trip for attendees.  As we topped the pass, and began the descent into Red Lodge, Montana, the switchbacks were more perilous and the sides fell away abruptly. We drove into Red Lodge about noon and the western town was packed with tourists.  It’s a neat town, but has grown and become much more touristy than since my first visit almost 20 years ago.
Troubled by a Verizon cell phone charger that would not charge, a front tire with a slow leak, and the need for groceries, we drove north, then west to Bozeman for a stop at Costco, and Walmart.  Costco was packed and people were everywhere, but we got the tire repaired at $10 rather than the $35 at Henry’s Lake, bought some DVDs and paperbacks, and a few groceries.  At Walmart, Kay found a charger for my cell phone and I was once again able to communicate with the world!  We drove through the Gallatin Canyon on our way back to the RV park, and probably passed old friend, Mike, fishing just north of Big Sky.  We gladly arrived back at the RV park about 7:30 PM, ready to be “home” once again.

We decided early on to be deliberate in our visits to Yellowstone National Park—taking our time to see as much as possible, and as thoroughly as viable.  Prior to today, we still lacked the canyon area, Lamar Valley, and the Yellowstone Lake area.  Also, we wanted to spend at least one night at Roosevelt Lodge, sit in the big rocking chairs on the front porch, and eat in their dining room.  Then, we would spend some time in Lamar Valley, “hunting” bears and wolves with binoculars, drive the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge, on to Bozeman for some shopping and “big city” chores, and back to Red Rock RV Park.  We chose this particular time to do the trip because we were finally able to find a vacancy at Roosevelt Lodge!
Our first stops were at Running Bear Pancake House for breakfast, the car wash for a MUCH NEEDED wash, and the gas station for a fill-up.  While waiting for breakfast, I was able to reach my brother, Ronnie, on the phone, and we were able to talk briefly (I love you, brother, and look forward to seeing you in early September).  As we drove through the park, we stopped briefly at Canyon Village to make some last minute phone calls and send emails letting folks know where we were and would be the next couple of days.  The crowds were down today, and made visiting the park a bit nicer.
Lower Falls and Upper Falls.  Much of the area along the  South Rim Drive to viewing areas for both Upper and Lower Falls is closed due to recent bear and bison activity; it was not too far from here that one visitor was killed a few weeks ago, and another was mauled just a few days ago by grizzly bears.  There were several viewing locations along the road, but the best and best known is Artist Point.  The first time I brought Kay to Artist Point to view Lower Falls, 308 feet high, she began weeping because of the overpowering beauty.  This is still one of the most picturesque places in the park, and regrettably, photos do not do it justice.  (Please see the web album for more photos of Yellowstone National Park; I’ll try to put a link at the end of this daily entry.)  After departing Artist Point, we stopped at Uncle Tom’s Point to view the Upper Falls, 109 feet, a bit anti-climatic.  Re-crossing the Park bridge over the Yellowstone River, we stopped to walk to an observation point on the very brink of Upper Falls.  It’s a bit scary seeing the millions of gallons of water dropping over 100 feet, hearing the roar, and feeling the vibrations while on the viewing platform.
We began the one-way North Rim Drive, stopping to hike the steep trail to Brink of Lower Falls; the trail dropped some 600 feet, with over 10 switchbacks.  Fortunately for us, there were many places to stop and rest.  It’s difficult standing on the precipice and not having some fear, wondering who designed the platform, and what would happen in the event it failed.  From here, we could see Uncle Tom’s Trail and Artist Point.
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  Even more awesome from the Brink of Lower Falls platform, at least to us, was a spectacular view, complete with rainbow, of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, up to 1200 feet deep and 4,000 feet wide.   Depending on the sun, the canyon has many shades of golds and browns, giving it its name, Yellowstone.  As we made our way along the North Rim Drive, we stopped at Lookout Point where I took a side trail, steeper and dropping as much as the one to Brink of Lower Falls, to the Red Rock viewing area.  Further along North Rim Drive was Grand View, and Inspiration Point, though Inspiration Point was closed for trail repair, and at this point, we had received just about as much inspiration as our legs and tired bodies could stand.
Dunraven Pass and Roosevelt Lodge.  We left the canyon area of Yellowstone NP, and drove northward towards Roosevelt Lodge, crossing over Dunraven Pass at 8,859 feet.  On the drive down, we stopped at one of the turnouts and were fortunate to see a grizzly bear foraging in one of the far meadows.  Interestingly, a number of elk were laying down within relatively close proximity to the bear.  This is one of daughter Jenny’s favorite viewing areas and she has seen bears here on every visit.  It began raining during our stop, and tired from all the walking, we drove to Roosevelt Lodge, checked in, and sat on the porch in their big rocking chairs.  Dinner was okay, but not up the standards our memories had enticed us to believe—after several visits, memories of meals at this place left us imagining that the food was going to be spectacular; it was not bad, just okay.
Lamar Valley.  With a couple of hours of daylight left, we drove to Lamar Valley with hopes of seeing bears and wolves.  We spotted a grizzly bear on a far mountain peak with our binoculars, and watched it feed for about 30 minutes.  Then, someone stopped to say that a wolf was trotting near the road.  We drove a short distance to another viewing area, anticipating where the wolf would appear, and were rewarded with a close-up view.  The almost black wolf stopped at a 4-day old kill, retrieved the remains, and sought a place of solitude to enjoy a meal.  For us, this was a real treat, and particularly since we were able to photograph the wolf.

Here’s the web album link:  https://picasaweb.google.com/DunnGoneTravels/Idaho201102?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIyBlc3Wn9WGuwE&feat=directlink

P.S.  Today was a bit sad as we said good-bye to new friend, Jack.  Jack was our neighbor at Red Rock for the last couple of weeks, and tried to coach us in getting the satellite hooked-up.  Formerly from the Gary, IN, area he is a full timer, and has criss-crossed the country a few times, always seeking good weather.  He knew a lot about northern Arkansas, having camped there several times.  He made a “to die for” cherry cheese cake.  Jack, Kay, and I visited several times a day in our shared common space, and he introduced Kay to the Strongback folding chair (strongbackchair.com); it offers tremendous back support.  So long, Jack, and we hope to see you on the road again.  Safe travels, and God be with you.

No vertigo!  Guess Kay’s threat to do something today scared it away.

Wade and Cliff Lakes.  After a slow start to the day, we drove to a couple of alpine lakes near the Madison River Valley in Montana just a few miles west and north of Red Rock RV Park.  We turned off the paved highway onto a gravel road, followed a sign giving wrong directions, and retraced the drive to the point of the sign.  Finally figured out where to go.  As we drove through the high desert, the though of alpine lakes escaped us.  Then, as we began an unexpected descent, Wade Lake appeared with it’s varied hues of blue and green.  The US Forest Service campground was full, and there were many families enjoying the crystal clear lake.  Kay talked to some fishers and though they didn’t fly fish, indicated that there were prolific hatches in the afternoons and early evenings—food for thought for future trips.

Just a short distance “up” the road, we came to Cliff Lake, a sister lake to Wade Lake, though not quite as heavily used, perhaps because there were fewer campsites, and access was poorer.  It, too, had the varied hues of blue and green, and we could easily see the bottom through its clear water.  Who would’ve thought these alpine lakes existed in high desert.

Sawtell Peak.  We returned to paved roads and US Highway 20 for a short drive to the access road to Sawtell Peak.  Sawtell Peak is on the Centennial Mountains just behind our RV park, and has a number of FAA antennas located on it.  The drive was fairly gentle the first 90 percent, all on gravel, meeting several other autos and ATVs coming down the mountain, then we began some serious switchbacks to the top.  Kay made it just great, with a relatively low “pucker” factor; she has come a long way with taming her acrophobia since we first met.  At the top, the views were spectacular, with snow on several mountains around us, and the shimmering surfaces of Henry’s Lake, Island Park Lake, and the entire surrounding area available before us.  As I walked around the peak, I was surprised to find that the eastern side of the mountain was a sheer drop-off, and I backed slowly away!  Our return down the mountain brought an unexpected view of a female mule deer laying near the edge of the forest, and lots of wildflowers peaking in their blooms.

Our return to the the RV park brought an end to the day’s road trip, but it was a good one, and we were able to mark a couple of things off our “things to see and do while in Idaho” list.  As usual, early evening brought winds and a brief rain, though the roads, mostly gravel, are still dusty.

We stayed at the RV park today, all day—in fact, didn’t even start the car.  I am still suffering from vertigo, but no other symptoms.  Did a consult with Wayne, and am looking up different ailments on the internet.  Hope it goes away soon!

As seems to be the norm these days, we had our early evening wind and brief rain.  It always runs us in from outdoors, but the resulting sunset is awesome.

Kay says tomorrow we’re going to do something as she’s tired of hanging around here all day!

Weird!  I woke up this morning with tremendous dizziness, and spinning inside my head (Kay says more than usual), so I definitely did not want to drive anywhere or walk along high places, though she tried to arrange a hike on a steep cliff near the park!  Really, we hope it’s just an inner ear infection.  With 50 degrees inside the coach, the heat came on this morning; guess we’re getting thin blood. 

We sure didn’t do much today, though the 3-mile walk was great; got to see a pair of Sandhill cranes fairly close, and 3 antelope grazing in the meadow between the RV park and Henry’s Lake.  The Sandhill cranes are large birds, similar in size to Great Blue Herons, and have red foreheads.  Henry’s Lake is in the heart of their summer breeding grounds. I returned to the motor home for the camera with a telephoto lens, and walked backed to where I saw them, but they had moved to an adjoining meadow.  Got a few photos before they took off in flight to another adjoining meadow.

At about 6:30 PM, yet another storm rolled through, with high winds and a few sprinkles, but only briefly.  We rushed in from enjoying a peaceful evening outside visiting with our next door neighbor, Jack, gathering chairs and fastening things down.  This is about the 4th night, we’ve had afternoon storms. 

Kay and I played Spite and Malice (verdict is still out on how much fun it is) and watched what we thought were the last installments of Centennial.  Unfortunately, I thought when the “Play All” button was pushed, the entire DVD would be played; apparently, there were two episodes on each DVD, and only one is played.  So, we only watched an abbreviated version.  We replayed the first DVD and saw the very first episode.  If errors like this are a result of getting older, the aging process is not a lot of fun!  At least we’re in good company.

Today was both rainy and a Monday—a good day to venture into the town of West Yellowstone for information at the Visitor’s Center, IMAX, museums, Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, and lunch.

We picked up a lot of maps and brochures at the Visitor’s Center, crowded because of the rain, then were off to the IMAX.  Sad to say, I have only been to one IMAX before and that was at the Canada exhibit at Epcot.  We walk in, about an hour early, to the smell of burnt popcorn.  The first movie is Yellowstone and was just okay.  The theater folks allowed folks to come in for about the first 10 minutes, and the number of talking small children was very high, making for a very distracting short movie.  The next movie, Lewis and Clark, was excellent, and the crowds were especially light, resulting in a really good movie experience.  After the movie, it was off to the old Union Pacific Railroad depot, now a museum—we would rate it just okay.  Folks around town had told us about a Mexican restaurant in old bus parked in an alley; we found it, and it was great.  Our last stop was the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.  It was no more than a zoo, and after seeing these species in the wild, kind of disheartening.  Admittedly, this photo has been severely cropped and retouched to make it look more wild.  More than likely, 99 percent of the folks there had never seen a grizzly bear or a wolf in the wild.

Back at the RV park, it was still spitting rain when a ferocious thunderstorm struck, with winds in excess of 50 miles per hour.  It made for a quiet evening, with us watching the 4th and 5th DVDs of Centennial.