Still no fly fishing for us.  This area experienced about 10 feet of extra snow this past winter, and it was a late snow melt to boot, so all the rivers are real high, some still raging with runoff.  As we began the drive today, a ptarmigan was in the middle of the road between the RV park and the highway.  It would not and did not move for the longest, so we were able to take a few photos, and as always from the south end of a north bound animal.

Big Springs.  Today, we drove to Big Springs near the RV park, and it was a picturesque place, complete with an old cabin, intact and complete with furnishings.  The cabin was built by Johnny Sack, a 4’ 11” German immigrant furniture maker.  He powered the cabin and his woodworking tools with a small waterwheel located in the foreground.  The cabin has been kept in immaculate condition, complete with furniture he made.  Big Springs is a US Forest Service facility, and the springs themselves serve as the primary source of water for the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River.  They are not as impressive as Mammoth Spring in northeastern Arkansas in terms of size and volume of water, but do discharge a significant quantity of cold water (56 degrees) sufficient to create a small river. Below the springs, rafters and tubers are numerous, filling the river—people from Idaho love their outdoors.  A bit further downstream, fly fishing seems to dominate with a myriad of drift boats and waders.

From Big Springs, we drove further south to Ashton, ID, to pick up lunch at the local deli.  Our goal was to drive to Cave Falls on the Falls River in the southwest part of Yellowstone National Park, then return to the RV park for lunch, then to Old Faithful.

At Cave Falls, we found a table near the lower falls, and had a picnic lunch under the trees with the roar of the falls behind us.  We walked the short distance to the upper falls, and was surprised to find that high water blocked the trail to the cave; obviously fly fishing was out of the question.  (Our friends and neighbors, Bill and Bootsie told us about this great fly fishing river; we’re sorry we didn’t get to fish it—maybe in a couple of weeks.)  By the time we finished our “tour” of the falls, we were wiped out, and opted to head back to the RV park for some R&R.

We did stop by the Upper Coffee Pot Rapids to scope out fly fishing opportunities on the Henry’s Fork River there, and it looked real good.  We’re now back at the motorhome for a nap and our evening walk, maybe a movie, and goodnight to all!

We’ve settled in, trying to make this our home for the rest of summer, so no significant activities outside the RV park today; just a quiet day in the neighborhood.  The slogan for the RV park is “Shhh!  It’s quiet out her.” and it really is.  We enjoyed the cool breezes, and watched 3 antelope play in the meadow just outside the park.  We did venture to Henry’s Lake for some casting practice with new friends and fellow RVers, Randy and Kathy.  They are fly fishers and live among some great fly fishing waters in central Colorado.  They come to the Yellowstone National Park area usually in the September time frame, but came early this year because of some other commitments later in the year.  Like us, they enjoy fishing the various waters of Yellowstone, as well as the many rivers, streams, and lakes near the RV park.

Prior to dinner time, we did our 3-mile walk, and saw 3 Sandhill cranes.  Otherwise, not much going on with us.  Guess today was a day of “3s”—3 antelope, 3-mile walk, and 3 Sandhill cranes. 

Even though we’re here in Henry’s Lake, Idaho, for 6 weeks, there’s too much to do to fit within that time period—too much water to fish, too many trails to hike, too many scenic wonders to photograph, and too many small towns to visit.  Also, one has to be cognizant of changing water levels for fishing, build in some down days to recharge and rejuvenate, and realize that some days the weather will not be conducive to most outdoor activities.  Kay and I listed all the things we wanted to do out here, including day trips, national park visits, and fishing excursions to optimize our limited time visiting this region.

There are some wonderful day trips departing from here if one is willing to drive a couple of hundred miles.  So, with a foot blister from too much hiking last week, today was set aside as a road trip via Hebgen Lake, Quake Lake, Lake, Ennis, Virginia City, Bozeman, Big Sky, and finally back to the RV park. From Quake Lake northward, the Madison River had way too many drift boats—at least 10 within eyesight at any stretch—and this went on for miles and miles all the way to Ennis.  I had a particular interest in Ennis in as much as the Madison River Fishing Company, a great fly shop, has been sending us a black and white catalog for at least 15 years.  Second, the head of our HR office at the Corps in Memphis, Chuck, had worked for the US Forest Service in Ennis.  Ennis was a nifty, small western fly fishing town with lots of fly shops, gift shops, and eating places.  We ate at an old drug store that had wonderful sandwiches.  A sheet metal statue of a fly fisher was located at a prominent junction just north of the town.

Virginia City is considered the best preserved western town in the US, and true to reputation, it was—mainly because none of the buildings had undergone restoration, and remained much in their original condition; now they are shops and eating establishments.  We drove some of the side streets to view the old churches and other buildings. From Virginia City back towards Ennis, we continued north, then turned eastward towards Bozeman.  Rafters and tubers were fully enjoying the Madison River, with few fishers in sight. Bozeman has a Costco, so we took the opportunity to purchase some food and beverage products for the remainder of our time out west. As we turned south, we drove through Big Sky and were amazed at the extent of ski slopes.  The drive from Big Sky to West Yellowstone is one of the most scenic we’ve been on. We have friends that live in Big Sky and it easy to understand why they choose to live there, with great skiing and fly fishing.

We made what seems like a daily stop at the supermarket in West Yellowstone (small RV refrigerators and storage spaces require constant restocking if you eat in), then back to the RV park. Jack, our next door neighbor, brought over a cherry cheesecake that was scrumptious—in fact, it was the best I ever tasted.  We also got to know fellow RVers and new friends, Randy and Kathy from Denver, a bit better.  They too are fly fishers so we had a lot in common.  You meet the best cooks and nicest people RVing! 

We missed church last Sunday, on the road between Sydney, NE, and Lander, WY, and it seemed our week just didn’t start right.  This Sunday, we attended Community Protestant Church in West Yellowstone, MT.  Community Protestant Church is a small Presbyterian Church, but remarkably, very much like our First United Methodist Church back home, both in terms of order of service and music; the music included praise songs we have sung for years, so we felt at home.  The lay leader, a lady, gave a great introductory message about discipleship using an analogy comparing fly fishing to discipleship.  As mature Christians, discipleship is one of our most important responsibilities.  The preacher was a visiting preacher and talked about the 2nd coming of Christ, but regrettably got lost in the details about how the world was speeding up, citing statistic after statistic for over 30 minutes without ever making a point.  Humorously, at 12 noon, one of the older members in front of us began giving him the cut-off sign, drawing his finger across his throat, then looking at his watch; he repeated this for the next 15 minutes, and finally the preacher ended his sermon without a substantial conclusion.  The regular preacher returns next Sunday, and we’ll give it another try. 

Prior to leaving for church, we sautéed onions, peppers, garlic, etc. and began slow cooking a huge pot of red beans for red beans and rice later in the day.  After church, Kay cleaned the motorhome and washed clothes while I napped; no, no guilty conscience on my part.  Because Kay had been to church, she had no qualms about playing Bunko, losing $5 of our hard earned money.  At least she did meet some of the neighbors.  To end the day, we had a late dinner of red beans, rice, and Andouille sausage—um, um, good!

We drove eastward to West Yellowstone, through the west entrance to Yellowstone NP and Madison Junction, then northward to Mammoth Hot Springs. 
Mammoth Hot Springs.  Crowds this year are far more than we have experienced in the past, and parking spaces at places of interest and exhibits are hard to find.  After finally finding a space perhaps a quarter of a mile away, near the Mammoth Hot Springs horse corral, we made our way to the Lower Terrace Trail.  My, how these thermal features have changed, even since the early 2000’s when Kay and I were last here.  This is my 5th time to visit Yellowstone NP, the first being in the early 1990s, and many of the terraces are gone; just dried up and crumbled away.  It was quite disappointing to look forward to a particular thermal feature, then find it no longer existed.  Perhaps because of the crowds, there seemed to be more debris in the features as well, such as caps, paper, and coins.  Nevertheless, there were many “pretty” features, with rich hues of blue, gold, green, and white.  After walking the Lower Terrace Trail, we drove the short distance to the Mammoth Hot Springs Visitor’s Center for a bathroom break and lunch, finding an unoccupied picnic table behind the building in the shade of a large tree.  In our visit here a few days ago, we had wondered where the elk had gone which always seemed to be grazing on the grass at the Visitor’s Center.  As we left the picnic table, we were pleasantly surprised to see some cow elk grazing in the adjoining lawn area.  We drove to the turn around, and saw a young bull elk making his way to join the cows.  We hope the National Park Service continues to allow the elk to graze near the Visitor’s Center.  The Upper Terrace Trail can be driven, or hiked, and we chose to hike it, giving us access to all the thermal features.  The number of thermal features in this part of Mammoth Hot Springs has actually increased, and is now the better part of the two terrace trails.  Again, there were many colored pools, and several new features with hot, steamy, particulate-laded water in the process of growing.
Norris Geyser Basin.  To complete a thorough tour of the northwestern part of Yellowstone NP, we hiked the long trails of Norris Geyser Basin after Mammoth Hot Springs—we found one of the few remaining parking spaces.  We did not see any active geysers, but saw lots of steam vents and pools.  Again, some of the thermal features we had seen in previous visits no longer existed, but not as many as at Mammoth Hot Springs.  The good Lord has blessed us with being able to visit here several times, and witness, firsthand, the many changes that are occurring.  For me on this particular trip, this was the most interesting area visited thus far (except for animal sightings).  As the afternoon wore on, there seemed to be less visitors, making the area a bit more pleasing as well.  Despite the warm temperatures (low 70s), team was visible throughout the area, and even clouding camera lenses several times.
On our drive back to the RV park, we got caught in a traffic jam for about 30 minutes—a huge, bull elk was grazing on the side of the road.  By the time we got there, a ranger was waving traffic by, and we did not get a good photo.
We walked so much today that our bodies were stiff, and I managed to get a blister.  Tired from all the activity, dinner was leftovers made into fajitas—not too bad.

Red Rock RV Park sits at the edge of an old caldera, surrounded by mountains.  The park is encircled by mountains on one side and a large meadow on the other three sides.  There has been an attempt to develop some of the land around the park with some really large log houses having been built, but all seem vacant and for sale.  The park is about 5 miles to the south of US Hwy 20, with the turnoff about 14 miles west of West Yellowstone, MT.  Our particular space has the driver’s side, with all the hook-ups, really near another RV, but the passenger side enjoys a fairly large open space, with picnic table and fire pit; we can see for miles out the passenger side.  The front of the RV has an unobstructed view of a meadow and mountains to the west, while the back, our bedroom, faces other RVs in the park.
Kay spent time today having a flat tire repaired, a $35 endeavor, and got to know the shops of West Yellowstone up close and personal, while I enjoyed a nice 2.5 mile walk/hike in the US Forest Service land adjacent to the park.  This short, 2.5 mile trail through the forest presented many meadows, complete with wildflowers, while the rural road on the return offered spectacular views.  On the trail a small mule deer was startled by my walking, and while returning along the road, I saw 3 Sandhill cranes and 2 antelopes in the adjoining meadow.
Kay picked up a new satellite finder at Radio Shack in West Yellowstone, and we once again tried to get satellite reception.  After an hour or so, using 3 satellite finders, we concluded that the Directv receiver is bad—not surprising.  We have had a difficult time dealing with Directv, and don’t recommend them!
Together, we did another 3 mile hike through the forest, and saw two separate mule deer does laying down, then bolting when they saw us.  We saw some really large trees, and we saw the 3 Sandhill cranes nibbling the grasses along the road.  A thunderstorm moved off to the north, providing some amazing skies on the horizon.

Oh yeah, this is what we came for; 37 degrees this morning—make the pajamas and sweatshirt feel good, and the hot coffee taste even better!  We have yet to turn on the heat.
Today, there is to be no driving, no sight-seeing, no fishing, and no shopping—just a quiet day to rejuvenate and recharge our batteries after the long trip out here.
With nothing planned, we installed a new home theater receiver—a really cheap one that actually works to replace our other really cheap one that didn’t work.  It was more of a job than met the eye, labeling all the speaker wires, and video and audio connections for two HD televisions and numerous speakers.  Alas, we got it done!  Next, we gathered all the odd things that had gathered in our small motorhome, and repacked them, stowed them out of sight, or simply threw them away.
It’s amazing how the day can just disappear—seems like it’s faster each year—and before we knew it, it was time to walk before dinner.  This place in which we’re staying is surrounded by mountains, with a large meadow (hundreds of acres) on the north.  We are literally surrounded by forests and meadows.  Roadsides around the park, such as is in the photo are flooded with wildflowers; it is difficult to take a bad photo.  With cooler temperatures, we walk everyday and have numerous walking options.  Today we chose to stay in the vicinity of the RV park, taking pictures of wildflowers along the way.
We have a new neighbor, and visited with him at length.  He’s a full-timer, and I picked his brain as to how to set up a satellite dish to receive DirecTV high definition.  After all the frustration the last few days, it may be a day or two before we try it again.
Dinner came late, and it wasn’t too good suffice to say.  Kay and I played Hand and Foot until bedtime, and had lots of laughs.

Wow, 42 degrees this morning.  We slept like logs, until 7 am, late for us.
Driving south on US Highway 20, we turned off onto Idaho Highway 47 towards Big Mesa Falls.  There was little traffic in the national forest.  Big Mesa Falls was packed with young families with LOTS of kids; seems like each family has at least 4 little ones, and they like to whine and cry a lot.  Is there some strong family-based religion that believes in allowing kids a free reign?  Big Mesa Falls was very photogenic, though photos do not do it justice.  Just down the road, Little Mesa Falls was just as dramatic, and much less crowded.
As we drove further southward, the Grand Tetons came into view (from the west side).  We began to see potato farms stretching far and wide.  This area is a huge volcano caldera.  We arrived in Ashton expecting to find some fast food restaurants and a Walmart, but it was a bit too small.  Ashton is the seed potato capital of the world.  Further south we arrived in Rexburg, Idaho, complete with fast food, Walmart, Albertson’s, and a jewelry store.  We got some needed supplies and found some huge Mount Rainier cherries at Albertson’s.  Kay was able to get a battery for her watch at the local jewelry store.
The Grand Tetons were in view most of the way back to Ashton, ID; tough to wake up to every morning.  Driving back to the RV park, we briefly explored the Railroad Ranch—access to fly fishing the Henry’s Fork River—but were not able to see much without a short hike.  After filling up with gasoline—everywhere is a long way out here—we drove back to the RV park, did a 2-mile walk, and had a late dinner.

Being OCD presents a number of problems; everything has to be wrapped up in a nice, neat tidy package. We are almost there! The motor home is clean, including the windows, the car is vacuumed, and everything is stowed. Now we can relax and enjoy the area, maybe.

Today, we are off to West Yellowstone to purchase some new Vibram wading boots, then driving to Tower Junction in Yellowstone National Park, doing all the sites on our right as we go and all the sites on our left as we come back. Sounds like a plan, huh?

In West Yellowstone, we looked for the Blue Ribbon Fly Shop. Craig Matthews owns the shop, and was a previous co-owner of Blue Ribbon Fly Shop in Mountain Home. Craig is an innovative fly tyer and has written several books on fly tying and fly fishing Yellowstone country. I attended a two-day seminar he gave to the Mid-South Fly Fishers in the mid-1990s. We had a difficult time finding the shop, but Kay found the address on the iPhone. Craig was tying as we entered the store and we had a nice conversation with him. With boots purchased, and some flies to replace those left at home, we drove towards the entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Traffic was backed up getting through the gates but we were able to bypass traffic using Kay’s “old folks” National Park passport (I’m finally old enough to get one the day before we leave in late August). Just a short distance into the park, traffic practically came to a standstill; as we made our way forward there were a few cow elks grazing near the road, and tourists had stopped to photograph them. This was to be a pattern for the rest of the day.
Our first stop was at Gibbon Falls, 84 feet high.  With heavy snows and a late melt, the falls was magnificent.  It’s difficult to get a perspective of size with photographs, but there are people standing in the upper left corner.  A new ADA “trail” had been constructed and provided several places at which to photograph the falls.
Artists Paintpot contained small steam vents, geysers, colored pools, and gurgling pots of liquefied earth.  The trail was only 1/3 of a mile long but did rise in elevation a couple hundred feet.  
Lunch was cheese, sausage, apple, and crackers among the trees and mosquitoes in one of many roadside picnic areas.
As we drove further north in the park, we saw many fly fishers fishing the Madison, the Gibbon, and the Gardiner Rivers.

The first bear sighting was between Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction, where park visitors had chased a black bear up a tree.  Kay photographed it, but it was so far away and among the leaves, it was hardly detectable as a bear.  At Petrified Tree, a second bear was in the valley, laying among the wild flowers; it was too far to photograph.  Just past Tower Junction towards Lamar Valley, the 3rd bear was really close to the road, causing a bear jam.  Several rangers were herding park visitors back into their cars.  It’s amazing how stupid people are!  Just a little further east, a couple of bison herds were grazing.  Road construction and time constraints prevented any further exploration of Lamar Valley.  On the return trip to the RV park, a solitary bison was enjoying the peace and serenity of the park.  Undine Falls presented a nice diversion from the crowds and traffic.  We bypassed the 4 mile walking tour of thermal features at Mammoth Hot Springs, but did stop to purchase a season fishing permit.  We also are saving Norris Geyser Basin for another day.
The supermarket in West Yellowstone was crowded, but we picked up a few groceries for the next couple of days.  We were late getting back to the RV, but Kay and the crockpot provided a ready-made dinner waiting for us.  Another try at the satellite failed, so I give up.  It’s time to call for help, or do without.
As an aside, this was my 5th and Kay’s 3rd time to visit Yellowstone National Park.  The park is far more crowded than at any time in previous visits, and animal sightings are fewer.  Park rangers say that the crowds are about normal for this time of year, but that there are fewer animals because of the heavy snowfall and a longer than usual winter.

We finally made it. Yesterday saw us traveling the least number of miles, but the most difficult driving day yet. We crossed the continental divide four times, including one pass that was almost 10,000 feet. We drove through both Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, arriving at Red Rock RV Park about 2:00 PM. We saw places in Yellowstone National Park that were totally unfamiliar to us, even though we’ve been here several times previously. Also, it was quite interesting to note that we only saw a few elk, and one coyote; it’s the first time we’ve ever driven in the park and not seen a bison. Apparently the wolves are doing their job. We did notice several fly fishers plying the waters in Yellowstone, and we spotted several locations where we want to fish.

The advertisement says that it’s really quiet at Red Rock RV Park, and it really is. The small campground is 5 miles off the main highway, basically in the middle of nowhere. As is the case most of the time, we have one of the smallest RVs. After setting up I fiddled with the satellite dish for couple of hours, with no success. We will either have to make other arrangements or do without TV.

Now that were set up, and “things" are getting put in their place, it feels a bit more like home. It’s still warm here, with highs in the mid 80s. It was light until about 9:30 PM. Internet access is good but only minimal usage is allowed. Fortunately, our cell phones work and we will be able to use them for uploading photographs, etc., and downloading updates.

Regretfully, packing for this trip was not one of my proudest accomplishments; all the flies tied and purchased for this trip are still at home, only one pair of ankle socks was packed, and a card reader for one of the cameras did not come with us (we can make do on the card reader as the printer has one).

Tomorrow, we will grocery shop, do some exploring, and get even more settled in for the rest of summer.