Time to head south

Well it’s been some time since I posted an update here and I hardly know where to begin.

I did make it back to the mid-west before the big snows hit the Dakotas in late September. I hurried along, spending one night at Eagle Rest RV Park in Chadron Nebraska and one at Hagge County Park near Sac City Iowa. I can recommend both of these places as they have full hookups at very reasonable prices. Eagle Rest is right on US 20 so the highway noise is a bit more than at Hagge County Park which is several miles south of US 20. Both places are close to restaurants / shopping and while both offer shower facilities, only Eagle Rest offers laundry facilities.

I spent most of October at Paul Wolf Campground in Elgin Illinois, Kettle Moraine State Forest near Eagle Wisconsin and Rock Cut State Park near Rockford Illinois. While at Kettle Moraine my friend Donna took the Amtrak to Milwaukee where I picked her up. She enjoyed spending time in the woods, having grilled steaks for dinner and roasting marshmallows over the campfire.

I was also invited to go sailing on Lake Michigan. My friend Bonnee is a member of the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center and she organized a day sail on “Reliance”, a 30 foot C&C, with a crew of 5. I couldn’t very well pass that up as the end of the sailing season was very near. It was great to be on the water again and to meet new people. It was a cool but very sunny day with fair winds and we all enjoyed my last sail of the season.

 

Photos are compliments of Bonnee.

 

 

 

Toward the end of the month Ronna and I decided to take a short, 2 day trip to Wildlife Prairie Park near Hanna Illinois. We took the camper and spent the night at Jubilee College State Park which is also near Hanna City and only about 8 miles from Wildlife Prairie. Strange name for a state park until one looks further into it:

“Named Jubilee College in 1839 by its founder, Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase in expression of his thankfulness and joy, the college was one of the earliest educational enterprises in Illinois. Through a series of misfortunes climaxed by the Bishop's death, the college closed in 1862. In 1933 the college and grounds, consisting of 93 acres, were presented to the state of Illinois. Since that time, the Department of Natural Resources increased the acreage to 3,200. The college closed in 2008, however, the college building, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, has been restored to its original appearance and is under the management of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.”

We made a quick stop at the old college campus on the way to the park but found the building closed due to the time of year. We are planning a trip back there next June when we can tour the building.

Wildlife Prairie Park is a great place to spend a day. Black bears, grey wolves, bison, cougars, bobcats and others are kept in a natural setting and provide some good photo opportunities. There is a gift shop, places to grab a snack and a small working farm as well.

http://www.wildlifeprairiestatepark.org/

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, if you’re ever in the area of Hanna City Illinois, don’t miss the chicken dinner at Gil’s Supper Club. Some of the best fried chicken and coleslaw I’ve had.

If you decide to visit the northwest corner of Illinois be sure to stop in Galena. Ronna and I chose to live it up a bit and spend 2 nights at Hawk Valley Retreat near there before I headed south for the winter. Hawk Valley is a quiet, beautiful place with wonderful hosts and delicious breakfasts.

http://hawkvalleyretreat.com/bandb/

Galena became a boomtown during the civil war because of the lead mines. The city is named for the mineral "galena", the natural form of lead sulfide and is known for its history, historical architecture, ski and golf resorts. It’s the home of Ulysses S. Grant and tours of his home, as well as other mansions, are available. Trolley tours of the town are very informative and a good way to get an overview. A wide variety of food and antique shops abound.

http://galena.org/

On November 9^th I left the great, soon to be white, north and headed for warmer climates. My first one night stop was at the Army Corps of Engineers Gun Creek Campground near Rend Lake IL and my second night was spent at the Army Corp of Engineers North Abutment Campground on Granada Lake in Mississippi. Both of these were very nice places to stay and, with my America the Beautiful Senior Pass, only $8 / $10 a night. I pulled into Natalbany Creek RV Park during the early afternoon of November 11^th and will be staying here for several weeks.

Have to say I’m pleased with this place; about 135 sites, all with full hookups and a monthly rate of 399.00 plus tax. Shower and laundry facilities are very clean and, because there are only about 20 rigs here at the moment, very quiet. The place is right outside the city of Amite (pronounced aim-it) Louisiana with a Walmart and a variety of restaurants only a few miles down the road.

http://www.natalbanycreekcampground.net/

 

My plan is to travel back to Chicago for Thanksgiving and Christmas before heading to Florida for the remainder of the winter. The Amtrak City of New Orleans stops in Hammond Louisiana, only 15 miles south of here, and will be a convenient way to travel back and forth for the holidays. The owners here at Natalbany have no problem with me leaving the rig while I head back north for the 2 visits.

During the first week of December there is a truck camper rally being held in Branson Missouri which I have already made reservations to attend.

Well, that’s about all for now. Hope this update finds everyone happy and healthy!

The Grand Tetons

Day 1:

 

It was a short, pleasant drive to Grand Teton National Park. The two parks are connected by the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Highway. The 24,000 acres along this stretch was transferred to the National Park Service in 1972 as a memorial of John D’s work in helping to establish the park.

 

I arrived at Flag Ranch Campground around 130 PM and checked in. Once the camper was set up I headed over across the road for some lunch at the lodge; you can’t beat a good bison burger on an onion roll. The waitress at the lodge was very helpful, bringing a map to the table and pointing out the highlights of the park.

 

Then I stopped at the visitor’s center to pick up some information only to find it closed for the season. But there were maps and the Teton News available in outside racks. Then it was off to the general store for some groceries. It was getting late so I decided to call it a day and get an earlier start in the morning after planning out my next day’s activities.

 

Tonight’s movie is Public Enemy (1931) with James Cagney and Jean Harlow.

 

Day 2:

 

Grand Teton National Park is 310,000 acres with one main road about 50 miles long that parallels the Teton Range. And it seems small after roaming the 2.2 million acres and 350 miles of road in Yellowstone. But the mountains are almost overwhelming. The highest peak in Yellowstone is Eagle Peak at 11,358 feet. The Teton Range has 6 mountains that top 12,000 feet with Grand Teton Mountain at 13.770. But unlike Glacier National Park, where one can literally drive on the sides of mountains, the Teton Range is accessible only by hiking in the park. Still, the views are awe inspiring and it’s difficult not to take repeated photos of them.

 

The day broke clear and cold, with pre-dawn temps in the upper 20’s. How do I know this? Because my propane tank emptied sometime during the night and the temp in the camper was down to 58 when I woke at 5:20 AM; no propane means no furnace and no furnace means no heat. Had to slip on something warm and switch tanks, glancing at the outside thermometer as I did. I got back in the sack and slept till 7:20 AM.

 

After looking over the map I decided to split the park in half. I would cover the south half today and the north half tomorrow. The weather warmed nicely into the 70’s and the sky was blue with puffy white clouds.

 

A bit south of the park’s southern entrance is a place originally called Grovont by the US Postal Service but now known as Mormon Row.  Settled in the 1890’s, this was once a thriving Mormon community consisting of 33 homesteads surrounded by a church and school, but only 6 structures remain. The others went into decay until the park service stepped in during the 1990‘s and are now helping to preserve them.

 

Then it was lunch at Dornan’s, just outside the south entrance of the park. A great place with a great view of the Teton Range whether you’re seated inside or out. The food is good with reasonable prices and the grocery store there is stocked extremely well. A nice selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, can goods and even a fresh meat counter.  

 

The waitress at the Flag Ranch Lodge had pointed out a place along the Snake River east of Gros Ventre Junction where I might spy a moose. So I took the drive and parked for a bit but no luck. The afternoon was getting on so I headed back for the park.

 

Right after you enter the south entrance there is a turnoff that leads to the Chapel of the Transfiguration. This log church was built in 1925 and still holds services on summer Sundays. They tell me there is a large picture window behind the alter with a view of the Teton Range (must be distracting to the congregation). But there was a wedding being held there today and I didn’t want to go in and disturb the services.

 

It was going to take me over an hour to drive back to the campground so I headed back, stopping along the way at Coulter Bay to pick myself up a souvenir. I have to say the mountain views along the way were most distracting, in a good way!

 

Tonight’s movie is Angles with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart and The Dead End Kids.

 

 

 

Day 3:

 

A touch of rain last night but the cloud cover kept the temps in the 50’s.

 

Since this was my last day at Grand Teton Park I decided to hit a few of the scenic overlooks and turnouts and try some HDR landscape photos. I just haven’t had the fortitude to get up early and stay out late to photograph wildlife. Perhaps I did too much of that at Yellowstone?

 

I started out the cloudy day at Jenny Lake Overlook and ended at Oxbow Turnout. Luckily the weather improved as the day went on and I did manage a few decent shots.

 

 

 

Hung around Oxbow for a few extra hours hoping to see a moose as it’s about the only animal, along with wolves, that I haven’t photographed on this trip. But the clock was ticking and I couldn’t stay until the dusky witching hour. I had to get back to camp a bit early and start getting ready for my morning departure back to the flatlands.

 

And so ends my adventure of Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP and Grand Tetons NP. It’s been a wonderful 3 weeks in the mountains; one I’ll remember for a long time. But will also be good to get back to the Midwest to visit with friends and family.

 

Tonight’s movie is All Quiet on the Western Front (1979) with Richard Thomas.

 

 

Yellowstone Part 2

Saturday:

 

It’s another cool, wet day here at Yellowstone. Temps failed to reach 50 and the light to moderate rain has kept up all day. But it didn't stop me from attending the Ranger guided tour through the Mud Volcano area. The geological features here have colorful names like Sulphur Caldron, Churning Cauldron, Black Dragons Caldron, and Dragon’s Mouth Springs. The air is permeated with the smell of hydrogen sulfide gas. 

Ranger Lidia took us through the hour or so guided walk and explained the history of the area as well as the difference between hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles.  I couldn't resist asking her if she had any tattoos. When she looked at me strangely I mentioned the Marx Brothers and Groucho singing Lidia the Tattooed Lady; guess I was showing my age. She just laughed politely.

 

After the tour I drove up to Canyon to treat myself to lunch, following the Yellowstone River through the Lamar Valley and trying to watch for bears along the banks. Canyon was jammed with cars, people and tour busses, I felt like I was back in Chicago. There was a waiting line at the restaurant so I grabbed a bag of trail mix at the gas station when I topped off the tank and drove back to the campground. As always there was another bison blockage in the valley extending my drive time by 10 minutes or so.

Tomorrow is a 2 hour guided hike along the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and a bit of backcountry hiking as well.

 Tonight’s movie is Charlie Chan, City in Darkness (1939) with Leo Carroll and Lon Chaney Jr.

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s (Sunday) Ranger guided hike was Hayden Valley View. I allowed an hour to reach the meeting point which was about 15 miles north of the campground and needed nearly all of it. The bison were crossing the road in two different places and people were stopping on the road to take pictures. It wasn’t like the bison were blocking the way; the people just refused to pull over and blocked the road.

This 3 hour hike follows Clear Lake Trail, Wapiti Lake Trail and the North Rim Trail, traveling through wooded areas, meadows, the Hayden Valley and ends with a walk along the Yellowstone River to the upper falls. Ranger Carol was most informative, stopping every so often to give a short talk on the parks ecology, bears, bison and wolves. Yellowstone now has almost 5,00 bison and they are everywhere. We even had one blocking the trail a short way into the hike. It forced us to take a small detour as the bison decided he wasn’t moving for us. In contrast, there is only about 150 grizzlies and 120 wolves in the park. But the Elk take first prize with a population of 10,000 to 20,000.

That bison was the only large wildlife we saw but we did see a Northern Harrier hawk that was a bit far off but I tried a shot anyway. The scenic views of the valley and upper falls, as well as the informative talks by the Ranger made the hike worthwhile. The hike also allows one to get into the back country as most of the park isn’t visible from the roads.

When we reached the overlook of the upper falls Ranger Carol got a bit perturbed with some idiot who had climbed out onto the rocks near the falls. He wasn’t with our group, he was across the falls from us but our overlook gave us a good vantage point to see him. Ranger Carol stopped the hike, walked a short distance from the group and got on the radio to report the incident. I snapped a shot or two of him on the rocks.

After the hike I drove back to the campground and had a nice lunch of grilled cheese sandwich and chicken noodle soup. Around 430 I headed out, driving the 27 miles to the east gate. Supposed to be good bear country there and a few people in the hiking group said they had seen bears along the road. It was a pleasant drive with nice scenery but no bears in sight.

Tonight’s movie is Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938)
 

 

 

Monday:

How could I travel to Yellowstone and not see Old Failthful? This famous geyser is located in the Upper Geyser Basin, the largest concentration of geysers in the world. It also features many hot springs, pools and other geothermal features.

I made the 39 mile drive in record time, not seeing a single bison or getting caught in any wildlife backups, although I did see a couple young Elk grazing along the road.

The area around Old Faithful is quite developed, with Old Faithful Lodge, Old Faithful Visitor’s Education Center, restaurants and shopping. It’s like a small town with a matching population and considered the heart of the park. I arrived for the 930 AM tour and found no problem parking close to the starting point behind the education center. But by the time I left things were getting a bit busier.

Our guide, Ranger Leia, led us on a 1 ½ hour tour of Geyser Hill starting by watching Old Faithful erupt, spewing water well over 100 feet high. The timing of these eruptions is every about every 90 minutes but can vary. Depending on how large the eruption is, the next may occur anywhere from 50 to 127 minutes later. The education center posts the time of the next eruption (plus or minus 5-10 minutes) and with the 1 ½ hour walk I was able to see the show twice, getting a better picture from Geyser Hill than I did being close up.

While there are over 40 different geysers in the basin, only Old Faithful is on somewhat of a schedule. The others may erupt daily or not for weeks or years. The beautiful colors of the hot springs, pools and geothermal features are caused by minerals.

Left the Old Faithful area and drove north to Madison Junction and then up to Norris. This completed my driving the south loop and all the main roads in Yellowstone except for the drive to the south entrance, which I will do when I leave. It was then on to Canyon, taking a short scenic drive through Virginia Cascade and finally back to Fishing Bridge. Stopped at the general store for a few items and headed back to the camper for dinner and a relaxing evening.

Tonight’s movie is Charlie Chan in Reno (1939)

 

 

Tuesday:

The storm woke me around 330 AM with thunder, lightning, hail and heavy rain. Today would be a good day to catch up on chores I thought and went back to sleep. I woke around 7 AM and checked the forecast; thunderstorms all day with a possibility of snow this evening. They were right, all day thunderstorms.

I headed over to the Laundromat which is located right here in the campground. Glad I got there at 8 AM when they opened because it quickly became very crowded. I guess a lot of people had the same idea.

Returned to the camper and the older German gentleman camped next to me came over and asked if I had a compass. He was lacking one and having a devil of a time getting his satellite dish to work. After telling me that he had searched high and low trying to buy a compass he asked if I would sell him mine. It’s was a good Brunton sighting compass but I could see he needed it more than I did and agreed. He insisted on paying $10 more dollars than the compass was worth.

Then I cleaned house; dusted, vacuumed, washed the floor and put clean sheets on the bed. It was about time to dump the black and grey water tanks and I managed to do that between the raindrops. After having lunch I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening typing narratives and editing photos so I could publish “Yellowstone Part 1” for the blog.

Tonight’s movie is “The Roaring Twenties” (1939) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.

 

 

 

Wednesday:

Well, it’s about 5 PM and as I type this I’m watching the snowflakes fall here in Yellowstone.

It began as the second day in a row of cold, wet, windy weather. I puttered around the camper till noon when the weather seemed to break. There was Ranger tour along the shores of Lake Yellowstone at 4 PM but the sky didn’t look promising for the 30 mile drive to West Thumb.

So I took a ride to Lake Side Village for some lunch and to pick up a few needed items. As I left the rain stopped again so I took a drive into Lamar Valley and staked out a spot near Mary Mountain trailhead to see what might appear. By 3:30 pm the rain started in earnest so I headed back to the camper, noticing that the temp was dropping. By the time I reached Fishing Bridge it was 38 degrees and the rain was now mixed with snow.

I guess the nice thing about spending 11 days here is I can afford a few down days and still have lots of time to explore. The weather is supposed to clear out overnight with a low temp in the upper 20’s. Tomorrow should be nicer with temps in the 50’s so I’m going to get an early start for the Norris Geyser Basin to attend a 930 AM tour.

Tonight’s movie is The Petrified Forest (1936) with Bette Davis, Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart

 

 

Thursday:

Woke to about a half inch of snow this morning; really quite beautiful (yes, that's my rig in the second picture).The first snowfall always seems to be so enchanting. But it’s also a warning that winter will be coming to the mountains soon.

For my last day at Yellowstone I decided on a tour of Norris Geyser Basin. This area, the hottest in the park, actually consists of 2 separate basins: Porcelain Basin and Back Basin. Ranger Gary led our small group on an hour and a half tour of Back Basin. The chilly 32 degree temperature had the place all steamed up.

I counted more than 15 geysers in the Norris Basin, all of which are unpredictable as to when they will erupt (Yellowstone has over 300 geysers). Steamboat Geyser lies in the Back Basin and hasn’t erupted in a few years. But when it does it shoots 300 feet into the air. That’s almost 2 times the height of Old Faithful. According to Ranger Gary it’s the largest geyser in the world.

Our walk took us past an array of hot springs, geysers and steam vents with colorful names like Emerald Spring, Black Pit Spring, Puff’n Stuff Geyser and Pork chop Geyser. Incidentally, Pork chop Geyser originally got its name because of its shape. But in 1989 it decided to erupt so forcefully that it threw boulders over 200 feet and lost its Pork chop look. But the name remains.

The water at Norris is acidic and it kills the pine trees in the basin creating a barren landscape. All of the geysers here are acidic and I don’t think I would like to be too close to one when they do erupt.

After the tour I drove up to Mammoth and, on the way, was treated to seeing a grizzly bear feeding on a carcass. The bear was way across a lake and while I could watch with the binoculars, it was about out of camera range. However I did snap a few pics anyway.

After having lunch and gassing up the truck in Gardiner for tomorrows drive to Grand Teton National Park, I started the long drive back to Fishing Bridge. Of course two more bison blockages made the hour and a half drive even longer. As I neared the campground I saw a very nice landscape which I couldn’t resist shooting.

Tonight’s movie is White Heat (1949) with James Cagney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s the end of the report on my trip to Yellowstone. Now it’s on to the Tetons for a few days.

 

Hope this update is finding everyone happy and healthy!