Yellowstone

 The drive to Yellowstone saw a definite change in the landscape. We left the tall mountains behind and drove into the Caldera. 

Old Faithful was our first stop and she did not disappoint.

So many geysers huffing and puffing steam and a rotten egg smell. The fascination with the geysers outweighs the odor.

How about a mud bath when this one explodes?

Then there's the burned forests that help regenerate life back into the park. The policy is to let a natural fire  burn as long as it does not endanger structions or human life. Most fires are started  by lightning. Lodge pole pines make up the majority of the forests. Fire burn the trees and as they burn their small pine cones open due to the intense heat, spreading thousands of seeds everywhere. These are the new generation of trees. 

Breakfast on the Lake for a special occasion.

The Before we left the Tetons. We took a boat cruise to an island for a delicious breakfast to celebrate Jim and Barb's 51st wedding anniversary. It was early, it was cold, it was smokey and it was fun!

This was a buffet style breakfast......all you could eat eggs, pancakes, trout that was delicious, rolls, fruit etc. and cowboy coffee. In case you don't know, cowboy coffe is strong with lots of coffee grounds in the bottom of your cup.

This is what was left after we devoured the food.

I did mention it was early and cold!

Happy anniversary, Barb and Jim!

The idea was to sit at the tables and enjoy a view of the Tetons. You can barely make them out due to the smoke. Luckily we had already seen them.

This is a better view and oh how peaceful.

We were sorry to leave this magical place, but we knew we were going to move on to the splendor of Yellowstone.

Floating down the Snake River

Still smokey, but still beautiful.

Getting the raft ready for a lazy scenic float.

Not sure what he's thinking, but he did enjoy it.

Can just see the mountains n the background.

Huge beaver lodge. Also saw several Eagles.

 

We saw a moose and her calf. Highlight of the trip for me. 

Teton National Park

Beautiful place!! We have no wifi unless we go to designated areas, so I will be added photos periodically.

We had a wonderful bike ride today as you will see. We're going on a raft trip tomorrow and a morning breakfast cruise on Jackson Lake Sat.

The pictures all show the smoke that's in the air from all the fires in the surrounding areas, but it's still gorgeous.

Waterfall on way to Tetons.

Out lunch spot on the road.

The Jackson Hole.

Lolo Pass

A ride through a section of the Lolo Pass on the border of Montana and Idaho was beautiful. This was the route over the Bitterroot Mountains used by the Nez Percent Indians long before Lewis and Clark arrived. In Sept. 1805 Lewis and Clark struggled over the pass. It was thought to be a five day journey, but turned into an arduous eleven days over snow covered hill and ridges. This expedition was led by a Shoshone guide known as "Old Toby".  

They started Sep 12 and by the 16 and 17 they were hit by severe storms. There was a scarcity of game on the ridges, forcing the to eat some of the ponies and emergency rations. As they reached the southern end of the trail, Clark took a small party of hunters ahead of the rest to search for game and make contact with the Nez Perce on Sept 20.

The Nez Perce saved  the expeditin from starvation and formed a bond of friendship. Clark and Lewis crossed their territory in 1805 and again in 1806.

Visitors Center

Real nature lovers.

This is how clear the Lochsa River is. These are all under water.

Huge Cedar trees all around.

We found this great restaurant tucked away in the woods.

Missoula Smokejumpers

We toured the Smokejumpers facility yesterday. It was a very quiet day because the jumpers were out battling fires in the surround areas. (Montana, Idaho or wherever they were needed). Smokejumpers are a highly skilled, rapid response fire resource that provide initial attack suppression on emerging fires.

 In 1910, a series of wildfires roared through the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountiains burning 4 million acres. The fires started in remote areas where firefighters did not have access. This brought about the idea of parachuting into these areas to suppress the small lighting caused fires as quickly as possible. 30 years later in 1939, the first smokejumping organization was established. In 1952 Congress authorized $700,000 for the construction of the Aerial Fire Depot in Missoula. Today the USA Forest Service has bases in Missouls, Grangeville, ID, Winthrop, WA, West Yellowstone, MT, Redding, CA, McCall, ID and Redmond, OR.

Equipment and clothing they wear when jumping. They change into fire retardant clothes once on the ground and pack clothes and their chute into the red bag that's sitting on the floor. A lot of times they have to climb trees to retrieve their chute, so their equipment includes Spurs.

Yes, there are women smokejumpers. Here she's shown wearing clothes with equipment to fight the fire. The silver colored "tent" is used when trapped. It will protect a person from about 1200-1600 degree heat when the fire rolls over them. The temperature inside the tent is about 180 degrees. There is enough oxygen inside the tent for 20 minutes. We understand these tents are rarely used.

Smokejumpers make and repair their own clothes. So the guys have to learn to sew and most of them are really good at it. Particularly when it depends on their life. It was emphasized that everything the do is a real team effort.

Here is where parachutes are repacked by certified personnel only. They do not sew their parachutes, but do repair them.

This is where the parachutes are repacked. The pile on the table is what comes back after a jump.

After the jumpers are on the ground, packs of food are parachuted to them. This is what's in the pack. OK for a few days.

Love this sign. A good moto to live by!

This is a full time job for most of 65 jumpers at this station. A dispatch center contacts the office to let them know where they are needed each day. There are no night jumps made, so it's possible to go to work, sit around all day, go home at night knowing that you'll be jumping in the morning. Clothes are ready to go at any time. It takes 10 mins from an alert to get dressed and on the airplane ready to go.

Here's the DC3 they are currently using.

This is a plane used for dumping fire retardant, but it is not part of the smoke jumpers unit.

Oh, that was fun!

Grant-Kohr's Ranch (Montana)

From the 1862 home and trading post of John Grant to the headquarters of Conrad Kohrs' cattle empire, this site hold. Prominent place in American livestock industry. In it's heyday, cattle razed on roughly ten million acres of public land in four states and Canada. The ranch still operates today and is open as a National Historic Site.

None of the relatives of Kohrs wanted any of the furnishings from the home, so everything is original. This is very unusual and exciting to see. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the house, but because Paul worked for Kohler, the ranger let me take a pictur of the bathtub.

The chuck wagon has been refurbished. The young lady was brewing and serving "cowboy coffee". It would keep you up for day!

I found a friend.