Life on the High Plains

Another adventure that Irv and I went on while he was here was a trip to Lamar Valley  I hadn't been up there yet so a visit was long past due. We went via Dunraven Pass.  Fresh dusting of snow along this high mountain pass. Lamar is my favorite place in the park probably because it's much less crowded and you can always count on seeing wildlife like this pronghorn. The Lamar River was affected by last year's flooding as you can see by the erosion above.  The little red dogs seem to be able to make their way up the there okay.  I didn't feel the need to go help them like that touron from Hawaii. Lots of snow still in the surrounding mountains. What is that speck up there? Yep, it's a little black bear. Aren't these beasts majestic? Amazing scenery in Lamar. Further up the road a lady was flagging us down because another black bear was attempting to cross the road. Luckily he made it safely and nobody was harassing him. Run, little bear! We brought a picnic lunch...

 I always visit my parents at least once during my time in Yellowstone. This year I was there a few days after Memorial Day.  I miss these two every single day. I know that when my days of working in Yellowstone are finished that it will be rare that I can make this visit and bring them flowers.  It makes me sad to know that when I'm gone they won't be getting any more flowers or visits. Then I made the rounds to visit my other relatives like Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Roy. My Aunt Helen. My grandfather who passed away before I was born. Any my grandmother who I also never knew. My beloved Uncle Matt who was my favorite. Some of the best times of my life were spent at my Aunt Lois and Uncle Frank's ranch. I haven't visited the Sullivan Ranch in decades.  I wish I could see it one more time. When it was time to leave I texted Irv to let him know I was taking the back road home.  It saves a lot of miles, but is not traveled by many, is gravel for a long stretch and th...

Irv and Aspen came for a visit last week.  Aspen was a nervous wreck the entire time she was here.  We had to get creative about our adventures since dogs aren't allowed on any of trails within Yellowstone. Apparently I had never taken Irv to Big Springs in Island Park, Idaho.  It's run by the Forest Service so dogs are allowed. Big Springs is the headwaters for the Henry's Fork of the Snake River.  The water is pristine with colorful moss which makes it especially beautiful.  The trout in the river are huge and people bring cat food to feed them which also draws the seagulls. There's a two mile out and back interpretive trail that we took Aspen on.   It's very well maintained with the exception of the decomposing skunk we came across on the trail.  Aspen was terrified of it. We saw some beautiful waterfowl along the way. Finally we reached the end of the trail. Aspen wanted to go swimming so badly, but we decided we didn't want a wet dog in the c...

Time to get back to blogging.  I rely on my phone's hotspot for internet when I'm in Yellowstone and the first month I was here I used up my 50 GB of high speed hot spot data within two weeks.  This month I've kind of gone the opposite direction and have barely used any so I'll use some of it to update the blog Earlier this month my friend, Patty, who lives in Bozeman called me and asked if I wanted to go for a drive in the park and then to lunch.  It was my day off so of course I said yes.  After jumping in her truck she asked what I thought about going to the Tetons.  Off we went. First we saw a moose and then further down the road we came across this big boy. He was about 100 years off the road and we got some good pics, but the moment he started walking in our direction we jumped in the truck and continued our journey. Patty had her three dogs with her so we had to stop for potty breaks every now and then.  Our first stop was down a forest service road ...