Life on the High Plains

 We were in Durango a couple weeks ago and got to the ride the narrow gauge train. Due to some track damage the train leaves from a depot about 18 miles north of town and only goes into Cascade Canyon and back for about a 2 1/2 hour ride. The views were amazing.  The train runs alongside the Animas River in the San Juan National Forest. We stopped for several minutes and this helicopter kept making runs back and forth through the canyon.  We decided they must be making a new promotional video or something. The fall colors weren't quite at peak yet, but they were still amazing. The color of the river was a beautiful turquoise.  My first thought was that it was glacier water, but after thinking about it awhile I remembered a mine spill that affected the Animas River a few years ago.  Initially the water was orange due to the high metal count in the waste water.  There's still a lot of orange along the river bank.  Perhaps that explains why the river is s...

 We had a mini family reunion in Durango after leaving Yellowstone. Mini because two of our family members weren't able to join us. Jillian and Brian made us some lasagna in the Dutch over over charcoals.  Colorado has a state wide burn ban so no campfires were allowed. My dad was an expert with the Dutch oven.  He could could biscuits to perfect golden brown.  I've had a Dutch oven for years and I'm so happy Jillian is continuing the tradition.  The lasagna was delicious and every morsel was eaten. There was lots of chatting, drinking, and even some.... ...debate watching.  Jillian and Brian have an outdoor TV jack on their trailer so we got to watch the debacle live.  Best part of the evening..."would you shut up, man?" Most of us would like the opportunity to say the same thing to the orange man. It wasn't a vacation for everyone.  Little Miss G had to keep up with her online studies.  Yes, even kindergarteners have distance learning. Dana...

 It has been 17 days since I left Yellowstone.  What a whirlwind it has been.  My last day was September 27th.  It snowed that morning, but that didn't deter people.  The plan was to close my booth around lunchtime then I'd do my final money drop and we'd be out of here.  The only problem was that the park was packed.  When it came time to close my booth, the line to enter the park was literally a mile long so there was no way I could close my booth. Anyway, my supervisor got someone to come in a work for me so we got on the road about 2:00. Luckily, we had planned a short day and had reservations at a Utah State Park campground.  It was nice to sit around the fire and enjoy the beautiful evening and each other's company. We even had a "cheers" to the end of summer.  Me with my sangria and Irv with a coke that one of my visitors gave me. We even cooked our dinner over the fire.  Potatoes with shrimp and tilapia.  It was especially y...

 Something quite extraordinary happened in Yellowstone last week.  A grizzly brought down a magnificent bull elk in the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley. **Full Disclosure:  The pictures below were taken by friends, not me. The bear has not left the elk since he killed it.  He has partially buried it to cache it.  When he's not eating on it, he's sleeping on it. Some other inhabitants of the valley think it's time he shared. I wish I were going to be around longer to see when and if the grizz decides to share the carcass. Survival of the fittest!

My time in Yellowstone is drawing to end.  I've got eight more days here.  I have mixed feelings about leaving.  Of course I want to go home, but I greatly enjoy living in my little Yellowstone "bubble".  My co-workers are all like minded individuals who care about the park and believe in science and global warming.  I'm going back to a rural, conservative area that has different opinions.   The passing of RBG had a profound effect on me.  As a woman I have so much to be grateful for because of her.  Seeing what's happening to this country in the 24 hours since her passing has left me disgusted. Enough of that, let's get to my most recent hike in Yellowstone. I like to hike on the trails that are on the outskirts of Yellowstone.   One of my favorites is the Fawn Pass/Bighorn Pass trail. In the spring the meadows are filled with wildflowers.  It's especially beautiful now because of the autumn colors. In the summer, however, I a...

 I had my heart broken a little bit a couple weeks ago.  On our way to Jackson Hole we decided to go through Idaho Falls. First we drove by my parents old house.  My dad always kept the house and yard pristine.  I was surprised to see the new owners had removed all the landscaping around the front of the house. Then I noticed they had removed almost all the trees from the backyard.  My dad always called the backyard a box of trees.  Their yard was always the place for the summer picnics for family and the many organizations my parent's belonged to.  Everyone loved the shade the backyard provided. So if the trees have been removed from the backyard, why is the trampoline in the front yard?  The grass didn't look great and there were numerous vehicles and trailers parked in the driveway and in the street in front. Lesson 1:  Don't go visit mom and dad's house ever again. Then we went for lunch at my dad's favorite Mexican place--Jalisco's. I'm ...

 On one of days in Jackson Hole we checked out a local Forest Service hiking area--Cache Creek on the outskirts of Jackson Hole. You know a trail is going to be good when it starts with a beautiful boardwalk like this. This time of year when the berries are ripe you have to be especially watchful for bears.  They're in hyperphagia right now because they need to consume as many calories as possible to prepare for hibernation. There were several trails in the this area for use by hikers and mountain bikers.  I absolutely hate sharing the trail with bikers--I can't tell you how many times I've almost been run over.   Luckily, on this day all the bikers we encountered were extremely polite. The wildflowers are almost gone since fall is about to arrive, but there were a few we got to enjoy. The trails had lots of "connector bridges" to other trails.   Luckily they were well marked. There was one steep section--Irv convinced me to give it a try and I did it!...