Two weeks to go

I can't believe four months have already flown by. With beautiful scenery, cool weather, visits from friends and family, the latest being my sister, sister-in-law and the Dickersons, it has been and will continue to be a summer to remember. Hopefully I will be able to come back next year.

Took a two day trip to Flaming Gorge over the Labor Day weekend. Wanted to go by Ft. Bridger on the way down and found myself in the middle of the second largest festival in Wyoming. It was sort of like a trades day with hundreds of tents and tepees set up all over the place. Most of the people were in period dress.

Things are still very busy around here. Hotel occupancy still running around 99%. There is something going on nearly every week in September. An art festival started a week ago last Thursday and continues through this Sunday. It is one of the biggest events of the year in JH. The first weekend there was a big race with restaurants serving food on the square and live music. Also had a Cowboy Jubilee Saturday night. Today was one of the main events of the festival, Quick Draw on the square. About 30 artist were set up on the square and given 90 minutes to create their art. The art was then auctioned off, some going for as much as $6,000. Pretty good hourly rate for some of the artist. The featured painting, not created in just 90 minutes, was sold for $35,000. I couldn't believe how many people were bidding up over $30k.

I've include several pictures from last few weeks.

Ft. Bridger Rendezvous Scramble

Flaming Gorge

Quick Draw Artist

Couple of Quick Draw Painting

The following is my screen saver on my phone. Something to help me remember the summer.

Labor day is here

Well, it's September and only one month left. I don't know if I'm glad or sad. It's been a great experience.

Had the first snow in the mountains this week and I had a new experience in the trailer today. I got up this morning and had no water. After a little investigation, I found out my water hose was frozen. It thawed quickly and I later walked to work in a short sleeve shirt, another beautiful day.

Have had several visitors over the last few weeks: John and Jan Shewmaker, Carl and Joanna Couch, old friends from Dallas (and actually as far back as college), Bob and Barbara Davis, Leon and Barbara Ward from Holly Lake and Dean Barry an old friend from Texarkana. My sister and sister-in-law, Tom and Cheryl Dickerson are coming up in a couple of weeks.

I finally have gotten back to doing some hiking. Toe is still a little swollen and hurts a little, but getting out and walking up in the mountains is worth it.

Have a big weekend planned: Willy Nelson concert tomorrow night and I think I will go down to the Flaming Gorge for a couple of days on Monday. It's supposed to a lot different
from here, but very pretty.

Am including several new pictures. One is of Dean in front of the cabin from the movie Shane. I had to take Dean to the airport very early on the day he left so got a picture of a full moon setting as the sun came up. Picture just can't show what it was really like.

Sun Rise - Moon Set

Dean at Shane Cabin

Sunrise from the Casita

Mount Moran from Leigh Lake

Brief Update

Not much going on up here. Still nursing a sore toe, but enjoying the weather and scenery. I hate to rub in the weather thing, but I think the temperature might have reached 80 today.

I thought I would include a couple of pictures of this church I went to Sunday. It was built in 1920 and is just inside the Grand Teton National Park.

Church of the Transfiguration

View from Inside

This is an Episcopal church and I'm not really used to the high church atmosphere, but just having the view through the window behind the pulpit was enough to make you aware of the glory of God.

John and Jan Shewmaker came back through tonight. Had a nice meal with them at the famous "Billy's Burgers."

You Can't Roller Skate In a Buffalo Herd

Just wanted to include a couple of pictures of bison taken about 6 miles north of the JH Visitors Center on the Gros Ventres River road (that's pronounced "grow vant" and is French for big belly. Jackson Hole lies between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges. I guess the French got to name the mountains in the area.




Listen to "You Can't Roller Skate In a Buffalo Herd".

Good little road trip

Took a little road trip Monday and Tuesday. I wanted to go to Cody to see the Buffalo Bill Historical Center so made a little 500 mile trip out of it by going up through the northeast entrance of Yellowstone. What a beautiful drive. Went up through Cooke City and Red Lodge Montana on the way to Cody, two neat little old western towns now given in to a lot of tourists. Below are a couple of pictures from the Bear Tooth Scenic Byway on the way out of the northeast entrance. They are taken with my new phone which has an 8 megapixel camera, but I decided a real camera is still better for pictures.

Blue Tooth Scenic Byway

Blue Tooth Scenic Byway

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is a must see. It actually consists of 5 museums: Firearms, Western Art, Plains Indian People, Buffalo Bill and the American West, and The Nature of Yellowstone. You can spend hours in each one of them. The Firearms Museum contains a section on firearms by date and another by manufacturer. I have never seen so many guns of different types.

Buffalo Bill

On the way back thought I was going to be delayed by a 385 acre fire in Yellowstone, but it was more in the middle of the park and no roads were closed. There have already been 4 fires in Yellowstone this year, but that's pretty normal. There have been a few in the Tetons too.

Yellowstone Fire

There was a piece on national news today about a lady who got attacked in a parking lot by a buffalo. I had to drive by one with about 5 foot clearance in a parking lot Monday. If you saw the piece with the lady getting attacked, you'll notice someone threw something at the buffalo and ticked it off.

As most of you already know, they are not really buffalo, but bison. I don't think it would sound right though to sing "give me a home where the bison roam" and Buffalo Bill would not have been near as popular if he had been called Bison Bill.

It's been a while since the latest blog. Had a little trouble with my AC adapter for my PC so had to wait for friends from Holly Lake to bring another one. Had to use the library computers for email and time was limited on them. Not only do I have a new power adapter, but I also have a new phone that allows me to connect my PC to the internet. Really slick.

Activities have been a little curtailed recently. I was crossing a stream last week and a rock slipped out from under me and I hit the dirt. The only injury was to my big toe. It looks like a big purple onion and still hurts, even to wear shoes.

Have had some friends visiting lately. Mike and Miki King, old friends from Lake Highlands Church in Dallas, were up for a few days. We had a nice dinner together. Last week three buds from Holly Lake were here. We got in a little fishing, rafting, sight seeing and gab. Jim, Gerry and Mike's picture is below.

Mike, Jim and Gerry in front of my humble abode

The float trip

Where the buffalo roam

More friends, Couch's and Shewmaker's, are coming later on this month.

That's about it for now.

6/21-6/26

It's been a busy week. I drove up to Yellowstone NP Monday, spent the night in West Yellowstone and came home Tuesday. Two days is a minimum if you really want to to see the park good and maybe take a hike or two. It's really crowded; major traffic jams with wildlife watchers, especially if a bear happens to come into view. It's hard to find a parking place at some of the points of interest, and I bet there were 5000 people gathered around Old Faithful to see the eruption. Even with all of the crowds, I would like to go back before I leave the area -- maybe in September. I've included some pictures of Yellowstone.

Old Faithful

I found out an interesting tidbit about Old Faithful - it's not so faithful. I always thought it went off every 60 minutes. One of the regulars in the visitor's center said it went off every 90 minutes. The fact is that the interval between eruptions varies from 55 to 95 minutes based on the duration of the last eruption.

Bubbling Hot Springs

Steaming Hills

Mystic Falls

Today (Thursday 6/24) was a fun day. I went on patrol with one of the Forest Service employees in the fire department. We went around to some of the remote areas in Bridger-Teton National Forest in 4-wd fire (brush) truck checking on back country campgrounds, people cutting firewood in the forest and other patrol activities. I actually got to pull some hose, operate a pump and squirt some water. It's amazing how people will go off an leave a smoldering fire. That is a real no-no to the Forest Service. If we found an unattended fire that was the least bit warm, we would give it a good soaking. If you could determine who has left the fire unattended, they would be given a nice ticket. It was really a great day, the weather was perfect, we went into some beautiful country and I definitely plan on doing it again. The ranger is also trying to get me a day with the river patrol. That would be neat also.

Back to work tomorrow.

California Weekend - 6/14/2010

Just got back from California this afternoon. It was a quick weekend. I left Jackson last Wednesday after work, got to Grass Valley Thursday afternoon, went to Rex's change of command and retirement ceremony Friday, to Kayla's graduation Saturday, left Grass Valley Sunday morning and got back to Jackson this afternoon Monday). It was a long drive (nearly 800 miles one way), but I really enjoyed it. South eastern Idaho and northeast Utah are really pretty and some of the other country is interesting as well. Of course the area of California west of Reno where Rex and Pam live is real pretty too.

I really am blessed to get to come to Jackson and do all of this stuff this summer and to be surrounded by such beauty. But, there is nothing as beautiful and as much of a blessing as your family. To see Rex stand up and give God credit in his retirement speech and to have seen Kayla grow up to be the person she is and prepare herself to go off to college in Abilene, sure makes an old man proud. Of course all of my kids and grand-kids make me proud, but it was just Kayla's and Rex's special days.

This is the crew in California this past weekend:
Me, Pam, Holly, Rex, Courtney, Kayla, Rhett, Carol and Norm Culp (Pam's parents)

Rex already has his USAF Retired cap on:

The Graduate

I thought this was a neat picture. As I drove past the Bonneville salt flats, the mirage made it look like the sides of the mountain were suspended.

Update 6/8/2010

It's been pretty uneventful around here lately. The place is getting more crowded every day. Finally am getting my mail - General Delivery, Jackson, WY 83002.

The Forest Service had a cook-out Saturday for all seasonal employees. Got to meet some new folks. It's interesting some of the jobs the forest service has up here. There are guys and gals that go out for 8 days working on trails, fire fighters, river crews and folks that go out on horseback for days just patrolling the park. If you like camping out, there's a job here for you.

I took a trip down south of Jackson this past weekend to Pinedale. There is a good Mountain Man museum there. I can only remember a couple of books I read in junior high: one was about this kid that bought an old MG and fixed it up and the other was "Jim Bridger, the Mountain Man." It really made an impression on me even back then because of what those guys faced when they came out into this country. That book is still in print and available in bookstores around here. I think I will reread it when I finish the ones I'm already working on.

The weather has been nasty around here this past week. Rainy and cool. Too muddy to do any hiking. The sun is finally out today and it is about 63. Wasn't my day to work, but had to go to CPR and first aid training -- what a bummer. Will be leaving tomorrow after work (if you want to call it that) to go to California for Rex's retirement on Friday and Kayla's graduation from high school on Saturday.

Am attaching a few more pictures - not as interesting as the previous ones. In an earlier blog I think I mentioned a tree in a campground just out of town that has an owl's nest with a couple of owlets in it. . Click here to see a neat picture by Tom Magelson of last year's hatch.

A little white water rafting on the Snake river. Wet suits and booties recommended.

This is the entrance to the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

A lone bison. There are plenty more around where he came from. They have the right-of-way on the roads.

I'm going to sign off for now. Will be updating blog when I get back from California.

5/3

Not much happening lately. This week has been wet and cool, high in middle 50's. I think I prefer this weather to what I hear is going on at home. It has hindered some of my hiking plans though.

What's happening now!

I've been running around trying to figure out where I should tell people to go, eat,sleep, etc. Man, it's pretty up here. The weather is still a little on the chilly and wet side, but it's not bad enough to keep you from doing things. I've included some pictures from my adventures, but they really can't capture the beauty of this place, at least not with my Kodak QuickPic.

This one is of the Snake River. There are scenic float trips above Jackson going through Grand Teton Park and more white water trips down below Jackson. Haven't done either yet. I had included a picture of the Snake earlier, but thought this one was better.

This is a picture of the most photographed barn in the world. It's what is left of an old Mormon farm out east of Jackson. I don't know if you can pick them out or not, but there are some bison off behind the barn.

I loved this place. I just got off on a dirt road in the Bridger/Teton National Forest and ran across this lake. I was the only one there and it was so quiet and peaceful. All I could hear were a few birds chirping and a loon out across the lake.

It's Wild West Days in Jackson this weekend. Had a big parade this morning, music all day on the square and a beer fest on the square. I should have gone in the tent to see if they had any non-alcoholic beer. I might do that later this afternoon. I'm going back to the square later for the big shoot-out.



There is also a mountain man rendezvous at the fair grounds and some of them got in the parade too.

Well, the library is closing in 15 minutes, so I'll wrap it up. I need to go to the store and buy some bear spray so I can go hiking next week.

Y'all come see me.

First day at work

Thursday, May 27

Yesterday was my first day at work. I felt pretty stupid. I would be standing behind the counter watching the veterans answer questions and people would come in, see me just standing there and ask me questions about what to see, where to go, where to stay, where to eat, where to see elk, .... Guess what my answer usually was -- "I don't know". I had actually driven around the park Tuesday and from listening to answers from some of the old hands, by the end of the day I was able to make some visitors think I knew what I was talking about. It's really interesting meeting so many people from so many different places. It seems that there are as many foreigners as US citizens. That will probably change when schools let out and people start their summer vacations.

Yesterday after work I took a short trip out of Jackson to look at a campground and see if I could see any wildlife. I really wanted to see this campground because as I was leaving work and the visitor's center had already closed, these two guys from Calgary, Canada came up and met me in the parking lot. Since I was in uniform and looked important, they asked me if I could direct them to an isolated campground that was close. Well, I had my little map that I was taking home to study so I pulled it out, we looked at it and I pointed them to a campground that was close. I drove out there later just to see if it was even open. It was and I'm sure they would be completely satisfied. It was isolated and on the Gros Vontre river. There was a big tree in the campground that had an owls nest in it with a couple of little fuzzy owlets. There were a couple of people set up taking pictures of the owlets with telephoto lenses as long as my arm. These Ansel Adams wanna be's make me feel bad when I get out there with my little Kodak QuicPic.

To get to the campground I had to slow down to a crawl as bison were all over the road. A few miles further down the road was a herd of 100 or more elk. I probably saw no more than 5 cars on this short drive. I hate to go back to work tomorrow and tell people what's out that road. It will get congested.

Right now is really a good time to be here because it is not yet crowded. The downside is that the weather can get bad, but in general it has been great. A lot of places, stores, campgrounds, trails and roads are not open yet. Most around Jackson will open this weekend while some of the facilities up north will not open for another couple of weeks.

I took some more pictures, but left them in the car and don't want to shut down, pack up and come back into the library. I will attach them next time.

My new home

Tetons from Jenny Lake

First post from Jackson Hole

Arrived 5/23 about 4:15 after 1550 miles. Monday went to Bridger/Teton National Forest office to get checked in and then went over to Visitor's Center to meet folks over there. The Visitor's Center is staffed with people representing about 7 different agencies: Teton /Yellowstone national parks, Wyoming Parks and Wildlife, Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce, National Elk Refuge, Grand Teton Association and the Bridger/Teton National Forest. I am officially a volunteer with the National Forest Service.

Monday, 5/24 I ran around town picking up some necessities, getting mail transferred and trying to set up my satellite TV. It was cold and wet, a little snow, sleet and rain. Can't get the satellite to work yet so I have one station I can pick up on an antenna, PBS. Not going to be watching much TV unless I point over a mountain. I've found it's not too bad after a few days without. I would like to hear about the weather.

Tuesday, 5/25 -- what a great day. I got up this morning and it was beautiful out. I got up and walked around town for a couple of hours, stopping to have a coffee and read the local newspaper. I then drove up through Teton Village and then around the southern part of the national park. Kay and I were up here in August of 99 and I don't remember it being as beautiful as it is. Maybe it's that there is more snow on the mountains now. The drive was really neat. Saw deer, elk, bison, moose and nesting owls. The temperature was about 50-55, just perfect for getting out and taking some side walks.

This is really a great time to be here if the weather stays like this. The crowds haven't arrived yet. The town will not be fully open until this weekend.

Just a little local information: Early trappers referred to a valley between two mountain ranges as a "hole", thus Jackson Hole. Jackson Hole is the valley about 40 miles north to south and about 8 miles wide. There are several little towns/settlements in Jackson Hole, Jackson being the largest with a population of about 8,000. Other towns/settlements/communities, etc are Hoback Junction, Wilson, Teton Village, Moose and several others. You can be in any of them and still be in Jackson Hole.

I start to work tomorrow and really looking forward to it. I will have at least one day of training and hopefully more as I will work Wednesday and the am off until Sunday. We'll see how it goes.