Part 2

Well, we got back from a month camping in Wyoming and Montana over a week ago and I spent 2 days looking at photos I took on the trip. We had a great time and saw many beautiful places. Here is one:
Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park

The Call of the West. Part 1 - 7.25.07

We are heading west again next Monday. It's been a year since we spent 2 weeks on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This time we're going to Yellowstone NP via Grand Teton NP. Driving from Dallas via Pueblo, CO and Lander, WY, we should arrive around the middle of the third day on the road. I talked to a ranger today at the Buffalo District office of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, close to where we'll camp the first few days in the area. I found out that few people take advantage of dispersed camping in the forest there. The ranger on the phone said most try to get a campsite in one of the two National Parks where all the conveniences of civilization are available. You generally have to reserve ahead of time. The next step away is at one of the National Forest campgrounds of which there are many to handle the overflow crowds vacationing at Teton or Yellowstone. The next option is dispersed camping where you just go find yourself a place in the millions of acres of national forest and set up camp. Most of our National Forests allow folks to do just that. The roads are mostly primitive but well maintained. There are no facilities, no noisy neighbors and plenty of quiet peaceful beauty. That will be our option...and it's free compared to $10-15 a night in the established campgrounds. You just have to camp 200 feet from streams or lakes and 100 feet from roads.

That's what we did last year at Grand Canyon and had a camp right on the edge of the upper canyon with no neighbors anywhere close. It was close to heaven. I love kids but I won't miss camping next to a family of five. The ranger went on to say the bears around Yellowstone were not typically a problem as long as you follow the rules about food handling and storage. You must store food so that it's not easily accessible as inside your vehicle. We'll be careful about that! We're planning lots of day trips in the truck and day hikes as well. When we've seen what we want at Tetons and the southern area of Yellowstone, we'll move on to another base camp somewhere in the forest further north. Hopefully we'll criss-cross the greater Yellowstone area to our heart's content for about a month before we turn back towards Texas. Our first big stop on the way back is at Thermopolis, WY, home of the world's largest hot spring. Flows millions of gallons daily at 134F degrees. It's in a Wyoming state park and by an old Indian Treaty you get to soak in the springs pools, which are cooled down a bit, for free so we may camp nearby for a day or two. After all that hiking, we'll be ready to rest awhile.

Here's a view from our forest home overlooking the Grand Canyon last year.