Goosenecks and Bridges

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer, bison, moose, pronghorn antelope, elk, coyote, beaver, black bear, grizzly, bighorn sheep, wolf, mountain goat
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager, bald eagle, blue heron, American white pelican, trumpeter swan, osprey, magpie, mountain bluebird, Clark’s Nutcracker

We had decided to make a return trip to Capitol Reef National Park (www.nps.gov/care) for a couple of days on our way south. Dotty and Gary were so happy to see us, and we had made plans to have them over for dinner during our stay. Their son, Brian, was staying with them and helping out so of course he was invited, too. We had also invited the rangers, but Kyle was the only one to make it as everyone else was out of town or already had plans (though Holly stopped by later with her fiancé). Russ also invited Walter, a man camping by himself in the site behind us who we had chatted with shortly after arriving. I kept it simple with spaghetti and garlic bread, but Dotty insisted on bringing a salad and one of her fabulous desserts. Many of the trees were turning color, and there were still apples ripe for picking left in some of the orchards. Of course we had to pick a few near the campground, and they were delicious! We had a wonderful visit with Dotty, Gary, and the others, and even managed to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station flyover again one night and watched our beloved St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers for a trip to the World Series! (Yes, I’m crazy enough to take photos of happening events on TV!)

Our next stop was Goosenecks State Park (Goosenecks) in southeast Utah. It gets its name from the tight turns made by the San Juan River in the canyon below, and is said to be one of the best examples of an “entrenched meander” in the world. (Never could get a panoramic photo showing all the bends at once.) This park is basically in the middle of nowhere with no trees whatsoever and sits about 1,000 feet above the winding river which exposes rock layers dating back nearly 300 million years. Camping is basically wherever you want to park with no hookups though there are 4 “sites” with a picnic table and fire ring, and we chose one along the canyon rim not far from the cliff’s edge (see photo taken of the RV from across the ridge). There are no fees at this park, and we stayed 3 nights building a fire nightly while sitting under the stars, amazed at the clarity of the Milky Way, and even watched the International Space Station pass overhead each night. On our last night we were the only people in the park, not another person for at least 20 miles…a little spooky!










Goosenecks was a great location for taking day trips to other places such as the nearby Valley of the Gods. Since we were planning to visit Monument Valley during our stay, and this is basically a mini version of that, we decided to forgo driving the very rough 17 mile road that takes you through the Valley. However, I did get a shot of some of the spires and buttes from above as we traveled along the Moki Dugway towards Natural Bridges.

Now what is Moki (pronounced mokee) Dugway you ask? It’s a graded gravel and dirt road carved into the face of the cliff edge of Cedar Mesa that was originally built for the uranium ore trucks for travel back in the 1950s. Over the next 3 miles the steep switchbacks take you up about 1,000 ft. to an elevation of 6,425 ft. with spectacular views of the valley floor below and some fascinating geological formations (does that look like a skull to you?)









Natural Bridges National Monument (www.nps.gov/nabr) is about 45 miles from Goosenecks SP and “preserves some of the finest examples of natural stone architecture in the southwest”. There are three natural bridges that have formed over millions of years, and after viewing the brief presentation at the Visitor Center, we set out on the 9-mile driving loop. The first stop provides a view of Sipapu Bridge (at left) which is Hopi for “place of emergence” and is the largest of the three bridges with a span of 268 ft. and a height of 220 ft. Next stop was the Horsecollar Ruin, an ancestral Anasazi cliff dwelling near the base of the canyon that was abandoned more than 700 years ago. We had to hike about 3/10 of a mile along an unfenced rocky path to get to the overlook (you can’t reach the ruin from this trail and neither of us were into hiking all the way down there and back anyway!) Stop #3 was the Kachina Bridge (at right) so named for the rock art at the base of the bridge that is supposed to resemble Kachina dolls (though we couldn’t see that from our vantage point). It’s considered the “youngest” of the three bridges and spans 204 ft. with a height of 210 ft. The smallest, thinnest, and what is considered the “oldest” of the three is Owachomo Bridge, the last stop on our drive. Its Hopi name means “rock mound” and is so named for the rock formation located at the east end of the bridge (pictured at left...a zoomed in view of the bridge below right). Owachomo spans 180 ft. with a height of 106 ft., but due to its fragility, who knows how much longer it will stand. Though not as spectacular as Arches National Park, this was still a worthwhile stop at a place we'd heard so much about.

Our plan for the next day was a visit to Monument Valley, another day trip about 30 miles away.

An Extended Stay in Utah

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer, bison, moose, pronghorn antelope, elk, coyote, beaver, black bear, grizzly, bighorn sheep, wolf, mountain goat
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager, bald eagle, blue heron, American white pelican, trumpeter swan, osprey, magpie, mountain bluebird, Clark’s Nutcracker

As we headed south to UT, The Folly added another state to the list of where it has spent the night by staying in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Blackfoot, ID which brings the total to 38 states! Along the way trees were beginning to change color and created an incredible palette of red, yellow, orange, and gold with plenty of green still visible. Autumn has always been my favorite time of year.

We arrived at Camping World’s parking lot in Draper, UT, on Sat. and had secured a room at the Extended Stay America just a few miles up the road in Sandy since we couldn’t stay in the RV during the repairs and needed somewhere that would allow 3 animals at a reasonable price. Each room has a fully-equipped kitchen (which was handy since we also had to empty our refrigerator), and having lived the last 4-1/2 years in an RV, the hotel room seemed almost spacious! During our stay, new General Manager, Becky, was the epitome of customer service, and she and her staff work very hard to assure everyone has a pleasant stay.

Our plan was to move into the hotel Sun. and move the RV over to the service door that afternoon, but the full wall slide decided to stop working and would not retract. Just what we needed…another issue! On the bright side at least it didn’t happen while we were in the middle of nowhere. The next morning the service dept. managed to get it in and worked on figuring out the problem on top of repairing the leveler jack and all the body damage from the accident. A huge thank you to LaMar, Wayne, and everyone in the collision service center for all their help.

We spent a week in the hotel, then about a week in the RV in the Camping World lot while we waited for parts to arrive, and then another 4 days in the hotel. During this time there were things we needed to take care of but we also found some time for fun. A couple of days after we arrived, Russ took advantage of the free Grand Slam at Denny’s for his birthday, and as we were leaving, we noticed this drawing on the wall created in 1997 by a customer. What an incredible talent!

Of course being in Salt Lake City, I definitely wanted to attend another rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Last time it was in the 21,000 seat Conference Center auditorium where they are held during the summer and Christmas seasons due to the large crowds, but this time we were going to watch them rehearse with those great acoustics in the Tabernacle itself…or so we thought. When we arrived, we discovered that the rehearsal was being held in the Conference Center again because they were preparing for that weekend’s semi-annual General Conference. Though disappointed, we still enjoyed the rehearsal, and before leaving learned that they would indeed be rehearsing the following week in the Tabernacle.

We arrived even earlier the next time so we could tour some of the grounds and facilities again. We started in the North Visitors Center admiring the paintings and displays in the lower level and met two of the young missionaries who are always available to answer any questions. We had watched a short video on the charitable outreach done by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and were amazed by the scope of their endeavors. Not far from Temple Square is an area known as Welfare Square, which began its operations during the Great Depression, and houses a bakery, a cannery, a storehouse, a thrift store, an employment center, and so much more, all designed to help people help themselves become more self-reliant and self-sufficient. (We had hoped to tour this facility during our stay but never made it.) From here we went upstairs taking the winding ramp that features an amazing mural of the heavens and universe along the entire wall leading upstairs to the domed area where the magnificent 11-foot marble Christus statue resides.

It was time to head over to the Tabernacle and wait for the doors to open. The Choir had already begun rehearsal and was in mid-song when we walked in...WOW!! The sound was incredible!! (And this wasn’t even the entire choir and orchestra since they would not have all fit.) We had attended an organ recital here in the past, and we witnessed the acoustics when a pin was dropped or a piece of paper was ripped in half, but the sound that reverberated through this deceptively simple-looking structure built in the mid-1800s was amazing. We stayed for about an hour, and when we left, chatted with a couple of members outside who informed us that the windows in front of which we were standing had the original glass from when it was built back in 1867 so of course I had to take a picture through them!

The Church also runs the Family History Library (FamilyHistoryLibrary), the world’s largest genealogy library. Founded in 1894, the current 142,000 sq. ft. facility houses nearly 2 million rolls of microfilm, 700,000 microfiche, and 280,000 books plus access to several family history databases from their computers and plenty of volunteers readily available to assist with any questions. The library and its resources are free of charge to anyone in the world which probably explains the average of 2,500 visitors they get each day! I decided to check it out and focus my research on my dad’s side of the family since so little is known and there are no surviving relatives. Shortly after finding a vacant computer in the main research room, Sister Eppich came to ask if I needed any help. She spent the next 2-1/2 hours with me sometimes researching on the adjacent computer, and I did find some interesting information. Genealogy research can certainly be addictive and I almost didn’t want to leave. What an incredible resource this facility is and all for free!

The local Sweet Adelines chorus was preparing to compete at the International competition in Houston in about 2 weeks, and I had planned to attend a rehearsal. However, it just so happened that Mountain Jubilee Chorus (www.mountainjubileechorus.org/) was holding a send-off concert free of charge. Not only would they be performing both of their contest sets, but also the men’s chorus, the Beehive Statesmen Chorus (http://www.beehivestatesmen.org/), and several quartets would provide some entertainment. Though the acoustics at the venue were not the best, the 100 member Mountain Jubilee Chorus did a great job led by Master Director Tori Postma, a woman well known in the organization and whom I’d heard about for years. The show lasted about 1-1/2 hours, and the place was packed. In fact they had to bring in more chairs and open the sliding doors to the room behind where we were sitting to accomodate the standing room only crowd. (As a follow-up note, Mountain Jubilee Chorus placed 7th in the world at International and won the audience choice award for Most Entertaining Chorus!)

One morning while parked at Camping World we awoke to find a cloud layer enveloping the surrounding mountains, and bet it was probably snowing in them thar’ hills. As it began to clear, we discovered we had been right! That’s the edge of our RV at the right edge of the photo so you can see how close it came.

Now you’re probably thinking that it was time for us to head east to Florida for the winter with a stop in St. Louis as we’ve done in previous years, and you’d have been partly right. There were a couple more stops we wanted to make, and we needed to be in FL by Oct. 27 for our annual dr. appointments, but there was a major change to our winter plans this year (and we’d be skipping St. Louis). We had accepted a campground hosting position at Greenbelt National Park in MD just outside of DC beginning Nov. 1 till Mar. 1…thought we’d try something different! Crazy, huh?! Keep in mind we haven’t lived in the snow and cold for nearly 30 years so this could be very interesting. Stay tuned!

The Mating Season

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer, bison, moose, pronghorn antelope, elk, coyote, beaver, black bear, grizzly, bighorn sheep
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager, bald eagle, blue heron, American white pelican, trumpeter swan, osprey, magpie, mountain bluebird, Clark’s Nutcracker

Over the next few weeks we were once again tourists enjoying the sights of Yellowstone. Though we’ve visited many of the same areas in previous trips, we never tire of experiencing the many wonders of this incredible national park. We took a couple more trips out to Lamar Valley and were lucky enough on one of those trips to spot 7 wolves and pups! We also toured the Mammoth Terraces, Norris Geyser Basin, Calcite Springs, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and Tower Falls just to name a few. And as we walked to the Tower Falls overlook, we passed this jaw bone right next to the walkway!

























One thing we’ve learned on our travels is that glaciers can move boulders great distances, and about 20,000 years ago this huge boulder was moved more than 15 miles from the Beartooth Mountains to its current location near Inspiration Point in the Canyon area! And on our way back we noticed several people pulled off to the side of the road with cameras pointed up the hill, and there was this darling coyote hunting for some small varmint hiding in the brush.

As you know, our main reason for hanging out longer in the Mammoth area was to experience the elk rut (mating season) since they breed in the fall. Bulls will gather cows (females) and calves into small groups known as harems, and will aggressively protect these harems from other bulls by running them off, thrashing their antlers against the ground and trees in a show of aggression, and if need be, butting heads. The bull’s antlers are at their largest by this time of year, and are a sign to the cows of their quality and virility. They will wallow in mud to not only cool off their over-heated bodies but to make themselves appear more imposing, and will also spray themselves with urine sort of as a “perfume” that is attractive to the cows. When the rut begins, the bulls begin to bugle. This not only announces their presence to other males but also gives a cow clues to his size and strength, important factors in determining who will produce the best offspring. The vocal range of their bugle varies with the individual and their maturity level, and is one of the most amazing sounds. When the cows come into heat, the mating begins (not that the bulls won’t try sooner!) A bull has to be ready because the cow is receptive for mating less than 24 hours and won’t be willing to mate again until her next cycle in about 20 days. They can have up to 4 of these cycles in a season but usually become pregnant fairly quickly.

Several groups came through the campground on a daily basis, generally a couple times a day, sometimes even bedding down in the meadow area for several hours or simply grazing as they passed the many campers trying to get the perfect photo. As a matter of fact, we’ve had 3 bulls of varying sizes with their harems in the campground all at the same time. And like the bison, it is their park and they move where they want when they want. In fact we came home one day from watching the elk up the hill in town and were unable to get to our RV because it was surrounded by cows and calves! So we just hung out in the car in the middle of the road until the bull decided to herd them along.

We saw lots of posturing by the bulls, some chasing of one another, and lots of bugling but never saw any of the head-to-head battles. However we did get to see some actual mating a couple of times (or at least attempts). As we were driving through the campground one day, we came upon a group hanging out partly in the road, partly in the meadow, and stopped to take some photos. Well, lo and behold, one of the cows must have let this bull know she was in a receptive mood, and I got quite the shot! (Hope no one is offended by this act of nature I captured!) What I didn’t realize until after I took the picture was the sign in the background…obviously he hadn’t read it!! LOL

If you’d like to learn more about the elk and their habits, the website for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (http://www.rmef.org/AllAboutElk) is a great source of information.

Our original plan had been to stay in the Mammoth area until the snow forced us to leave, but with the repair work needed on the RV, it was time to move south to Salt Lake City once the parts had arrived.

Surrounded!

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer, bison, moose, pronghorn antelope, elk, coyote, beaver, black bear, grizzly, bighorn sheep
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager, bald eagle, blue heron, American white pelican, trumpeter swan, osprey, magpie, mountain bluebird, Clark’s Nutcracker

Wolves are primarily nocturnal animals, sleeping during the heat of the day, and rousing around dusk to begin their day. We had been traveling to Lamar Valley shortly before dusk and thought perhaps that was why we weren’t having much luck seeing the wolves. As Stacey pointed out, think about when you first get up in the morning, are you very active, or are you stretching, moving slowly, not wanting to get up? So we decided to get up super early one morning and get out to Lamar when they were active and just thinking about going to bed.

When we arrived at the hillside spot, Rick was giving some final instructions to Stacey before heading out to another area of the park. There was another couple there from France, and Stacey was to be their guide helping to point their scope in the right direction, and answering any questions on the wolves’ habitat, lineage, and lifestyle. We set our scope up right alongside and waited. (That’s Stacey in the big hat and mustache...kind of reminds you of Teddy Roosevelt!)

As the five of us stood on the hill waiting and looking out across the valley, the bison were beginning their morning trek causing a slight traffic jam as usual. As we watched, we noticed that this group was headed up the hillside directly towards us so Stacey very quietly suggested that we pick up our scopes and move to higher ground till they passed. It was incredible to watch (and hear) these massive animals pass at such a close distance without the protection of our car, but we were safe.

As we stood there watching, Stacey noticed that there was another group coming just above where we were now standing! Who knew bison traveled that high on the hillside?? He would occasionally very calmly say ‘hey, bison, we’re here bison’ just to let them know we weren’t a threat. Once again he very quietly and calmly suggested that as soon as the lower group passed, we move back down to that trail where we had been originally standing. And not long after we did, the upper group passed along right where we had been standing! The other couple lagged a little behind us to get a couple photos, but I was fine getting mine from a little further down below. Though we didn’t see any wolves on this bright and early morning, we had another incredible experience being surrounded by herds of bison. As Stacey said, “This was better than an E-ride at Disney!”

On our way to the hillside this morning, we had passed what appeared to be a dead bison not more than 30 feet from the road, and as we returned home, park rangers were there to monitor the crowd that had gathered to take pictures. However this time as we passed, two other bison were alongside their fallen friend nudging at him as though trying to wake him from a deep sleep. A sad sight indeed but that’s part of nature and the circle of life.

Let There Be Wolves!

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer, bison, moose, pronghorn antelope, elk, coyote, beaver, black bear, grizzly, bighorn sheep
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager, bald eagle, blue heron, American white pelican, trumpeter swan, osprey, magpie, mountain bluebird, Clark’s Nutcracker

Not only were the elk beginning to come through the campground, but early one morning as I walked the dogs, a black bear crossed the road a few hundred feet in front of me and then slowly began making its way up the hill. Since I was close to the RV, I put the dogs inside, grabbed the radio, and went back out to call in a report to the Comm Center so the rangers would be aware that a black bear was heading up into town. Guess I should have grabbed the camera, too.

We made another trip out to Lamar Valley early one evening hoping that the third time would be a charm in finally seeing some wolves, and though the conditions were perfect, none appeared, only bison. So a few days later we decided to try a different tactic and head out to Hayden Valley (about 37 miles one way in the other direction) where wolves had also been reported. The parking lot was packed when we arrived, and several people had their spotting scopes set up...always a good sign. We parked, unpacked our scope, and joined the others along the fence line. Everyone is always so willing to help and soon we learned the approximate location of a couple of gray wolves, and there they were standing right next to a bison! Wolves generally prey on weak, old, and very young animals so by the bison basically standing its ground, the wolves respected its strength and knew not to mess with it. We could see them with the binoculars but had an even greater view through our scope. The black alpha male was also in the vicinity but spent much of his time lying in the grass so occasionally we'd see his head move. Awhile later another guy let us look through his scope at 3 black wolf pups frolicking in the sage about another half mile further away. Unfortunately we don’t have a telephoto lens for our camera so I can never get any pictures of the wolves, but they are truly magnificent to see.

A flyer had been delivered to the campground office inviting all of us to an “Indian Creek Christmas” potluck on August 25. Indian Creek Campground is about 7 miles from Mammoth and is also under the jurisdiction of Ranger Allan. Since we weren’t working, we were happy to represent the Mammoth group as Jim and Kay were working, and Elaine and Bill weren’t able to make it. Unlike Mammoth, Indian Creek has lots of trees, no cell or internet access, and a darling log cabin as their office which was decorated for Christmas. We were the first to arrive and met Pat and Jack who were on duty but hosting the potluck at their site near the office, and soon the other hosts arrived along with Ranger Russ and a couple other park employees. We learned that the reason for the Christmas decorations was that “Christmas in August” is a very special Yellowstone National Park tradition. Legend is that in the early 1900s visitors traveling Yellowstone’s roads via stagecoach were stranded at the Old Faithful Inn by a snowstorm on Aug. 25. They decided to turn their misfortune into fun by decorating a tree and singing Christmas carols, and since then Yellowstone’s seasonal employees have continued the celebration before returning home in the fall. At our celebration there was no singing, but there was enough food to feed an army! We had a great time getting acquainted with everyone, and when a storm rolled in, we got even cozier inside the cabin and on the porch. Thanks to the Indian Creek hosts for such a fun evening!

There’s a back road into the town of Gardiner, and a few days later we decided to take it on our way to the grocery store. This one way road was actually a stagecoach route back in the 1880s and is a lovely little side trip. It starts in the town of Mammoth (formerly known as Fort Yellowstone), quickly climbs the hill behind offering a spectacular overview of the town and the terraces, crosses over open grasslands with more incredible views, and passes Hidden Lake nestled below. Wildlife is supposed to be abundant in this area, but we didn’t see a single animal till we got to the end of the road. No biggie, there’s always plenty of wildlife elsewhere in the park.







Lamar Valley was our destination once again one evening, but when we arrived at the Hitching Post parking lot, no one was there except a couple of empty horse trailers. We thought it odd but set up our scope on one of the knolls anyway. Usually there’d be at least a couple of people there by this time…unless the wolves had moved. As we scoped out the area, we spotted a number of cars a couple miles down the road where we had just passed, and then Russ spotted some people up on the hill just above. So we packed up our gear, got in the car, and drove down to join them. Supplied with only our binoculars, we climbed up the hill and on the way passed a guy coming down who informed us we had just missed a grizzly that had surprised some napping wolves and 6 of those wolves had been circling the grizzly! There had been no more excitement from this encounter, but the wolves were evidently still out there. Rick was up there, too, (that's him facing the camera) sharing info with the gathered crowd on the lineage of the wolves and occasionally checking for their signals. One of the guys we met, Stacy, lives in TN but comes to Yellowstone regularly to assist with the spotting and tracking of the wolves. We began chatting with him, and he was kind of enough to let us view the wolves through his scope. Finally…we saw wolves in Lamar Valley!

Elaine and Bill (pictured on our right…Jim and Kay to our left) hosted a potluck on Labor Day at their site which was right near the office. It was our last day of work but we had been told that over the last couple of years the campground did not fill so the 4ish start time would probably be a perfectly good time for us to join in, and if anyone arrived, we were close enough that one of us could go over and assist the camper. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans! About 3:30 we got slammed with a nearly non-stop, steady flow of arriving guests. I attempted to re-heat the baked beans in the microwave in between registering people, and Russ had already dropped off the potato salad I had made. Unfortunately, the beans arrived about in time for dessert! From the office we could see that several rangers had stopped by, and most had left by the time we were able to break away. In fact twice we had closed the window and locked the door behind us when another couple cars would arrive and back inside the office we’d go. Around 5pm Kay walked over and insisted on filling in so we could get a bite to eat. About 15 min. later the campground was full, and we could officially lock the office and try to relax for a bit. Elaine and Bill had grilled burgers with all the fixin’s, and once again there was enough food to feed an army! Good thing all those rangers had stopped by, but there were still plenty of leftovers. Just about the time I was ready to enjoy some pleasant conversation, nearly 30 elk had arrived in the campground so Jim and I walked down to keep the throngs of people back. They don’t understand that these are wild animals who can charge at any moment if they are feeling threatened.

Since we were no longer working, it was time to move to a different campsite…goodbye full hookups! We had decided to stick around Yellowstone for awhile longer in anticipation of experiencing some of the elk rut that would probably be in full swing during the month of September. The parts for the RV repair were in, and our appointment to begin the work was scheduled for the 26th so this gave us nearly 3 weeks to continue enjoying our time at one of our favorite places.