Jackie & Steve 2025 Roadtrip

[Jackiemac]

We did an out and back @PancakeBill.

Currently camped on hwy 150. No signal up there. Came out to send a text.

 

[richclover]

We did an out and back @PancakeBill.

Currently camped on hwy 150. No signal up there. Came out to send a text.

Highway 150, south of my old homestead in Evanston, WY. Beautiful country and lotsa great memories. We hiked Ruth and Bourbon Lake trails, among others, many times. Have fun!

 

[UTTransplant]

Currently camped on hwy 150. No signal up there. Came out to send a text.

We are at Vedawoo along I-80 tonight and tomorrow night, but we intend on boondocking along 150 but near Evanston on Sunday and Monday. We’ve stayed in that area before, and it was enjoyable. Willl you still be there then? It would be lovely to connect in person.

 

[Jackiemac]

We are at Vedawoo along I-80 tonight and tomorrow night, but we intend on boondocking along 150 but near Evanston on Sunday and Monday. We’ve stayed in that area before, and it was enjoyable. Willl you still be there then? It would be lovely to connect in person.

We will leave on Tuesday 1st to go to Daniel.

We are in Trial Lake campground site 51. No signal up there at all. Be good to see you both. Not sure how we manage that. We're out driving at the moment.

Highly recommend Soapstone Basin, it's full of wildflowers.

 

[UTTransplant]

We will stop by your place on Monday between 6 and 7 unless you tell us otherwise. We will BYOB and have some nibbles. We will be staying just on the other side of the Uintas.

 

[Jackiemac]

We will stop by your place on Monday between 6 and 7 unless you tell us otherwise. We will BYOB and have some nibbles. We will be staying just on the other side of the Uintas.

Ok sounds great. Ive messaged you.. Anyhow we are just leaving Oakley now so good timing! See you both Monday. Looking forward to it

 

[ferfer]

Surely 4 great minds can remember to take PICTURES!

 

[TonyL]

Surely 4 great minds can remember to take PICTURES!

But there's probably alcohol involved so I wouldn't bet on it

 

[UTTransplant]

I am remarkably bad at remembering pictures, as Jennifer well knows from Quartzsite rallies! Maybe Kevin can remember.

 

[Jackiemac]

We enjoyed our stay at Lost Lake (1 night) and Trial Lake (4 nights) Campgrounds. We got help backing into our site from a friend of the camp host. It was tight but got in. We did a few drives around the area and a short hike to Wall Lake and we visited Provo Falls. The temperature was a shock to the system from 101F to 69F, colder at night, as was the elevation, we really felt the 2000ft change when out hiking.

It's a beautiful area, unfortunately much of the forest has suffered from beetle kill. The forest service are cutting down trees next to the roads.

My favourite place was Soapstone Basin due to the proliferation of wildflowers. We didn't stay long and I thought we were returning the same way so I only got a couple of photos.

One thing to note is that you get a 50% discount on camping fees if you have the America the Beautiful pass. I'm not sure all of the camp hosts remember to tell you that. You need that, or a recreation pass if you are parking anywhere in the area.

 

[Jackiemac]

We have been staying near Daniel Wyoming since last Tuesday.

We had a drive to Idaho Falls to get some groceries from Costco and Walmart.

We had a trip to the National Wildlife Museum in Jackson to see a photography exhibit and then had lunch.

We had a few thunderstorms and stunning sunsets.

Steve and I spent time floating down 7.2 miles if the New Fork River with some other friends. We saw a young bull moose and some osprey and bald eagles as well as some smaller birds.

We also spotted 4 bull moose hanging around in a field in the way back to Daniel in the early evening.

Today we did a drive over South Pass and the Lander Cutoff Road following the Lander Trail and getting some history of the route the Mountain Men and trappers took when they first arrived in the area back in the early 1800s.

The Rendezvous is on in Pinedale this weekend. The stalls were already set out today. We will go into town tomorrow to see that. Then I'll hopefully get laundry done and some tidying up before we leave Saturday morning for Gros Ventre.

 

[UTTransplant]

The book “South Pass” is a very interesting historical book about the trails that went through the area. We really like following the National Historic Trails, and the book put them in context. Highly recommend! I am pretty sure it comes in an audio version too.

 

[Jackiemac]

We have spent the last 2 weeks in the, Tetons and Yellowstone with our nephew. He flew home in Wednesday and we returned to Gros Ventre Campground on Thursday. We have spent the last few days recuperating from the cold he brought us.

The parks are definitely a bit quieter although still busy, but not as bad as the last few years. We managed to see wolves, moose, bison, pronhorn, elk, deer and grizzlies along with a couple of herons, osprey, a few bald eagles and sandhill cranes. The wildlife here has definitely been sparse these last couple of years. Possibly due to an extremely cold winter a few years ago and the bird diseases. No black bears yet so far.

We had a big storm on Wednesday which may have caused the current fire out at Signal Flats at the base of Signal Mountain which is currently closed.

Now we are starting to feel better we will get out on the river and do a bit of fishing and we might squeeze a few hikes in too.

 

[DonTom]

. We managed to see wolves, moose, bison, pronhorn, elk, deer and grizzlies along with a couple of herons, osprey, a few bald eagles and sandhill cranes.

But they say without the photos, it never happened!

I never saw a grizzle in the wild. I am not sure if I want to . . . . except from a large distance. I have seen the rest on your list.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[UTTransplant]

I assume your nephew was suitably impressed? What a great place for a trip.

 

[Jackiemac]

I assume your nephew was suitably impressed? What a great place for a trip.

Yes indeed he was. He really loved it.

 

[Jackiemac]

But they say without the photos, it never happened!

I never saw a grizzle in the wild. I am not sure if I want to . . . . except from a large distance. I have seen the rest on your list.

-Don- Auburn, CA

The wolves were mostly far away. Got a few with my main camera.

Here's one of a grizzly and some elk. Reasonably close.

Saw another garter snake at Norris basin too.

 

[Jackiemac]

It turned out well weren't quite over the cold. We think it was probably COVID. We did a few drives - Gros Ventre wilderness, Grassy Lake Road (saw a black bear on roadside), out to Turpin Meadows where we had a lovely meal in the lodge. We drove out to Dubious and up part of the Union Pass Road. We met Tom, Chris, Laura and Charles in the Snake River Brewery which was lovely. We had breakfast in the Virginian with friends from Daniel and then went to the Silver Dollar Bar, part of the Wort Hotel which has interesting Casino history.

We eventually saw moose and another black bear at Signal Mountain but he wasn't very close.

Saw a couple of otters at the dam and a few beavers at the Oxbow where we met a guy called Jeff Hogan who does wildlife photography and has been in some BBC documentaries.

We didn't manage any hiking or boating. Still enjoyed it though.

We left Gros Ventre and went back to the gravel pit for a few nights. We took a wander up Spread Creek to check out the boondocking. The road was quite deeply rutted though so weren't sure if we'd take trailer there.

 

[Jackiemac]

After the Tetons we headed to Carbella Campground where we met up with the Lemons again. No longer free, now $15 a night.

We went bear watching and saw a black bear in the park, it ran right across the road in front of us and behind several people looking at an osprey nest. They didn't notice the bear at all. We saw a few more wolves and a lot of grizzlies. Bison rut in full flow.

Juvenile bald eagle resting in a tree next to Tony and Anne's camp. It was rather warm.

We popped up to check out Bozeman which was a nice town and met up with Laura and Charles again. Spent a lovely afternoon chatting.

We popped up to Livingston too and had a lunch and beer in the Katabatic brew pub.

Steve and I stayed a few more days after the Lemons moved on. We popped back to Yellowstone and saw more wolves and grizzlies. We met a couple camp hosting in a forest Campground near Cooke City so we checked it out and decided it would be our next stop.

 

[Jackiemac]

We moved on to Colter Campground just outside Cooke City. We spent several mornings watching grizzlies, black bears, pronghorns and wolves in the park. Really enjoyable.

If you are interested in wolves I can recommend the books by Rick McIntyre. He has spent decades observing them in the park and continues to do so.

We did a hike to see the waterfall on Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone.

We went to a talk about Bison from the guy who manages them in the park. Very interesting.

They have talks every Friday at 5pm in Silver City at the Range Riders Lodge.

We did the Beartooth Highway again and popped into Red Lodge to see the Lemons and Donna (Tanglemoose) and Mark her husband. Forgot to get a photo!

Saw some pikas on the rocks up on the Beartooth. Cute. No phone photos of them.