Idaho-Montana-Wyoming Labor Day Week

26 Aug - 5 Sep 2014

Sunset over the Big Horn Basin from Five Springs launch

Although we had thought we were going to do a trip back East to meet a few of my forestry summer camp cabin mates and do some Farnsworth family history around Washingtonville with Ginny, that plan fell through. So we had more freedom to do a big trip back to the Sandturn Fly-in near Dayton, WY. To really make it interesting, we carried the kayak on the roof along with camping gear just in case we could make the Shoshone Lake paddle in Yellowstone happen without backcountry reservations. Besides, we were going to stop and visit Belinda and Davis in McCall, ID, and Belinda said that the kayaking was great on Payette Lake/River.

Field of sunflowers near Lovell, WY

26 Aug, Tue - C.J. and I left NB around 0820, got gas at Warrior in CleElum ($50 @ 3.759), and drove I-90 to US 26 and Washtucna, across the Snake R then over the 4000 ft ridge to Clarkston (gas at Costco 3.619). We crossed the Snake and followed the Clearwater then US 95 over the high point (5000') at White Bird summit and down through Riggins where we crossed the Salmon R. Following the Little Salmon south we climbed back up to New Meadow and, finally, around 1800 we reached McCall and Ponderosa State Park on Payette Lake. Davis and Belinda came over from their RV park to share a chef salad with us at the picnic table. Then when it got chilly we adjourned to our tiny trailer. Around 2230 Davis loaded his bike into the back of their truck and they returned to their toy hauler (which they are about to replace). The temperature during the night was good for sleeping.

27 Aug, Wed - It was still cool enough in the morning that a shot of furnace heat felt good. After oatmeal for breakfast we went out to pay for our campsite but found that the visitor center was way at the other end of the huge park. We drove down there and paid for two nights (~$63) but had to move our trailer to a new site because the one we were in was reserved for the 27th. No problem - we got another pull-thru with electricity and water just a few sites away. On the way back from the VC we spotted a fox near our CG loop with a beautiful, big bushy tail with a white ring near the tip. Around 1030 we met Belinda at the small farmers market near the McCall marina. Davis was not feeling well - he thought it might be food poisoning (but none of the rest of us were sick). At 1115 we headed over to meet Belinda at her RV park and then drove to the north end of Payette Lake along the Warren Wagon Rd. The state park concessionaire at the mouth of the Payette R rented Belinda a kayak while we wrestled ours off the car and into the water. There was almost no current as we paddled up the meanders about 2.5 miles just past the bridge for the Eastside Road. We found a sandy bank to have lunch on before starting back. Even though we took a slightly different route on the way back we did not see any of the big critters that some other paddlers reported (a cow and calf moose). On the way back Belinda showed us "Charley's Garden" near the Simplot compound along the Warren Wagon Road. Back at the McCall RV Resort, Davis was looking better and C.J. checked her email for any editing jobs -none (late as usual). Around 1700 we went back to camp for a shower (free/included in the site fee). At 1830 we met Belinda at the Salmon River Brewery which had a menu of "gourmet pub grub". We had the elk black and blue burger and the Baja fish tacos, both very good. and I ordered a flight of four samples of the local beers. The oatmeal stout was excellent with a very chocolate-y favor. We left at 2100 and stopped for gas at Chevron (3.899, oof!) before heading back to camp for the night.

G and C.J. with Belinda

28 Aug, Thu - Belinda rode over and met us at our campsite shortly after 1000 and we went for a drive on the scenic route around the north end of the 1500-acre state park. The volcanic high point at the end had a view of the west shore of the lake - you could see the Simplot compound and two bays, Wagon Wheel and Sylvan. Back about 1130 we finished packing and hit the road. I had waffled for days on the route we should take to Sand Turn but we finally went with the GPS suggestion backtracking through Riggins to Grangeville and then down a tributary of the Clearwater on a winding, two-land road to Rte 12 at Kooskia. We stayed on 12 up the Lochsa River and across Lolo Pass all the way to Rte 93 almost to Missoula. There we got gas at Costco (3.549) and took a dinner break at Famous Dave's BBQ. Service was very quick and we had beat the evening rush so we were back on the road in less than an hour - good thing because it was still a long drive on I-90, mostly in the dark to Boseman. We pulled into the Walmart parking lot after 2200, we and a good number of other RVs.

29 Aug, Fri - We got up at 0700 and had cold cereal before getting on our way to Costco for gas (3.529). Then we headed east on I-90 to Billings and then south and east past Custer Battlefield (now called Little Big Horn Battlefield) to Ranchester. For some reason we had poor gas mileage at first even along the Yellowstone River valley. It improved to 21.3 mpg then dropped to 20.2 as we traversed the hills near the MT-WY border. We arrived at Conner Battlefield SP pretty early so there were a number of campsites available. We took one that would provide some shade remembering how hot it had been the previous year. C.J. went to the Tourist Information Center to check email while I set up our new Renogy 60-watt folding solar panel for the first time. Since the battery was
already about fully charged, the panel didn't do much. Maybe on Saturday after we'd used our lights and possibly the furnace, the solar panel would recharge the battery. No other pilots were in the CG so around 1530 we drove into Dayton, got some ice cream (I had a Big Train mocha smoothie which was very good - like a good coffee shake), and went out to LZ 1, the higher of the two landing zones. Johann and Jim  had just landed after a short flight but Vancouver-area (Abbotsford, actually) pilot, Mark Tulloch, was thermalling up and getting a decent XC flight to near Parkman. We hung around talking with Jim and Johann and Paul ___, a biwingual pilot from Minn, before returning to camp where more pilots were arriving (including  Dan and Linda Gravage, and LJ Omara and Corrie(?)). I used the not-very-warm water from the solar shower to get a shampoo - the new SS with two opaque faces does not work as well as our old one with one clear and one black face. C.J. made some dip and veggies which we shared with Mark and his friend when they dropped by to chat. We had the leftover stuffed zucchini and a salad for dinner, then we walked back over to the TI to use their electricity and wi-fi for picking up email - still no Alpha. When we got back to camp we wandered over to where most of the pilots were hanging out around a campfire; Johann was there, too. By 2145 we were ready for bed. On the way back to the trailer we heard an owl - not exactly hooting and not quite screeching - but we couldn't spot it in the trees with our headlamps.
30 Aug, Sat - We had prepared "overnight oatmeal" in the refrigerator so breakfast was quickly prepared and cleanup was minimal. There really wasn't any rush because the forecast called for NW winds and a chance of thundershowers. We went over to the TI, and C.J. downloaded the Alpha while I sent responses to the pilots who had made USHPA awards nominations. Back at camp C.J. worked on the Alpha and I set up the solar panel again. I tried

Campsite at Ranchester

using my computer with the cheapo 140 watt inverter but got a fault message (overload/low battery) whenever the computer turned on. But with the computer off, the inverter could charge the comp. battery going from 34% to to 50%. The solar panel kept the trailer battery's charge up. I was working on a crossword puzzle (while C.J. was actually working) when Jerry and his wife stopped by to chat. He is a local (Buffalo) pilot who had also been at the Riggins Resurrection fly-in back in 2007. Later Mark spent a few moments saying goodbye - he had checked conditions at the LZ and it did not look flyable to him - very gusty. They were heading for Utah, maybe the Point, maybe Richfield. C.J. and I cooked up some toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch then went back to the TI to work on the Alpha some more. When the thunder started, we hurried back to the trailer just barely beating the downpour and a gust front. We heard that a few pilots had been up on launch around noon prepared to fly. I finished my reading of the Alpha and we planned to return to the TI to upload it when the rain stopped. But it continued to be rainy/drizzly right up until dark. We wandered over to the end of the CG where the old-time hangies gathered and found out that a few had flown including Kevin Christopherson and Dan Gravage. Some folks headed for Eatstreet, a new restaurant in town, and we decided to try it out, too (especially after Mark had recommended the food). We shared the 14 oz prime rib dinner with "sidewinder fries" and an onion "flower" that appeared to be broiled. I had a Black Tooth Amber draft and we shared a piece of caramel-sauced cheesecake. After dinner we returned once more to the TI so C.J. could upload the Alpha and send a few emails. Back at camp we ran the furnace for a short while, read a bit and went to bed around 2230.
31 Aug, Sun - We didn't get up until 0830 and then we had a slow breakfast of blueberry pancakes. Afterward we drove around to find two of the local training hills - one, Graham, was located on Beckton Rd 2-3 mi south of Dayton. It faces N on the E side of the road. The other, Sheely, is on Rte 343 north of Dayton just before the road takes a 90 deg turn to the right; it faces south. Since flying looked out of the question we drove to the trailhead for the Tongue River Canyon trail. We took only

C.J. in Tongue R Cyn

light packs with rain gear and no lunch. I didn't even carry any water expecting to fill my bottle later since the trail paralleled the river. (Unfortunately, the trail never intersected the river; luckily we finally crossed a running stream.) The canyon was spectacular, then the trail entered ponderosa pines, finally we gained the high meadows about 2.5 miles in. Following some recent tracks we found a good viewpoint up into Box Canyon and scared up eight grouse. It was about two hours and about a 1000' elev gain; the return took about 1.5 hrs. We weren't in a rush as the weather had cleared up but remained windy. There was a lot of poison ivy in the canyon. We met only four people while going in plus a mtn biker pushing his bike. We stopped in Dayton for another ice cream and smoothie then returned to camp to clean up for a potluck at 1830 back in Dayton at the city park. C.J. made a lettuce-and-fruit salad; there was a big pot of chili made by Jim as well as his ranch-grown beef burgers. There was dip and fritos and other salads. Good thing we had already had dessert. Around 2000 it began to rain lightly and get cool, so even though we were in a pavillion, the party began to break up. I filled up at the Dayton Sinclair station (3.599) while C.J. bought milk and I

G crossing the stream in Tongue R Cyn

got a replacement 9-volt battery for our VOM. Earlier we had talked to Bill and Lucy Snyder (billxc@hotmail.com)(lucystilson@hotmail.com) about kayaking and flying sites. They suggested we check out Five Springs CG on the west side of the Big Horns for paragliding. They also told us about kayaking in Big Horn Canyon NRA and gave us a brochure/map. We talked with Dan and Jim but they didn't have much to add since they thought the LZ was not great for HG. We decided that we'd give both places a look on Monday if the weather did not look good for flying at Sand Turn/ Red Grade.

1 Sep, Mon, Labor Day - We were up at 0730 after a night with some gusty winds and noisy rain. Fortunately the rain stopped and we were able to get packed up and on the road around 1000. Overcast skies with a gloomy forecast had everyone else heading home, too. The weather wasn't too bad as we climbed into the Big Horns but beyond Burgess Jct. we got up into the clouds and it got wet. Above 8500 ft we had snow on the windshield and some slush on the road. We didn't run out of the cloud until we were most of the way down the steep grade past the Medicine Wheel and almost to the turnoff for Five Springs BLM campground. We drove in to the first CG (about 2 mi off 14A) but found only one site and a trailhead for a hike to Five Springs Falls. We drove another mile past some roadside campsites to the upper CG which had a good pull-thru (although no water or table). We

G on Five Springs launch, Big Horn Basin in background

unhitched and went off to find the Five Spring takeoff. We drove to the end of the road which turned out to be just 200 ft away - the launch was actually located just above our campsite and we reached it via a short, steep trail. Launch conditions were light and the breeze was straight in to the rounded, grassy slope as shown by an old wind streamer. The upper clouds, however, were streaming by from the north and we did not want to launch and find ourselves caught in a turbulent shear in such rugged country. Too bad there were no local pilots, but perhaps there are no local pilots in this sparsely populated country (USHPA shows three in Cody, the closest). After some PBandJ for lunch in a sunny glade next to our campsite we drove down to the Five Springs Falls trailhead. The trail went only a short distance to some low falls. The only way to see the high falls was to scramble up a somewhat exposed granite slab. By the time I got up I was wishing I had brought along

G scrambling to view of the falls

the 1/4 in goldline for the descent. There was no trail above the slab and we opted not to walk up the stream to the base of the falls. The descent wasn't too bad if you used the small holds near the inside corner. It was still early and we had about exhausted the local trails so we started up a side canyon, at first on an informal climbers (?) trail, then on occasional game paths and finally just-plain-bushwhacking up the fairly steep, narrow canyon. Around 1500 we decided to go on for another quarter hour to see how far we could get. So at 1515 it seemed like pushing on up to hit the old, abandoned Kane-Dayton Rd was better than trying to get back down some of the talus piles we had negotiated. The Backcountry Navigator app on my phone was pretty useful in showing us the shortest route to the road - across the little stream and up to the left. Once on level ground again we stopped to eat the energy bars we were carrying and drink a bunch of water. The walk down the old road was easy and the scenery was excellent. The whole distance from the TH back to our campsite was only 1.5 mi but a third of that was bushwhacking up some steep territory with an elevation gain of over 700 ft. I still had another mile to walk on the paved road to retrieve the car and fill the water container at the only water spigots in the CG before the hike was done for me. C.J. had to wait outside the locked trailer because neither of us had carried our keys. We were pretty beat and felt like doing nothing more energetic than sitting around and having some snacks and a gin and tonic Crystal Light lemonade. We were kind of out of fresh food, no meat at all, so C.J. was going to make spaghetti. But we couldn't find any of that, either. We went for quinoa with spaghetti sauce but it took a long time to cook at 6800'. Around 1900 we turned off the stove and walked up to launch to watch the sun set (which didn't happen until after 1930 although our campsite had been in shade for quite a while). Conditions on takeoff were really mellow and all those fast-moving and stormy-looking clouds were gone. We spotted what we thought was a white windsock near the LZ (where we thought it was, anyway) that we hadn't seen before - had someone been here while we were hiking? The sunset was pretty good; dinner was excellent even without meat or spaghetti. and there was still chocolate zucchini cake for dessert. By 2100 we were all cleaned up.

  2 Sep, Tue -We were up at 0700 and out by 0930. We discovered that we had a leak in our

Big Horn Canyon NRA

expandable water carrier - a bad time to lose our water carrier as we were heading into dry country. We descended the rest of the way out of the Big Horns and crossed Big Horn Reservoir on the causeway. Almost to Lovell we stopped at the Big Horn Cyn NRA visitor center. A very helpful ranger made notations of things not to miss on a map for us. Afterward we continued on into Lovell and went to the Red Apple supermarket where we found some sausage on sale and picked up a package of spaghetti/angel hair. They didn't have any folding water containers. Two miles east of Lovell we turned north on SR 37 toward the NRA and passed a big Bentonite plant (Bentonite is a clay derived from volcanic ash used for drilling mud for oil exploration). At the NRA entrance we had to stop for a watercraft inspection for invasive species. We then stopped at Horseshoe Cove just to check it out - boat launch, CG, wide-open desert view. Spotting a trailer dump station, I filled our trailer tank with potable water, solving the water container problem. The next stop was at the Devils Canyon Overlook some 1500 ft above the river surface. The view of the canyon walls and entrenched meanders was spectacular. Alongside the access road we spotted a small herd of wild horses on the

Paddling upstream in Big Horn Canyon

the way in and out. Back on SR37 we stopped again to walk a short interpretive trail through a large expanse with many old, stone tepee (tipi) rings. About 30 miles from the main highway we reached the turnoff to Barry's Landing and the Trail Creek CG. No one was there and camping was free (no water), so we picked a good site and set up. I got out the solar panel and the solar shower and C.J. plugged our toothbrush charger into the inverter. It seemed to work just fine. Later she also got a partial charge on her computer. Then we got our gear together and drove down to the boat launch and put our kayak in the water. No one else was around - as the ranger said, this place is under-utilized. We paddled upstream and upwind against some occasional strong gusts. We went as far along the steep-walled 800 ft high canyons as Layout Creek, a side canyon on the west side, about 2.6 mi. It didn't go very far before it was blocked by a large downed tree and some low waterfalls. We managed to find a place where we could get out of the boat and ate lunch in the shade on a steep slope. Heading back paddling felt a little easier with the breeze and slow current. After reloading the kayak onto the car, we returned to camp. Even though there was a large group of young people swimming

Aliner w/solar panel in Big Horn Cyn NRA

near the boat launch, there was still no one else camping. The solar panel was working great and the solar shower (which I had filled up in the stream just below our campsite) actually felt like it was getting warm. We left that stuff in the sun and drove back to Sullivan's Knob, a one-plus mile trail down to the canyon rim just north of Devils Canyon Overlook. Great views! When we returned we found the solar stuff in the shade of the ridge behind us and the battery down to 12.8v from 13.8v while the sun was energizing it. C.J.'s computer had been plugged in to the inverter so it may have been drawing down the battery as the computer charged. C.J. made a great spaghetti with the sausage and some veggies and we shared a delicious ripe tomato from our garden, and some cucumber spears too. [Early in the trip we had lost some lettuce and other greens to the refrigerator which was set too cold and froze the veggies. Changing the setting to close to "1" seemed to take care of that problem.] After dinner we wandered around for a while watching the desert-like slopes but we never saw any mammals or even any soaring raptors. Although, later I spotted a small mouse-like critter with round ears and a long tail.

3 Sep, Wed - We were up at 0700 and enjoyed a breakfast of blueberry pancakes with our finally dwindling supply of blueberries. It looked like a lovely day but the forecast was for wind. On our way we stopped briefly at the VC in Lovell, got gas (3.579) and headed for Cody on 14A. At Sierra Trading Post in Cody we found a good buy on a spare paddle and replaced our two-gal water container. We looked in vain for some reasonably priced slippers and bought a two-pack of boot grippers for icy trails. Outside of Cody we ran into strong winds along Buffalo Bill Reservoir. There were many USFS CGs along the scenic route leading to the east entrance to Yellowstone. Climbing over 8000'+ Sylvan Pass we encountered a bison taking up the eastbound lane just on the other side of the pass. When we reached Yellowstone Lake, the waves were crashing on the beaches. A bit farther along we came to Indian Pond and found a crowd of

Part of the grizzly-watching crowd

people all staring in the same direction. Quickly parking we made our way to the gathering and found out that there was a grizzly bear taking a nap just out of sight behind some sagebrush. Several rangers were present as well as an ambulance(!). Occasionally we'd catch a glimpse of the top of the bear's head and ears. One photographer had been there since 1100 (It was now after 1300) and he had some really good photos. Since we had places to go...we headed on to the marina at Bridge Bay. There we met with the backcountry ranger and were surprised to find that almost all the Shoshone Lake campsites were available for Wed. and Thu nights. By now we had made up our minds that the temperatures at nights (down to 27 deg) were going to be just too cold for comfort in our old sleeping bags,

C.J. and Teddy, Grant Village

so we did not reserve any sites. However the winds are forecast to drop off to light on Thu so we would be able to paddle on Lewis Lake and maybe go up the channel toward Shoshone. For now our priority was to get a campsite for the night. Bridge Bay was closed as of Labor Day; we had already camped once before at Lewis Lake; so we headed for Grant Village, one of the largest campgrounds in YNP. It turned out that there were lots of sites available at Xanterra-administered Grant and we got a back-in conveniently close to the rest rooms. The $14.80 fee (golden access rate) included two hot showers at Grant Village. After setting up (no need for the solar panel for one night, too shady anyway), we drove to the backcountry ranger office and filled out the permit for boating on Lewis Lake. Then the watercraft inspection ranger went through questions similar to those at Big

Coyote Crunch shake of the week

Horn Cyn (Where have you paddled last?) and gave us our YNP sticker with AIS stamp on it. After all that we stopped at the general store - lots of nifty-gifties but nothing we needed, although we did buy a specialty shake of the week "Coyote Crunch" made by an artisan shake-meister. It was only 1700 so we decided that we could fit in a short (2 mi) loop hike to Lake Overlook from West Thumb thermal area. We got back to camp after 1800 and C.J. had to rush to prepare dinner so we could get to the ranger program at 1930, "Superheroes" (bats, beavers, wolves, coyotes, bison, and tourists) in the visitor center auditorium.

4 Sep, Thu - After a cold night (down to at least 27 deg, measured in the morning) we got an early start

Mouth of Lewis Channel

which let me get to the shower facility located down the road shortly after it opened at 0800. We packed up and got on the road with the trailer early enough to get down to Lewis Lake sometime before 0930. After dropping the Aliner off in the trailer parking lot behind the ranger station, we got the kayak ready. Even with the sunshine, it was still pretty cold so we didn't want to wade in the water to launch. The boat dock offered a way to get aboard with dry feet. To stay warm we were wearing a couple of layers of fleece, our PFDs and sprayskirts. We paddled across the south end of the lake and then followed the far shore passing some steaming hot springs. It took about an hour to reach the entrance to the Lewis Channel. We paddled up the winding river with one pit stop along the way. Gradually the river got narrower and shallower, and the current got stronger. At the point that we would have had to get out and walk in the shallows pulling the boat we turned around (one hour to there) and paddled back downriver with the current and wind. By now it had warmed up. We stopped on a sandy beach at the entrance to the channel to eat a Clif bar and stretch. Then we headed straight out into the wind across the lake. The whole return trip took about 1 hr 40 min even paddling into the wind because we did not follow the more-interesting shoreline but cut right across to a treed point (with a big bald eagle) and then directly across to the dock. Shortly after we got the boat ready to load on the car, the wind stopped completely and the lake became glassy calm. By now it was maybe around 1500 and we were planning to make it home in two days (which meant about seven hours per day).Missoula looked like the best bet for over-nighting but we wouldn't get there until 2200 or later. Complicating the

Paddling up Lewis Channel

plan was the closure of the park road between West Thumb abd Old Faithful. The GPS still indicated that our best route was through the park (Bridge Bay-Canyon-Norris-Madison (CG was full)) and out through W. Yellowstone. There were some slow vehicles and one "elk jam" but we reached W Yel by 1700 and got gas (3.739). We headed N on 191 for the mostly-scenic drive to Belgrade. We ate a fast-food dinner at Burger King and then got on I-90 and drove to Missoula. It was after 2200 when we got there and were greeted by a sign at the Walmart entrance saying that the city had prohibited overnight "RV camping" in the parking lot. Fortunately no one was taking the prohibition seriously and we joined the more than a dozen rigs spending the night. We were definitely ready for some rest.

Indian Paintbrush at Lake Overlook, YNP

5 Sep, Fri - We got up at 0730, had cold cereal for breakfast and bought a few supplies at Walmart (thanks for the free camping, Walmart!). We tanked up at the Costco on the way to I-90. The GPS showed there were no more turns until we reached North Bend. But we stopped for a break in Wallace, ID, to check out the old buildings, some predating the big 1910 fire that we had read about. We walked around a couple of blocks of the historic downtown, climbed the Old South Stairs and hit the road again. We stopped in Coeur d'Alene for gas at Costco, took at break at a rest area above Sprague Lake and were back home around 1700.