WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Well, now we are in Eastern Wyoming, taking a gander at Devils Tower, but we've been other places since arriving at our current location. After leaving Oregon we headed north and east, arriving in Boise, Idaho for a re-supply and a good cleaning. Boise, the state capitol is really a beautiful city in the Treasure Valley which is bisected by the Boise River. They have a beautiful green belt on both sides of the river running through the center of the city. 27 miles in length, it is a long and narrow park with bike and foot paths on either side of the river. Needless to say I took advantage of the bike trails on the 3 mornings we were there.

I took one of my rides on 9-11, so I stopped to pay my respects at Boise's 9-11/Firefighters Memorial. In the photo I am standing in front of a steel girder from the World Trade Center.

We also paid a visit to the State Capitol Building where we were allowed to wander around as the legistators are in session the first 3 months of the year.

With the truck trailer washed and the laundry done, we headed east across Idaho to Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park. We really like the area as there are ample places to hike. After arriving, we took a drive around the park and it soon started raining. And it didn't stop raining. So after two days and with the weather forecast calling for more rain, turning to snow, we decided to pull up stakes and continue east. We left early to avoid the high winds and snow that was to arrive by midday. We did manage to stay ahead of the winds, but we drove through slushy snow over the 9,600 foot Togwotee Pass. Glad we left early. By the time we arrived in Lander, the wind was clocking between 50 and 60 MPH.

With the trailer safe in camp, we drove up to Sinks Canyon State Park. I wasn't sure what the sinks were all about until we arrived. The Popo Agie River, which runs through the canyon, disappears into an opening in the bottom of a cliff, and reappears about half a mile down canyon. It is said the water travels through cracks in the limestone for two hours before it reappears. Both Rainbow and Brown Trout that swim upstream to spawn get to the point where the river comes back to the surface. The trout stay in the deep pool at this spot as it never freezes and because the park service sells fish food to the tourist to feed fish. As a result the fish get huge, 8 to 14 pounds huge. No fishing though.

After Lander we continued eastward and camped at a beautiful spot overlooking the river in the Wind River Canyon.

Nearby Thermopolis takes it's name from is home to the worlds largest hot spring, or at least that's what they claim. There is a beautiful state park there which includes a bath house where one and enjoy the hot mineral water. When the water comes out of the ground, it is just shy of 130 degrees. It is cooled down to 104 degrees so as not to kill the visitors. No charge by the way to use the mineral pool.

After Thermopolis we were going to camp in the Big Horn Moiuntains, but our chosen camp spot was covered in snow and the tempature at 11 am was 33 degrees. So we opted for a lower elevation and a warmer climate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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