Wrangler in Cody, Wyoming

For the past week and a half I have been in Cody, WY working as a horse wrangler for Blackwater Creek Ranch. It has been a great few weeks. I have gotten to work with some fun horses and met some really interesting people from all over. We are in shut down mode right now getting the horses shoes pulled and wormed then we will move them to a pasture for the winter. I will be done next Monday then headed down toward Colorado. 

Baldface on top of June Ridge

Antelope Mountain

Beartooth Pass Mountains

Buffalo Bill State Park

Snow on the Mountains

Dead Indian Pass Monument

Pilots Peak Beartooth Pass

Overnighter - Surprise Lake - Grand Tetons, WY

Sorry it has taken me so long to update the posts the wifi here is a wee bit sketchy. Well Mom and I did an overnighter at Surprise Lake the day after we did the Jenny Lake hike. We started at Bradley Lake trail head which wasn't the "recommended" start, the park rangers did not like that we weren't going by the recommended route. They kept on looking at us like we were crazy. So we started early the next morning Greg hiked up to Bradley Lake and Taggert Lake with us then looped back to the truck. Both Bradley and Taggert Lake were beautiful blue lakes that were so clear and had the beautiful Teton Mountains in the back ground. We had lunch at Taggert Lake then left Greg to continue up the mountain. There was a never ending amount of switchbacks and we had to stop a lot due to my allergies and not being used to the high altitude. We saw a Mule deer that was right beside the trail and two Grouse (birds). Once we finally made it up to the top (which felt like it took 12 hours) and we were misled by hikers coming down who told us we were half way there when I think we were actually only a quarter of the way up. Once we finally made it to the top I stuck my feet into Surprise Lake which felt amazing. We accidentally set up camp in the wrong spot but decided against moving it because we were to exhausted. Once we started to get dinner ready for whatever reason the smaller fuel I bought for my pocket rocket wouldn't work. But luckily we had plenty of food that we didn't have to cook so we had a decent dinner. The next morning we woke up and walked up a quarter of a mile to Amphitheater Lake before packing up and heading out. The hike down the mountain was a lot easier than up. We met two guys from the Carolina's that were finishing the four day Teton Loop Trail. Once off the trail we found a nice brewery and I had a massive burger.

Bradley Lake

Taggert Lake

Surprise Lake

Amphitheater Lake

     

Monday Night Campsite - Shadow Mountain

Mom found this great free camping spot at Shadow Mountain which was right across from the Tetons and offered us a spectacular view for sunrise and sunset.

Early Morning Clouds over the Grand Teton

Sunset over the Tetons

Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point - Grand Tetons- Mon, Sept 9

Because the weather was set to get bad on Thursday, mom and I had to cancel the Teton Loop trip we had planned do. So Mom, Greg and I took the hike around Jenny Lake to see Hidden Falls and Inspiration point, which was about 5 miles round trip. I was a nice hike but tons and tons of people especially once you get over to where the falls were due to a ferry that takes all the lazy people across directly to the falls. The falls were gorgeous and inspiration point once you got over the hundreds of other people was an amazing view even though you could easily find a better view with less people. The thing that made the hike worth is was Moose Pond, we met someone on the way back to the truck that said that a moose and her calf were in the pond so we took that Moose Pond trail. When we got there the momma moose was in the pond sticking her head under to get at the water plants. My mom told me a little fact that moose can dive up to 18 feet and hold their breath for a minute, I said that they sound like four legged Manatees. The baby was asleep under the tree so I decided to take walk down the hill to see if I couldn't get a better look...Well as soon as I found a perfect spot Momma and baby got up and headed up the hillside we were all on, I didn't want to make the momma moose angry so I stayed where I was for a few minutes. I heard bushes moving and it sounded like they were moving away so I started back up to where my mom was but about halfway there I spot the baby moose and he sees me, I freeze because I can't see momma moose who when I do find her is on the other side of the tree and hasn't seen me yet. I hold still but when she starts making her way my way, decide that my best option is to climb up out of the trail and sit behind a tree in case she gets hostile with me being so close to her baby. As I am crouched behind the tree she makes her way directly opposite the trail from me eating, I can see every detail in vivid closeness. Then she sees me, everything freezes for about 20 seconds she is staring at me (giving me the stink eye) and I am staring right back trying not to move or look threatening. When she finally decides that I am not a threat she moves on down the trail and crosses over to my side, once baby follows is scuttle down from my hiding spot and walk briskly back up the hill to mom. I didn't have my camera but she got some good ones of my climbing up the embankment and the moose, I will post those when she emails them to me.

Westward Bound

I left for Grand Tetons, Wyoming on Saturday, September 7th. The plan was to pack everything up Friday night and leave early Saturday morning. It was a nice plan but since it was just a plan it didn't work out. So after having a family breakfast and packing up the last of my supplies I hit the road around 2pm. Luckily I enjoy driving at night rather than during the day because my goal was to get to the Nebraska boarder before stopping for the night.
I made it to St. Louis without a hitch but once I got into the city my phone that had my directions on it decided to die (my Iphone has a bad battery and haphazardly shuts off at different battery percentages) so while battling crazy city drivers I am trying to find my charger, turn on my phone and re-enter my ending destination to pull up the directions again. Once that was done it tells me that I am suppose to take the turn off on the left immediately, well I was sitting in the middle lane of a 5 lane hwy so I had to cut across two lanes of St. Louis traffic. Good news is I didn't hit anyone, they didn't hit me, and I made it onto the correct turn off. I had another glitch when I stopped off for Red Robin at 10 pm (I am addicted to their Whiskey River Chicken Wrap) I felt I deserved a treat for driving all day. It was YUM! The problem was getting back on, it was late and I was in a creepy part of town and when I merged onto one highway the directions then wanted me to immediately get on another highway which I confused with an actual exit so I was lost not once but twice finally the directions took pity on me and gave me directions to the end highway I was suppose to be on. At 2 am I pulled of to sleep in Nebraska City at a truck stop, my car was so packed I couldn't lay back my chair so I curled up on my pillow (thank goodness for the last minute decision to bring that pillow). I slept fit fully and woke up early, which was good because I still had 12 hours to go. Nebraska was uneventful except for a few times. I actually felt I was in a Western movie at one point when I saw a rolling tumble weed blow across right in front of me. The second was a Dust Devil which is a small whirlwind that picks up dust. I finally arrived in Granite Hot Springs campground outside of Jackson at 8 pm and went down the gravel road to find my mom and step dad (They left the light on for me).
All in all it took me 24 hours, two days of 12 hour driving to make it out.

Nebraska

Nebraska - If you look closely you can see the dust cloud that covers the state

Wyoming

St. Louis