Snowmobiling The Continental Divide Trail; Or, Return To Green River Lakes, 2016

Weather forecasts suggested that the full force of the El Nino was approaching--warmer and drier weather in the northern Rockies--and that we had better do our favorite rides sooner than later. Thus we drove the hundred miles or so from Alpine north through Jackson and east to Togwotee Pass, in the heart of the great Continental Divide Trail system, and eventually to the Warm Springs parking lot we frequented last year, near the Line Shack. There appeared to be several feet of snow all around, except for the southern exposures, and the grooming was great, as usual. So at the first opportunity, with blue skies and temps in the 30s, we headed off onto our all-time favorite ride, the fifty or so miles to the Green River Lakes campground and the view of Square Top and its neighbors towering over the lakes. The route takes you past a national elk refuge, and on the way back we were treated to the feeding of the elks. (See YouTube videos noted below). The next day, Saturday, we did a seventy mile ride in the middle part of the CDT system, but by then the weather was beginning to deteriorate, warmer but ferociously windy, and we decided it was time to get off the mountain and down to Dubois, our refuge at just about this same time last year. Apologies for duplicates of pix I took last year in http://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2015/02/snowmobiling-continental-divide-trail-5.html and others.

Approaching the Wind River Range from the north

We're going to save Kinky Creek for the summer

Arriving at the forest service campground; our third visit in a
year

The lower lake

And Squaretop

We've ridden past the elk refuge many times in past years, but
never once saw them getting fed; click to enlarge and you'll see
two people on a horse-drawn sled pitching hay at the elk, some
of whom nearly stampede to get at it

Thus

And thus; the video, done for our grand-daughter, is on YouTube
at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCIryLlJFxA

Last look, for a while, at a favorite place

Snowmobiling Greys River, Alpine, Wyoming

At length we departed Missoula, over-nighting in the Bozone, and enjoying the Broncos' very satisfying Super Bowl win over the Panthers. I am no fan of passball, as American professional football has become. My favorite team, historically, threw six passes in its third consecutive Super Bowl appearance, completing five, and still routing its NFC opponent, the hapless Vikings. So I particularly enjoyed seeing Sunday's Hall of Fame and MVP quarterbacks both harassed, hit, sacked, stripped, and intercepted, throughout the game. And the right team won. The Broncos' defense certainly rivals the nearly-undefeated 1986 Bears. But I digress.

From Bozeman we drove on to West Yellowstone, cold and snowy, but covered in dense fog that was supposed to last three more days. Island Park, across the border, was no better, so we decided to keep on driving (hard to appreciate the scenery in a mountain fog), all the way to Alpine, WY, and its great Greys River trails. We camped three nights in the giant snowmobile parking lot there and got out for two 100+ mile days on some of our favorite rides.

Passing by Big Sky, Montana, The Lonely Mountain

Wyoming is the best! Riding an unspoiled groomed trail, variant C, on the way to
Box Y Lodge

Ditto; we did Variant C last year, but we were low on fuel and I wasn't able to
enjoy it fully

We did it three times on this visit, coming and going

Ditto, again

Box Y Lodge; staff actually remembered us from last year

Snow plane at the Box Y (airplane-propeller driven, four large skis)

The river at Box Y

Elk feeding range, some miles south, towards Utah

Riding back on C

Next day, riding east toward the Sherman guard station

50 miles down the trail, great views of the Winds

Looking southeast, toward the south end of the Winds, you can make out the
Cirque of Towers, to the left...

Our style of riding--groomed trails only--depends entirely on grooming; here is a
groomer at the Sherman parking lot

Hill-climbing and high-marking are what we and the groomers don't do

Cascade Canyon

And another day, we took the boat across Jenny Lake and hiked up old friend Cascade Canyon...

Our boat, the Beaver Dick Leigh (named for trapper/mountain
man  Dick Leigh, who guided the the 1892 Hayden Expedition;
Jenny Lake is named for his wife

Cascade Canyon divides some of the principal peaks and
massifs of this tiny range; here, Storm Point, Ice Point, and
Symmetry Spire, on the north side

And here, on the left, the Grand, and Mt. Owen

At the head of the canyon, Rock of Ages (cleft for me); check
out the ridge, about 2/3's to the left, for the arch/window; at
this point, reports were coming back of a bull moose on the
trail; all the hikers with their assault cameras hastened on
to get photos; we have seen enough of these animals, close
enough, and so we turned back...

North side of the canyon, the south side of Hanging Canyon,
and many pinnacles

Back side of Teewinot summit and Crooked Thumb

Large animal scat

Looking up Valhalla Canyon, surrounded by
the Grand, Teewinot, and Mt. Owen; 
waterfalls, "perennial" snowfields...

Up closer

Us, in Cascade Canyon, taken by a nice couple from Red
Lodge, who've been doing the Tetons even longer than we
have

Sunday morning we awoke to squalls and decided to head on
north through Yellowstone to Montana; more squalls at Old
Faithful and a monumental traffic jam en route to Norris
shortened our Yellowstone visit to a drive-through from West
Yellowstone down the Gallatin; and we finally arrived in the
Bozone in mid-afternoon; back, finally, in Montana!

Taggart and Bradley Lakes Hike

Another day we did the hike up to and around Taggart and Bradley Lakes, two glacial lakes that lay at the foot of the Grand Teton, 5-6 miles with modest elevation gain. We'd done the hike before, in the 70s, but the whole area was engulfed in a wildfire in 1985 that rendered it unappealing. Thirty years later, the trees are back, not yet mature, but enough to be beautiful and to strengthen one's faith in recovery and regeneration. If one lives long enough. The reflections of the Tetons in Bradley Lake were a special treat.

Nez Perce, the Middle Teton, the Grand, Mt. Owen, and
Teewinot, from the beginning of the hike

Distant but interesting symmetry...

Looking up Avalanche Canyon toward the South Teton

Taggart Lake

Reflection in Bradley Lake; interestingly, I didn't see this,
eating lunch by the lake, until I looked through the camera...

The Grand Teton, ditto

Teton view from Taggart Lake

Regrowth...no seral forest here

But fall color all around

We Return To Our Regularly-Scheduled Programming; Or, An Anti-Clockwise Circumnavigation Of Jenny Lake, 2015

So we left the Green River Lakes area, not without incident, and headed out toward Hoback Junction and then Jackson, and lunch at Bubba's, and then an over-night at the Gros Ventre campground and then a removal early the next morning to Signal Mountain campground, our base of operations in the Tetons for this visit. Surprisingly, in later September, the Teton campgrounds are still pretty full, especially the closer-in ones. After setting up, we drove to very old friend Jenny Lake, and did the 7-mile walk around the lake, counter-clockwise, with afternoon light and beautiful weather.

The incident: driving out of the Green River opening...

I have dealt with cows before, one or two in the road, but
never a whole big unescorted herd; but then I remembered my
New Zealand training and experience with sheep...just wade
in slowly, 3-5 mph, and they will move...stop, and they will 
stop

"Share the road, human!"

Cascade Canyon view from Jenny Lake: Teewinot, Mt. Owen,
Storm Point, Ice Point, Symmetry Spire, Mt. St. Johns...

Teewinot, the Grand Teton just peeking out,
and Mt. Owen

As we approach String Lake, Mt. Moran; note protruding black
diabase dike

Symmetry Spire, with its prominent cleft

Cathedral View from String Lake outlet:
Teewinot, the Grand, and Mt. Owen

Eureka!...the unmarked and unmaintained trail
up to Hanging Canyon, from which one climbs
Symmetry Spire, Mt. St. Johns, and numerous
other peaks and spires; a trail I hiked a bit in
the 70s and 80s

Now on the south side of the lake, Symmetry Spire and Mt. St.
Johns

Makings of a good trail