At Work In Missoula

Our time in Missoula, nearly a month, was spent mostly at our storage unit, going through stuff, documenting, repacking, taking stuff to Goodwill, etc., but mostly moving what remained from our 12 x 30 unit of eleven years to a new cozy 10 x 20 unit.

Main Street of Hellgate Canyon Storage, where our stuff continues to reside; on
a side street now, however

Our former giant unit

Our new cozy unit, crammed; after 2 weeks' work, we were tempted to just
close the door and put the lock on and take off...

But we didn't

Vicki's careful planning got us organized

More stuff was tossed...including my prized Indiana Jones hat (which they
still sell at D-Land)

More books went to the library...

All our t-shirts got inventoried and photographed for future projects

Thus

All boxes and bins were carefully labeled and protected

We found some time to spend with friends...here, Vicki with Kim Rott

I even attended a couple sessions of the book festival...here, Kim and Sam
from Humanities Montana

All in all, it was one of our better Missoula visits, certainly our most productive.

Earthquake Lake

So we left the Tetons for Yellowstone NP, expecting to catch a campsite somewhere in the park. It seemed reasonable. Grand Teton has gone to a first-come/first-served system, and late morning or early afternoon arrivals had good luck. Not so Yellowstone. YNP is still on the accursed reservation system, and, after searching three different campgrounds, we gave up and drove on to West Yellowstone,  another town we have visited often. At this point, satisfied with our "vacation," we had decided to head on to Missoula and get on with things there. Considerable wildfire smoke appeared in the direction of Bozeman, down the Gallatin River, so we decided to do the Madison River instead. En route, we came upon Hebgen Lake, an old friend from snowmobiling days, and then Earthquake Lake, which we'd driven by several times but really never stopped to appreciate. A beautiful Forest Service visitor center explains what happened there in August of 1959.

Long story short: the big 1959 quake caused a giant landslide which dammed
the Madison; a number of people died and many more were displaced; the lake
remains, but Mother Nature is having her way, and it is slowly draining

The slide

Helpful model

Jackson and West Yellowstone Scenes

Two very different places in the same bio- and economic systems, different histories, trajectories, but still of interest...

Four season tourism still the main thing in Jackson; apart from seasonal care of
billionaires

The antler gates at the city square, unchanged through the ages

Sic transit, Gloria...some things do change...the old Teton theater is now a pizza
joint, the tobacco shop gone

Today's Art Nuvo mystery...note the nouveau effects...curiously, it is a coffee
shop called "Liberty"; the hostesses were not imprerssed that "Liberty" is one
of the names of art nouveau in Britland

First view of the Tetons leaving Jackson

Best "keep calm" sign in a while

In the Madison Valley

No kidding

Bear-proof bins in West Yellowstone

Bear-proof poubelles

Aptly named

Authentic hand-lettered sign in West

Tetons, 2018

We spent a lazy week in or near the Tetons, passing through Jackson, staying at the Gros Ventres campground initially, then mostly at Signal Mountain. The weather was great, the wildfire smoke we encountered all across Nevada and Idaho had disappeared, and we did little more than take a couple lake-side walks. It is good to do nothing, and, after you have done nothing, to rest. We did reminisce, however, on our many visits to GTNP since 1970.

First view of the Tetons, 1970

Vicki at the Colter Bay visitor center, 1970

On the summit of the Middle Teton, posing with the next day's climb, the Exum
Ridge of the Grand; 1972

Rebecca in the Tetons, 1982

And Rachel, on yet another Wyoming trip, 1983

Approaching from Jackson, 2018

At the Gros Ventres campground; Buck Mountain rises above the hill; I'd always
wanted to climb Buck Mountain...

The Grand and Mt. Owen peeking over the hill

At Gros Ventres

Attempted escape at the String Lake parking lot

Mt. Moran from Leigh Lake

Bear presence has increased since our visits in the 70s

Not at a federal pen?

Helpful map of our walks around Leigh, String, and Jenny Lakes

Teewinot, the Grand, Mt. Owen, Symmetry Spire...climbed all of them except
Mt. Owen

Ice Point, Storm Point, Symmetry Spire, the hanging canyon, and Mt. St. John

Cathedral view from Jenny Lake

Us, there, 2018

 

Encampment at Signal Mountain

Interim Update, October, 2018

We rolled into Missoula September 6th and, thanks to the Rotts' letting us park Le Sport at their vacant rent house down in the valley, we were able to spend nearly 4 weeks, staying put, working at our storage unit, seeing friends, and, very occasionally, relaxing. The big news is that we downsized again, going from the 12 x 30 foot unit we rented in 2007, to a cozy 10 x 20 unit. This after much re-packing and re-labeling, many trips to Goodwill, the Missoula Public Library, the recycling plant, and so on. There was still much to go through, many memories and much documentation, and many decisions to be made. We are in Washington now, having visited one of Vicki's high school friends in Poulsbo and toured Olympic National Park, about to cross the river into Oregon, on our way back to Middle California. As decent wifi appears along the way, I will resume blogging.

The Claw of Doom at the recycling plant...