Hiking Around Devil's Tower

Today we went to Devil's Tower. The original Indian name was Bear House, but an exporer changed it.

Legend has it that 7 young Indian girls were being chased by a bear -- and jumped on top of a rock and prayed to the rock to save them. The rock heard their pleas and began to get taller and taller. The vertical lines on the tower are from the bear scratching the sides to try and reach the girls. The tower got higher and higher until it pushed up into the sky, where they are to this day in a group of seven little stars called the Pleiades.

More modern theory is that the tower may be a plug from the top of a volcano that erupted millions of years ago and the softer rock eroded away. The tower is a spiritual place for the Lakota Indians and there are prayer rags all around the tower.






This is a picture of Neal and myself at the base of the tower.

There is also a large Prairie Dog community just outside the park. They are real cute!

The 1983 Bar

Hi there! Today was a travel day, and the only really interesting

thing we did was to have lunch at the Sheridan Inn. It's a restaurant, bar and Museum. The picture shows the original bar where Buffalo Wild Bill Cody spent time and held auditions for his wild west show. The round stool without a back is his.


We are now close to Devil's Tower in Gillette, WY.

Our phone service is not real good - it keeps going in and out. So if you need to reach us, use email.

Love to all........

PS to our Mining Blog

Interestingly enough, we were reading about the mines and discovered that BP-Arco is responsible in perpetuity for the operation and maintenance of the water treatment plant that keeps the contaminated water out of the aquifer.
And Now we have the Louisiana spill too!

Also, we got through Yellowstone just in time. There's 5 inches falling there as we speak!

Today we went to see a mine. The World Museum of Mining provides a tour which took us 165 feet down into a real hard rock mine.

The metal structure is the "Mine Head" where the ore is brought to the surface. The deepest mine shaft is one mile deep.

Appropriate attire includes a hard hat with light and a belt to hold the battery for the light. The battery pack is attached to the back of the belt. The mine is very dark, and the light beats a candle, which was what they used in the 1800's!

Mining was very hazardous work and safety was not a priority like it is today.

In the picture below the bell in the upper right corner is their communication tool and their safety/warning. It was so noisy that they could not hear each other, so the loud bell was needed. Nine bells meant a disaster in the mine! Neal is standing in the Cage, which is the metal box that transported miners and ore up and down the mine shaft. The picture on the right is the actual mine showing a hand pushed cart on the little railroad tracks.

We also visited the Berkley Pit. This is a huge open pit copper mine. It has been worked off and on since the early 1800's. In 2000 it was closed because the low cost of copper made it too expensive to operate. They turned off the pumps to save money and the pit began to fill up with acidic water containing metal ores. It is now the largest US Superfund clean-up project. In 2003 they started processing the water to remove the copper and keep the water level in the pit below the level of the Butte Aquifer. The water in the pit is 1000 feet deep and contains more than 40 Billion gallons. They are pumping 13.2 Million gallons per day out of the pit, and that just maintains the level of the water to keep it out of the aquifer.

The pit itself is 1.25 miles east to west and one mile north to south with a 4 mile circumference.

This was very interesting, but I don't think mining is "my thing" -- or Neal's!

There is another

The Road to Butte

Today's drive was from Yellowstone Park to Butte, Montana.

We drove through beautiful valleys and over more mountain passes. Sometimes the road got pretty narrow.....

Neal was fascinated by the way they bail the hay. These bales are really big!
We stopped in a little town named Ennis, and it was a lovely down. They are doing painted rainbow trout...

We had a cup of coffee and a "to die for" cinnamon roll at Yesterday's Soda Fountain and Drug Store.

The chairs and table legs were all covered with different baby booties to protect the floor and help them slide.

When we got to Butte we went to see the Berkley Pit.

It is a very large mine that produced great amounts of copper during the Industrial Revolution. The mine has been started and stopped several times over the past 50 years. It is not being mined right now because the price of copper is low.

The Hike to Hidden Falls

We began our hike with a boat ride across Jenny Lake to the Mount St. John peak. The map said that Hidden Falls was about .5 miles, and that did not seem too bad......













After climbing many steps, we got to the real starting place for our climb....






It didn't take long to find the snow line -- and the slippery slopes! It got colder too!
Neal found sturdy sticks for balance.









After what seemed more like 5 miles than .5 miles, we arrived at the falls. The view was beautiful!












The climb down proved harder than the climb up -- the snow was hardpacked and mixed with mud and water in places, so it was easy to get off balance and slide.

I fell once when my stick broke, but I fell in the snow not the mud, so it wsn't too bad.

By the time we got back to the boat we were hungry and ready for lunch!

We finally got to see Grand Teton National Park!

We had a great time in the Tetons! This picture was taken at the bottom. The Teton Glacier is just above and to the right of my head.



This picture was taken at Lewis Lake, just about the middle of our drive.






What's a pile of snow without a snowball??

This picture was taken as high as we could get. The Big Mountain with the Glacier was closed to traffic because of snow.
We had a great time and we hiked to Hidden Falls. We'll show pictures of that hike/snow/ice in another blog.

We finished the day in Yellowstone Park seeing the places we missed last time. Lots of animals, but no bear! I am so disappointed!!!

A note about Hotels

The hotels here in Jackson are western styled and upscale.
Our room had a fireplace -- and a hot tub -- and a kitchenette and wet bar -- and a great mattress -- and it cost more than twice what we've paid anywhere else -- and it was Wonderful!

Jackson Hole is the south gate to the Tetons, so we are off and climbing again. See you in Yellowstone.........

Bits and Pieces of Route 89

We had Breakfast in Utah -- Lunch in Idaho -- and Dinner in Wyoming. What a day!

Route 89 travels north and follows the border between Idaho and Utah, then between Idaho and Wyoming.

We couldn't use the zoom on the camera because the mountains were too big!

Neal says it's too bad the pioneers didn't have digital cameras!

We saw a Walmart store that is only a grocery store -- it's color was Green!

We saw steam on the creeks -- water warmer than the air.

Many of the newer homes have older rickety log cabins that were probably the old homes, now used for storage.

Neal made friends with a bear.....

We think Ed and Kris should make this their next flip.

Let's have a vote on it!

Bob--this one's for you -- there is another Sunrise Camp!

The Waltons are alive and well and living on Route 89

This picture shows that - contrary to the old time ranchers' fears, we can all live together!

Last but not least, yet another great rest area!

It 'sno problem mon.....

We are so glad we did not listen to the weatherman! The roads were great and it was sunny and clear and we had an incredible day. The drive to Jackson Hole began with snow capped mountains towering over beautiful meadows.

Then we came to a forest with brand new Christmas Card snow on beautiful evergreens.

In the middle of the day we took a look at where we'd been (right) and where we were going (left).

At the end of the day we arrived in Jackson Hole on the Snake River.

It's a quaint yet sophisticated town with lots of western decor and restaurants. The town square is decorated with western statues and antler arches on each corner.

It's All About the Climbszzzzzz........

Hello to all! We had a wonderful time in Reno with our friends Larry and Joyce and their family!

The road between Reno and Salt Lake City is a series of mountain passes. We went through some of the same passes the settlers and miners used. How they made it through the passes on stage coaches and horses is amazing!
We saw some beautiful scenery and lots of low hanging clouds. The picture at the right shows those clouds as we came into Salt Lake City. What we found out is that there was a record breaking snow storm yesterday. We later discovered that they were expecting 6 or more inches of snow in the Tetons -- and that's where we want to go today!
We were unable to get to the Tetons on our last trip because the roads were closed, and I really want to see them this time, so it looks like we will have another adventure!

It is supposed to be warmer today, so we are going to drive to Jackson Hole and check the weather in the Tetons after we get there. Expect pictures of snow tomorrow!

We did find one very interesting Rest Area....

The top section is the front and the bottom section is what it is! The building is about 6 feet in depth!

Have a great day! Love to all

The Road Not Taken

Hi there! The picture to the left is the Tioga Pass in Yosemite, which is the quick way to get from Yosemite to Reno. The pass is not yet open to traffic and they were expecting snow, so we had to go the long way around.

The picture on the right is the road we did take. It was a bit snowy as well. This picture was taken close to Lake Tahoe. The temperature went down to 29 at the higher elevations and it was pretty slick for a while.

It was snowing in Reno when we got there, which we hear is unusual. They've had a cold winter also.

But here we are with our friends and it's warm and fun. To the Casino tomorrow.......

Yosemite and Sierra National Forest

I've found that the internet connection here will not accommodate uploading videos, so I'll add a few pictures.

We hiked up to Mirror Lake and this is a picture of Half Dome reflecting in Mirror Lake. It was worth the uphill climb!

The picture on the right is the two of us taken by the roots of a Sequoia tree called the Fallen Monarch.

The Sierra Sequoia Forest is next to Yosemite. Giant Sequoia's are shorter than red woods, but larger in girth. They live up to 3,000 years and they are the most massive living thing on earth. They are stunning!

All in all, it was a tiring day, but well worth the 400 mile side trip!

Tomorrow it's off to Reno to see Larry and Joyce!

Yosemite - a pinnacle experience

We were not planning to visit Yosemite National Park, but the people
out here told us it is really beautiful this time of year, so here we are. I'm having trouble with adjectives to describe how beautiful this park is. It is definitely a favorite!
The picture to the right is our view as we came out of a .8 mile tunnel. It was spectacular!

On the left is El Capitan from Sentinel Bridge. It is very huge and very beautiful. It is 3,593 ft from the base to the summit. Yosemite was formed by volcanoes, then earthquakes, then smoothed by glacier activity. The granite withstood the glacier's force and is "polished" and very shiny in spots.

Below is Yosemite Falls. It's the highest water fall in the US at 2400 feet high. There is an upper fall which falls into a lake and then spills into the lower falls.

In the next post I will show a video clip of the falls.