The Tetons, Gros Ventres, and Uintas - September 2018

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The Grand Adventure - Summer 2018 - Part Nine - Final Chapter

 

 The Journey Home

We enjoyed the drive south as we left Yellowstone and entered Grand Teton National Park. We had no set place to spend the night. We'd just see where we ended up.

We turned into the Colter Bay Visitors Center along Jackson Lake. A crowd was gathered to see and photograph and video a black bear.We wondered what mischief her cubs were into as she was distracting the crowd.

We walked down to the marina and took in the views.

Our next stop was the South Jenny Lake Visitors Center. It was under construction but still packed. Vehicles were parked out along the main highway. I do not know why we even pulled in. We wound through parking lots and avoided blocked off areas due to the construction. We backed up several times and tried to figure out how to get out of there. We ended up at another dead end and turned around needing a three or four point turn. A painted up rental RV rig from Jackson with a pop up camper pulled out of a parking space right in front of us and we took it. The planets were aligned.

We walked down to the shore of Jenny Lake.

Who cannot fall in love with Jenny Lake?

We continued south. It occurred to us that we knew of a close by - sort of - place to spend the night. We turned onto US 191 and then east up Granite Springs Road into the Gros Ventres. We found our prefect spot perched above Granite Creek.

We showered, relaxed, did chores, and had dinner.  As night was coming, we walked up the road into a cattle drive.

The cowboy was lean and fit with long legs and a high pitched loud voice.

"Move girls!" he hollered. "Come on girls, keep moving! Dog, do your job. Move 'em!"

We moved off the road on the down slope. "Are we okay where we are?" the Lady asked.

"Yeah you're good. Come on girls, move!"

"Where you taking them?" the Lady asked. "We're camped down the road a bit."

"Oh, one of those spots," he acknowledged. "They won't bother you there. Not enough left to eat."

He stopped for a moment in the saddle and stretched. "There's a few cabins up the road. You know them?"

"Yeah," I answered. "I remember those cabins from the last time we were up here."

"Well," he drawled, "They have water there, sprinkle it on the ground  and grass grows. They don't like the cows. Lord, I can't get these girls to behave! Move it now! Dog, get to work!"

The cowboy with his girls and a bull or two and the dog named Dog moved down the road toward our camp. We walked further up road in the quiet. A few trailers went by on their way to the campground at road's end. We remembered it was Friday night.

It was a quiet night. We slept well. Rain came overnight with a good downpour near daylight. After breakfast, the Lady announced she wanted to do laundry. "Do you remember that nice Laundromat on the north side of Pinedale?"

I did.

It was noon when laundry chores were completed and we needed to figure out a route to get home, a route that incorporated as little Interstate as possible.

We wandered along the Green River. We drove by the original J.C. Penny store. We climbed up the north slope of the Uintas and entered Utah. Thunderstorms moved across the crest to our south so we decided to find a spot to camp before we entered the storms. Who doesn't like to view beavers?

Even on this Saturday afternoon the small campground was near empty.

After setting up camp we went in search of the campground's namesake. They were busy at work cutting aspen and submerging branches in the pond for eating during the long winter.

It was early September but up here in the Uintas the aspen were already wearing fall colors.

We enjoyed scattered rain from the edges of the storms but appreciated the break as night settled in.

Sunday was a day for driving and piling up miles. Sunday evening found us back on highway 50 in the middle of Nevada. Nevada never seems to disappoint with vivid, vast evening skies.

We woke Monday morning, the last morning of our long trip, to bright warm sunshine.

We chatted with a fellow from Oregon, traveling alone, enjoying his morning cup of coffee, camped in an adjacent site, also with an All Terrain Camper. He thanked us for not giving directions in our blog and making it more of a story. We lamented on how busy the West is getting. Highway 50 is now hardly the loneliest road in America. He shared insights in the growing "overland expedition" crowd driven by consumerism and the latest gadget and gear but lacking in a quiet respectful sense of awe. We ended on a positive note that we still have so many places left to discover and enjoy.

It had been a wonderful trip, this month on the road, filled, we hope, with a quiet respectful sense of awe.