A Typical Day

Hi All,

After a quiet few days off, we were back on patrol today.

The day started sunny with some clouds billowing up behind the Tetons.

Part of our patrol responsibility is to check the trailhead parking lots for bear attractants. This truck had a big cooler and two tubs full of food. We moved the food to a place where the bears could not get to it and a ranger issued a $75 citation. In Grand Teton, we keep the bears away by not leaving food around.

We had a small moose jam in the afternoon but the rain kept it from getting too large.

Speaking of rain, look what happened to the sky over the mountains in the afternoon.

It was a wet evening.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Volcanos and Sunsets

Hi All,

Thursdays are our first day off of each week and we usually do laundry, housework, shopping and Internet in town. Yesterday was no exception.

In the evening we went with Betty and Walt to a presentation about the Yellowstone Supervolcano. The presenter was Bob Smith who wrote a great book on the subject. It was fascinating and we learned that the true risk is not the volcano but rather the earthquake swarms that occur with regularity. Bob's concluding comment was,"Visit Yellowstone before it visits you!"

On the way home we passed Oxbow Bend overlook just as the sun was setting and captured this photo.

Life is good.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Moose & Bears

Hi All,

This week we saw lots of moose and were dispatched to numerous bear sightings where the bear departed before we arrived on scene.

It started close to home as this cow moose walked past our coach at 8 AM. If you look closely you can see the legs of the calf behind mom.

This morning we found this bull moose under the Snake River Bridge

He attracted a lot of attention and we spent an hour talking to visitors and keeping them from getting too close to the moose.

Finally he walked under the bridge and off into the willows and out of sight

Once free of the moose jam we hiked up the east side of Jenny Lake with great views of Teewinot Mountain. As we hiked, our park radio broadcast a continuous stream of reported bear sightings in our area. Soon we were passing hikers  reporting bears on the trail ahead. We found some bear scat but never spotted a bear. 

Later, we met a couple who reported a black bear that stood up and put his front paws on the hood. Definitely not a well behaved bear.

A few minutes later, rangers were sent to a bear sighting in Jenny Lake Campground. Bear was gone before they arrived.

Soon after we heard a report of a bear that charged some hikers who had to use their bear spray. We arrived on scene soon thereafter but the bear was gone.

We are having a great time.

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

100th Anniversary

Hi All,

Saturday we went to the 100th Anniversary of the T A Moulton barn, arguably the most photographed barn in the world. Walt & Betty joined us for the morning.

A member of the Moulton family who grew up on Mormon Row told stories of milking cows in this barn.

Harrison Goodall, in foreground, gave tours of the barn and talked about preservation efforts. David Moulton, back right, told stories about his grandfather.

This map shows all the homes and barns along Mormon Road in the 20's

A raffle and silent auction raised money for preservation efforts.

How's this for a photogenic old tractor!

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

A Busy, Beautiful Day

Hi all.

Today was our Back Country Day and we decided to hike around Phelps Lake where bears had been seen recently. As we drove down Moose-Wilson Road the sun glinted off some of the Teton peaks.

As we hiked along the lake, the views and reflections were spectacular

At the north end of the lake, the views into Death Canyon were stunning.

Soon after we got this photo we found a young black bear feeding along the trail. We watched for about 20 minutes until he climbed out of sight. 

After our 7.5 mile hike we returned to the campground looking forward to a quiet evening. It was not to be. 

A cow moose and her two calves settled into the campground parking lot, attracting a lot of attention. 

We spent two more hours keeping people and cars from getting too close to the moose. Did we mention we get time and a half after eight hours;-).

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Plein Air for the Park

Hi All,

"En Plein Air" is an art style based on painting landscapes outdoors in real time. A group of artists spent two weeks painting scenes of Grand Teton. Their work was then exhibited in the Craig Thomas Visitor Center and the park gets 40% of the sale price.

Here is Jeanne Macenzie working on a piece called "Oxbow View". The price was $950.

Too bad we have no wall space on the motorhome!

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Teton Canyon

Hi All,
Today we went on an expedition to Idaho with Steve & Marcy. We drove over Teton Pass (miles of 10% grades that tops out at 8,421 ft.). Our first stop in Idaho was the Spud Drive In Theater, famous for spud burgers.

We then drove to Driggs, ID and up into Teton Canyon ( which brought us back into WY). In Targhee National Forest we hiked into the Jedediah Smith Wilderness. We found braided waterfalls

Steep sided canyon walls

and beautiful deep woods streams.

Our four mile round trip hike offered great mountain scenery with very little elevation gain. After the hike, we had a great lunch at the Royal Wolf, recommended by one of the local hikers we met. The menu was diverse and the food was great, including baked potatoes with an enormous array of toppings. This was the kind of local restaurant we would never have found on our own.

Back on the road we climbed Teton Pass again and soaked in the view from the top.

Back on Moose-Wilson Rd we found our beavers again 

as well as cow moose in the beaver pond.

Back in Moose (the town) we found a big bull moose visible from the bridge.

A great day!

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Feeding the Beavers

Hi All,

When we patrolled Moose-Wilson Rd first thing yesterday morning, we found an aspen tree sticking out of the brush blocking part of the road. When Carl investigated, he found that a beaver had cut down a four inch diameter aspen tree but could not get it to the water because the tree got hung up in the thick brush. Carl freed the tree and dragged it across the road to the edge of the beaver pond.

This evening we stopped by the pond looking for beaver. We found four of them.

The tree Carl had left along the road was gone and the beaver were chewing the bark from a tree about the same size.

How cool is that!

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Another Quiet Week

Hi All,

Our three patrol days were pretty quiet with no moose or bear jams. The bison were pretty busy, blocking the road and generally causing a nuisance along Antelope Flats Road.

Although bears did not cause traffic jams, several were seen on the trails and one black bear walked by the Jenny Lake Visitor Center right on queue during the afternoon bear awareness presentation.

More friends arrived Tuesday; Marcie & Steve Krause whom we met at several Chai ( the Jewish motorhomes group) rallies. They will be here for five days so we'll get to spend time with them on our days off.

On the way up Mormon Row yesterday we spotted this northern harrier on a fence post .

She was very patient while Carl took this shot through his binoculars

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

A Happy 4TH

Hi All,

Our day began with a moose running behind our coach. Tearing ourselves away from the moose we drove to Jackson to watch the parade.

Forty minutes before the start , the crowd was pretty thin

but a half hour later the street was lined with spectators.

Veterans presented the colors

and the parade began in earnest. We saw everything from old time wagons

To modern busses, this one from the " Thai Me Up Brewery"

Antique cars

A Red Cross float

and one from the National Elk Refuge. The woman on the left with both arms raised is our friend Betty.

After the parade and some chores we drove to a presentation in the north of the park on Venomous Snakes and their Venom. It was pretty technical but fascinating. On the way home we spotted this beautiful sun shafting through the mountains

and in the distance, three young grizzly bears (two shown here) playing.

What a great day. Happy Birthday America!

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone

Earning Our Keep

Hi All,

Things got a lot busier this week and coupled with temps in the high 80's, it was work. Monday we had a four hour "Moose Jam", standing in the sun, keeping people from getting too close to the moose(Sandy) and keeping the traffic moving on the narrow, twisting road(Carl).

Tuesday we worked four different moose jams ranging from 15 minutes to over an hour each, also in the heat.

Both days, after a shower we both forgot about the heat and clueless visitors and appreciated the moose and scenery.

Today was our Back Country Day when we hike trails to learn about them and to promote bear awareness with the visitors we encounter. We hiked along the east side of Leigh Lake to Bearpaw Lake and back, 7.5 miles total. We met  and chatted with numerous folks including a Dutch couple who live near where Carl travelled when working on a NATO program in the 80's.

Here's Sandy shooting Mt Moran. Her new CamelBack was a big success.

The Leigh Lake Patrol Cabin occupied by a volunteer couple throughout the summer.

Northern Tetons across Leigh Lake

Happy 4th

Love,

Sandy & Carl 

Living & Traveling in our Motorhome

Volunteering across America

greenbaum2@gmail.com

www.livingourdream2011.blogspot.com

617-435-8502

Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone