Pinedale, WY (5/20 thru 25/2021)

Some years ago, I met a man from Pinedale who raved about what a wonderful place it is. Tucked into a broad valley between the Wind River Range and the Wyoming Range, this town of about 2000 people, he told me, had so much to do for anyone who loves the outdoors. I've been wanting to visit ever since, so now I have finally made it. Unfortunately, I came in a year where Winter overstayed its welcome. During my time here, I've experienced high wind, rain, snow and cold, then more of the same. On a brighter note, most of the rough weather occurred during the time of the PGA Championship, so I felt no remorse about staying indoors and watching one of my favorites, Phil Mickelson, become the oldest major champion in history. The day I arrived in Pinedale, I drove to Fremont Lake just outside of town. I was hoping for a nice sunset, of course, but that didn't happen. In fact, it didn't happen during the entire week I was there. This was the best I could do.

As soon as the golf tournament was over, I went to one of the many wildlife reserves in the area. I was hoping to see a moose, but no such luck. My visit ended rather quickly as more weather was moving in.

Imagine my surprise as I drove back into town and spotted a moose lying in the edge of a town park.

The next day, I drove to another refuge, which also happened to contain several lakes. Not a big deal, since there are 1300 lakes within the valley. It was good to see a herd of wild mustangs grazing in the refuge, plus a bald eagle perched on a large boulder. Later I came across a pond full of ducks, mostly lesser scaups.

Returning to town, I came across another moose grazing in a small park located in a residential neighborhood. Interesting how he gets on his knees in order to reach the grass. The best looking moose was the statue outside the Chinese restaurant. I never ate there, so I don't know if there's any significance. Pine Creek runs right through town and is the centerpiece of yet another park. This is where I saw the third moose and a young buck mule deer.

One park has statues of pronghorns, but they can't compare to the real thing.

Boulder Lake is another mountain lake that I visited. I'm sure you've noticed the stormy skies in most of the photos.

Dubois and Jackson, WY (5/14 thru 20/2021)

 My campground in Dubois was right on the Wind River with some nice views of the formations on the other side.  It was especially attractive on a cloudy evening when the sun broke through enough to spotlight the rocks.

Being on the river, we had some Canada geese pairs take up residence on the river bank and start raising a family.  The very young goslings were soon walking around the grounds with their parents'

There were other birds as I traveled around the area, many of them too wary to be photographed.  Only a few were willing to pose for the camera.

Savannah Sparrow

Horned Lark

Black-billed Magpie

House Sparrow

The day I left Dubois, I once again drove over Togwotee Pass and enjoyed more mountain views.

From a distance, the Teton Mountains came into view, but it wasn't until I actually  reached Grand teton National Park that the full beauty of the Tetons could be seen.  I stopped at several different overlooks in order to get slightly different views of these majestic mountains.  I don't think there are any prettier mountains anywhere.

 

 

 

 

Dubois, WY (5/14 thru 18/2021

 I'll call this the mountain pass edition of the travelogue, because there are so many roads around Dubois that lead into the mountains and over mountain passes.  These roads had great scenery, as you might expect, but are also good places to view wildlife.  Unfortunately, some of the roads I had wanted to drive, to see lakes and waterfalls, were closed due to heavy snow cover.  A ranger told me that some would not open until mid-July.

One road that was open was Trail Lake Road, which actually goes by three separate lakes and enters the winter grazing ground for the largest herd of Rocky Mountain bighorns.  Most of the herd has returned to the high country, but I found a few lingering around and shedding their winter coats.

Trail Lake Road also happens to be another petroglyph location, though not as conveniently displayed as the ones at Dinwoody Lake.  In this case, the images can be found on numerous boulders scattered along a 3.2 mile stretch above the road.  My directions didn't specify which 3.2 mile stretch, but a sign warning of site surveillance was a tip-off.   Once I found a few, I noticed small posts had been set near the important images.  This helped speed up the process of finding quite a few petroglyphs, though I'm sure there are many I missed.  These are more weathered and of a similar style to the ones posted earlier, so I'll only show a few here.

 There were also a number of mule deer along that road, as there were everywhere I went around Dubois.

Of course, the lakes had a few good views as well.

One of only two roads that cross the Wind River Range, Union Pass tops out at 9500 feet and was still closed due to snow.  I drove up to where a new neighborhood is being developed and found the homes to be quite attractive.

With some of the views over the valley below, I can see why people might want to live up there.

Togwotee Pass isn't on a back road, but on US 287 on the way to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.  I enjoyed the scenery there, but also had the good fortune to encounter a Mama grizzly and her two cubs.  First the scenery.

The grizzly sow known as Felicia has a history of roaming the pass every Spring, with or without cubs.  On this occasion, she was rooting for grubs along the shoulder of the highway, while the cubs were down the hill a ways, sometimes out of sight.

Driving Horse Creek Road, I saw a small herd of elk to go with some very nice scenery.  This looked like the best moose country one could ask for, but not a moose in sight.