The Tour Begins

     (This is the first post we entered in our blog when we started it back in July.  I moved it to the top so that people just viewing the blog for the first time would have some information on our Tour.  From here, you can use the links on the left side of the page to go to the bottom and read the posts chronologically or to go to a particular post.  Or, you can just scroll down from here and read the posts in the opposite order they were entered. Click on "July" to open up the menu from that month.)

     Our Jeep Summer Tour 2011 began in early June.  We are beginning to publish this blog in mid-July. We drove the roads in and around the Targhee National Forest along the southern and western boundaries of Yellowstone National Park near Ashton, Idaho.

     We made the Tour in our 1953 Willys M38A1 military Jeep.  The Jeep is all stock. We've added seat belts and a roll bar for safety.  These early Jeeps were superior to most of the vehicles of their time in their ability to travel where others couldn't go.  Their one weakness was their tendency to tip over if driven too quickly around a corner.  The roll bar and seat belts offer us some extra protection.  We have also added a sun top and extra storage boxes to carry some of the gear we'll need on our Tour.

     All of our Touring was done on day trips.  When not Touring, we stayed in our travel trailer, which was set up at the Ashton R.V. Park.  

     We began our Tour in early June on the Cave Falls Road east of Ashton, Idaho. The beginning of the road is marked by a sign reminding us that throughout our Tour we'll be travelling in grizzly bear country.  The Targhee N.F. has a large population of grizzlies.  In addition to bears, packs of wolves inhabit all the areas of our Tour.

     As we'll find out, travelling in an open Jeep in grizzly bear country can add a whole new level of adventure to the trip!

     The legal stuff:  this blog is protected under United States copyright law.

The Jeep Summer Tour 2011 is Done

The Falls River just outside the YNP boundary

     The Jeep Summer Tour 2011 is done.  The A1 took us to some great places, without a single breakdown!.

    We started the blog hoping that we could share our travels with others.  As of this morning, the blog has been up just over three weeks and has been viewed over 750 times.   It's been seen by people from United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Hungary, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, Mexico, Argentina and the Czech Republic.

One of the old places, with the Tetons in the distance

Along Robinson Creek

  

     There are scenic and exciting places all around the country.  We’ve enjoyed giving others a look at some of the places near where we live.

     We’re going to leave the blog up so that we can go back during the long winter that’s coming, enjoy the memories from the past summer and think about the places we want to see next year!

     And speaking of next year, we're planning to have both of our old Jeeps, the A1 and our 1963 CJ5, along on the Tour.  This summer we focused on the area around the Targhee National Forest.  There are still places there we want to go to next year, but we're also going to travel to some places a little farther away.

     A special thanks to the men and women of all the armed services, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy, who have served and who are serving.  What you do is important and appreciated.

Up close: The Tetons

     The A1 didn’t make this trip, but 2 daughters, 1 son-in-law and 3 grandchildren did.  We took the 40 minute drive to the Grand Targhee Ski Resort just across the border in Wyoming and rode the chairlift to the top of the ski hill for a very close look at the Tetons.

     The size of things up there is immense.  We’re standing at about 9800 ft above sea level.  The top of the Grand Teton is 13,775 ft.  A short distance to our left the canyon wall drops almost straight down. The deepest part of the canyon is about 2,000 ft below us.

     This picture was taken on August 6 and there's still some snow up there.

     Here’s a Grand Teton spotter’s tip.  See how the left side, the North side, drops off more steeply, while the right side, the South side, is more rounded?  Once you recognize that, you’ll always be able to tell if the picture of the Grand you’re looking at was taken from the west, as this picture was, or the east. 

     It seems that many people who visit this area are focused on seeing Yellowstone and just give Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) a quick look.  That’s a mistake.  Plan to spend some time there on your visit. There's plenty to see.

     Here’s a link to the GTNP website:  http://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm

     Here's the Grand Targhee Resort website:  http://www.grandtarghee.com/

Cascade Creek and Terraced Falls: Next time!

     "High winds, heavy rain, frequent lightning".

     That was the weather forecast for the Cascade Creek area on the morning we planned to make this trip the other day.  So, we cancelled.  Very disappointing!  Then, to make it worse, the bad weather never happened and it turned out to be a beautiful day!

     The Cascade Creek and Terraced Falls area is truly one of the hidden gems of YNP.  Remote, rarely visited, and spectacular. There are probably some who don't like me telling you about this area because of a concern that it will be "over visited".  But, it's a part of YNP and, if you're able to make the hike, worth the effort to see.

     Just remember if you go, this is not a stroll down your local greenbelt.  It's wilderness. You'll be a long way from anywhere.  No snack shacks or cell phone service. You could be the only ones on the trail, or you might be surrounded by 50 Boy Scouts from an area camp.  Either way, be in good shape, have the right gear and know how to travel safely in grizzly bear country.

     Cascade Creek tumbles down through it's little canyon over rocks and through pools until it joins the Falls River.  Continue on down the Falls River to Terraced Falls.  Stand on the stone pillars that surround the falls and look down between your toes at the torrent below.

     Can't go a year without visiting the place.  We're going back this fall.

     In “Yellowstone Waterfalls and Their Discovery”, the authors wrote, “Because the (Cascade Creek) trail parallels what is surely, inch for inch, one of the most scenic streams in the park, we believe it is an ideal place for the novice Yellowstone hiker”.  Terraced Falls is “highly recommended for anyone who wants an introductory taste of the Yellowstone backcountry”. 

     The picture above shows Cascade Creek where it enters the canyon at the beginning of the hike.

Terraced Falls.  This is a picture I pulled off the internet.  The trail leads to the top of the rocks on the right side of this picture.  Getting to the spot where this picture was taken from requires fording the river above the falls, hiking through the timber and climbing down the canyon rocks.  I'm grateful to the photog who took this picture.  It's a great shot of the Falls.