What's Up with Michael: 34th Anniversary

FRIDAY.

This past weekend was our anniversary. We decided going to Seattle and Vancouver would be too expensive, so we drove to Jackson and the Grand Tetons.

Motel 6 was the least expensive motel at over $100 per night (ridiculous for a hard bed and a mint-size piece of soap), but then I found The Hostel at Teton Village for $55. For that you get a rustic room in a four-story building, a king-size bed (two twin mattresses made up separately on a piece of king-size plywood in a box), a shower, toilet, a sink, and hear-through walls and ceiling. No TV. No closet. No dresser. There is a TV and fridge in the common area (you have to mark your food or someone will throw it out), but we didn't venture there. I would stay here again for the price. But then, we seldom spend more than sleeping time in hotels. I also got 24 hours of free wi-fi from some hotel in the area.

The weather was perfect: lows near 30 at night with daytime highs in the low 70s and clear skies. But there was a fire burning between the base of Mount Moran and Jackson Lake that filled the valley with smoke. We arrived on Friday afternoon, just as the wind picked up and blew the three-week-old fire that the Park Service had been letting burn naturally, since it was started by lightening, into a roaring blaze that filled the valley with smoke.

We drove to Jackson Lake Lodge via the Teton Park Road past Jenny Lake and Signal Mountain. When we turned to go back to Teton Village, the Park Service had closed the road, so we took the highway from Moran Junction. (Click on this picture. I think it's way cool, with the Tetons in the background, the sun in the middle of the smoke, and sun rays coming off the top of the top of the smoke column.)

Nearing sunset on a smokey mountain range.

SATURDAY

I decided against getting up before sunrise to take pictures and am glad I didn't bother. With the cool, still air in the morning, the smoke just settled on the valley floor. Can you see Grand Teton in the background. Believe me, it's right there, but don't strain your eyes looking for it.

Although the Park Service had been letting the fire burn (there were actually three fires: one at Gros Ventre, this one near Jackson Lake, and another somewhere in the nearby mountains, plus a prescribed burn at the mouth of the Snake River Canyon), the flare-up on Friday afternoon must have prompted action, because the water-dumping helicopters were working full time on Saturday morning. The ranger kicked us out of our parking spot here, so I couldn't get a picture of this helicopter as it took off.

But I did get this picture from the top of Signal Mountain.

One place that didn't have any smoke, especially in the afternoon, when the daily breeze started to blow, was the hike to Phelps Lake on the old Rockefeller JY Ranch property. I love this hike, because the parking lot to the visitor center is small, and the ranger won't let anyone in unless they have a parking spot, which means not very many people on the trail or at the lake. We ate our lunch in the car while we waited for our turn. A lot of people didn't have the patience to wait and drove out. We waited maybe 15 or 20 minutes.

The lake is beautiful and peaceful at the base of this mountain. A guy hiking out with a fishing pole said it's full of fish, too.

The hike is pretty easy, about three miles round trip.

If you know what this bird is, please tell me. I wish I knew more about the flora and fauna.

I do know not to eat these. We learned in Boy Scouts when I was 12 that white berries are always poisonous, red berries are sometimes poisonous, and purple or blue berries are always safe (but I'm not sure I believe the last one completely).

The trail follows the creek up to the lake, and the return loop comes down to the north.

The trail crosses the Moose-Teton Village road, which used to be a wicked dirt road full of potholes with few cars and lots of opportunity to see moose (we also saw a bear here once), but now the dirt is well oiled, and the traffic is almost nonstop. Unless there's a moose. Then its totally stopped.

On Saturday evening we had reservations for the Bar J. The biscuits are in the dutch ovens.

And the ribeye steaks are on the grill.

This fox was born at the Bar J last year in a litter of nine. He stuck around when the others left. This is just outside the Bar J barn.

This is inside the Bar J barn. We staked out our spots on the front side at the aisle end of our assigned table, and I went to the car while Chieko stayed chatting with a couple and their daughter from Blackfoot, who were sitting across from us. When I came back, some newlywed-looking guy was sitting in my spot. He had to sit next to his bride rather than across from her and didn't care that my magazine and wife were already there. We had to move to the other side of the table and trade places with the daughter of the Blackfoot couple. Then I got the guy's fat head in all my pictures. But it was either move or start a fight, which Chieko wouldn't approve.

The wranglers' Hawaiian shirts are due to this being the last night of the season, when the wranglers are looser (if that's possible) and the end-of-season staff plays pranks.

The crooner singing "Only You."

I like going on the last night of the season, because there's a good chance the retired Babe will show up to do his "Buying a Size 6-7/8 Bra" or another cowboy poem.

He also sang along with the wranglers in a tribute to veterans.

SUNDAY

On Sunday morning, the smoke wasn't as thick but was still hanging around, so we decided to drive to Yellowstone. But first we had a breakfast burrito at Down on Glen (DOG). If you haven't found this place, you must. I had a spicy meat breakfast burrito, which I highly recommend.

The road construction between Jackson Lake Lodge and Flagg Ranch was still chugging along. This probably slowed us by about 45 minutes.

We had heard there was a fire near West Thumb, but I was a little surprised when we came down the hill to the Grant Village turnoff. Apparently this fire also flared up on Friday afternoon to a pretty good-size burn. We were going to Madison Junction, which was upwind, so this wasn't a big deal to our plans.

We stopped at Old Faithful for lunch, but the cafeteria was closed for the season, so we ate at the Snow Lodge Grill. I'm pretty sure my hamburger had been made from cow lips and innards, grilled in Idaho Falls last spring, frozen, and steamed at the "Grill." The mustard didn't taste too bad, and there was a slice of tomato.

I thought this scene was interesting, because it has trees that were burned in the huge 1988 fire, new trees that filled in over the past 20 years, and this new fire.

Here's another look at a tree that survived the 1988 burn, trees that succumbed to that fire, and the new trees. Three phases of life.

This large bull elk is keeping watch over his harem. There were probably 20 or 30 cows. A young bull was waiting patiently way off to the east of this group.

West Yellowstone has a great stop called the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. The wolves are fenced into two areas on the west, and the grizzlies are in a large area on the east. These are all animals that were rescued from various places in the United States, including Alaska. I think this is the alpha male in this group.

Twin wolf cubs.

Watching other wolves play in the water.

Two grizzlies are let out into the viewing area at a time and spend about an hour and a half. Between pairs, a girl comes out and hides food, elk bones, and some kind of oil under boulders. This is Illie, who was rescued from Alaska with her brother, Sam, after their mother disappeared and the pair ventured into a fishing village, where they were hand fed human food. Although Illie is smaller than her brother, she is more aggressive and always comes out first. Illie was named for the volcano, Mount Iliamna.

Illie weighs about 800 pounds. Compare this to Yellowstone brown (grizzly) bears, which reach about 350 to 400 pounds. These Alaska coastal bears grow up eating protein- and fat-rich salmon.