Greybull & Three Forks
I've spent most of this week hanging with Western Koller relatives: first Uncle John and Aunt Betty in Greybull, WY for Monday and Tuesday night, then cousin Justin and his girlfriend Kristen here in Three Forks, MT Wednesday and Thursday night. Greybull is a small, dusty town north-central Wyoming, with not a whole lot going on, but John and Betty were very hospitable. We caught up on my trip, status of different family members, and various other goings-on. I also got to hear John's thoughts and musings on topics ranging from their problematic neighbors, the state of NBA basketball, and wondering why so many young men these days are growing beards. John and I went on a nice hike outside town up through a canyon to a scenic ridge with a good view of the surrounding area (desert on one side, but a little more color and some big mountains on the other side). John was also on the lookout for Indian artifacts on the walk, and picked out several that he identified as showing signs of having been worked on as part of tools, arrows, etc, so that was neat.
I left Greybull on Wednesday morning for Three Forks, and at Justin's suggestion, took a slightly longer route that took me through the northern part of Yellowstone Park, which turned out to be a good idea. It was a scenic drive even before I got into the park, going over a high mountain pass, and then descending into the park where I was able to get out and walk around on a number of occasions. I was also able to see wildlife from the road, including a ton of bison, and even two black bears!
Got to Three Forks on Wednesday evening, and here I've been hanging out with Justin and Kristen (and their calm, affectionate yellow lab dog named Joe) before heading off to Glacier National Park on Friday morning. Justin runs a BBQ food truck (Blue Smoke BBQ, if you're ever in the area), so I sampled that menu for dinner each of the last couple nights - would recommend! Today, I drove a half hour over to Bozeman (the closest 'city') to upgrade some camping equipment and re-supply on food. While there, I took advantage of the opportunity to do some quick hiking - in the Bozeman area, there are various trails, including several that you can hike up for good views in relatively little time. I explored a couple trails near the city that were only a couple miles round trip each, and had great views - good bang for your buck!
I head out tomorrow for Glacier National Park, and the plan is to stay there for 5 nights (assuming I don't get too sick and tired of lack of real bed and internet access), and then head over to Yakima on July 3. The tentative plan in Glacier is to do 3 nights of car-side camping, and a 2 (non-consecutive) nights of backpacking, roughly working my way from the east side of the park to the west.
I left Greybull on Wednesday morning for Three Forks, and at Justin's suggestion, took a slightly longer route that took me through the northern part of Yellowstone Park, which turned out to be a good idea. It was a scenic drive even before I got into the park, going over a high mountain pass, and then descending into the park where I was able to get out and walk around on a number of occasions. I was also able to see wildlife from the road, including a ton of bison, and even two black bears!
High mountain pass on the way to Yellowstone
Yellowstone scene
Tough to see, but those are bison
Got to Three Forks on Wednesday evening, and here I've been hanging out with Justin and Kristen (and their calm, affectionate yellow lab dog named Joe) before heading off to Glacier National Park on Friday morning. Justin runs a BBQ food truck (Blue Smoke BBQ, if you're ever in the area), so I sampled that menu for dinner each of the last couple nights - would recommend! Today, I drove a half hour over to Bozeman (the closest 'city') to upgrade some camping equipment and re-supply on food. While there, I took advantage of the opportunity to do some quick hiking - in the Bozeman area, there are various trails, including several that you can hike up for good views in relatively little time. I explored a couple trails near the city that were only a couple miles round trip each, and had great views - good bang for your buck!
Bozeman trail view #1
Bozeman trail view #2
Joe the good boy
I head out tomorrow for Glacier National Park, and the plan is to stay there for 5 nights (assuming I don't get too sick and tired of lack of real bed and internet access), and then head over to Yakima on July 3. The tentative plan in Glacier is to do 3 nights of car-side camping, and a 2 (non-consecutive) nights of backpacking, roughly working my way from the east side of the park to the west.
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