On a record run

Yes, that is icy snow on the windshield.  Eisenhower Tunnel (11,158')

The summit lookout sign at Guanella Pass (11, 376')

ESTES PARK CO - - If you read my previous blog you'll know we went back up to Monarch Pass to see the snow.  With one 11,000+ pass under our tires we decided to keep going.  After lunch in Leadville ( a mere 10,200') we headed up along the rocky Mountain Scenic Byway with an icy snow falling.  In passing through the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel we has our second 11,000+.   In Georgetown, Lydia saw a sign toward Guanella Pass.  No altitude given.  The road was good and 10 miles up we came to the summit overlook and a sign noting we were at 11,376'.  Tomorrow??

Back into the storm

Snow, anyone

Fall colors and a 'hint' of snow

LEADVILLE, CO - - The sun was shining on the 14,000' peaks surrounding us in Salida.  So, we thought, why not go back up to Monarch Pass.  We did. And, as the top pic shows, there was snow every where including falling from the low clouds.  The parking area was pretty much all ice or icy show.  About three miles back down the road, we caugh a place where we could pull out and take in the grandeur of the Colorado Rockies.
     Right now, we're in Leadville (10,200') and looking at dark clouds and a weather forecast or rain later today and snow heading this way.  We're debating on whether to temp Mother Nature yet again.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison (river) NP

The canyon...including a right foot.

SALIDA, CO - - The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park derives it's name due to the fact that certain parts of the canyon receive only 33 minutes of sun a day.  Spectacular no matter what.  Even better if we had some sun to bring out the highlights.

Trying to outrun Mother Nature

That's snow in the background..

...and on the ground...

...and on the top of the 5th Wheel.  We headed downhill.

Grtting high in Telluride

It's not 'Bud' as in beer

Legally grown

High above Telluride and surrounding mountains

Ski trail work goes on all year.

TELLURIDE, CO - - The things you see just wandering around.

A bit of history

Pandora Mine,  waiting for a chance to get back into business.

TELLURIDE, CO - - Like a lot of out of the way towns, Telluride got its start as a mining area.  The name comes from minerals found in gold ore in other parts of Colorado.  Although gold was found id did not contain teluride which left silver / zinc / lead as the main minerals which were mined.   Labor unrest  eventually finished the mining in the area.
    Then somebody had the great idea of making the area a ski destination.
     Of note in the town's history is a bank robbery by Butch Cassidy before his days with the Sundance Kid.

From Moab to Telluride

The area surrounding Moab

Mother Nature sculpts the sandstone in Arches NP

One view from our campsite in Telluride. 

TELLURIDE, CO - - We've blogged before about Moab (UT), a mountain biker's paradise; off-roader paradise and great for scenic junkies also with Arches and Canyonlands NPs plus Dead Horse Point SP.  Lydia found a 64 mile loop road through the mountains surrounding the Moab area which proved to be very nice.  Our wandering around Moab was mostly visiting places we'd been before and resisting the urge to buy one more t-shirt.
     Now, we're in Telluride which is another  of our favorites stops.  Both Moab and Trlluride are "expensive" towns to live and stay in, but at least Telluride has a great option not too many folks know about.  It's a city park with sites for $23..unless you're old and grouchy and then you can get your site for $12.  We signed in immediately for three nights.  Again, we're checking our places we've been before.  The pace is slower here and there is a great vibe here because you are at the end of the road in a valley surrounded by mountains.  If you crave glitz you can take the free lift up and over a nearby mountain to Mountain Town where  everything is guaranteed to cost 2x or better.

Slightly angry

This grumpy male bison thought about changing lanes.

Not real happy about having his picture taken.

HEBER CITY, UT - - Spotted on the road to Yellowstone and hanging out in Grand Teton.  Today appears to be a rain day as we can see nothing but low clouds in the mountains ahead.

Grand Teton National Park -1

Grand Teton peak (center) at 13,770' looms over the park

Storm clouds heading our way.  Jenny Lake.

Cabin on the range

EVANSTON, WY - - We've had a pretty good time evading the bad weather out here.  However, when we got to Grand Teton National Park we got hit. We did have some sunny times when the photo opportunities were good....mainly as we were headed on our way.  Utah is just down the road with Bryce,  Zion plus Arches or Canyonlands National Parks our on our tentative list.

Getting high

Yosemite bison

The 'Bus' at the Bearhead Highway gift shop

A pretty tough place to go hiking..but they do have trails

BEARHEAD HIGHWAY, WY - - We've been here before three years ago, but that was in the early summer when there was still plenty of snow and low temperatures.  There was snow on the ground in places where it hadn't melted from a storm two weeks ago which shut down the road.  Topping out at 10,947', the pass is a big draw during the summer tourist season.  There aren't so many folks now that it's mid-September.
     We left our campsite in Bozeman, MT; headed through the northeast corner of Yellowstone NP to reach the beginning of the Beartooth.  And then you start going up and up and up as the road makes switchback after swichback while you watch the road and vehicles way above you. 
     We'll be heading down into Teton NP tomorrow.....or the next day.

Don't eat it all

Hey, leave some for me!

ON THE BEARHEAD HIGHWAY, MT - - Chipmonk love.   Actually there were more pics which disappeared into the nowhere zone.

18-degrees and an ice scraper

Growing, grazing and laz-ing

Craters of the Moon National Monument

REXBURG, ID - -  We're sitting in a Great Harvest Bread Company location. When I asked about coffee the young guy at the cash register hollered to his boss in the back to see if it was ok to say they had coffee.  Why?  Rexburg is very Mormon and coffee is one of the things on the Mormon list of  don't's.
     Now, before we got here we took a long scenic drive along the Salmon River on our way to Ketchum and Sun Valley.  We found a BLM campground with a great view of the surrounding mountains and settled in.  It was 18-degrees when we got up.  Ice in the water bottles and frost on the windshield.  Fortunately, I still carry an ice scraper for such occasions.   Sorry, no pics as we left before the sun reached out site so Lydia could thaw her feet out.
     Ketchum is an interesting place.  Glitzy like Aspen rather than laid back like Steamboat Springs.  We walked around, we looked around and we left.  Hailey, just down the road was much more in tune with the mountain life.
     Craters of the Moon National Monument,  a place we had never been, was on our way so we stopped off.  It's a huge area of lava fields, cones, caves and craters.  It's hard to show what it's like in photos and you can really only see the craters from above.  We wandered around, took the 7-mile scenic drive and headed out.
    Arco was our stop for the night.  It proclaims itself as "The first city in the U.S. to be lit by atomic energy."   It was the first peace time use of reactor energy for power.  Luckily, we didn't see anybody glowing in the dark.
     Now we're on our way to West Yellowstone (western entry to Yellowstone NP) and then Grand Teton NP ...or maybe the other way around.
     

Early morning clouds

SALMON, ID - - Time to leave our scenic campground in Salmon and look for another down the road.  We're heading toward Ketcham and Sun Valley to see what we can see.

Waterfront location with neighbors

Our campsite; Salmon River; Bittertroot Mountains

Neighbors down the road a ways

SALMON, ID - - Photos to go with yesterday's blog. 

New places

SALMON, ID - - We left  Florence, MT  this morning undecided on a route towards ???  So when we got to the top of Lost Pass (a Lewis & Clark stopping spot in 1805) and the Idaho border was only 100 yards away it was easy to choose.  So, here we are in Salmon, ID.  We've found a nice coffee shop / bakery.  A shopping bargain for me with a $15 Columbia brand fleece hoodie.  Not that I need another fleece, but sometimes a bargain is hard to pass up.  Another bargain is our campsite which is $2.50 with geezer card discount.  Yes, $2.50.  Waterfront property on Salmon River with a view of the Bitterroot mountains.  And a large herd of cattle mooing in the distance. Luck has been good, so it will probably rain hard tonight.  

Raptors and squirrels

Ferruginous hawk

Fat yellow-bellied marmot

MISSOULA, MT - - We're on the road again having left our friends at Glacier Campground.  Over the weekend we went to a raptor festival hosted by the Montana Wild Wings Recovery Center.  All the raptors (hawks and kestrels) had been injured badly enough that they would not be released back into the wild.  The ferruginous hawk was a big guy with an injured wing who liked to let his tongue hang out...maybe because it was hot.
     On Sunday we did a hike (on an unmaintained trail) up from the Logan Pass Visitor's Center) and were entertained by a number of fairly chubby yellow-bellied marmots.  Silly omnivores don't know they're really large squirrels. 

One day snow, the next....

Into the cloud layer with the Lady in Pink

High above the Going to the Sun road on the Highline  Trail

at a lot of WEST GLACIER, MT - - The 11-mile long Highline Trail isn't for everybody.  So we did what a lot of not-so-ambitious hikers do....about 2.5-miles out and then back.  We started in low cloud cover, but once the sun broke through the views  were worth the vertigo.  On the majority of our hike the trail was bordered on the downside by plenty of greenery....clinging to a very steep mountain side.

Weather or not

Soggy sunflowers

Soggy tourists.  Note: Individual in blue rain gear is famous navigator.

WEST GLACIER, MT - - We're hanging around out old haunt at Glacier Campground.  We had plans for today to do a hike.  Mother Nature had other plans.  It was only raining (steadily, but not too hard) at CG.  The weather report noted possible snow at higher elevations.  So, a trip up the Going to the Sun road was in the offing.  Logan Pass, at 6646', qualified as a higher elevation...and it's the only one you can drive to. At about 2/3 distance, the cloud cover settled in. As we neared the top, snow flakes splattered on the windshield along with drops of rain.  At the top, the mix was snowy,wet and cold.  Mission accomplished.