Kayaking the Henry Forks River and a Moose or Two is Loose

August 22, 2011 Valley View RV Park, Island Park, Idaho.

We wanted to do a kayak outing while here in Idaho. Paul was wanting to take the kayaks off the roof of his truck and get them in the water and I was wanting to take our Sea Eagle kayak out of the bag. One of the RV park managers told us about a kayak trip on Big Springs and Henry Forks River. We decided to try it.

We launched just south of Big Springs and parked Paul's truck down river at Mack's Inn off Hwy. 20. We left the Jeep at the launch area on Caribou-Targhee National Forest land.

The water was cold but absolutely clear. We couldn't have asked for better weather as the high was expected to be in the low 80's.

We were expecting this to be a leisurely float possibly taking 3-4 hrs. to do the 4 mile kayak trip down the river.

Paul

Paula

Joyce and I

Joyce and I running a ground in the shallows!

What are we looking at...Moose?

Shortly after launching we had come across a female moose in the dense bushes along the river but we weren't able to get any pictures. However, near the end of our trip we came across these two Bull Moose. The largest seemed to be the one laying in the water.

Between the four of us we only had two small pocket cameras. So, the pictures at full zoom aren't the greatest.

We were so excited to see the Moose. This is one of the animals that we most desired to see in the National Parks as we have never seen a live Moose.  But we never saw one in the parks!

We drifted past the Moose and were really quite surprised as we had made the 4 mile trip in about an hour and a half! Needless to say the river was moving along pretty well. In two or three spots I had to get out into the ankle high water and drag us over some shallow spots. Even so, we made great time and saw plenty of fish in the crystal clear waters.

The trip was over sooner than expected but actually it was just right. Further down river past Coffee Pot Campground (Caribou- Targhee NFS) is supposed to be a very severe rapid.
Back on shore we took the next two shots of one of the Moose in the river undeterred by the humans around him.

There are plenty of aquatic weeds in the river for the Moose to feed on.

Today Joyce and I drove past Macks Inn and saw this Moose in the River. It was probably one of the two we saw a couple days ago.  I had my new camera with me so we quickly got out to take some more pictures from the opposite side of the river with my telephoto lens.

The Bull Moose was in the shadows of the opposite bank so the pictures aren't the greatest. Even so, I was happy to get some shots!

Searching for Wildlife and Visiting the Red Rock Lakes N.W.R.

August 24, 2011 Valley View Rv Park, Island Park, Idaho.

Please bare with me as I try to catch up on the blog. 
We've been enjoying the last few days here in Idaho outside of West Yellowstone.  Joyce and I took another ride into the park in search of wildlife while Paul and Paula went fishing. We aren't fisherman, probably because I don't have the patience!

After driving about an hour into the park we decided to stop by this beautiful lake actually South Twin Lake. We ate lunch and watched for wildlife. We were hoping to see a Moose, Elk or bear...something!

We saw nothing but, we had a good time and ate our bag lunch.

We moved to another location along a river and just sat looking. We saw this these Geese.

We also saw this Bald Eagle soaring above the river! But, that's all we saw in terms of wildlife with the exception of the odd bird or two. After a few hours we packed it up and headed home having enjoyed a quiet afternoon in the wilderness.

The other day we took the Jeep with Paul and Paula and went for a drive down some dirt roads around Henry Lake and eventually headed west along more rough dirt roads over Red Rock Pass.

We kept driving and reached the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. 

We stopped at the visitor center and had a good time talking with the two volunteers. Not much to see in the refuge that we didn't see driving into it!
We also visited a couple of the local lakes: Elk Lake and Hidden Lake.

Hidden Lake

We had a good time driving for about 60 miles on rough dirt roads. We were all keenly interested in finding some wildlife to photograph. Not much luck with that but we certainly tried!

Hike In Yelowstone, The Lost Lake Trail

August 16, 2011. Valley View RV Park, Island Park Idaho.


The last couple of days we took care of some domestic chores. Joyce and I rode into West Yellowstone yesterday to check out the town. It was a cloudy windy day so walking around town was a good way to kill the day. While there, we stopped at the Chamber/Visitor Center. Half of the center serves as a visitor center for Yellowstone N.P. We inquired about a loop hike in the north half of the park and two were suggested, Beaver Ponds Loop and Lost Lake Trail.
Today we decided to hike Lost Lake Trail with Paul and Paula in Yellowstone N.P.  We got going at 8:00 and drove to West Yellowstone in the Jeep. We stopped for a quick breakfast in town realizing that it would probably take us a couple hours to get to the trailhead.

As we drove to the trailhead, we stopped to take in the scenery from some of the overlooks as we hadn't been in the northern part of the park.

We found an off-road loop that took us up some high meadows. We were looking but didn't see any wildlife.

Many parts of the forested areas are full of dead trees from forest fires.

We finally arrived at Roosevelt Lodge and prepared for our hike. The trailhead for Lost Lake Trail is just behind the lodge. We noted the "Warning Bear Frequenting Area" sign on the trailhead bill board! Paul and Paula had purchased bear spray and I was carrying something a bit more lethal in case the bear spray didn't work! There are 150 Grizzlies and untold numbers of black bear in Yellowstone. There have been a few attacks this year and at least one fatality.

We decided to take the short hike to Lost Creek Falls first before starting on the Lost Lake Trail.

Lost Creek Falls

After returning from Lost Creek Falls we began our hike to Lost Lake up a steep mountain side through thick ripe Rasberry bushes. A favorite treat for bears! We made sure to make noise as we hiked! We picked and ate a few Rasberries as we walked...ummm tasty!

At the top of the mountain at about 7700 ft we could see Lost Lake in the distance.

Lost Lake

Paul and Paula

The hike continued to another landmark, The Petrified Tree, which is just a petrified stump. From there it was up the side of another steep bluff.

 We were soon in some high meadows where there were plenty of "buffalo chips" but no Bison to be seen.

Throughout the park there are a number of large dead pine trees. I'm assuming they may have been killed by Pine Beatles. Some of the dead trees are quite impressive in stature.

The hike ended after about 4.5 miles back at the Roosevelt Lodge and we all climbed back into the Jeep. We continued traveling the North loop and stopped for more beautiful sights and to eat our bag lunches.

One of many overlooks

After a full day of 9+ hours we were ready to head back home to take care of our dogs. We saw this Mule Deer on the way out of the Park.

We had a wonderful time and it was an exhausting day. We've decided to extend for another week here in Island Park Idaho as there is a lot to see in this area. The weather has been beautiful with the exception of one especially windy cloudy day. We've pulled out our ceramic heaters as the nights get into the low to mid 40's but the highs are in the mid 70's to low 80's.

Travel Day to Island Park, Idaho and Valley View RV Park

August 12, 2011 Tetonia to Island Park and Valley View Rv Park.


We had a short move of less than 80 miles planned for today. We took our time getting ready and were hitched and on the road by 10:20. The route was just beautiful through rolling farm lands.

View Larger Map

Driving up we noticed that the fuel prices were higher than in Tetonia. In addition we noticed in passing the town of Island Park that it was lacking a major grocery store.  We had been warned by our friends Paul and Paula whom were waiting for us at Valley View RV Park that we should stock up before driving up. 


It didn't take us long to reach Valley View RV Park arriving around 11:45. Valley View is situated on the flat meadows of the large cauldera encompassing the Island Park area. We got checked into the office for a rate of $182 and change for the week with our Pass Port America discount. We paid for a full hook-up site with 50 amps. WiFi is an additional $1 per day. There is no cable but our satellite dish works just fine.


Paul and Paula had reserved a site for us right next to them and we got set up in site E-7 in the back row of the park with a rear view of the hillside. It was great to sit and catch up with Paul and Paula after getting set up. We enjoyed cooking out together before calling it a night.

Our site E-7 next to Paul and Paula