We love Colorado, rattlesnakes excepted. After spending a week with our son, Sundance, on the prairie in southern Colorado where Rocket got bit by a prairie rattler, we headed for Rocky Mountain National park. Rocket took a week to recover, but he's back to normal now and hopefully learned not to antagonize snakes. In the Rockies, the temps were much cooler than the prairie, and we needed an extra blanket at night; one day when we started our hike, it was 36° F! We arrived in the park at suppertime on Friday, 8/26, which fell on the celebration weekend of the National park service's 100th birthday. This weekend - 8/25-8/28 - entrance fees were waived for all parks across the nation. We have an annual pass so that didn't matter to us, but it did mean the park was very busy. We came up from the south and entered the park's western side which is not as busy as the eastern side which abuts the town of Estes Park. We were concerned we might not get a campsite, but we did. While we were setting up, a herd of elk crossed the road entering the campground to forage. It was great to watch both a bull elk and his harem which included some Spring calves. This is the beginning of the rut season and during our stay we heard the males bugling and the calves mewing for their mothers. We even watched two young males spar -practicing for when they'll be old enough to vie for a harem. While eating dinner, we also watched a red fox pass through camp. The Timber Creek campground has ranger-led programs each night during the Summer, and we took our dogs to the amphitheater and listened to two programs - one on hiking in the park and one on bears. Because we read how busy the park gets (last year they had the 3rd highest attendance among US National parks), we started our hike to Timber Lake at 8am the next morning. One map listed it as 4.4 miles to the lake, yet the trail sign said it was 5.5 miles. Two miles in, there is a detour on the trail due to a landslide, so we estimate we hiked about 11 miles total. The trail ends at the gorgeous Timber Lake, and moose, elk and other wildlife can be seen on the way. But the elevation gain is 2,000' AND the trek hikes up to 11,000' so I got a bit winded at times...especially on the detour. The signs there warn that the landslide may not be safe so we took the detour on the way to the lake. It went straight up a steep slope with loose dirt and then came down to join the trail, and was a bit tricky. On the way back we decided to check where the landslide was and decide if we should dare that route, instead of the detour. Interestingly enough, on this side of the detour, signs warn that the detour is strenuous and difficult - funny how I missed that sign on the trip out to the lake. Once we got into the landslide area, we decided it was not unstable, just jammed with logs we had to crawl over. So we continued picking our way over large felled trees walking along some to find places to cross over that weren't a long way down to the ground. It was a bit of an adventure and a bit nerve wracking, but it was a quicker way back and we came through unscathed. This trail to the lake is easy walking in places where it's covered with pine needles and a bit gravelly in others. In the beginning, I thought we might want hard hats as the squirrels were busily dropping pine cones to the floor. We saw 13 on this trail. We also saw elk in the forest and came within a minute of seeing a large bull moose another hiker spotted, but he vanished in the woods quickly. We flushed grouse into the trees and saw deer quietly foraging. By the time we got off the trail the sun had warmed the air to 63° F which made it great hiking weather. After our hike, we piled the dogs into the car and drove north and east to the highest point in the park by car at 12,183' and enjoyed panoramic views of the Rockies. The views are breathtaking and made easier to enjoy by driving through alpine tundra, subalpine and also montane forest areas instead of having to earn your views by hiking in. But with over 300 miles of trails, you can appreciate the scenery on foot also. We even saw some strong and determined bikers cycling up the mountains. Near the top, we took a drive on a gravel one way road best traveled by all terrain vehicles and trucks: Old Fall River Rd. At the end of this 11-mile scenic drive that winds above a canyon and ends near the Alpine Visitor Center, we were rewarded with sights of many elk and two moose in the valley. While Terry found a place to park the car (only a limited area to pull off), I went to see what folks were watching. While looking through the binoculars at the moose and elk, I heard the excited yipping of coyotes! I glassed the area but could not spot them, and after a few minutes their frantic yelps stopped. It was a neat valley though, and if the car weren't partially on the road, we could've stayed longer. Our second day in the park, we hiked the Colorado River Trail and walked about 11 miles again, but this time with less elevation gain. We took the trail that parallels the river, moves through a forest of Firs, Aspens and Pines and then begins an uphill climb over rocks to a part called Little Yellowstone. Here another landslide moved large trees down the slope and downstream changed the river's path. We passed a section on the river where students from Colorado State Univ. were studying the redirection efforts of the park service to restore the river's path. They had a beautiful day under sunny skies to do their work, and the river and meadows near Lulu City (an old settlement now defunct) are wonderfully serene. As we got to the top of a hillside above the landslide (this time taking a detour to a newly built pedestrian bridge), we sat on a large boulder overlooking the canyon to eat lunch. Shortly afterwards, we heard thunder and quickly headed back down the trail. We scurried along the 5.5 miles and while we didn't make it back before rain came, the thunderstorm was miles away and we were safe. We enjoyed this trail quite a bit, and we saw marmots, a marten, a moose with calf, grouse, Gray Jays, a hawk, chipmunks and squirrels. I highly recommend this hike to folks because it's not as strenuous as the Timber Lake trail and since it's on the western side of the park, not as crowded as popular trails to Bear Lake or Ute Overlook. Our last day in the park was moving day so we just took a short stroll down Coyote Valley Trail, a 1-mile round trip handicap accessible crushed gravel path with placards along the way. It moves through a gorgeous meadow where often elk and moose graze, and coyotes and hawks hunt - not that morning though. This trail, also on the western side is in the Kawuneeche Valley which is a Native American word for coyote. I was eager to see coyotes while camping here, and this was the last chance. We enjoyed a morning stroll, but sadly didn't see any coyotes. Then we headed northeast towards Estes Park and into WY on our way to South Dakota. What a beautiful, majestic park this is...my only criticism - too many tourists. The time to come may be after Labor Day, but by then the snow may be flying. While we were here, the park service had placed the snow stakes along the road to mark where the road is when the plows come in the Spring. You see the road through the mountains closes Oct-May and with drifts sometimes as high as 35' the road can get lost.. Now that would be a sight to see.
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We were on the Colorado prairie at Sundance's, and I was fixing dinner in the RV when I heard a sound that I thought was Terry spraying something under the coach. He was lying on the ground to scrape caked-on mud from the exhaust system. Sundance was in his house, and the dogs were roaming the grounds. I ignored the sound, thinking it harmless, until Kronos (Sundance's dog) began barking fiercely. When I looked out the huge RV window I freaked. There was a coiled rattlesnake angrily rattling with Rocket and Kronos nearby. I screamed and we got all 3 dogs inside the coach (including Shady who is nearly deaf and was oblivious to the action). But, my fears were confirmed, Rocket was bitten. Since he was a puppy, Rocket has relished killing snakes. Living in Vermont, he usually just encountered garter snakes which he would grab in his mouth, give them the death shake and snap, until they were dead. When Sundance moved to Colorado we actually talked about whether he would get a dog, and he was concerned about the rattlers, worrying how a dog could be safe. I still remember sitting on our basement steps two years earlier talking about how he wouldn't want a dog like Rocket who would attack a snake. Ironically, nearly one year ago while we visited Sundance, his dog Eureka was also bitten; that bite we didn't see - we just saw her droopy face, and fang marks on her swollen nose. We rushed her to a vet an hour away in Alamosa, knowing that many of the prairie folks have lost dogs to rattlesnake bites. Most have lost puppies, and Eureka was a seven month old at the time. The veterinarian, a man in his eighties, gave Eureka several shots and sent us home with antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. She was dopey for a few days but her swelling seemed to go down quicker than Rocket's. When Rocket got bit, we gave him some leftover medicine from Eureka's bite and the next morning, I drove toward Alamosa and the aging vet's office. When I got a cell signal and called, Bonnie answered only to say Dr. Kinoshi retired the day before! I found another vet who gave Rocket subcutaneous fluids, a shot of Rimadil and sent me home with pain medicine, more Rimadil and an antibiotic. Dr. Enderle said Rocket would have a headache for a few days, need to keep hydrated to flush the toxins out, and he wouldn't likely want food for a few days. Here we are Monday after the event on Thursday evening, and he's still very swollen in his chin and mouth, not eating much (except grated cheese and some canned meat food) and very lethargic. He won't go down the RV steps or ramp; we carry him out. The only time he perks up is if we coax him by saying we're "going for a ride." I know the snake bite isn't lethal since he's made it this long, but I sure do want to see him get some energy back and to be his old self - minus his interest in killing snakes!
We felt bad having to kill the snake, but it was right in the front yard and we have 3 dogs and 3 humans in danger. Sundance has a shotgun and killed him. It was quite creepy to see the body twitch and move for another half hour after being decapitated. We buried the head so the fangs and venom still within couldn't injure anyone else...sad but we do feel a bit safer. The vet did say the dogs can be vaccinated against the snake venom which we are considering for dear Kronos! On the northwestern border of Colorado and Utah lies a unique place... a place where dinosaurs once roamed... a place where the sediment along a riverbed covered their bodies during a drought. When rains returned, floodwaters carried the jumbled bones of over 500 dinosaurs, representing 10 species, here. 150 million years ago during the Jurassic Period, ancient river sediments (now called the Morrison sandstone) entombed the bones and cast the dinosaurs in stone. Since then erosion and an upheaval of the earth (Colorado Plateau) has pushed up layers of rock baring their fossils, where humans now travel. Boasting one of the earth's richest known dinosaur fossil beds, this is Dinosaur National Monument. Originally set aside as 80 acres of land, in 1938 President Franklin Roosevelt added 200,000 acres of canyon country, so the park straddling the Utah-Colorado border is quite large. It showcases not only dinosaur fossils, but beautiful canyon country of the Green and Yampa rivers with sandstone cliffs where ancient artwork of the Fremont people hangs (petroglyphs). We entered on the Utah side where the quarry of fossils lies, and we were surprised to not only see many fossils still in situ, but to be able to touch them too! In 1909 Earl Douglas discovered the rich fossil beds and sent hundreds of bones back to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, PA. But he, like others believed that the benefits to science would be great if some of the fossils were left in place so they could yield more answers about the environment from this period. As scientific tools improve and we begin to find additional answers to life before man, this fossil record continues to be studied, revealing more and more important data. Ongoing studies of the bones continue as scientists crawl the wall of bones and catalogue and study. Housed inside a building renovated just 10 years ago, the lower portion of the quarry wall is a section with a few bones that we laypeople can touch! We learned that some of the most complete skeletons of dinosaurs like the Allosaurus and Camarasaurus were found here. We learned that some adult dinosaurs weighed over 25 tons, and we saw a cast of the first known skeleton of a new species, Allosaurus jimadseni. Found here, this carnivorous predator lived about 5 million years before the other animals found in the quarry. If you plan to visit and want to see the fossils, make sure you enter the park on the Utah side. We camped at the Green River campground here and did not need a reservation - maybe because it's so hot this time of year (90° F). The next day we drove to the Colorado section of the park where there are no fossils on display, but there are gorgeous views of the canyons and rivers, pronghorn, deer, rabbits, badgers, and bighorn sheep. We didn't hike in this park for two reasons: one the heat, and since the dogs can't hike in the national parks, we want to keep them cool. But also, we had an "old lady day" for me and Shady. One of the preceding days we drove 9 hours which we don't typically do, and I got a bit of Vertigo. This has happened just a few times in recent years after driving/riding all day. I don't get it so bad I can't stand, it's just that I'm dizzy and want to lie down, feel extremely tired and have a foggy brain. Once after a very long 2 days of driving from Mississippi to Vermont, it lasted for nearly a week. More recently when it happens, it's just the day after a long drive. So we decided not to hike but do a short drive on the main park road (Harpers Corner Rd.) and get out at the scenic overlooks, plus have a picnic. The road runs 31 miles and has an offshoot road, the Echo Park rd. that is 13 miles long and meant for only the sturdiest of vehicles - trucks, jeeps, 4wd. That road winds down into the canyon ending at the Echo Park campground on the Green River - primitive camping, not meant for RVs. It is a fabulously beautiful spot, and a wonderful place I think for tent campers who want to be secluded and find solace among the Cottonwoods as the river gently flows by We parked our RV at the visitor center and began driving the Subaru along Harpers Corner Road and realized we probably couldn't go on the rugged Echo Park Rd. because we were low on gas, and there are no services along these roads. Our Subaru computer announced we had 70 miles to empty at the start of the 32 mile trek which would mean 64 round trip. If we added the Echo Park Rd, that would be another 13 x 2 or 26 round trip. Hmmmm we thought, 90 miles might be pushing it. We discovered however, that we could cheat the computer by coasting in neutral (we have manual transmission) for many of the miles on the main paved road. So after our picnic lunch with 25 miles left to make it back to the RV, the commuter said we had 60 miles left to empty. We decided it would be a shame to come all the way here and not see the canyon floor and Green River in this most secluded spot, so we went for it. The road was steep going down which meant we could again coast, but it was very rough and thankfully only a few cars came by, since passing was difficult in many places. But it afforded gorgeous views. At the bottom, we let the dogs drink from the river, and then we started back up. We watched the car's computer drop from 60 miles to empty to 30 miles to empty within a couple of miles. At that point, I calculated we had about 31 miles to go. Hauling ourselves out of the canyon used more gas than we had hoped, and at the top of that road we still had 25 miles to go when the car computer showed -- not 10 or 15 or even 0, just two dashes. For the next half hour we were grateful there were so few cars in the park because when we found hills and could coast in neutral, we gained speeds up to 60 mph so we could use the speed to get up the next hill (45mph speed limit). But to our great surprise and relief, we made it back to the RV!!!!! After we left the park in the RV with the car in tow, we stopped for gas. The car which holds 16 gallons needed 15.96 - just as thirsty as our poor dogs were in the 90° F heat!
What an interesting week! We walked in the footsteps of Lewis & Clark, soaked in a natural hot spring, watched captive wolves in a natural setting, traveled through Hells Canyon and are now enjoying time with friends at the Huckleberry Festival in Donnelly, ID. Many years ago while researching a film I learned about the Selway Bitteroot Wilderness area on the Montana-Idaho border. I've wanted to hike there ever since, and this week got my chance. We had a gorgeous day and hiked on the Moose Creek trail which starts at the end of the Elk Summit Road - a 20 mile gravel road, half of which is one lane. There is a primitive campground at the road's end, and no one was there. The hike took us on a ridge looking across the Bitteroot range and through a fire burn area that is regenerating with some small pines and firs and beautiful fireweed and wildflowers. Rocket was in heaven chasing squirrels and drinking from the mountain run off water, and we hiked down towards the canon floor but never reached it even though we hiked about 12 miles (rt). On the trail, we met a group of young boys hiking with sponsors from Inner Wilderness out of Missoula - a therapy program that helps struggling teens : http://youthhomesmt.org/innerroads/our-program/. These young boys and the staff had been hiking 55 miles and were building character, carrying heavy packs with their bedding, food, clothing and essentials. They would be out for weeks, and we watched them digging up wild ginger for tea, dining on Thimble berries (very sweet and tasty) and looking for huckleberries. The leaders were young, enthusiastic, and energetic; and, it was a nice treat to meet and talk with them awhile. There is a fire burning in Idaho and we occasionally smelled smoke and there was some haze; we hope that fire gets controlled soon, but the forest service thinks it will be Sept before it's under control.The night before, I had slept wrong or did something to yank a muscle along my back and shoulder, and it was causing a lot of discomfort by evening. I took some Advil, used IcyHot and took a muscle relaxer to sleep that night, but the best thing for it the next day was a hot soak in Warm Springs which is just a 1.5 mile walk from Idaho Rt 12 at mile marker 150. Rt. 12 is also known as the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway and contains part of the Lewis & Clark trail. The road is an East-West one of 174 miles that winds through the Lolo Pass on Idaho's eastern border and parallels the Lochsa River while cutting through the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. There are lots of historical sites along the road including information about the Nez Perce, the Lochsa Historical Station and Devoto Grove. Devoto is a grove of ancient Western Red cedars where Bernard Devoto edited the Journals of Lewis & Clark for publication in 1953, taking their journals from 1805-1806 of thousands of pages and paring down to 500 pages. This is a beautiful drive, and the Lolo Pass visitor center by the Montana-Idaho border is a great resource. We camped 3 nights about 5 miles east in Montana in dispersed camping in one of the most private and comfortable sites we've seen in our travels. Our site had meadows of wildflowers on one side and the Lolo creek on the other, and hardly any cars traveled the road to it, and no other camp spots were nearby. There is a lot to do in the national forests here: fishing, hiking, ATV use, kayaking, horseback riding and in winter cross country skiing and snowshoeing. From Rt 12 we headed north to a small town, Winchester, ID - home to the Wolf Educational & Research Center (WERC). I wanted to see what their enclosures are like and see the wolves. At this time, they only have 2 captive wolves - both females rescued with 3 other wolves 10 years ago. The center promotes knowledge of wolves, both wild and captive, educating people about the benefits of having an apex predator like the wolf in the environment. There are a lot of misconceptions about wolves who have been maligned for centuries, and the center's outreach is important in a state where there are 786 wild wolves, and many people hate them. I don't like seeing wild animals in captivity, but these wolves are here because a woman somehow collected 17 wolves and was caring for them in her backyard. In 2006, the USDA confiscated the under nourished, poorly cared for wolves, and 5 found a home at WERC. The two I watched are XayXayx (White Watcher) and Kuckuc (Little Gray Girl). I went to the center in the afternoon and enjoyed talking with one of the handlers. I walked their trails, watched from platforms and saw deer, Redtail Hawks who have a nest nearby, and a got a brief glimpse of XayXayx. I was at one platform when I heard squirrels chattering fiercely in the direction of another platform. As I quietly walked towards the other platform, I saw a doe and her fawn standing right in front of a placard explaining what predators live in the area. After a few minutes they wandered away, and I stepped up on the platform closest to where the deer had been. That's when I noticed XayXayx step from the shadows, scratch, then sniff the air. I snapped a couple of quick shots before she moved behind some trees and wandered away. She is the alpha female, and I didn't see the shy Kuckuc that day. I was the only visitor that afternoon, but you can get a guided tour with a handler in the mornings or evenings. Terry didn't want to see the wolves since they are captive, and I felt conflicted about it too. But I came back at 7:30 the next morning, and again I was the only person on the "tour." What this means is you go with the handler to a fenced in area beside the fence where the wolves are; there is double fencing around the 2 acre enclosure. The handler sits in a spot beside the fence and visitors sit on wooden benches behind the handler. This does 2 things to put the wolves at ease. The benches put visitors closer to the wolf's eye line making it less threatening, and the handler sitting by the fence puts a buffer, someone known to the wolves, in between the wolf and the visitors. The wolves don't always come to this area or show themselves on tours. And in fact, Kuckuc has only come near (and then she stayed distant, briefly) once in many months. She didn't come to this area, but I got a distant glimpse of her by the meadow when I drove up. The handler is a name for those who feed the wolves and walk the enclosure daily checking for any fallen trees or obstacles and checking on the health of the wolves, from afar. They do not actually handle the wolves. These pack members are non-social captive animals meaning they do not like to be in close contact with humans, but they are curious. I was fortunate enough to see XayXayx come to the fence several times. She sniffed the air in our direction, she approached the fence and licked the handler's hand through the fence, and then twice she rubbed her fur on the chain link fence leaving her scent and claiming that was her territory. It was fascinating to witness, and I was grateful for the connection I felt to her; but, I'd still prefer to see wolves in the wild. From the wolf center, we headed south a couple of hours, driving through Hells Canyon, a gorgeous area of river and hillsides with lush green grass and brown vegetation mixed throughout. We headed to Donnelly, ID to visit our friends Craig and Vicky who are renovating a home in this sleepy town that booms in Summer. We arrived as the Huckleberry Festival began and are enjoying visiting with friends, camping on the town's lake, and eating Huckleberry ice cream! Next stop...Colorado and Sundance's prairie life!
This past week we've stayed in 5 different campsites traveling from Canada to Idaho as we slowly work our way to see Sundance in Colorado. We had a bad experience in one campground in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest (Meadow Creek Campground) which prompted me to write this blog. The campsite at Meadow Creek, #9, has a path campers from 2 other sites have trampled right through, a short-cut to the bathroom. To me that invades our privacy, and I don't like people walking right through my site; this has happened several times in the last year. Here I had one lady tell me she didn't understand why we camped on a trail; obviously she didn't understand the trail was made on the campsite, not the other way around. Which made me ponder, what are the top 10 campsites from year #1? Sometimes what sets these campsites apart is the timing of our arrival. Other sites are special because wildlife were in the area. And sometimes a campsite was special to us because of the neighbors, or lack of neighbors. Here are my choices for TOP 10 (6/1/2015-6/1/2016): #1 - Frisco Campground Cape Hatteras National Seashore, NC - $12/night This campground has ocean views with long boardwalks near protected dunes that link you to the beach. The beach has always been a favorite vacation spot for me, and when we arrived at Cape Hatteras, it was sunny, warm, uncrowded and our first camp spot of what will likely be a 2.5 year odyssey. There were only cold showers (that's all we needed beginning of June in NC) and there were sandspurs that plagued the dogs, but I loved started our journey at the ocean. This was the honeymoon phase of our trip, so it was even more special. #2 - Grassy Creek #2 John D Rockefeller National Parkway, WY - Free This spot just at the south entrance to Yellowstone is a special place along the Snake River. We stayed here twice and love that it affords a beautiful view and has few neighbors (only one other site right beside you with a few other sites a mile down the road). The sites are free but managed by the park service who cleans the toilet and removes the trash plus checks that people keep a clean site. With the river in front of you and a grassy field behind, you have lots of space to lounge in between. It's only a few miles from the entrance to Yellowstone and close to the Grand Tetons as well. #3 - Wait-a-Bit Creek British Columbia, Canada (near Golden) - Free This spot was a one night layover just a couple days into our Canada trip toward Banff. It is a beautiful spot on a glacial river with a picnic table and fire pit. Rocket enjoyed biting waves in the river, and we enjoyed reading in the sunshine and falling asleep to sounds of the river. There are about a dozen sites here, all very private and quiet this time of year (May) before schools let out. #4 - Bridger Teton National Forest, WY south of Jackson Hole at 20 minutes - Free This was namely Rocket's favorite campsite, but a favorite for all of us. Situated along a creek cutting through the hillside with grassy fields full of chipmunks, Rocket could roam off leash sniffing chipmunk holes, run down to bite the ripples in the creek, and when other campers set up a hundred yards away, he could focus on their dogs, herding from a distance. We also like this spot because there are hiking trails nearby. Sandhill cranes flew over calling softly in the evening and morning, and we saw a moose cow on the trail, and deer on the hill above the site. #5 - Beach between Surfside and Freeport, TX - Free We loved being able to drive the RV onto the hard packed sand and park for two weeks, falling asleep to the ocean for free. I'm not sure the Gulf of Mexico is the cleanest water in this part of the country (DuPont has a factory just down the road), but for free camping in February we enjoyed the sand, surf and view. Pelicans flew over in large groups morning and evenings and were fun to watch. The dogs enjoyed cooling off in the surf and digging in the sand, and Terry and I took bike rides and ran on the beach. Great place to relax. #6 - Falls Campground, Shoshone National Forest, WY - Free
This campsite was special because of the time of year. We arrived at the end of the season, the last week of September, the week before the campground closes. This time of year, forest service campgrounds in ID and WY are open but the hosts have left, no fees are collected and electric and water are still set up. So we were delighted to find a nearly empty campground with mountain views, electricity, water, trash pickup, for free. Around this campground are nice hiking trails and meadows where moose were seen, and as we were having a campfire one night, we saw a shooting star. Fond memories of this place, partly due to the timing of our trip. #7 - Kaibab National Forest outside Grand Canyon, AZ - Free We decided to show up at the Grand Canyon in April, when it suited us. We didn't have a reservation but checked online the day before so we knew the park campground was sold out. April is still part of spring break and very busy in the park. As it turned out, we were very happy camping just about 3 miles outside of the park in the Kaibab National Forest. We had a roomy campsite with no close neighbors - a place where we could generate solar power, walk the dogs off leash and still be close to the canyon for hiking and biking. The campground in the park is lovely with elk, squirrels and other wildlife, but we like that camping in the National forest comes with fewer rules. We love letting the dogs have room to roam without a 6' chain/leash (required in parks). They do not go far from our RV, we pick up after them, and they both respond to voice commands. In general we hardly ever use our generator. But if we want to make popcorn at 9pm during a movie, we can turn it on for 3 minutes in the forest. In the parks, the hours are usually limited to something like 8-10am and 5-7pm. #8 - Gros Ventre Campground, Grand Teton National Park, WY - $24/night This one makes the TOP 10 because our timing was right. We stayed here when we were passing through WY on our way south and wanted to visit my friend Eleanor who was visiting Jackson Hole. It was mating season for the moose, and the campground every year is a great spot to watch the courtship of moose. We watched for hours as a bull moose showed interest in 2 cows near the river, just behind the campsites. He sniffed and stood around the cows as they foraged, followed them all over the campground, and when we went to bed he continued his interest. During the night, under a nearly full moon, we watched and listened as he continued his advances just outside our RV. In the morning, we saw tracks all around our front door and were happy to see he didn't damage our awning with his antlers! (Not sure whether that would be covered by insurance.) It was a great place to see my friend Eleanor and a wonderful spot to watch moose (end of Sept). #9 - Washburn Campground San Simeon State Park near Pacific Ocean, CA - $20/night This site was in the primitive area of the campground, high on a hill. What we liked about it was its proximity to wildlife watching, the abundance of sunshine available to fuel our battery, and the nearby trail system. In CA primitive refers to the fact that the park doesn't cut the grass around the sites and manicure things. Also, another section of the campground had flush toilets and in the primitive section, there are only vault toilets. Since we use our own toilet, we preferred to be up on the hill with views of grassy meadows and the distant ocean rather than in the manicured and shaded area with only views of your neighbor's site. Every day we drove to the elephant seal rookery where thousands were beached, having had their pups and now lay molting. It was fascinating to watch them interact with others and be curious about their surroundings. #10 - Littleton Campground, Olympic National Forest, WA - Free This spot was recommended by the forest service ranger station, and we parked at the Mt. Muller trailhead with no one else around. Just outside our site was a creek on the trail that Rocket could enjoy; and, our site itself was very private with the sounds of running water nearby. This site was close to hiking trails in the park that led to fantastic waterfalls this time of year (Mid May). This site is just down a dirt road from a beautiful horse campground with corrals and clearings under large conifers for tents. A nice stop over for horseback riders on the trails. In retrospect, I realize our favorite campsites are near water...preferably running water. Recently we had a long day of driving and stopped to overnight at a rest area in Canada. We parked at the top of the parking area and within an hour, an 18 wheeler parked right beside us and kept his motor running while I was making dinner. We had our dinner at a picnic table away from his truck and decided to move our RV down below to another parking area. It was right beside a rushing river that made a perfect spot to camp. We fell asleep to the water, had privacy (everyone else parked near the 18 wheelers), and didn't even here traffic from the roadway above. Guess our next home will have to be on a creek, river, lake or ocean! |
AuthorFormer documentary film producer, wife and mother of one...I'm taking time off to see the US with my husband Terry. Here's where I'll write about our adventures RVing until the money runs out! Archives
August 2021
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