Words from Days 5 - 9

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="043085a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Western Tour</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Western Tour"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Schedule"><U>Schedule</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 1"><U>Day 1</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 2"><U>Day 2</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 3"><U>Day 3</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 4"><U>Day 4</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 5"><U>Day 5</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 6"><U>Day 6</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 7"><U>Day 7</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 8"><U>Day 8</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 9"><U>Day 9</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 10"><U>Day 10</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 11"><U>Day 11</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Days 12 14"><U>Days 12 - 14</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 15"><U>Day 15</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 16"><U>Day 16</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 17"><U>Day 17</U></A>   |   <B>Words from Days 5 - 9</B>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Words Day 10"><U>Words Day 10</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Words Days 11 13"><U>Words Days 11 - 13</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Words Days 14 15"><U>Words Days 14 - 15</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Words, Days 16 17"><U>Words, Days 16 - 17</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Epilogue"><U>Epilogue</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=10 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="044d2e83.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04507073.jpg"> <div> <I>Words from Days 5 - 9</I></div> <bR> <div> Day 5 - August 16</div> <bR> <div> Hell's Half Acre was fascinating. The store and restaurant has been closed for a couple of years I guess, but the “hole” is still there. We walked around a little on the edge and marveled at the strange formations down below. We all would have been interested in walking down in but didn't have enough time. Grayson and I did so back in 1997 - maybe next time through again.</div> <bR> <div> 20 winds through Wind River Canyon before Thermopolis. Narrow rock-walled passageway partly through Arapaho and Shoshoni land. Hard to keep eyes on road but I did.</div> <bR> <div> We all soaked in the hot springs at Thermopolis State Park. A treaty made the waters of the hot spring available to the public for free. A haiku from the 1996 trip that's in “Twenty Days on Route 20” (<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Comic Sans MS" ><A HREF="http://www.foothillspublishing.com/2006/id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.foothillspublishing.com/2006/"><U><U>http://www.foothillspublishing.com/2006/id23.htm</U></U></A></FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Comic Sans MS" >)</FONT></div> <bR> <div> mineral hot springs</div> <div> Arapaho, Shoshoni</div> <div> my body thanks you</div> <bR> <div> We used the outside pool for the free 20 minutes. Carolyn stayed in for 13 minutes, the boys a little longer and I the full time. A few minutes before my time was up two older couples came into the pool and were conversing in either Polish or Russian. Before leaving I walked over to them and asked which - it was Russian. We struck up a short conversation about Polish friends they had in the US. I told them about how I was influenced by Tolstoy's works when in my early 20s. They asked where I was from and I told them NY and I was giving poetry readings here in the west. One of the women said she reads poetry and I replied that we need readers for sure. But then she talked about performing poetry! That is what she meant when she said she reads poetry. So I asked her to recite a poem for me if she'd like. So she stood in the water and recited a long poem in Russian, running through various levels of volume and shades of emotions. I couldn't understand a word but was fascinated nonetheless. Afterwards I asked her what the poem was. She said Maxim Gorky wrote it and told me the story in English. Short version is the czar was returning from a failed battle, defeated, and he heard this young woman laughing and thought she was laughing at him He called her to him and she refused to come because she was with her boyfriend, kissing, sharing love. The czar had her arrested and she was to be executed. She felt love was what was more important than fighting, war, death. A guard let her go to her boyfriend for the night but made her promise to return in the morning to be executed. Does anyone know this poem, this story? I want to look it up after returning.</div> <bR> <div> I thanked her for the reading and then left the pool, well over my free 20 minutes. </div> <div> Thank you again, Arapaho, Shoshoni.</div> <bR> <div> Later we checked into the Irma Hotel in Cody and I gave a reading at the library - a small but appreciative group. Also connections back to our home ground in NY with a couple of the library staff. Small world. </div> <bR> <div> The Irma was fascinating, though we didn't have a room in the original part of the hotel, we were in a more recent addition. Earlier e had read about a ghost at the hotel and Chapin was intrigued about being there - but no sign of a ghost and his compass didn't do any weird gyrations whenever he checked it.</div> <bR> <div> Day 6 - August 17</div> <bR> <div> From Cody we headed into the Shoshoni National Forest, up Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. Now we were in the mountains for sure. The road climbs and dips and is filled with amazing views all the way. Canyons, mountains, valleys and really not a lot of traffic. (see pics)</div> <bR> <div> From there we drove up the Beartooth Highway toward Montana. We checked out a couple of forest service campgrounds and settled on a site at Island Lake, 9,600' elevation. Mountain peaks were close by and the campsite was a pleasantly wooded and secluded. before dark we hiked up a small rise on the west side of the lake. (pics) Only a little over 300 feet but tiring. I know I'm not in as good a shape as I once was, but this was taxing, the uphill hiking. then I realized we were at nearly 10,000' and there is an acclimation to high elevation that needs to take place. The view up top was worth the effort to get there, as is almost always the case when hiking.</div> <bR> <div> Day 7 - August 18</div> <bR> <div> We stayed at the Island Lake campsite for two nights so we didn't need to break and set up camp again. We headed out hiking and had to cut it short when thunderstorms approached. It rained a bit but then cleared. Later in the day Carolyn, Chapin and I went out again and Grayson stayed at camp and then explored on his own. This hike was the one where Chapin and I hiked up to the snowfield high up on a ridge. (Pics)</div> <bR> <div> What a wonderful experience to explore around on these high peaks. No trail hiking needed, just wandering the open meadows and exposed rocks, no one else in view. Again though, dark clouds were approaching so we didn't do as much exploring as we would have liked. maybe cut short by an hour, being near sunset anyway. </div> <bR> <div> Talked with one of our neighbors at camp - a transplanted New Englander (MA) who has been living in Bozeman since 1985. Gary hopes to move back east in five years or so, wanting to buy land, build a “green” house and have a few acres of land to homestead on. We talked about the Wheeler Hill area, our Amish neighbors, relatively inexpensive per acre prices. He may pay a visit on his next trip east to check the area out.</div> <bR> <div> Day 8 - August 19</div> <bR> <div> We broke camp, drove to Yellowstone, entering from Montana, the northeast entrance. As we paid the entrance fee, $25, we asked about campsites. We were told by a few people there may be waiting in line for available sites. The ranger said that wouldn't be the case now, most sites weren't filled up the previous night. Great!</div> <bR> <div> We drove over to Tower Falls campground and located a site at the back of the campground, a “draw” just behind us. As we pulled into that site a grayish long hair, bearded guy camped next door greeted us with a peace sign wave. </div> <bR> <div> After setting camp we went out to view Tower Falls (pic) with the intention to hike along the Yellowstone River. Once more, approaching thunder and black clouds curtailed the hike. I lingered down near the river shore with Chapin while Carolyn and Grayson hiked back up to the car. I didn't want to abort the hike, felt that the rain and lightening might not actually hit us. While hanging out there I had a conversation with a young woman from Sydney, Australia and her traveling partner, a journalist, movie reviewer who lives in Maryland. On the way back up to the car I had another conversation with a young woman from Germany. Yellowstone, a great place to meet people from all over the world.</div> <bR> <div> The storm did bypass us. Only a few drops of rain.</div> <bR> <div> Later that day took some pictures of virga off to the east. Our neighbor and friend, Dave, pointed out virga to us the evening of the house-raising on Wheeler Hill. A few of us were relaxing upstairs on the second floor, looking out of a window opening where earlier that morning stood only a 24 by 40 foot deck. Out to the east dark clouds drifted away, rain falling but evaporating before reaching the ground. Dave explained this was called virga. It has been a special sight to see for us ever since.</div> <bR> <div> Back at camp I talked with our neighbor a bit. Jerry Lee and Sharon (his wife) live in Tallahassee now but in the early 70s were part of a commune in Potter County, PA, not far from where I was part of a community in the hills of southwest Steuben County at the same time. Both places were called “The Farm” (Ah, how many thousands of back-to-the-land communities called themselves that in those days?) They stayed for a few years and then moved on. That too was the way of things back then. But we all were influenced by that brief experience and for some of us it made a lasting impact on our lives, values that have still remained.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Day 9 - August 20</div> <bR> <div> Talk about spectacular! The pictures for this day tell the story, for the most part. A day of wildlife. Bison, Big Horn Sheep, Grizzlies and Elk. Yellowstone.</div> <bR> <div> Bison are everywhere. Along the meadows, in the woods, on the roads. (pic) They know it is their land and pay no heed to these thousands of visitors driving cars, gawking out of windows, snapping photos.</div> <bR> <div> As we approached Dunraven Pass, on the way to Yellowstone Lake area, we came upon a congregation of cars and people. Something was up. We found a place to park and walked back to the small crowd. A grizzly and cubs had been spotted but were now hanging out in the nearby trees out of view. We watched for awhile and slowly walked back toward where the Washburn Mountain trail begins. Then I spotted the mother and a couple of cubs coming out of the woods. Everyone hurried along the road to where I was and we got some wonderful views of the mother and four cubs walking through the opening. (pics) Two of the cubs are this year's and two are hers from a year ago or, a ranger told me, they may be adopted from another bear. It's been very dry and tough for the bears in terms of enough food.</div> <bR> <div> The bears disappeared into the woods again and we headed up toward where they were headed, walking along the Washburn trail. A woman ranger was with us, along with about 30 other people. We waited there, the ranger made sure we stayed together and with her. Then the bears showed up through an opening in the woods, the mother followed by the four young ones in turn. I was able to get a nice picture of one of the second year cubs as it stood on a downed tree. (pics)</div> <bR> <div> The ranger directed us along the trail when suddenly the grizzlies appeared just below us on the trail, crossing over to the woods above. The ranger herded us back, trying to keep a safe distance between us and them. They disappeared above and the ranger admitted that we were a lot closer than they want people to ever be. </div> <bR> <div> We continued on after the grizzly experience to the Grand Canyon area of Yellowstone. Impressive canyon and especially the Lower Falls and the walk down Uncle Tom's Trail to get a view of them. Again, the pictures tell the story.</div> <bR> <div> After a few stops by Yellowstone Lake we took a hike up Elephant's Back, about an 800 foot high peak near the north end of the lake. Nice hike, switchbacks, lodgepole pine, good view at the top. The real exciting part was on the way down we spotted a number of young elk near the trail. In fact, one, with small antlers, was VERY close. (See pic) Again, another exciting Yellowstone experience.</div> <bR> <div> That evening at camp I talked more with our neighbors. Jerry Lee retired from teaching high school Social Studies and has been teaching History at a Community College in Tallahassee. They've been on the road since beginning of June, returning in September. One of their early stops was at a friend's place in the Finger Lakes! </div> <bR> <div> Feel free to send along comments - it's been great reading your responses to the journey pics and words.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>