Snake River that is! Ron and I have been kayaking a lot
lately and one of our favorite things to do is spend a couple of hours paddling
the Snake River from Jackson Lake Dam to the Pacific Creek take out. John was kind enough to run the shuttle for
us while he was here. We’ll return the
favor next year when he and Linda return with their new kayak, a divorce maker. Won't that be fun?
How’s that for a candid photo? Mount Moran is still hazy
most mornings from the Idaho fires. Hazy or not, it’s always impressive.
Our first trip down the river was what we now refer to as
Ron’s Double Dumb Day. It’s not often
that Ron has one of those, but today was his day. I’m usually the one who does the kind of
stuff where people look at you and say, “What were you thinking?”
We paddled off from below the dam on beautiful flat
water. There was definitely a downstream
current but it sure was calm on top. Ron
could barely take his eyes off all the trout swimming below his kayak. Nor could he keep his eye off the
fisherwoman a mile or so downstream casting into the river. His focus was definitely not on the direction
his yak was heading. I was ahead of him
and when we hit a good sized riffle, at a split around an island, I went to the
right toward the calm water. Too late he
noticed that I had gone right, and too late did he try to navigate in my
direction. He got caught broadside to
the riffle and then got beached on some shallow rocks. He got out of his kayak and managed to drag
it around to the slow water but in the process slipped and got a tad wet and
cut his index finger. I realized he
wasn’t with me when I exited the right side of the island so I paddled upstream,
like Lewis and Clark, and finally found him coming out from behind the island
with a trail of blood running from his finger.
Luckily, I had some tissues (note to self: bring First Aid kit when traveling with Ron)
for him to wrap around the finger. He
put a lot of pressure on it with the paddle and finally the blood flow
stopped.
We had smooth water through Oxbow Bend. ..
...and smooth paddling all the way to Pacific Creek. A day that started a little shaky turned out
to be a lot of fun. Ron will have his
eye on the direction his kayak is going in the future, I have no doubt. He’ll also remember to put his wallet in a
dry sack (we have many of those). When
he went to use his wallet not too long after we came off the water it was
soaking wet, as were its contents. That’s
what happens when your backside hits the water!
John came to the rescue when we got back to camp. He is a retired policeman so he took a look
at the cut (it was deep and at the crease) and advised peroxide rinse and a
splint to keep it curved. A few minutes
later he showed up with a handmade finger splint that did the trick. Ron got away with no stitches. Not only did John run the shuttle that day,
but he walked the dogs while we were gone, and gave emergency medical
treatment. What a friend!
On a subsequent trip down the river we encountered Ranger
Celeste kayaking through Oxbow Bend. One
of her duties is to kayak different sections of the river looking for folks in
trouble as well as looking for those who don’t have proper licenses or for
those who are just plain trouble. How
would you like this job? It sure would
work for me. We traveled for about an
hour with her during which time she told us of a friend of hers who had been
kayaking the river when she encountered a hostile cow moose who thought she
shouldn’t be on the river.
Not too long after that we came upon these two cows chilling
and grazing in the river. We gave them
lots of room as we went by. They didn’t
take their eyes off us.
Dave and Sandy will be heading back to MN for the fall soon. They’ll join us again this winter in AZ. We like that.
Dave and I are swapping rides.
Today I’m taking him down the Snake.
I think he’s still breathing. There’s a pretty good size difference between
Ron and Dave so we had to squeeze Dave into Ron’s medium PFD. There’s not much freeboard showing in the
“aft” section but he’s staying afloat so far.
We’re passing an area known as Cattleman’s Bridge. Is that Ron standing over there with the
camera? Smile!
The smoke is still hanging in the mountains. I’m thinking it may be the first snow in
Idaho that puts the fires out.
Hopefully, we’ll get a change in wind direction in the next week or
so. It’s beautiful cruising through
Oxbow Bend. I can’t wait to do it when
Alison and Steve are here the end of September.
With a little bit of luck the fall colors will be in full swing by then.
We can see the low bushes along the river starting to
put on their fall colors.
It’s a spectacular day!
Dave is looking at the shoreline where a grizzly just left
the water for the bushes. Dave
shouted to let me know the bear was there.
I looked in time to get a good look at the bear but I couldn’t get my
camera out of the dry sack before it disappeared. It’s a good memory.
Now it’s back to the moving business.
Play hard, work hard!
The next morning Dave and Sandy took off early to do a
little riding in the park. I knew my
time was coming. They were gone most of
the day and with each hour they were gone the wind picked up speed.
I got a few instructions from my driver.
No, that's not duct tape on my mouth, it's a microphone! Now if Ron were driving it would be duct tape for sure! We were off for a windy ride. We could barely hear through the microphone
set and my head felt a little like a bobblehead...kind of looked like that
too. It’s a good thing the wind was
howling. I usually fall in love and want
most any toy I try, but the wind kept my enthusiasm down. This twenty mile ride was fun but I must admit I don’t
think I could go far in the wind. Now...hmmm....maybe
if I were the driver???? Ron let out a
sigh of relief when we returned and I said I wasn’t ready for a trike. I need to get my head screwed on tighter
first and we know that’s not likely to happen!
I will, however, look for a ride again, Dave, on a nice calm day. Sharing is so much fun!
We’re hiking again. Gil
and Nancy are here today but Dave and Sandy won’t be with us as they headed to
MN early this morning. Celeste and Dave
will be pulling out and heading home to Florida tomorrow. Our friend, Steve, a
Lazy Daze owner we have seen many times here at Gros Ventre, is joining us
again today. We don’t waste any time
sitting around. There’s always something
to do.
Dave and Celeste are enjoying a quiet moment at Phelps
Lake. They’ll take this memory home with
them to Florida and they’ll dream of the Tetons all winter. We’re pretty sure we’ll see them again right
here in our summer paradise. They have a
whole community of Lazy Daze friends now.
We’ve picked up the pace.
All we have to do is mention those great Pearl Street bagels and we get
hungry. Ally and I like to go there
after hikes on this side of the park.
They make great lattes and great bagels, and we can sit by Fish Creek
and let the world go by. I know our
hikers are going to love going there.
It’s a tradition we must carry on.
We were able to cruise the main area of the bend for a short paddle. 
The colors are now reaching their peak. 
Soon, the trees will be bare... 
