Okay, Levi, Taylor and myself spent the entire weekend looking for the hole in Jackson. We never did find it but we did find a canyon I think only the locals use, catch some cutthroat, see a black bear, play guitars in the rain, get our bear box rattled, see old faithful, laugh a bunch, take some photos and see a whole ton of cool scenery.
This was another fast trip, hey what can I say the weekend is only so long and we could only spend one night. We left Saturday morning early enough and arrived in Jackson early afternoon. As soon as we hit town I cut off some jackass for a parking spot that wasn’t three miles from town and we walked around looking for a burger. Apparently if is hard to find a good old fashioned burger there as most of what we saw was fine dining. Hmmm, maybe we just were not looking in the right spot but the last time I was in Jackson Hole (Twenty years ago) I found plenty but oh well, times change. We ate at a BBQ buffet place and then stopped by the best and most natural place in any town in Wyoming, Idaho or Montana for some directions. The fly shop. After greasing the gears with some money spent on overpriced flies we had directions to a camp spot that was right on the water. I love being a fly fisherman hehe.
After setting up camp the boys spent the night playing the guitars while I fished then we met up for a great campfire that cooked our tinfoil dinners and kept us warm from the rain that stopped and started more times than I care to mention. We didn’t take much so we enjoyed what we had more than usual. For dinner a some hamburger, carrots and potatoes cooked in the fire. Breakfast was some fresh fruit and mixed nuts with cold water to wash it down.
During the night there was some incredible noised which I can only describe as something large trying to get whatever was in the neighbors bear box. I think my heart was pounding pretty good as I laid awake listening to all this happen at some odd hour. I must have been exhausted from going up against the six pack of New Castle because I eventually went back to sleep.
The next day we all decided it would be worth some extra driving to head north, instead of south towards home, and travel through Yellowstone to see a bear close up and whatever else. This worked well as we saw a large Black bear as soon as we entered the park and continued on most of the day from one attraction to the next. We eventually ended up back home late Sunday night.
I had a great time at Lake Powell over the 24th. It was one of those trips that things just come together and ends up being almost magical at times. We found a great camp spot, the weather was perfect and everyone was happy.
Levi and I left for Kanab a little later than we wanted but it worked out fine. The drive down was pretty painful, at least to Beaver because we had just done the same drive two days before. After we turned off the main highway it got a lot better because the scenery was incredible between the turn off I-15 and Kanab. I didn’t realize it had been so long since the last time I drove that road. There is great fly-fishing, Bryce, Hole in the rock road and a ton of other stuff in this area and I suddenly wanted to stop and see everything again.
We met up with everyone and spent the night in Kanab at the RV park Lindsey’s parents own. They were nice enough to let us crash on a good piece of grass next to the road, which was perfect. We left early the next morning and met up with Hal at the Antelope Marina. I think the first bag he passed up to be loaded on the boat was a giant bag of golf balls, which completely confused Ken and I but he quickly cleared it up by saying, “Don’t worry, I brought a driver” I think I laughed about that most of the trip.
As soon as we we’re loaded and underway I felt some solace. I know I’m a little hard to read at times but this was more that just fun for me, it was the first time I was able to breath in six weeks. All of a sudden I was separate from my disaster and left to feel a little joy. The rest of the trip was more or less a continuation of this with no real drama, perfect weather, and a whole lot of sun.
It was weird to be at the other end of the lake, we usually launch from Bullfrog, but I liked it. The canyons were not as narrow and it left huge expansions to be seen close to sunset that were incredible. We still made Rainbow Bridge and Dangling Rope for Ice cream so it was a good mix of old and new. Also worth noting is the huge cliffs we all jumped off, vista golfing, Cooper all grown up, Lexi’s poor lips, and my new nick Levi Senior. How’d that happen?
Ken invited us down to Moab this weekend for some campfire and hiking. Ang had tons of homework to do and said she would rather stay home and hang with the pups so Levi jr. and myself headed out early Saturday morning. The drive was easy with only a small amount traffic and soon enough we were pulling in to Moab. As we drove down the main street I realized Levi jr had never been there before. I was shocked an a little ashamed that my own son had never been to one of my favorite spots on earth. I think he was pretty impressed with the area though and I’m sure we will be heading back soon.
We met up with Ken and Cooper and almost immediately took off on a hike. Kens friend Rick has a place just outside of town we stayed at and is located almost right at a major trail-head. Anyway, we hiked for a couple of hours then had some dinner over a campfire and went to bed. I forgot the tent poles so Levi and I decided to just sleep in the Scion, what a mistake. That thing is just to small to sleep in, ever. I woke up in the morning and felt like I had been in a kick fight for six hours.
Wanting to get some pictures and explore a bit me and Levi jr. headed up river a few miles and got some good shots. Then headed back into town for some food and coffee. After that we met up with the rest of the crew and took off for Arches. It was great fun, not too many people and not too hot we easily hiked out to Landscape Arch. We wanted to keep going but ran out of time and headed home in the early afternoon.
