My Trip Out West (Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho and Utah)

[chomp]

Hey everyone -

Well, I spent just over two weeks out west this year, and I did some traveling! I hiked over 150 miles and still managed to put 2300 miles on my rental car!

I started by flying into Salt Lake City and driving to Wyoming to pick up some friends. I stopped at Fossil Butte National Monument to hut for fossils (I found 4 fish) and then drove to Steamboat Springs. From there, I hiked on the CDT through the Mt Zirkel Wilderness with Blister Sister and Rick (Peregrine, Lord Duke, Gadget, etc..)

For the weekend, I went to Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked the 27 mile CDT loop out of Grand Lake. I added a few side trips for a total of around 36 miles I think. Sunday was amazing - I saw over 50 elk, 6 bighorns, 2 marmots, and 2 moose. Oh, and I got some great views as well.

After that, I made my way to Idaho, but took my time. I stopped at the Dinosaur National Monument and camped out for the night at Craters of the Moon National Monument. Both were amazing in their own way, and I was glad that I stopped.

I ended up in Stanley, ID - the Gateway to the Sawtooth Wilderness. I spent 6 days hiking, mountain biking, sightseeing and soaking in natural hot springs.

Anyway, my full journal will be posted at some point in the future, but I finished off my photos and captions, which is really what most of you are interested in anyway. So, without any more verbage, here are the photos. I broke it down into five easy albums for your viewing pleasure:

http://gallery.backcountry.net/chomp-west2005

As always, feel free to leave comments. IDing flowers, lakes and mountains are always appreciated, but really any comments at all are welcome.

chomp

 

[Mr. X]

Awesome, I have to get off the NE and do some exploring. Although I doubt I can cram as much in and document as you did in two weeks! I liked the cut out appearances in the photos, pretty funny.

 

[sapblatt]

Chomp -

Looks like you had a great trip. Your pictures are always amazing (I got thru some of them, but I will return!)

 

[Seeker]

OK, I am SOOOO jealous!! Nice pics! LOL--some people have their Not Duck, some people have their Not VSA.

 

[chomp]

Movie!

I managed to catch a couple of older female elk on video. They were leading a herd of over twenty, and clearly in charge. There was a very young male steering the rest of the herd, but these two females were out in front making all sorts of noise and came VERY close to me.

If clicking on the link does play the movie correctly, I would recommend saving the movie and opening it with Quicktime.

http://firm-racing.com/files/tim/elk.avi

chomp

 

[jjo]

Great pics!!! Sounds like a productive and fun trip...

 

[PhillyGeo]

Wicked wicked jealous

Great pictures.

I relocated from Drigg, ID back to the NE. It's tough to look at pictures like yours and not have a my eyes well-up a little ... <sniffle>

 

[Gris]

Cool. I spent some time in and aroound Idaho fall before last. Local farmer/ranchers were complaining bitterly about the wolves. Did ya hear any at night in the Sawtooth...?

 

[MichaelJ]

Absolutely amazing. I really need to find a way to take such vacations and still come back employed.

What is it with AT hikers and cut-outs of people's heads, anyway?