Not Bringing My RV Up Here

The sky had been either hazy or cloudy the first few days in the Tetons, so when we were getting a little reprieve, we had asked three solo ladies from our campground to join us for a drive, and they accepted.

Our first stop was at Deadman’s Bar, but as we were not looking to go rafting, about the only things there are a parking lot and boat ramp into a shallow Snake River. We all got back into the truck, five people and three dogs and continued onward. We drove through the National Elk Refuge, but the only wildlife we saw were birds and chipmunks. It’s a rough road going up, such that none of our passengers felt they’d want to bring their vans or small motorhome up. We were surprised that the Curtis Creek Campground was near full, but wanted to see what dispersed camping looked like. Up and up we went, bouncing away over the ruts and large rounded stones protruding from the road, discussing the courage of those that brought their travel trailers and vans up there to camp. While it wasn’t for any of us, the RAM conquered the road inflated to OffRoad 2 until we came to a Y in the road, one side saying no vehicles, the other washed out with deeper ruts than we wanted to traverse. Nope, not making it to the Goodwin Lake trailhead, but that’s okay. This little adventure led to territory none of us had been before.

As we headed back down, we stopped at the Curtis Canyon Overlook. All of us got to snapping photos in every which direction. It was nice sharing what we saw different from one another. I learned that shooting directly into the sun at sunset emphasized the layers of mountains while washing away many of the other details. I learned why one preferred aperture priority to my shutter priority when not shooting in full manual mode. Interestingly, we had three of the same brand of full-frame, mirrorless cameras, but of different models.

We didn’t make it to the other stops that night as we were hopeful to catch the twilight colors back at the campsite, only the sky didn’t deliver as it had on other nights. Still, I think it was an enjoyable outing for all of us. Ralene, Maria and Kayla... I’m glad to have met each of you, that y’all joined us for that little escape, and hope our stories reunite again in an upcoming chapter!

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Today was a good day. It was a bit warm for the steep-ish hike we did, but a little sweat never hurt. Suki was a bit worn out and slept most of the afternoon. We've been slightly concerned getting to our campsite next week as a landslide damaged the road. Today we learned that it is temporarily open now and should be completely repaired next week. It's a relief that we shouldn't have to hunt for a campsite last minute.