BELLVUE IDAHO TO JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING

OK, so I’m back and pleased to report Jack is on the road to recovery and all is well.  He’s not over what ever it was totally, but much better.  He’s decided it was food poisoning or something.  Ever notice how often we blame feeling cruddy on what we eat?

Anyway today was an awesome day.  Started off a bit shaky - Carol was not a happy girl.  We refused to be rushed today so didn’t get going to 8:45.  She also has a sore toe which we didn’t know about.  Anyway.  It ended up being such an awesome day everyone ended up happy. ;>

So as we left the scenery continued to be awesome and interesting.  The amount of irrigation through this sections just amazed us. It makes you wonder about the water table.  They irrigate grain, vegetable crops, hay, even pasture with cattle in it.  Very lush for a while before it went back to a dessert landscape. Then we noticed a quite sudden change.  

We were in lava fields - mile after mile of black- with some plant growth on it but stunted.  We had entered Craters of the Moon National Monument area.  Story is that Idaho sits on The Great Rift, a long line of fractures in the earth’s crust that allowed lava to burst through the earth surface. Not volcanoes, but more like leaks.  There were places where lava burst through holes so spewed out rocks and chunks of lava which formed some awesome ridges or walls, piles and formations, and cones that were made when ash spewed up in the air and came down almost like sand, but it formed these huge cone shaped mini-mountains that look like they are mostly soot or sand.  We took the time to take a drive the National Parks folks had paved and made walkways to provide access to.  Quit an experience.

This particular lave field is 15,000 years old, and covers 618 sq miles.  There are up to 60 lava flows and 25 cones.  This part of the world has had a lot of seismic activity so there are many other lava flows and such, but not as big/impressive.  I was fascinated by the sprinkling of plant life - a few lichen, a few wild flowers, and the hardy pines that seem to need very little to grow, even if they grow stunted.  Not much wildlife here - we saw one chipmunk and a few birds.

However, after leaving the main lava area, we did spot three prong horn antelopes and later in the day saw several eagles and quite a few large hawks and osprey.  

We continued on east passing through Idaho Falls and began once again following The Snake River. It often runs in Canyons or valleys so is again beautiful.  As we crossed into Wyoming the landscape changed again now we are in a combination of the worn down, sage covered mountains and the rockier “new” range of snow-capped Grand Tetons.

Jackson Hole, play ground of the rich and famous, is on the edge of a huge elk preserve and wetlands.  Grand Tetons National Park lies between us and Yellow Stone. It’s a distance of aboug 95 miles.  So we are well positioned to visit town in the morning to stock up with grub for our stay in Yellow Stone and then be able to take out time and enjoy the sights.

Talked to Mom today, and then John this evening.  Both are well.

Back at you when possible.  I hear its been 37 C in PEI and hot in Fonthill.  Weird because we have been in the dessert and its been in the 60s F.  I love it, but everyone else is cold.  

Well, must be off to do some banking while I have a good internet connection.

Julie - remember if you want to get in touch email us at julie@seacroftpei.com

.