In the morning, we drove up the road to the Fossil Butte National Monument:

One of the volunteers demonstrated how to clean a fossil:

We then drove to the Warfield Fossil Quarry.  We worked for an hour, and brought home a box full of fish fossils.  The limestone comes out in pieces the size of a pizza box.  The chisel is placed on the edge to create a crack that is used to split the rock edgewise, forming two thinner pizza boxes, hopefully with fossils on the inside.

From the fossil dig, we drove to Kemmerer where we replenished our water supply and had lunch.  We then drove south to Green River, entering the Red Desert.  We drove along a gravel road looking for wild horses.  In the distance, Pilot Butte:

It had rained, and the RV was quite a mess:

There was a sign at some point that said that the land area enclosed by the mountains visible to the North, West, and South is larger than the state of Massachusetts.  Not that that’s saying much.

We drove out on Tri-Territory Road 4-17 where we spotted some wild horses:

This pronghorn ran in front of our SUV and nearly met his end:

We pulled off the road and to set up the RV for the night.  This area of Southwest Wyoming is the largest unfenced area in the US.  We were 10 miles from the nearest paved road, and 15 miles from the nearest people.

More wild horses:

Eventually we arrived at the Killpecker Dunes, the largest moving dune field in the US.  It’s a popular OHV destination:

In the distance, Boar’s Tusk, an eroded volcanic neck:

The clouds looked ominous, but so far there wasn’t any rain:

Practicing for winter:

Next, we headed towards Boar’s Tusk:

The RV in the distance.  We were quite alone in the desert:

Parts of the “road” out to Boar’s Tusk were really, really bad.  There’s no way the Odyssey would have made it.  Even in the SUV, we bottomed out in a couple spots. 

The clouds were getting really thick, and there was a lot of lightning.  Since we were the highest thing around, we didn’t get out of the car.

And then it started to rain.  And pour.  And hail.  The “road” filled with water, quite a bit in spots.  I would get out and do a depth test with a stick to make sure we could cross:

I’d say we broke in the SUV rather nicely:

The clouds were spectacular:

We travelled 177 miles today.  This was dispersed camping at it’s finest.  What a great day!

Monday morning we had an early start.  Here we are ready to leave:

We dumped our tanks at a gas station in Jackson, which was….. interesting.  We then drove South to Hoback Junction for our horseback ride:

We started off together, then M and Trish split off to complete the two hour ride while B and I completed the one hour ride.

B’s horse was a 27 year-old fellow named Spud.  Spud is moved along by slapping him with a length of rope, known as “the Spud Whacker”.  B did a great job keeping Spud going, and pulling up on his reins when he tried to eat.

Trish and M are up front:

B and I with the guide:

Meanwhile, Trish and M headed off on their two-hour ride, which took them off the road onto the ridge above:

While B and I were waiting for M and Trish to return, B spotted me while I crawled under the RV, stripped the brake wires, and replaced the wire nut so that both RV wheels now brake, meaning that the RV will no longer heave to one side when we brake.

We left the stables and continued South along the Snake river to the West Table river access, where we waited for the folks from Teton Whitewater to show up.  Our guide was Ammon, and he was great.  He asked the other boats not to splash us because there was a “princess” on board.  The four of us were in the back row.  Here we are entering the class-3 Big Kahuna rapids:

Everyone had a great time.  Thanks Ammon!

From there we headed South, for a dozen or so miles even being 100 yards over the border into Idaho, then sadly turned to the East.  We had reached the Westernmost extent of our trip.  It was time to head for home.

I had chosen a dispersed campsite on BLM land just East of Fossil Butte National Monument, but there was intervening private land, so we continued on.  We eventually found a place to get off the road just a few hundred yards from the road to the National Monument.  The sunset was beautiful.  Fossil Butte is in the background:

While we set up the RV, the kids collected bones they found lying about, probably from a cow.  Did I mention that I love dispersed camping?

We drove 172 miles today.  The white circles indicate the location of the horse corral and the river access.

Shabbos was wonderful on Shadow Mountain.  We went for a walk, and got very, very wet on the way back.  By the time we got back to the RV, our shoes were weighed down with several pounds of mud.  There was a good bit of windy weather too.  Being all alone out there was great.

Unfortunately, it was too cloudy to get a photograph of the night sky.  I went to bed early in order to photograph the sunrise.

As planned, I got up early to capture the sunrise as seen from our “campsite”.  Even before dawn it was beautiful:

And then the sun came up.  I was standing there in complete awe of the scene, overwhelmed by the experience of it.

Looking Southwest at Blacktail Butte:

Best campsite in Wyoming:

I rode my bike from the RV to the top of Shadow Mountain, where the kids took their bikes off the SUV.  The three of us rode to the base of Shadow Mountain together:

B and M accompanied me from the top to mile 4.  B had had enough, so we put her bike on the SUV, and M and I rode together to mile 6.  I continued on towards Cunningham Cabin, but we weren’t sure if we were going the right way (turns out we were), so I packed it in at mile 7.5.

We drove on to Cunningham Cabin:

From there, we visited the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, then hiked the String Lake Trail:

Fox in the bushes:

There were lots of “wow, I can’t believe we’re here!” moments on the hike:

From there, we went into Jackson, where we visited the Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center, rode the Alpine Slide, and picked up some groceries.

The sun was setting on the way back:

We stopped at Mormon Row:

At home, we own a print of Ansel Adam’s The Tetons and the Snake River.  Looking at a map, I found a likely location from which the photograph was captured.  We drove out there and it was indeed the spot!  Here’s Adams’ photograph from 1942:

The trees are a good bit taller 68 years later, but it’s definitely the same spot.  This was one of the highlights of the trip for me.  Here’s my photograph:

What a great day!

Team Bubbie was headed back to Minneapolis this morning, so we got a shot of the kids:

We went back to the Fishing Bridge area, where Trish did laundry while I replaced the bearings in one of the RV wheels.  Greasy fun!

On the way out of Yellowstone, we stopped at the West Thumb Geyser Basin.  Some of the pools here were very deep.  The color of the pool is determined by the temperature, which determines which species of bacteria grow in the water:

Really deep:

Really, really deep:

Yellowstone Lake:

M tries on an antler at the visitor center:

We headed out of Yellowstone and headed South to Grand Teton National Park:

Yes, more bison:

We found a great dispersed camping location on Shadow Mountain, across the valley from the Tetons.  The kids took a couple photographs while we set up for Shabbos:

About 90 miles today:

Cody’s Walmart was the most popular RV Walmart we’ve encountered so far:

Heading West from Cody, we stopped at the Buffalo Bill Dam.  In 1910, when it was finished, it was the tallest dam in the world (325 feet).  It’s a long way down:

The reservoir is on the upstream side, obviously:

The logs that float downstream are pulled out periodically:

From there, we headed West into Yellowstone.  There were Bison aplenty:

We stopped at the Fishing Bridge visitor center, went to the campground and unhitched the RV, then went to Yellowstone falls:

Canyon visitor center:

Next we went to the Norris Geyser Basin.  Lots of bubbling and steaming pools, from the heat generated by the Yellowstone Supervolcano:

Next we hiked the Artists Paintpots hike:

Mud bubble in the paintpot:

Mud is violently thrown out of the hole:

M leads the way:

Waiting for Old Faithful:

A little steam at first:

Waiting:

The eruption:

It was a shame that we only had a day in Yellowstone.  Hopefully someday we will come back for a longer visit.

187 miles today.  The white circle is the location of the dam: