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July 4--Flagg Ranch Roach
Jul. 5th, 2012 09:56 amWhen it comes to mountains, you have to take advantage of days when there are no storms. Especially when it comes to dirt roads in the mountains. For a long time we've wanted to take the Ashton-Flagg Ranch road into Yellowstone, which is a 50ish mile dirt road between Ashton, ID and the northern border of Grand Teton National Park. It's definitely the most direct route from our house to either park--er, except for the fact that you have to drive so slow that you can almost walk it faster. But yesterday was clear and storm-free, so we tried it. And it was interesting!
At first it looks an awful lot like dirt roads in Arkansas. My mind kept telling me I was on a familiar road, one I surely must have driven a thousand times before:
But then we came to this lake off to the side--it had a sign about loons, but I'm not sure what it's really called. It was beautiful, though! Covered all over with lily pads. We saw no loons, but we did see a trumpeter swan, and also lots of electric-blue dragonflies.
Then it started to NOT look like Arkansas. We don't have these kinds of mountains there!
The only "traffic" we passed on the way. I don't know who this outfit is, but they are WAY off the beaten path!!
Also, if you spend too much time on line, you get sent to Camp LOL(L), which is about as far from any internet as you can get:
Another lily pond:
Grassy Lake Reservoir, almost on the Grand Teton border (and Yellowstone, too, actually), where my daughter paid no attention to the surroundings and instead read Sarah Williams's PALACE BEAUTIFUL quite obsessively. The reservoir was nice, but driving in to it, the water came within about two inches of the road, and we nearly didn't get over the large, eroded channel going out.
Combination of volcanic hill, marsh grass, and willow clumps.
A "creek" that feeds into the Snake River, rather close to Flagg Ranch at the north tip of Grand Teton National Park.
Apparently, my FIL drove it once with his dad. At some point he wondered if they'd have to just start homesteading on the Idaho-Wyoming border because the road was so bad. I imagine after a rain or snow, it would be pretty hard to get through, and there were some moments where we gritted out teeth, but we made it through. (OTOH, I think if I DID have to start homesteading on the ID-WY border, Grandpa Green the Mountain Man would be the guy to have along.)
At first it looks an awful lot like dirt roads in Arkansas. My mind kept telling me I was on a familiar road, one I surely must have driven a thousand times before:
But then we came to this lake off to the side--it had a sign about loons, but I'm not sure what it's really called. It was beautiful, though! Covered all over with lily pads. We saw no loons, but we did see a trumpeter swan, and also lots of electric-blue dragonflies.
Then it started to NOT look like Arkansas. We don't have these kinds of mountains there!
The only "traffic" we passed on the way. I don't know who this outfit is, but they are WAY off the beaten path!!
Also, if you spend too much time on line, you get sent to Camp LOL(L), which is about as far from any internet as you can get:
Another lily pond:
Grassy Lake Reservoir, almost on the Grand Teton border (and Yellowstone, too, actually), where my daughter paid no attention to the surroundings and instead read Sarah Williams's PALACE BEAUTIFUL quite obsessively. The reservoir was nice, but driving in to it, the water came within about two inches of the road, and we nearly didn't get over the large, eroded channel going out.
Combination of volcanic hill, marsh grass, and willow clumps.
A "creek" that feeds into the Snake River, rather close to Flagg Ranch at the north tip of Grand Teton National Park.
Apparently, my FIL drove it once with his dad. At some point he wondered if they'd have to just start homesteading on the Idaho-Wyoming border because the road was so bad. I imagine after a rain or snow, it would be pretty hard to get through, and there were some moments where we gritted out teeth, but we made it through. (OTOH, I think if I DID have to start homesteading on the ID-WY border, Grandpa Green the Mountain Man would be the guy to have along.)
