Thursday, September 2nd
The next morning we had our continental breakfast, checked out of the Twin Pines, said our goodbyes to Mike . Stopped by a coffee shop next to the Twin Pines for some Java to go - pretty good stuff - maybe it was French Roast Elk Droppings? Dubois is quite a town for small businesses. For example, they have a Dubois Wellness group with 19 wellness related businesses in this small town - their motto: "Come for a 'you'-nique experience". In addition, we located additional places to explore including: the MillIron4MillIron Ranch with cabins (www.MI4MI.com ); Cow Cabins Getaway (http://www.cowcabins.com ) ; Riverside Inn (next to Wind River) (307-455-2337/1-877-489-2337, email: riversideinn@wyoming.com); and, the Green River Guest Ranch (307-367-2314, www.grguestranch.com).
On the way back toward Jackson Hole, we continued forward in the rain this morning. As we approached Togwotee pass, we had to pull over to allow a Wyoming RV go by the other way. Interesting enough they had no lead car with flashing lights telling you this was coming up the two lane highway.
As we drove through the Grand Teton NP this time, we noted the clouds covering the mountains - still very impressive.
We stopped by hospital in Jackson for an AB checkout. Fortunately there was nothing else for them to do unless AB wanted to get an enlargement implant. We did run across an interesting sign at a dentist/architect office building where "they don't rent pigs"; apparently this is from the movie Lonesome Dove with Robert Duvall.
Passing thru Jackson Hole we were headed down highway 26/89 along the Snake River to the town of Alpine (Alpine Highway Cam) where we had lunch at a great little café, Kringles’ Birdhouse Café , owners Francene & John Jensen, (Box 3483, 161 Hwy 89, Alpine, Wy 83128, 307-654-7536, http://www.kringlescafe.com/main). The restaurant featured a unique collection of birdhouses hanging from the ceiling, (the owner said it started with a friend giving them one birdhouse & grew from there), a full blown European Master Chef & a gourmet fare.
A little about Chef John: John is a European Master Chef. In the nearly 50 years in the foodservice business, he has served as Executive Chef to 5-Star properties across the country. Early on in his career, he was the Chef at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills, CA. He fed nearly every Hollywood celebrity of the day. Later, he owned and operated a successful catering company near Palm Springs, CA. His client list was the rich and famous at the time: Frank Sinatra, Liberace, President Gerald Ford, Dinah Shore and Frank Capra were just a few of his regular customers. Still later in his career, John taught the culinary arts at the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.
Obviously, we had a great lunch and on the way out we noticed that the person setting at the table next to the door was Richard Petty of NASCAR fame, who owns a ranch in the Alpine area. He was wearing his signature black cowboy hat decorated with feathers, wrap around sunglasses and a big silver belt buckle! We said hello and he said howdy, what a surprise to see him in this remote location. We wondered if the Prius in the parking lot was his??
In the middle of the town of Alpine, we turned east on Forest Service Road #10138 along the Greys River. About 40 miles up this gravel road we pulled over to begin fishing. The Greys in this area is a beautiful stream, surrounded by the 10 –11,000 foot mountains of the Salt River Range to the west and the Wyoming Range to the east, which is punctuated by the 11,363’ Wyoming Peak!
We fished several locations, but moving down-river found a large hole fed by a chute of water that slid along a large bolder. We couldn’t believe our eyes; the entire pool was alive with feeding trout!
Fishing two at a time, each of the YG members caught numerous Fine-spot Cutts from this beautiful spot….the action was fast & furious. Small Caddis, Stimulators, PMD’s and the like all turned fish, the largest being in the 18" neighborhood. AM moved down to a pool about a quarter mile downstream for some new water. Unfortunately the sky turned very dark, followed by mountain thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. It seemed like a long time for the van to reach him.
Returning to Alpine after dark, we headed south on highway 89 we passed thru the towns of Freedom, Thayne, and Smoot, Wyoming. We finally stopped in Afton about 10 pm and still had time to catch the last meal at the Homestead restaurant.
Unfortunately the only negative was the lack of gravy for chicken fried steak! Because it was open, had vacancies, and was next door, we opted to stay at the High Country Inn for the night. Went to bed as it was raining outside.
Friday, September 3rd
Up early this morning although it was still raining. We did get see what passes for SUV's in Wyoming.
Headed out over
Genva Summit (6900+ feet) toward the town of Montpelier, Idaho where one of the
claims to fame is Butch Cassidy & his Gang robbed the local bank. On the way we
passed Salt Creek, a favorite spot for people to try to get their Bonneville
Cutts. It was fairly small and very, very silty in the rain due to road run-off
and the red colored sedimentary rocks in the area. We were glad we didn't have
to fish that water to get our Bonneville Cutts!! We had a late breakfast at
Butch Cassidy’s Restaurant and Saloon (230 North Fourth Street, 208-847-3501 –
there is a Budget Motel next door at 208-847-1273) which plays on the common
desperado theme used for tourists in this small Idaho town. The town is very
clean and has a feel of the 1950's Leave it to Beaver era. Since we were
still early, we stopped by Oregon Trail Center (Oregon
Trail Center )and looked at the various literature – good information
on that period but little info on fishing opportunities. When asking about local
fishing opportunities, the locals kept telling us they were killing all the fish
in a local dam, so I guess we could have gone out there in the rain to catch
fish although it didn't sound very appealing after the spectacular scenery and
fishing environments we had just been in. Also of courses, no one had an Idaho
fishing license. The co-located US Forest Service office was informing us the
dangers of the hobo spider – they had a preserved specimen. Apparently this bad
boy came in through Seattle from Asia and has now migrated at least to the
Mississippi River. For more gruesome details (I don't like spiders!), see
Hobo Spider Site
On the way out of town, AM & JR tried a local coffee emporium and decided that
the town is in dire need of a Starbucks – the coffee was truly awful. We
continued south to see Bear Lake and to head to Cokeville for a return to Clarks
Country B&B. We stopped in the small community of St. Charles which had a big
monument for local son Gutzum Borgum who did the Mt. Rushmore
figures. Bear Lake is a vast, shallow reservoir created by a dam on the Bear
River. The area seemed to be a summertime water recreational area for the
residents in the area, with many summer homes, campsites, jet ski and speedboat
rental facilities around the lake. At the south end of the lake we turned east
and headed back toward Cokeville. The YG had enjoyed our stay at the Clark
Country B&B so much that we’d decided to spend the last two days of our trip
where we’d began. We totally enjoyed the company of Eva & Lowell Clark, the
charm of their ranch and the great Bonneville Cutthroat fishing on the Smiths
Fork River flowing thru their property.
Upon arriving at the ranch about 1:30 p.m., we unpacked the van. We thoroughly scrubbed our waders & boots, which we hadn’t used in the Greys River area, in a solution of Chlorox bleach & water since we’d just come from the Wind River area that’s infected with whirling disease and didn’t want to spread it to this pristine place. The we geared up and hit the river for some serious fishing; we all caught several nice trout (and an occasional Montana bonefish).
That evening it was back to the Flying J for another hearty truck stop dinner.