THE MIRACLE OF 'LOPES AND FISHES

August 4:

Great day of hiking and fishing. We hiked to a spot on the Lamar River, famous, as mentioned earlier, for bison herds but also a great trout water.

So Jim, as they say, "wet a line " for a while.  Actually a couple of lines.  And with great success!!!

Not with catching fish, of course, but with line wetting. The lines got nicely soaked, which helps keep them supple.

And actually, he did manage to hook three small cutthroat trout.

We should have mentioned that we've been seeing lots of antelopes.  They like the sagebrush country.  Officially they are called "pronghorns " because technically they are not closely related to the antelopes of Africa and Asia.  So we compromise and call them 'lopes.

BLUE SKIES AND BUFFALOES

Actually Aug 3:

Still in Cooke City. There's a haze in the air from forest fires to our west.

Yesterday We took a pretty strenuous (UP-hill) hike to some meadows in the northeast corner of the park.

Yellowstone Park, incidentally, is big.  Very roughly, it's about sixty miles miles north to south and nearly as many east to west. It's famous, of course for its geysers and hot springs. These, apparently, are the result of enormous volcanic eruptions over 60,000 years ago.

And the volcanoes could erupt again, any time between tomorrow and, say, 60,000 more years from now.  If it blows tomorrow, you'll probably hear about it, though not from us.

Great hike today on a path called the Prospect Ridge Trail.  It overlooks the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone river.  Beautiful views all around.

Followed that up with an ice cream float at the Stop the Car!  Trading Post, in Silver Gate, which is even smaller than Cooke City.

On our way to today's hike we rode parallel to the Lamar River. It flows through a huge wide valley that's mostly sagebrush. A few hundred bison (buffalo) live along this section and are easily seen from the road. Many cars were pulled over to see the herds and take photos. 

In the evening you will often see coyotes hanging around with the bison in the Lamar Valley. But they are not a threat to them as the bison are so much bigger. The coyotes are looking for much smaller meals

It's 5 pm right now, temperature around 65, a cool breeze is blowing and the sky, like the old song says, was not cloudy all day.

"Why we suck"

Actually Aug 1:

Cooke City, Montana.  Arrived here after four days of soft traveling .  Staying in a cabin at the world renowned Big Moose Resort.  It's About five miles from the northeast entrance to Yellowstone national park, named of course after the famous cartoon park, Jellystone, in which talking bears in porkpie hats play tricks on dopey human tourists.

Anyhoo....Took a short hike in the park last evening on a trail called Pebble Creek. No Bears in porkpie hats were encountered.

Cooke City is a tiny town. The sign as you enter says it's. "the coolest small town in America."  Well, if not that, it might be the smallest cool town in America. It's about a quarter mile strip lined with several restaurants, saloons, ice cream and gift shops, and a couple of motels.  Imagine a little cow town in an old western movie, and just substitute cars and trucks for horses and wagons, and you have the basic idea.

We dined at our favorite spot here, the Miners Saloon (or MS to those in the know ). It has a bar, a couple of dining rooms, a pool table, and several electronic poker machines. It's a hopping place in the summertime, filled with traveling families, bandana-headed bikers, and eccentric-looking locals.

The highlight, though, at the  MS, is a poster-size display of all the worst reviews they've received over the years, especially online.  A big headline-- "WE SUCK" -- draws your attention to the many essays describing overpriced food, dreary ambience, and lousy service.  Especially harsh criticisms are highlighted in yellow. If you're ever in Cooke City, you MUST go there.