Day 120. Tuesday 27th August. Cokeville to Sheffield Creek Campsite. Wyoming.

At last, a cold night. In fact it it was 3dgC at 7am. 

Our camp site was great. With the the wheels on the hard we backed up to a swathe of lush green grass to erect the Caranex on. 

The owners of a 5th wheel Caravan next to us, Zac & Brenda, were packing up this morning as we were, and we got chatting. They are from Texas, though originally Virginia. They are touring the National Parks, in the opposite direction to us. Zac tells me they are going to NZ early next year on a cruise. If we are back home then, it would be great for us to meet them in Tauranga on their way around the coast and give them a tour of the Bay of Plenty. 

All that talking meant it was 11.15am before we hit the road. It’s a glorious morning and the drive towards Yellowstone is through a pleasant farm valley. Some great history attached to the farms in this area

After driving over the Lander Cut-Off Pass 

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We refuelled at Afton. Pop 1900, Elevation 6300ft (2000m) 

but not before following signs to a farm shop that makes their own ice-cream. ‘Midnight Delight’ was the choice and it was extra dark and rich chocolate, with a hint hint of Raspberry. While there, we bought 2L of raw milk, packed with cream. That will be amazing on our porridge tomorrow. Also, some Topside beef for dinner tonight. Jen did some shopping at a supermarket and stocked up our Beer supplies along with a big punnet of Strawberries. A little further on we stopped at a roadside fruit stall and bought a bag of big juicy peaches. I can feel a fruit salad of peaches, strawberries, banana and honey flavoured yogurt, for desert. For peasants, we live pretty well.:)

Though we are in Wyoming, the two big churches we passed in town were both LDS. What a big business it is, in this part of the world!

We are on a plateau between a range of hills on each side. There is much activity in the fields. Hay is being cut and baled, along with alfalfa. Some very ripe fields of golden barley too. As the two pics above show, this is wagon trail country and it has a lovely feel to it. Clearly lots of work has gone into making it fertile and productive. Not least the irrigation that is a big feature of its productivity. 

Onwards towards Yellowstone passing beside Snake River. This is a picturesque river, wide with trees either side and a perfect playground for white water rafters, kayaker’s and trout fisher folk. 

Following  Hwy 89  briefly entering Idaho, to Jackson Hole. This a touristy town. Popular with river users in the sumer and skiers in the winter. It has the feel of Whistler or Queenstown about it. 

After Jackson Hole, Teton is the next National Park. Tourist traffic is ramping up in numbers. Many coming south from Yellowstone, I would think. Not the place to be in the peak holiday time. Teton is a very scenic park. Mountains on the western flank with several lakes. After showing our pass and receiving a map from a lovely bubbly young ranger station we deviated off the main parkway to Lake Jenny, the first lake we came to and for obvious reasons, had to see this one. 

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Back onto the main parkway it’s a steady procession of vehicles at 45mph (approx 65kph) past the biggest lake, Jackson. Approx 10 miles on we found a lovely campsite down dusty track amongst trees, but with open areas, for $10. There are warnings of the presence of both Black and Grizzly bears along with coyote’s wolves, elk and moose. The bear spray is coming out tonight.  Cooking steak is probably not the best practice for an interruption free night..:)

Jen has just read that moose feed on willow trees and can dive up to 18’ (approx 5.5m) staying underwater for up to one minute, feeding on aquatic plants. 

It’s a lovely evening. The sun is slowly going down and the park is relatively deserted. 

The warm duvet is coming out tonight.

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