The travelogue part

When I have a couple of hundred beautiful photos from a recent vacation, it would seem a no-brainer to pick a few for here and write something about what I saw. Since it's about the Yellowstone region, it turned out to be anything but.

Although I am not much for travelogue style writing, this vacation involved some of what can best be described by that: two nights in Missoula; three nights in a cabin east of Livingston, (just north of Yellowstone); a night at Roosevelt Lodge (log cabins without bathrooms, walk to the bathhouse in the middle of the night and hope bears aren’t browsing nearby-- worth that inconvenience for being homey and right near the Lamar Valley); one night in Old Faithful Inn (lovely structure and rooms, teeming with history and people); two nights on the Henry’s Fork near Ashton, Idaho; and then two nights in motels to get back to the farm. So that’s the and then we did this and that part.

Renting cabins enhances any trip for me. For those days you really live there becoming part of the area in a way a motel and often even a campground cannot do.

With the internet and searches, I have discovered some interesting places to stay through the years, whenever there has been long enough to spend a few days (even better a week). Such cottages rarely are cheap, but they are usually charming, fully equipped, save money on meals out, and allow a person to spend all their time where they would like to be.

When Farm Boss would head down to the river to fish, he’d ask if I wanted to go. Sometimes I did (although I didn't get a visitor license to fish in either Idaho or Montana), but there was no need to do so because at the cottages I was already feeling the river energies and could watch fawns play in the yard or just listen to the sound of the wind or rivers. Talk about energizing.

When I go through Missoula, there are certain things I ‘must’ do. Number one is visit The Book Exchange. For years, it has been a wonderful bookstore with books on everything. Some are used, all are discounted. They have terrific sections on books about Montana and by Montana authors or on their artists. When they expanded last year into what had been a boot store next door, they became twice as wonderful.

Book Exchange was part of why Missoula required two nights. We also wanted to have a day in the Missoula area for hiking places like Kootenai Creek, a treasure of its own.

The destination for this trip, however, was the Yellowstone Region, and it is why I have had a hard time writing this. Yellowstone Park speaks to me on spiritual, physical and emotional levels, and I want to do it justice. I have the photos and hope that as I begin to write about it, the words will come that express what a magical, mesmerizing, mystical place the Yellowstone basin and area surrounding truly is.

We owe so much to people like Teddy Roosevelt who were visionaries and understood that some things should stay American treasures (for the world also as there were people from other nations everywhere we went).

Let us hope we never end up with a government that has the power to take that away from the rest of us. Thank you to Teddy and all the early explorers, who saw that country and realized what it could mean to the world for it to stay much like it has always been (well since the last volcano blew it up 600,000 (or so) years ago and until it blows again if it does).

Photos are in reverse order of the trip. On top was The Cottage on Henry's Fork in Ashton, Idaho. Then comes Roosevelt Lodge. The main building is where you can buy meals,enjoy beautiful fireplaces and check in to the cabins that are small and sit in the trees.

The last pics are from the Two Rivers Cottage on the Shields and Yellowstone rivers with more of my photos here: On the Shields and Yellowstone rivers. The Yellowstone comes out of Yellowstone Park and eventually drains into the Atlantic. The Shields comes out of the Crazy Mountains, meeting up with the Yellowstone where we stayed. Henry's Fork of the Snake will have its waters ending up in the Pacific as these rivers along the Continental Divide often have their sources less than 10 miles apart and yet will head to opposite oceans.

And finally. what can I say? This trip was about Yellowstone, but I love the Kootenai so much and can't resist throwing in one picture from hiking there.