The beautiful area of west-central Wyoming is a land of soaring mountains, crystal rivers, and mountain men. The deep valleys are rich with natural beauty and a complex history.
Kelly’s thoughts…
Our drive from Boulder, WY north was along a route that echoes in my memory. During my college days, I drove pretty often between Bozeman and Glenwood Springs in the Brown Mountain Car (a 1981 Toyota Corolla), sometimes in beautiful weather, sometimes in some of the worst conditions Wyoming can produce. The beauty of the region in July is truly amazing. My inner mountain man feels right at home between Pinedale and Jackson.
We did visit Jackson, by driving right through it. An amazing combination of pretension, ostentatious consumption, and clueless tourism, Jackson is nothing like in the days of John Colter, Jim Bridger, Jed Smith or Bill Sublette who visited the region in the early 19th century. A lot of people don’t know that Wyoming was the first state to allow women to vote and hold public office… in 1869. Jackson elected an entirely female city government including town council and mayor (Grace Miller) who appointed a female marshal, Pearl Hupp, and other female appointees.
Once through Jackson, we headed north through the Snake River valley below the Teton Range. The Tetons (le troi tétons) are truly spectacular. The number of people in the area is truly spectacular. We took our pictures in Jackson’s Hole (including of a moose and her calf) and got out of there. Too many people for us.
Over Teton Pass and into Pierre’s Hole we drove. The west side of the Tetons is a vast area of beautiful agriculture, especially Idaho potatoes. The view from the small towns along the way… Driggs, Ashton, Victor, is impressive. I think the west sides of the Tetons are even more impressive than the east. Pierre’s Hole was the site of the 1832 mountain man rendezvous, one of the largest, and the subsequent Battle of Pierre’s Hole between a group of Gros Ventres on one side and a bunch of mountain men, Nez Perce and Kootenai on the other. About 40 people were killed in the skirmish.
The drive up on the plateau toward West Yellowstone was incredible… because of the traffic. The end of the 4th of July weekend resulted in a vast number of tourists headed home… the other way! As we topped out on the plateau we traveled along the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River which flows through the Henry’s Fork Caldera, an earlier manifestation of the hotspot that forms the Yellowstone Caldera (and whose movement can be traced along the Snake River Plain). The Henry’s Fork is one of the most famous trout flyfishing streams in the world. I never fished it because of the hype and popularity. I’ve always sought out lesser-known fisheries. But I can see the draw… it’s one impressive stream.
At long last we turned off the insanely busy road towards the Centennial Valley and Red Rock Creek. Finally we were on lesser roads and in poorly-known areas compared to the greater Yellowstone area. Many years ago I traveled through the Centennial Valley and have always wanted to come back and fish in the main stream. There is a large Wildlife Refuge in the middle of the upper Valley and above that the stream is beautiful.
I did fish the stream and caught a lot of fish, all brookies about 5 inches or so! But it was a great stream to fish and a beautiful setting. We camped for two nights on a side forest road near Hidden Lake. We hiked into the beautiful hidden lake one day, and along the way found an ice cold spring where we collected drinking water and Riki caught and handled a frog for the first time.
There were many birds in the valley including a pair of sandhill cranes in the meadow below camp who made crazy noises and flew around in the evening. On the refuge there were a lot of ducks and a pair of trumpeter swans with their cygnets. We also saw snipe, godwits, many harriers and a lot of other birds, many of which were new IDs for Riki.
We also visited the local cemetery, which had been fixed up and maintained by a group of interested people. Many of the stones were very old, and they had a sign describing some of the history of the people in the graves. A recent burial (2018) was an interesting new addition.
In a broader area that gets vast numbers of visitors, the Centennial Valley had a welcome scarcity of people, which is much more our style!
Riki’s thoughts…
After a pleasant stay in Boulder, WY, we were on our way to regions up north. It was Sunday after the 4th of July, and the traffic south was a steady stream, presumably flowing out of the Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and the surrounding areas. It is good that so many people enjoy the beautiful Wyoming wilderness in the summertime. It is equally good that Kelly knows how to find places that most people don’t go. I love people, and I love the outdoors. And I enjoy them most when I can enjoy them separately.
The Centennial Valley set my imagination soaring. The information at the cemetery explained that at one time, the vast valley was inhabited by many different ranching families. When the economy began to disfavor small ranching, many people left the valley. Now, the Wildlife Refuge has claimed the buildings that used to make up the town. Some are still to be fixed up, but they have done a wonderful job of keeping the original charm.
I am new at ornithology. I have a huge advantage when travelling with Kelly, as he seems to be able to recognize birds by their calls, their residences, and at a glance even when in shadow or on the wing. It is amazing how he can pull a name of a bird from his brain that has remained undisturbed for decades. My job is to look it up in the bird book to prove him right. It was my great treat to see many birds for the first time, including a ton of water birds (ibis, grebes, curlews, coots, and more.) The best sighting for me was the trumpeter swans and their cygnets.
The river was not good for a rookie fly angler, so I filled my time with sketching, wading, and contemplating the nature of the universe. There was a trail head not far from our campsite that led to Lost Lake. We trekked the short distance through cool aspen groves and along a spring-fed brook. The spring was equipped with a pipe, making it super easy to drink the coldest, freshest water I have ever tasted. The lake was lovely, and the hike was easy. Kelly and I were both pretty wiped out after being in the sun and the water all day, so we took a little nap in the tent. It was pretty warm and we had not packed enough water, so we woke up hot and thirsty. We decided to hike back to the spring with all the water bottles we could carry. The water cooled and refreshed us lickety split.
The campsite was in a great spot that had burned a few years earlier. There were many burned trees that were still standing, but the undergrowth had filled in beautifully, dotted with wildflowers. About sundown, we heard a very strange sound. Kelly identified it quickly as mating behaviors and calls from a set of sand hill cranes. We scrambled up the hill behind our campsite to see if we could spot them, but they flew up the mountain and out of sight.
Evenings at the campsite were spent visiting, playing cribbage, bird watching, insect and wildflower collecting, and eating delicious camp food. We discovered that for the two of us, the perfect camping dessert is a package of Nutter Butters. The dogs agreed. We enjoyed two nights and a full day in the valley before we headed farther north. We enjoyed the Centennial Valley for the history and the nature.
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