The next morning, we drove to Vernal, UT to meet up with my brother, Bruce Stenulson, and his wife, Mary. They had driven over from their home in Fairplay, CO. We travelled the steep and winding road from Vernal into the Flaming Gorge Recreation Area, and while we closely watched our temperature gauges, Big Red hauled his load valiantly up the switchbacks.. This picturesque area gets its name from the bright red rock canyons that surround the Green River and the reservoir created by the Flaming Gorge dam.
The Green River is Bruce's favorite place to fly fish. He and Mary come here almost every spring to challenge the rainbow trout. Tom bought a license and joined in the fun. (I served as the official photographer and cheerleader/spectator.)
The day after we arrived was a beautiful, sunny, mild day, so we decided it was time for an adventure. Tom and I had recently bought an inflatable kayak, and it was waiting for its virgin run. After a humorous tryout on the lake (which I'm glad nobody photographed!), we were ready to take on the Green River. Bruce and Mary are old hands at kayaking, and they led the way as we spent the afternoon paddling 7 miles of the Green River. The scenery way spectacular, the water crystal clear, and the sky a deep blue punctuated by a few fluffy white clouds. As we navigated the various rapids, we discovered we didn't have a "bass boat", we had a "bath boat!" Actually the kayak was quite stable, but the waves sometimes crashed over the front drenching me from head to toe. We bailed out what we could and sat in the rest. I think it took 2 days for my prune butt and raisin feet to return to normal! It was well worth it, though, and we look forward to our next kayaking adventure.
A lot of the fishing was catch and release. However, two evenings we had fresh rainbow trout for a scrumptious dinner---Yum, Yum!! Mary had fun paddling the kayak on the reservoir in the still evening hours. We really had a lot of fun in our impromptu campout, and we'll be sure to do it again!
On May 1st we moved north to Jackson, WY. There we met up with Tony Accamando, a young man we had met two years earlier in Zion National Park. Tony had just emailed us the week before (for the first time since we met in '98) to let us know he was the assistant general manager at the Jackson Hole Lodge. He said to let him know if we were ever in the area. Was he ever surprised when he found out we already had plans to head that way! It was fun to go out to dinner with Tony and get reacquainted. We were meant to connect again.
The Tetons are spectacular. Their rugged beauty is inspiring. We knew we could only spend a couple of days in the area, but we made the most of them. We camped in the park at the only open campground, Gros Ventre. Based on a recommendation from Tony, we headed back into a valley beyond where we were staying. We ran into quite a large herd of mountain sheep who didn't seem to mind a bit when we stopped to photograph them.
The Jenny Lake loop road was open, so we spent quite a while taking lots of pictures. Because it was pre-season, there were very few people around, and we enjoyed the peace and serenity of the area.
After completing the Jenny Lake loop road, we headed north past beautiful Jackson Lake where we caught some beautiful reflections. The park has done a wonderful job of providing frequent turnouts to enjoy the many vistas.
Toward the north end of the park there is an oxbow in the Snake River where we caught some more great views and reflections of the mountains. We really love this area and plan to come back to explore sometime when the trails are free from snow.
All this mountain splendor sure is getting us primed for our trip north through more of the Rockies and on to Alaska for the summer. Stay tuned for more adventures!
