Road Trip - Day 21
It's Joerg's last day of vacation before returning to Oregon to continue his business trip. He decided to load up his bike with hiking boots and rain gear for a day of tertiary roads and hiking.
While Joerg was riding his motorcycle on dirt track, Patrick and I traded in our horsepower for...horses. We drove down to the western corner of Yellowstone and met with our guide, Charlie. We took two horses, Charlie and his horse, and a pack mule through *National Forest land, into *National Wilderness land and enjoyed a picnic lunch before bringing out the fishing gear. We were truly in the middle of nowhere; no traffic noises, no voices, no cell service...no sounds other than the birds, bugs, wind, running waters of the creeks, and the sound of our horses plodding along the trail.
*National Forest and National Wilderness is a real "thing". National Forest land generally acts as a buffer around National Parks...in this case Yellowstone and has more restrictions than the Park. Vehicles are only allowed on privately managed portions of the Forest (except in an emegency, of course), and the land can be used by ranchers for grazing their herd (in our case, the grazing animals were other pack horses). After more than tw hours packing through the National Forest land we arrived in National Wildnerness land where the restrictions are even tighter. Wilderness land is untamed by humans. Conservation is central in these areas and access is extremely limited and controlled, and ranchers cannot graze their animals here.
After more than three hours packing into the wilderness, including five boudary gates (to separate designated grazing lands), four "river" crossings (it was actually the Sage Creek), and a climb up and over Sage Peek (notice that there are NO roads around this area) we stopped for a bag lunch and then Patrick prepared to fish for a couple of hours along the banks of Sage Creek. I stopped counting the fish after he had cought his sixth or seventh one, and he was pleasantly surprised that he was able to catch so many.
On our return trip I was able to snag a couple of pictures of Patrick on his horse "Big Mama".
Patrick fished for more than two hours before we climbed back up to the shade where the horses were enjoying a little rest break before our three hour ride back to the trailhead. It was such a treat to be so far removed from the rest of the world for a day. I'm not sure that I would want to live like this, but not hearing any machinery, traffic, or telephones and enjoying a slower pace of life was definitely relaxing. And what a view!!
(We are not well versed in outhouse protocol and etiquette, but he was curious to discover that there were two seats in this old outhouse. Was outhousing a social thing in the past? 😮😏)
While Joerg was riding his motorcycle on dirt track, Patrick and I traded in our horsepower for...horses. We drove down to the western corner of Yellowstone and met with our guide, Charlie. We took two horses, Charlie and his horse, and a pack mule through *National Forest land, into *National Wilderness land and enjoyed a picnic lunch before bringing out the fishing gear. We were truly in the middle of nowhere; no traffic noises, no voices, no cell service...no sounds other than the birds, bugs, wind, running waters of the creeks, and the sound of our horses plodding along the trail.
*National Forest and National Wilderness is a real "thing". National Forest land generally acts as a buffer around National Parks...in this case Yellowstone and has more restrictions than the Park. Vehicles are only allowed on privately managed portions of the Forest (except in an emegency, of course), and the land can be used by ranchers for grazing their herd (in our case, the grazing animals were other pack horses). After more than tw hours packing through the National Forest land we arrived in National Wildnerness land where the restrictions are even tighter. Wilderness land is untamed by humans. Conservation is central in these areas and access is extremely limited and controlled, and ranchers cannot graze their animals here.
After more than three hours packing into the wilderness, including five boudary gates (to separate designated grazing lands), four "river" crossings (it was actually the Sage Creek), and a climb up and over Sage Peek (notice that there are NO roads around this area) we stopped for a bag lunch and then Patrick prepared to fish for a couple of hours along the banks of Sage Creek. I stopped counting the fish after he had cought his sixth or seventh one, and he was pleasantly surprised that he was able to catch so many.
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