Hoback Campground, Wyoming

7/7/2010


Joe wakes up to mooing and hearing cows scratching their heads and necks on our trailer hitch and direct TV satellite just outside our bedroom window. He had to go outside and shoo the cows away, for fear they would break the satellite dish and stand. It was 6:30am.

We debate whether to stay another night, but decide against it because we do not have any internet connection, and Joe doesn't want to risk the cows damaging our satellite dish. We hook up and go back the six miles on the gravel road, then head north again on Hwy.189. Just about a mile or two later we come over the hill to see this reservoir, and realize this is the BLM camping spot we were looking for yesterday. We had stopped too soon yesterday and went down the gravel road to the river instead. Oh well, it was an experience with the cows. Just to let anyone know, if you are looking for the reservoir camp spot, go another mile or two and you won't have to go six miles down gravel and deal with cows. You can kind of see the road that goes to the camp site along the reservoir. We continue on past the reservoir on Hwy.189 looking for our next BLM spot. The water sure is a pretty blue in this reservoir. We stop at a turn out spot to see what the big sign says. We start to see the Grand Tetons way off in the distant. This is a close up shot so you can see them, otherwise you would never see them in this picture. Another close up shot.They almost look like clouds. This is not a close up shot. We are finally getting close enough that I don't need to give you a close up of them. Mallery hooked to my seat belt for her safety. We had planned on staying at another BLM camp site about 40 miles south of Jackson, Wyoming tonight. We saw a campground but it was on the left side of Hwy. 189. On the map, it shows the BLM campground to be on the right side of Hwy. 189, so we thought it was not the right place and continued driving. But when we entered the Bridger- Teton National Forest, and still had not found the camp site we started to wonder. After entering into the town of Bondurant, we knew we had passed it and it must have been the camp site on the left side of Hwy. 189. It was sitting along a river, and the BLM campsite was along a river. We had gone to many miles to turn around, so we started to look for somewhere else to camp. We went passed a couple of campground signs. They sneak up fast on these hilly and winding roads. It is hard to stop this big beast of ours, especially with cars behind us. Joe slows down so the next sign we see, he can turn his turning signal on before we even pass a turn off. We see another camp site sign and turn in before we pass it.This camp ground has about 20 sites, but not too many for big rigs like us.At first we park our Nest on the gravel out in the sun, but it was slanting a lot and and we didn't have a view of the river. So with a lot of communication with our walkie talkies, I do a great job getting Joe backed between the tree where we have shade,a view, and we are on much flatter ground. We were backed up against the picnic table and trees by a few inches. After setting up for the night, I find we have no phone or internet service, So I went out to take pictures of the wild flowers. White before they turn pink. I love the close up. The flowers are a cluster of tiny flowers. We got our chairs set up beside the river. Joe took a break from trying to get a Direct TV satellite connection. We sit and enjoy the sound of the running river and see many kayaks and canoes go by. This campsite has no hookups and costs $15. But to sit right next to the river is great. Looking down river. I got my bear spray on our side table that I order over the internet for bear country, just in case. Joe goes off to cook dinner, so I shoot some more wild flowers. I think this is a wild rose. Our view from our dining table. After dinner I go out to my chair and enjoy the river again. Looking up river. The sun is setting. Joe finally gets a satellite connection. While Joe was trying to get the satellite connection, I spotted a beaver on the opposite side of the river up from where we were. I watch it for some time with the binoculars, before he headed up stream. The beaver was so far from me that I could not get a good picture of him. We did see his beaver tail with the binoculars, so we knew it was a beaver.