Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
May 18th 2010, 2:47 am
#31
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Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
Like JG says, it's a bull moose. There was a cow and calf around as well, so I was not happy about getting too close. I have a piccy of the cow, but she always kept herself between the calf and us.
Also, a grizzly was moving into the area (Lake Josephine at Many Glacier, on the east side of the park), so we were asked to leave by a ranger pretty soon after I got these photographs.
Also, a grizzly was moving into the area (Lake Josephine at Many Glacier, on the east side of the park), so we were asked to leave by a ranger pretty soon after I got these photographs.
May 18th 2010, 2:51 am
#32
Shocked of Redmond
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Joined: Feb 2005
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Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
Those of you who couldn't see the next batch, try these (I had a superfluous "/" in the linkies):
May 18th 2010, 4:36 am
#33
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Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
Excellent photos..... keep 'em coming.....
May 18th 2010, 5:58 am
#34
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Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
Wow, beautiful, I'd be so excited (and scurrrrrred) being that close to those animals!!
May 18th 2010, 3:30 pm
#35
Shocked of Redmond
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Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
Nothing so fancy today (on the wildlife front, at least) since most of yesterday was spent on the road.
On Sunday evening we drove from West Glacier to Missoula, then yesterday was 9am-7pm to get down to Idaho Falls. We stopped for around three hours at the Craters of the Moon National Monument on the way.
The drive down is VERY attractive, IF you avoid the freeway. US 93 runs from Missoula all the way down to Arco, ID, and from about 15 miles north of Salmon it is relentlessly scenic. South of Salmon the drive is very twisty, and I had to be careful not to end up in the scenery through staring at the scenery.
I didn't take photographs of that drive, since it would have doubled the travel time with all the stops, but here are some other photographs.
This is the pass at the southern end of the Big Lost River valley, to the north of Arco, ID. It's around 7000' high, and it was really blowing a hoolie here: I guess the wind was about 35mp5, gusting to 50mph. This is looking south to the plain.
I am a fan of the history of nucular and atomic science, so Arco fascinates me. There will be a few nucular-related photos here, in case anyone else in interested.
On that note, the next photograph is the famous "Atoms for Peace" sign in Arco. Read the sign for the details. Also, if you have the time, read "Proving the Principle," by Susan Stacy for a first-class history of nuclear science and technology in SE Idaho. There is a chapter on the significance of this sign in that book.
Next up, Craters of the Moon (see link above), which is just uncanny. A huge lava field (over 1000 sq miles). It's not really possible to describe it: you need to go there to experience it.
Photograph one is of some rope-like lave formations, called Pāhoehoe by Hawaiians.
This is a so-called spatter cone, but I like to call it Mount Doom, for obvious reasons:
Last up, for the nerdulous like me, this is one of the reasons this Arco area is so fascinating:
We're just off to do some more nucular tourism, with a two hour private tour of EBR-1.
On Sunday evening we drove from West Glacier to Missoula, then yesterday was 9am-7pm to get down to Idaho Falls. We stopped for around three hours at the Craters of the Moon National Monument on the way.
The drive down is VERY attractive, IF you avoid the freeway. US 93 runs from Missoula all the way down to Arco, ID, and from about 15 miles north of Salmon it is relentlessly scenic. South of Salmon the drive is very twisty, and I had to be careful not to end up in the scenery through staring at the scenery.
I didn't take photographs of that drive, since it would have doubled the travel time with all the stops, but here are some other photographs.
This is the pass at the southern end of the Big Lost River valley, to the north of Arco, ID. It's around 7000' high, and it was really blowing a hoolie here: I guess the wind was about 35mp5, gusting to 50mph. This is looking south to the plain.
I am a fan of the history of nucular and atomic science, so Arco fascinates me. There will be a few nucular-related photos here, in case anyone else in interested.
On that note, the next photograph is the famous "Atoms for Peace" sign in Arco. Read the sign for the details. Also, if you have the time, read "Proving the Principle," by Susan Stacy for a first-class history of nuclear science and technology in SE Idaho. There is a chapter on the significance of this sign in that book.
Next up, Craters of the Moon (see link above), which is just uncanny. A huge lava field (over 1000 sq miles). It's not really possible to describe it: you need to go there to experience it.
Photograph one is of some rope-like lave formations, called Pāhoehoe by Hawaiians.
This is a so-called spatter cone, but I like to call it Mount Doom, for obvious reasons:
Last up, for the nerdulous like me, this is one of the reasons this Arco area is so fascinating:
We're just off to do some more nucular tourism, with a two hour private tour of EBR-1.
May 18th 2010, 3:30 pm
#36
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Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 58,679
Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
Wow, thank you for re-posting! Those are awesome photos! 
Rene
Rene
May 18th 2010, 5:11 pm
#38
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
My friend Lloyd, who died last year, had a drill press in the garage that his grandparents brought over on the Oregon Trail. It's all so close!
May 18th 2010, 6:19 pm
#39
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Posts: 924
Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
I'm glad you're getting to do all the nerdalicious stuff you like, but these pics of the plains & mountains never cease to amaze me.. can you imagine crossing that for months with a covered wagon?
My friend Lloyd, who died last year, had a drill press in the garage that his grandparents brought over on the Oregon Trail. It's all so close!
My friend Lloyd, who died last year, had a drill press in the garage that his grandparents brought over on the Oregon Trail. It's all so close!
I feel like technology has strangled us!! we are SO reliant on it, imagine how many of our population now could travel across the rockies in a horse and wagon with no roads - paving the way 
I know I couldn't!!Anyway as for the roadtrip - these photos are GREAT!!! We are off to the Oregon coast this weekend.... wonder if I will see a Moose - will deffo post a pic if I do
May 18th 2010, 6:58 pm
#40
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
Have a SUPER great time and yes, we want pics from you, moose or no!
Find a puffin for us. That would be nice! North side of Haystack Rock in CB.. they will have volunteers with binos to show you where to look.. puffins are becoming rare & this is their looooove time so check it out.
May 18th 2010, 7:13 pm
#41
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Posts: 924
Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
No no, I'm not going over this w/e.
Have a SUPER great time and yes, we want pics from you, moose or no!
Find a puffin for us. That would be nice! North side of Haystack Rock in CB.. they will have volunteers with binos to show you where to look.. puffins are becoming rare & this is their looooove time so check it out.
Have a SUPER great time and yes, we want pics from you, moose or no!
Find a puffin for us. That would be nice! North side of Haystack Rock in CB.. they will have volunteers with binos to show you where to look.. puffins are becoming rare & this is their looooove time so check it out.
Will deffo look for the puffins, the only other time I have seen them is in North Wales up on Anglesey, they all hang out up on the end of the island!! very cool!!
Will post some pics when we are back - boohoo the rain is forecast!
May 18th 2010, 7:15 pm
#42
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
Maybe.
May 18th 2010, 10:00 pm
#43
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Joined: Sep 2009
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 65
Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
I'm glad you're getting to do all the nerdalicious stuff you like, but these pics of the plains & mountains never cease to amaze me.. can you imagine crossing that for months with a covered wagon?
My friend Lloyd, who died last year, had a drill press in the garage that his grandparents brought over on the Oregon Trail. It's all so close!
My friend Lloyd, who died last year, had a drill press in the garage that his grandparents brought over on the Oregon Trail. It's all so close!
We visited Fort Laramie a few years ago and i was blown away by seeing the ruts from the wagons on the Oregon Trail. I think there are several places in WY that they still exist...
Great pics too!
May 19th 2010, 2:15 am
#44
Shocked of Redmond
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Joined: Feb 2005
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Posts: 3,446
Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
Next lot:
Today we drove out to EBR-1, as mentioned earlier. On the way we stopped at the erstwhile Idaho SR-20 and Fillmore junction:
This doesn't look much, but it's pretty much all that you can see that is a reminder of the SL-1 nuclear accident on 3 Jan 1961. This incident is dealt with in one chapter of Proving the Principle, mentioned earlier. That is a very factual account, and leaves out some of the human interest, which is covered in the following two books: Atomic America, by Todd Tucker, and Idaho Falls, by Bill McKeown.
Both are very interesting. Gory detail: one of the operators at the time of the accident, Dick Legg, was not located for a couple of hours because his body was pinned to the ceiling by a reactor cap plug. It took almost a week to remove his body, since it was so radioactive it was dangerous to be close to it for more than about a minute.
Next up was Atomic City. This was once a thriving town.
You can't read it at this resolution, but the sign says "Population: About 25". the town is dying on its arse...
This is the outside of EBR-1.
I took about 250 photographs here, but will only inflict a few of them on you.
Next up are "the Heaters", HTRE-1, and HTRE-3. These were experimental reactors that were built and operated by USAF in the hopes of producing a nuclear-powered aircraft.
The program is well described in Dreams of Nuclear Flight by Jesse Stoffel.
This is looking down into the reactor vessel:
This is self-explanatory:
After this, we drove through Idaho Falls to Teton Village, which is where we are staying.
This is a view from Teton Pass, looking East, into Jackson Hole, WY. It is 8431' ASL.
We were a little surprised to find that the pass is not the state line: that is actually some miles to the West.
Finally, for those of you who prefer furry things, a couple of the critters we saw in our brief initial foray into Teton NP:
Y'all have fun, and check back later for more news...
Today we drove out to EBR-1, as mentioned earlier. On the way we stopped at the erstwhile Idaho SR-20 and Fillmore junction:
This doesn't look much, but it's pretty much all that you can see that is a reminder of the SL-1 nuclear accident on 3 Jan 1961. This incident is dealt with in one chapter of Proving the Principle, mentioned earlier. That is a very factual account, and leaves out some of the human interest, which is covered in the following two books: Atomic America, by Todd Tucker, and Idaho Falls, by Bill McKeown.
Both are very interesting. Gory detail: one of the operators at the time of the accident, Dick Legg, was not located for a couple of hours because his body was pinned to the ceiling by a reactor cap plug. It took almost a week to remove his body, since it was so radioactive it was dangerous to be close to it for more than about a minute.
Next up was Atomic City. This was once a thriving town.
You can't read it at this resolution, but the sign says "Population: About 25". the town is dying on its arse...
This is the outside of EBR-1.
I took about 250 photographs here, but will only inflict a few of them on you.
Next up are "the Heaters", HTRE-1, and HTRE-3. These were experimental reactors that were built and operated by USAF in the hopes of producing a nuclear-powered aircraft.
The program is well described in Dreams of Nuclear Flight by Jesse Stoffel.
This is looking down into the reactor vessel:
This is self-explanatory:
After this, we drove through Idaho Falls to Teton Village, which is where we are staying.
This is a view from Teton Pass, looking East, into Jackson Hole, WY. It is 8431' ASL.
We were a little surprised to find that the pass is not the state line: that is actually some miles to the West.
Finally, for those of you who prefer furry things, a couple of the critters we saw in our brief initial foray into Teton NP:
Y'all have fun, and check back later for more news...
Last edited by nettlebed; May 19th 2010 at 2:33 am.
May 19th 2010, 2:19 am
#45
lush
Joined: Dec 2007
Location: Maine - the "Deep South" of the Northeast
Posts: 5,004
Re: Nettie's Road Trip, May 2010
just stumbled on this thread...loving it