Paddling the Tetons

We left Fort Collins on Saturday to drive to Lander. We chose the Sleeping Bear campground, which was good. To our surprise, we found that our friends Debbie and Tim were staying a few campsites away! They will be part of our trip, a club paddle trip. We found a good Mediterranean restaurant, Ellas, that was only a few months old. We went to mass at Holy Rosary church. Lander also has the Wyoming Catholic College, a small liberal arts college with a great book program and a required outdoor program, including horsemanship.

Sunday we took care of some business in Lander, and drove through Dubois. We discussed if we had seen bison in the Tetons before. Soon after we entered the park, we soon ran into a huge traffic jam caused by perhaps 200 bison! We got to Gros Ventre campground, and parked our camper in the same spot as in 2025. We saw Mike and Mark, who are sharing a campsite. Most of the people on the trip will be parked very near to us and to Mike. There were many people at that first meeting, many of them with family, so they are organizing their shuttles within the group.

Monday Dottie and I drove to the Jackson Lake dam, and put in there. The Rocky Mountain Canoe Club, were also there, putting in. Our group was ten boats and thirteen people. The current was fast below the dam, about 4 miles per hour. We headed for the oxbow, the old route of the river, in an area with many islands and channels, and no current to speak of. We had a good view of Mt. Moran. It was a pretty area, and we moved slowly, just taking it in and wandering. We headed back to the main river, which still had slow current, and then on to Pacific Creek Landing. My truck was at the dam. I rode back to my car with Dana, drove back to Pacific Creek, picked up the boats, and headed back to camp. I took a nap. We had dinner with Mike and Mark. Sandi and I went to the amphitheater, where we heard a talk on indigenous traditions. At our evening meeting, the group agreed to head to Jenny Lake. We did not paddle Jenny Lake last year, due to construction at the boat ramp.

Snake River, Jackson Lake Dam, Mt. Moran in background

Tuesday we drove to the Jenny Lake boat ramp, and paddled across the lake to the ferry dock, where trails lead to Hidden Falls and also Inspiration Point. Most of us hiked up to Hidden Falls, and then halfway to Inspiration point, to a point with a good lookout of the lake and valley. When we got back to the lake, we found that one member of our party was missing. He had not told anyone about his plans. We were a bit concerned, and spoke to a ranger who we saw. As time went on, we became more concerned, and the rangers sent out a search party. He eventually was found on a trail, as most of us paddled back to the boat ramp. I think that we went four hours without seeing him. More drama than I would like on a trip.

Wednesday we put in at Pacific Creek, aiming for Moose takeout. The view of the mountains was fabulous. Some people took out at Deadman bar, where we all had lunch. The river becomes more braided and has more obstacles below Deadman. The wind came up, causing the solo canoers some trouble. It is never good to be blown around when there are dead trees you are trying to avoid. We paddled a total of 22 miles in 4 hours, thanks to a current that was around 5 miles per hour. Sandi cooked dinner, and we retired our long used grille, which was due for replacement anyway.

Thursday Sandi and I took a drive north, starting at the visitor center. We made some stops at mountain overlooks; Richard showed Sandi where he had climbed. We met a family from London, including Russians, English, and Dutch, which we ended up seeing three times as we continued our drive. We had a nice lunch at the Jackson Lake Lodge; Sandi was surprised that I was willing to pay for a nice lunch. We visited the Wildlife Art Museum, and headed back to the camper. Some folks were leaving, so we had a group dinner at the chuckwagon restaurant at Dornans at Moose, nearby.

Friday we put in at the Jackson Lake Dam, paddled some in the Oxbow, and continued to Deadman's Bar. The Oxbow was low current, but the rest was fast, around 5 miles per hour. Our group was smaller, seven people and seven boats. We saw bald eagles, but not much other wildlife. We had an impromptu pot luck dinner at Mike's campsites, about 15 people, it was great.

Saturday we left the Tetons, and drove up the Hoback River valley, and then south towards Green River, past the wildlife refuge. We dropped off the camper at Green River RV Park, and went to mass, with an African priest who did a participatory homily. We had dinner at Don Pedros restaurant, which Richard had visited when Judy and family lived in Green River. We found that it was now owned by some Jordanians!

Sunday we drove to the closed bridge on 4 road, and Richard put in there.  There were Osprey very nearby, with a nest on the bridge.  It was a routine paddle for Richard; he only had to get out once, for a sand bar.  Sandi picked  me up at the Pioneer Trails Picnic Grounds.  This completed Richard's paddles of the Green River in Wyoming, a quest he has been working on for years.  He plans to complete the total Green River south of Vernal, in September.  

Monday we drove home.

Vancouver and Alaska

Sunday we drove to the airport and flew from Denver to Seattle, and then Seattle to Vancouver.  We stayed at the Mariott Residence Inn downtown.  Our room was very high, as you can see in the photo.  The town is full of skyscrapers.

Monday we headed for Stanley Park, where we admired the totem poles and walked on the waterfront trail with Dee, Jim, Angelo, and Frank.   In the afternoon, Sandi and I headed for the Museum of Anthropology, where we saw more totem poles and art.  The most interesting art was a series of Button Blankets, which are a ceremonial robe worn in dances.  The artist wrote a story for each robe, generally referring to a Haida legend.   We took an Uber back to the hotel, and had dinner at Nuba with Dee and her family.

Tuesday we had breakfast at the hotel, had the hotel store our bags, and walked to the Bill Reid gallery.  The exhibits tied into what we had seen at the museum, including a video showing dancing with Button Blankets. 

We had lunch at Perfecto Cafe, and walked back to tbe hotel.  We picked up our bags, and took an Uber to the cruise terminal.  At the cruise terminal there appeared to be a person every 100 feet or so pointing in the direction that we were supposed to go.  It all went smoothly.  We settled into our room on the 5th floor of the Emerald Princess.

Wednesday was a sea day, going through the Inside Passage, famous for strong currents, and watched the scenery go by.  

Thursday we arrived in Juneau around 1 PM. To avoid the crowds, we got off the ship about 2, and walked to the Alaska State Museum, which we liked very much. There was a special exhibit by Dorothy Grant, a Haida clothing designer, who made designer level clothes using traditional Haida images, such as the Raven. The clothing was excellent, with bold designs in the spirit of the tradition. The museum also had exhibits relating to the native Alaskans, including clothing, kayaks, and tools. There was also a large section on World War II in Alaska, including the Alcan highway, built in 1942. Other exhibits were about salmon canning and the oil boom. We enjoyed the museum very much.. 

After the museum, we had some trouble getting an Uber, but got a nice lady with Lyft, who took us to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center. We were concerned about how we would get back, but she called her son, who agreed to pick us up a couple of hours later. We walked to nugget falls, and enjoyed talking to a Tlingit lady, who spoke about the coming flood, when the lake would overtop the glacier and flood parts of Juneau. Richard hiked to a stream where he could see colorful salmon swimming upstream. We enjoyed our ride back with Sione, who told us various stories about the town. We made it back to the ship with maybe an hour to spare, and had dinner.

Note the perfect reflection in the lake.

Friday at Skagway we had to ride a tender (shuttle) from the ship to the dock. We had to get a timed ticket early to make our 10 am tour. Kenton with Alaska Shore tours was a good guide, and we stopped at several places along the way. We even saw a bear scrambling far above us. We crossed into Canada, briefly in British Columbia, and then into the Yukon. We drove to Carcross, a First Nations (indian) village, where we took a ride in a UTV towed by a team of dogs.

 Our musher basically lives for her dogs, making money in the summer so she can buy raw meat and kibble for her animals. She goes on long distance races, up to 400 miles. We rode back to town, where we bought fudge, yarn, and T-shirts. We had a beer in the Red Onion Saloon and Brothel; they offered tours of the former brothel upstairs, but we passed. We finished the day with dinner in our usual dining room.

Saturday we got up early to see the Endicot Arm, with the Dawes Glacier at the end. Each shore of the arm went up very steeply, no flat place to speak of. We went on deck to see the arm and the glacier. It was in the 50s, but felt much colder, with the wind and the humidity and standing around for many minutes. We saw a small luxury cruise ship, the Seaborn Encore, in the arm. They had sent out Zodiacs to let their passengers see the ice and rock up close. Our friend Mike has probably cruised on that ship. Andrea and family had signed up for a small boat tour to get closer to the glacier; the cruise ship stopped and waited some distance from the glacier to allow the tour passengers to rejoin the ship. We enjoyed a personal talk about wolves by a man who got to know one wolf over several years. We also enjoyed the naturalist talk about wolves, bears and eagles. We had dinner in the usual restaurant, followed by a Motown/60s song and dance performance.

Our room attendant told us that our carpet would be replaced tomorrow. We were shocked and disappointed that they would plan to replace carpet in an occupied room. We went to the customer service desk and made it clear that was unacceptable, that the chemical smells of glue and new carpet would cause Sandi to have a reaction. The person at the desk went and talked to her manager, and promised that they would not change the carpet the next day. Interestingly, the title of the person at the desk was Customer Service Officer. When we asked about that, she said that she had only half a stripe; her jacket had a stripe that was half yellow and half white! She was outranked by any real officer, who would have at least one solid stripe. We later got a box of chocolates with an apology note. Then later we got a note that implied that we had received the chocolates by mistake, but that we could keep them anyway!

Sunday we got up early to meet our Ketchikan tour at 8:15 am; our driver/guide was from Texas, but had spent six seasons in Alaska. This was a culturally focused tour, from the Cape Fox Alaska Native Corporation.We started with food and a beer tasting, as well as display of regalia (costumes) of the culture.  There was a native dance performance. We took a short walk, and then visited the totem poles. One of the totem poles was a shame pole for Seward, who bought Alaska from the Russians. Seward was the beneficiary of four potlatches, where he received lavish gifts, but never reciprocated by hosting his own potlatch. The Indians kept asking when he was going to reciprocate, but neither he nor his descendants responded. The most interesting part was a visit to the shed where the totems were carved. The master carver demonstrated his techniques, and answered several questions that Richard had about his tools and process. Back in town, We went through the Forest service visitor center, and Sandi was able to buy a Tongass National Forest T-shirt. The Fire Department had a vending machine for T-shirts, which Sandi bought for Nick and Andrew, the family firefighters. We made it back to the ship with 15 minutes to spare. We had dinner with Dee, Jim, and Angelo, and then went with them to the Irish Pub, where we saw a couple of Irish musicians sing ballads.

Monday was a sea day. Sandi went to the culinary talk. Richard took a nap. Sandi enjoyed the talk by Becky Jewel, the naturalist. We spent some time on deck with the naturalist, watching whales. The inside passage, between Vancouver Island and the mainland, is truly beautiful, We enjoyed Nick talking about animals he encountered in Alaska. He said that bears only kill one person a year in Alaska, so not as big a threat as most people think. The dinner included a parade and acknowledgment of the waitstaff, managers, chefs, and scullery crew. We said goodbye to our waiter, Pradeep from Mauritius, and dining Manager, Miguel from Mexico City.

Tuesday we left the ship, and took a taxi to the Vancouver airport. We were the beneficiary of a Delta red coat employee, who was able to get us on an earlier flight. We took a short flight from Vancouver toto Seattle, and then another flight to Denver,  and arrived home in daylight hours.

Paddling the Green River

 As part of my quest to paddle the length of the Green River, we headed for Fontenelle Reservoir and the river downstream.  This is north of Green River Wyoming.

Mike on Fontenelle Reservoir

We drove on Sunday.  My Subaru got 20 miles per gallon, due to the headwind and the sea kayak on the roof.   We drove to Slate Creek Campground, downstream of Fontenelle Reservoir. The campground was very basic, an outhouse and a few picnic tables, but it was free, and generally quiet.  Mike had brought his grill; I used it to warm up burritos from home.  The boat ramp was fairly busy, generally fishing guides with boats.

On Monday we dropped off a car at the boat ramp near the Fontenelle dam, and headed north.  Our put in was the small campground north of the reservoir.  We loaded our boats, and put in around 9am, with a good current.  This current moved us well until we got to the reservoir, which was way down.  The map indicated that we could paddle directly to the dam, but we ended up following the old river bed, due to the low water.  As usual, the wind picked up around noon.  We arrived at the boat ramp around 2 pm, and started the shuttle.  We paddled about 13 miles.    Dinner for me was more burritos from home.

Tuesday we planned a shorter day, 8 miles from Dodge Bottoms to Hay Farm.   We got on the water about 8.  We saw a river otter, a beaver, and mature and immature bald eagles.  This section went through the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge.  The terrain is pretty flat.

Osprey nest

Wednesday we paddled from Lombard Ferry to County road 4, about 13 miles.  We took out at the historic road 4 bridge, now food traffic only.   The bridge had an osprey nest, with a little one.  At the takeout, the mom was there, nice to see.  We did run aground some, and the current was about 1.5 miles per hour.  

When we got back to camp, we decided to head to the KOA at Green River, where we could get a shower.  We ate at Showgunz Pizza.

Thursday we drove home, with a bit of a tailwind.

I am close to completing the Green River.  I have one day south of County road 4, and then four days south of Vernal Utah.

Valladolid and Ek Balam

On Monday, we left the beach and headed inland, to Valladolid. We made a brief stop in Chemax to see the church. We discovered that Google knew nothing about one way streets in Chemax. ;-) We decided to visit Xkopek, outside Valladolid, for their Mayan Bees Tour. We had lunch there. Our guide, Edwardo, was good and taught us about Meliiponario bees, different than the honeybees that we typically think of. These are smaller, and each species has its own characteristics. None of them have a stinger, but one of them tends to get in people's hair, one is kind of a parasite on other bees. We walked down into their dry cenote, perhaps 30 feet deep; the humidity makes for better habitat for bees. We might call a dry cenote a sinkhole. Theirs has a well in the bottom. The original owners used a rope and a bucket to pull water out of the well. They created a hole in the overhang area, and lowered the bucket perhaps 30 feet to the bottom of the cenote, and then another 20 feet to the level of the water. But that way they did not have to walk to the bottom to draw water. At the end of the tour we sampled honey and various honey products.

After the tour, we drove to our Hotel Peregrina, where we got a nice large room. We headed to the main square and had a good but expensive dinner at El Atrio del Mayab. The waiter passed the allergies issue to the manager, Ishmael, who told Sandi what she could have. We ate in a garden area of the restaurant, with a nice ambience. The square was busy, with many tour buses, locals, and tourists. There were two young men dressed as Mayan dancers, taking photos, and later dancing.

Tuesday, we had breakfast at a hotel next door to our hotel, and headed for the ruins at Ek Balam. Richard's guidebook to the architecture of the Yucatan was obsolete, because of the restoration work at Ek Balam. We hired Natilio as a Spanish language guide. He walked us through the ruins, including the ball court, and the huge building they call the Acropolis. The center has a stairs like a pyramid, but the building is just huge, perhaps the second largest Mayan building by volume. It is 500 feet long, 250 feet wide, and 100 feet high. Richard had to climb to the top. 

 We then headed to the town of Ek Balam, where we were to meet our tour guide, Edwardo. He took us to people's houses to see them work. The first house the lady had a treadle Singer that she used for machine embroidery. Sandy bought a blouse from her. The second house there were two ladies showing us the chocolate process. They make chocolate as part of the day of the dead celebrations. The third house the lady demonstrated hammock making. Our guide said that everyone in the village sleeps in hammocks. Sandi bought a shopping bag made using the same technique. We drove back to our hotel, and had a very good dinner at the Osteria della Nonna. The owner/cook knew exactly what to do with Sandi's allergies, and showed Sandi her box of gluten free pasta. Sandi felt very comfortable there, and the food was good.

Wednesday we visited the women's handicraft center Zaci, on the north side of the central plaza, There were several rooms with mostly clothing. Sandi bought a couple of embroidered blouses. One lady had a huge selection; she represented 8 women in her neighborood who did embroidery. Richard was tempted by sandals, but did not buy. We walked to the Murem museum of ethnic clothing, showing ethnic clothing from all over Mexico, including some used only in ceremonies or celebrations. Unfortunately, most clothing had no label at all, no indication of what part of the country it was from, no indication of who wore it and why. 

 We continued to the Casa de Venados, a couple's massive collection of Mexican crafts and art. The dining room chairs had portraits of figures from Mexican history; Richard enjoyed going around the table naming each person, but he missed a few. It was really an incredible collection, including some commisioned pieces. Some of the emboidered pieces were of the same style as pieces in our own home. We walked back to the hotel and headed for the Cancun airport, as Sandi wanted to be there early. The last part of the drive was in the dark, and near Cancun the traffic was very heavy, and the signage poor, so we missed our turns a couple of times. We settled into the Courtyard Mariott for our flight the next day.

The flight home on Thursday was routime, but the cold weather was a bit of a shock

Akumal in the Yucatan

View from our room

On Monday morning, we got up early and drove to the airport. We arrived at the terminal three hours early.  The plane pulled away from the gate, but the captain said that there was a problem with one of the engine igniters. We went back to the gate, and the mechanics went to work. The captain came out of the cockpit to explain the situation. He did not want to take a long flight over the ocean if everything was not working right. The passengers stayed calm, and after a couple of hours, the engine was tested and all was well. We were about two and a half hours late, which meant that we would be driving in the dark, which I try to avoid in Mexico. We waited for almost an hour at the Cancun airport, mostly waiting for our bags. We picked up our rental car, and started driving south on the main road. We were a little appalled by all the commercial development at Playa del Carmen, which seemed to go on for miles. We arrived to our hotel, Del Sol, around 9 pm. We drove to the commercial area in Akumal, and ate a good dinner at Turtle Bay. We were very tired.

Imelda

On Tuesday, we slept in. Our hotel has traditional Mexican décor, with a fridge and a coffeemaker. Most importantly, our patio is perhaps 100 feet from the water, and a great place to hang out day and night. We walked to Imelda's Ecocina, where we had a good breakfast. , and then drove to Tulum. We got pesos, and shopped at La Comer, a huge modern fancy grocery store. We were able to buy some gluen free food for Sandi, and various other food and drink items The security seemed heavy, with many men in dark coats. We drove home, and relaxed in our room or on our patio. We decided to walk to the nearby La Buena Vida restarurant for happy hour and dinner. Our waiter tried hard, but there were no vegetables that Sandi could eat; all were cooked in butter. Her fish was good, I enjoyed my tacos. One of the regulars had a dog wandering around; the dog hung out at our table looking at Sandi. Sandi bought a couple of bar T-shirts for Christmas gifts. Across the street was a several small shops. Sandi bought several t-shirts from Julio, a graphic designer who silk screens his own designs.

Wednesday Richard slept in. We walked again to the Ecocina for breakfast. We asked someone about the turtle park, where one could snorkel with turtles. The plan would be for Richard to snorkel with a guide, while Sandi sits on the beach. Richard was able to log in to get some OLLI classes, but Sandi's class was full. We have learned that if you really want a particular OLLI class, you need to be on your computer the moment registration opens. The beach had a lot of sargassum seaweed, with employees shoveling seaweed back into the ocean.

Our tire was leaking, so we drove into Tulum to the Enterprise place in town. The nice gentleman drove us over to the tire shop, where they removed the screw, and patched the tire. He told us about Ichkabal ruin, a large ruin near Bacalar, a few hours south. I might visit it as part of a ruins focused tour of the Yucatan.

We had dinner at La Lunita, an upscale restaurant further down the beach. We were well taken care of, and the food was good. It was right on the bay.

Thursday Richard slept in. We drove to town, looking for the Cenote Santa Cruz (Holy Cross). We found it, and made a reservation to come back at 3 PM for a private tour. We ate at Taco Maya in town, relatively nice for a taco place, but not fancy. It was very clean, and the food was simple; they worked with Sandi to give her a chicken breast grilled in olive oil. After lunch, we came back to the cenote, but the guide was not there, he had apparently blown me off. The lady let us walk to see the cenote for free; there was a group swimming there. Sandi had never seen a cenote. We stopped and made a reservation to swim with the turtles Friday morning. We drove to the end of the beach road, and walked out onto the rocks at the point. Sandi agreed that it was a cool place. The waves were small, bouncing off the rocky shore, which was not easy walking. We had dinner at Surf Cowboy, near the end of the beach road. The food was not bad, but salty.

Friday we got out of the room at 8:30 to meet Richard's guide, Carlos, to snorkel with the turtles. Sandi went into the park and had breakfast while Richard snorkeled. Richard saw five sea turtles of different sizes, as well as a couple of sting rays and an octupus. It was interesting to see a fish cleaning barnacles off the shell of the turtle. Due to the many people touring the park, they used ropes to create lanes to organize the snorkelers. The solo tours were in a separate area, hardly any other snorkelers. The group tours looked kind of crowded, with clusters of folks around a guide. It was quite pleasant to sit in the restaurant, in the shade, watching the activity. Richard took a nap after snorkeling. We walked back to the commercial area; on the way Sandi bought an embroidered blouse and a turtle to add to our collection. We had a good dinner at Taverna; Sandi thought it was the best of the trip. The place was busy. Our server was a carpenter moonlighting as a waiter.

Saturday Richard had hoped to snorkel, but we woke up to a cloudy day with waves and more seaweed. We walked to the end of the road, and looked at Yalku, a private lagoon, with gardens and sculptures. We bought some bakery items from Que Onda, which had almost sold out. We had lunch at the Jungle Cafe, on the edge of a mangrove swamp. We went to mass in town with the locals and a few foreigners. We ate dinner in the room.

Sunday we had a good breakfast at the Jungle Cafe, where we watched birds. The place was busy. We decided to drive to Tulum, and then on to Sian Ka'an, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. We stopped in town for cash and gas. The road in the park was full of potholes. We stopped at the bridge, where a few people were fishing. They pointed out a crocodile, perhaps 6 feet long, next to the mangroves. We continued on to find a place to walk on the beach, no other people in sight. We drove back through the Hotel zone, a crazy busy place, which extended almost to the park. We had dinner in the room.