July 28, 2018
I had minimal plans for my three day weekend. My destination was Periodic Springs in Wyoming and perhaps a visit to Grand Tetons National Park. I had plenty of time to do some spontaneous exploring.
I was late leaving the refuge because I had rescued a biker and hauled him back to Lima where he would meet up with his father. That took three and a half hours, including eating supper with him. . So I didn't bother packing up until Saturday morning.
I finally got off around 8:00 A.M. and drove to Highway 20 to start my road trip. I made a stop at Island Park to pick up a few groceries before heading down the road. After a couple of hours of travel I saw a sign for the Saint Anthony Sand Dunes. That sounded interesting so I went to check them out. I just saw the very beginning of the 10,600 acres before I got to where the road was closed, due to a wildfire. I did get a few interesting pictures and enjoyed watching teenagers play in the sand.
Soon after St. Anthony, I found a field of what Idaho is famous for.... Idaho spuds.
My next serendipitous stop was along the Snake River at the Cress Creek Nature Trail. I stopped for the bathroom and to check out what people were doing there and found a wonderful trail that zigzagged up a mountain, giving ever better views of the valley below.
Stay tuned for the hike to Periodic Springs. I also got in a short visit to Grand Teton National Park which will be in my fourth blog from this weekend.
This weekend I only had one full day off and the weather was so smoky that I stayed close to home. But I did go to the Montana Historical Society's Picnic at the University of Utah campus next door. Our volunteer that was working in the office left so I have office work on Fridays now. And I'll have a full week revisiting waypoints where we found and treated tansy in past years. We also found an hitherto unknown patch of Russian pea which, while not considered an invasive, is spreading out from where early settlers planted it. We want to remove all of it from the refuge. So I'' have four days of battling weeds ahead of me. I also will present my program on native bees and finish up my bluebird survey. It will be a busy week with Friday my rest day working in the office.
Thus ended Saturday morning. Stay tuned.
I had minimal plans for my three day weekend. My destination was Periodic Springs in Wyoming and perhaps a visit to Grand Tetons National Park. I had plenty of time to do some spontaneous exploring.
I was late leaving the refuge because I had rescued a biker and hauled him back to Lima where he would meet up with his father. That took three and a half hours, including eating supper with him. . So I didn't bother packing up until Saturday morning.
I finally got off around 8:00 A.M. and drove to Highway 20 to start my road trip. I made a stop at Island Park to pick up a few groceries before heading down the road. After a couple of hours of travel I saw a sign for the Saint Anthony Sand Dunes. That sounded interesting so I went to check them out. I just saw the very beginning of the 10,600 acres before I got to where the road was closed, due to a wildfire. I did get a few interesting pictures and enjoyed watching teenagers play in the sand.
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| I loved the colors in the background mountain |
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| A closer view |
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| Sand play |
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| Area landscape |
Soon after St. Anthony, I found a field of what Idaho is famous for.... Idaho spuds.
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| Piece of a huge potato field |
My next serendipitous stop was along the Snake River at the Cress Creek Nature Trail. I stopped for the bathroom and to check out what people were doing there and found a wonderful trail that zigzagged up a mountain, giving ever better views of the valley below.
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| Roadside view of the Snake River |
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| Part of noxious weed management is to educate the public about them |
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| View of the parking lot from the trail |
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| Evergreen berries |
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| View above the trail |
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| View from near the top of the trail over the Snake River Valley - smoke is cutting the view short |
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| What textures |
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| I took a loop trail back down that was often near this little creek |
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| A few wildflowers were still blooming |
Stay tuned for the hike to Periodic Springs. I also got in a short visit to Grand Teton National Park which will be in my fourth blog from this weekend.
This weekend I only had one full day off and the weather was so smoky that I stayed close to home. But I did go to the Montana Historical Society's Picnic at the University of Utah campus next door. Our volunteer that was working in the office left so I have office work on Fridays now. And I'll have a full week revisiting waypoints where we found and treated tansy in past years. We also found an hitherto unknown patch of Russian pea which, while not considered an invasive, is spreading out from where early settlers planted it. We want to remove all of it from the refuge. So I'' have four days of battling weeds ahead of me. I also will present my program on native bees and finish up my bluebird survey. It will be a busy week with Friday my rest day working in the office.
Thus ended Saturday morning. Stay tuned.
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