7/25/2013–Clinton, MT to Wilderness Gateway USFS Campground, Idaho

We left our campsite in Clinton, MT after saying our goodbyes to Jerry and Sue on 7/25/13.  Our first stop was to pick up our mail in Clinton before continuing on our way.  Since we were heading to another small town, we made another stop at Walmart to pick up some additional groceries.  By that time it was close to our lunch time so we picked up a Subway sandwich before getting back on the road.  We drove south to US Hwy 12 and drove west toward Idaho and finally crossing the stateline.

Soon after crossing into Idaho, we stopped at the Lolo Pass visitor center and took time to look around.  Due to the narrow and curving road, we decided that we would find somewhere to camp for the night rather than driving all the way to Grangeville.  The forest service employees in the visitor center recommended the Wilderness Gateway campground a suitable for large RVs, so that became our destination for the night.  We followed the Lochsa River for our drive.

When we arrived at Wilderness Gateway campground, we were able to find a pull through site and got set up for the night.

7/19/2013–Colter Bay Campground, Teton National Park to Baker’s Hold Campground, West Yellowstone, MT

We left Colter Bay Campground and headed into Yellowstone National Park after dumping our holding tanks and filling with fresh water.

We saw very little wildlife on our way to West Yellowstone.

Once in West Yellowstone, we turned north about 4 miles to Baker’s Hole National Forest Campground where we would be staying for the next 2 nights.

After getting set up, we ate lunch then drove into town to check out the visitor’s center and just looking around to see how much the town had changed.

We were surprised to see that Lapp’s Cabins were still there and not replaced by a bigger, newer business.  We’ve been to West Yellowstone about 4 times in the past for snowmobiling trips and we stayed in one of these cabins on two of those visits.

Driving out by the airport, we found the West Yellowstone smokejumper’s base and went on in said there was a sign indicating that visitors were welcome.

While looking at this display in the lobby, we were greeted by the office manager, a nice young lady who gave us a tour of the facility.

The table behind her is where the jumpers pack their chutes.

This is the drying tower where the chutes hang until ready to be packed.

Each of these boxes of various items have their own chutes and are ready to be dropped to the fire fighting site.

We continued north of Lake Hebgen and had this deer cross our path and jump the fence.

After returning to the campground, we walked out to the river to see if there was any wildlife.

The black in the water of this photo is a beaver who was very busy in the water for a long time.  It eventually went up in the brush and returned with a mouthful of tree limbs.

Back in the water, the beaver drug the limbs as it went with the current, and losing quite a few as it swam away.

Once in the small rapids, it dove underwater and disappeared.

We made plans for an early start the next morning to drive to the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park.