With frozen roads blocking our penciled path through Yellowstone, we decided to head west and south, into the Caribou-Targhee Nat’l Forest. Henry’s Fork of the Snake River tumbles through, and a site next to the trout-brimming tributary called the Warm River provided us a chance to chill. Not that we did, of course….
Named for the morning mist coming off its surface rather than the temperature, the river shallowed out and wound its way lazily past our sunny campsite.
This was our first glimpse of the backside of the Tetons from an overlook on the narrow Snake River Scenic Byway.
We took a misguided hike down a bear trail to what we thought were the epic falls of the Snake but turned out to be a narrow gorge the Warm falls through. Had our fingers on the triggers(of our bear spray!) the whole way through. Hokahai!!!
The river falls out of its slot through autumnal color splashes.
Once we were at river’s edge, we spied heavy timbered woodwork on the cliff’s edge, about 300 feet above us. Denver clambered with us as we scrambled over the talus slope only to find the wood was old tunnel member where the Union Pacific cut a 600′ tunnel through the mountain at this particularly crumbly point.
Here we are on the top of the scree looking back at the cataract.
The next day dawned 35 degrees with a hard rain. So, with no delay, we set off on a ride up the rails-to-trails that climbed out of the Warm River Valley, ran flat across the caldera and onto Island Park, some 30 miles on.
On the way up the river we were goggled by a bald eagle in a fir on the opposite bank. We’ve seen so many bald eagles already we actually had a “meh”moment.
Shortly after writhing in agony from a spill, Rebecca took this picture so I could understand what my sympathy looks like to her. On a dour note, she did rip her britches.
