Mann Gulch

Karen and I just got back from a trip up to Montana to Mann Gulch and then we went to Glacier National Park and then came back down the panhandle of Idaho and visited a hot spring I went to years ago when I was on a fire up there.

My visit to Mann Gulch was a dream come true for me since I had read so much about the fatalities there that happened in 1949. There were 13 smoke jumpers who died there and each one has a cross where they found his body on the hillside. I tried to take pictures of each of them but only found 12 of the 13. I must have missed it but the slope was steep and it was a long hike in there and I didn't have much time to look since we had taken the tour boat and we had a tight time frame to catch the last one of the day out of there. Karen made it to the ridge but I left her there and went by myself down into the gulch.

The second picture is one I took from near the bottom looking up slope to where the fatalities occurred. There had been a recent fire up there and you can see the burned spot at the top of the ridge and most of the crosses were in that general area but below it. The whole gulch is nothing like it used to be back in 1949, most of the trees were burned and it is almost all grass land now. I looked at some areal photo's of the place taken in 1949 and it was not completely forested, but the lower section had plenty of smaller reproduction that must have given the fire a good head of steam as it burned up canyon. The one thing I really paid attention to was the slope. It was really steep up where the guys died and I could see why they couldn't outrun the fire. I'll be posting all of my pictures on my web album maybe tomorrow.

After we left Mann Gulch we headed up to Glacier National Park and went across to the upper panhandle of Idaho and came down through Sand Point and Coeur d'Alene and through McCall. We had a couple of rainy days so we got motel rooms for 2 nights and finally spent the last night camping in the Boise National Forest after soaking in the Silver Creek Plunge, a hot spring I had stayed at around 20 years ago where they had fire camp there. It was really nice and we had a great trip, rain not withstanding.

Wow! Time flies!

Yep, time flies. The month of July went by way too fast for me but Karen and I had a wonderful time in the Greenville area exploring in her jeep. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance in the next few days but we are leaving to go to Mann Gulch on Sunday so I need to do it before then.

We got back on Sunday the 2nd of August and since then we have been busy getting the RV cleaned up and ready for the next trip and pulling weeds in the garden which were quite tall, I have to say. I had to dig up the Horseradish and those roots were very deep so that was a chore. We still have more to do but it's looking much better already. Oh, yard work... I thought I'd never have to do that again after I moved into a rental... shows you what I know.

Sunday we are going to Montana to visit Mann Gulch. I have been fascinated with the stories about the firefighters who died there in 1949, one year before I was born, for many years. Considering the proximity of Idaho Falls to Montana, it seems like a good time to try and go there. As it turns out the way to get there is by boat up the Missouri river so we might be renting a boat to be able to spend the time we need to see the place. There are guided tours available but you have to be on their timetable and we don't want to do that. We will have to see how this unfolds. Well, enough for now...

Santa Cruz

We had to run down to Watsonville to get Karen's Jeep so last night we drove over to Santa Cruz to walk on the boardwalk. I haven't been there for 41 years and a lot of it has changed but I remembered the place where I came through the cave from the beach on the other side of the river. I was remembering bits and pieces as we walked down the boardwalk but it's all concrete now instead of boards. Karen was telling me a lot of it had been destroyed in a storm or flood and they had rebuilt it so that would account or the changes... but then it's been 41 years so I expected some changes anyway. It was a nice sunset and the moon was full but I left my camera in the jeep so I didn't get any good pictures except a few with my phone but I can't access them until we get back to Idaho.

This morning we are renting a trailer and we are going to load the Jeep on it to take it back to the mountains. The traffic on I-80 yesterday was bumper to bumper from Davis to just before the 680 intersection but I'm hoping it won't be too bad today. I already can't wait to get back to the mountains.

Off to California

Today we are leaving for California and even though we could make it in one day we are only going to Elko today and we will finish the trip tomorrow. After all, we are both retired and it's better to take it easy when it's opportune to do so. I won't be posting any more blogs until I get to the local library to get internet access and then I'll try to catch up.

Back from Kansas

We got back from Kansas yesterday afternoon and started getting ready for our next trip. We only have 2 days here in Idaho before heading to Greenville, California so it's a short turn around. We are also taking the 5th wheel with us on this next trip so we had to go and get it and now we have to get that thing ready to go as well. Busy, busy, busy!

I must say that I had such an enjoyable trip down to see Kieth and his family and one of the highlights of that trip for me was seeing fireflies again after over 50 years. It's funny how little things like that can make such an impact on us. Anyway, now it's time to get ready for another adventure.

Keith's Birthday

Today was Keith's birthday and we had a nice relaxing day just checking out a local park in Leavenworth down by the river and we ended it up by driving into Kansas City to have dinner at a barbecue place that Keith knew of. When we came out of the restaurant there was a very active thunderstorm going overhead and lightning was hitting all around us which I thought was very cool.

After dinner we sat on the porch back at Keith's house and watched another thunderstorm go by and as it got dark we watched the fireflies flitting around the yard. I remember seeing fireflies in Indiana when I was a kid but I haven't seen them in 50 years or so and it was a real treat to finally see them again.

It was another hot day and real muggy but not too hot for me and I was loving it. This trip has been a fantastic one so far and Keith and Kathy have made us feel right at home. In 2 more days we will be heading back to Idaho.

Sightseeing in Kansas

Keith and Kathy took us up to Atchison today to a cool old train depot museum with a stop along the way at a little town called Weston. There is a street called Thomas street which I thought was cool since I was there with the Thomas family.


The train depot was in Atchison where Amelia Earhart came from and they advertise that all over town. Later on we took a walk down along the Missouri River and I got a picture of the group out on a floating dock at one of the boat ramps.

It was hot today around 100 with a very high humidity but I have to tell you I was still loving the heat. I had a wonderful day and we went back to Keith's and had barbecued hamburgers which were also very good. Ya gotta love it!