Teton Village, WY

Bob and I both have contributed to this little travelog through Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Until now, I had never been to Glacier, Yellowstone or Grand Teton National Parks, and they are really something to see. It is so good that these wilderness areas are set aside for millions to enjoy. The rangers really do a good job in the delicate balance of protecting the animals, yet allowing the visitors to see them. 50 years ago when Bob visited Yellowstone, for instance, the black bears were all over the cars. Now the "moocher" has been bred out of them and they are rarely seen, which is far better for the bears. As of this year hikers in the backcountry of Grand Teton now have to carry an food-aroma proof container to discourage them.

And then there's the acres of trees. 80% of pines in Yellowstone are lodgepole pines, which have 2 kinds of pinecones. One type is shed during non-forest fire years. The other needs a fire--heat of at least 130 degrees-- to open. 20 years ago the park had a terrible fire, but nature has reseeded itself with thick carpets of baby trees, far more "planted" by nature than would ever be planted by man.

Crossing the prairies, forests, deserts and mountains that we travelled comfortably by car, I was in awe of the forbidding country that faced those going west. The West represented hope and a new life to so many Americans, but to the natives who lived there for a thousand years, it also meant the death of their way of life.

The side trips were well worthwhile. To see William Clark's name etched on a pillar of rock, or the markers of where Custer, his men and the Indians fell on the Bighorn Battlefield site is something I won't forget. When I see a certain shape of hill covered in yellow prairie grass, I'll think of Fetterman and his men riding into an ambush. Or is I see a magnificent lone Buffalo sitting on a plain, I'll remember the one we saw as we hiked the same trail Chief Joseph did as his led his little band of Nez Perce Indians towards Canada in an attempt to hold onto their way of life a little longer.

Now as we gaze at the incredible peaks of the Grand Tetons and were gifted with the sighting of a couple of moose on our last day before returning to Washington State, its the culmination of the profound beauty this part of the country has. Brings me back to my childhood, living most of it within view of 14,126 foot Mount Shasta in northern California and all the summers spent in the Marble Mountain wilderness area with my Mom and Dad and brothers and sisters. Bob and I would be walking along on a pretty hike and there would be a certain smell in the pine forest which brought it all back. This was Bob's birthday gift, this trip. I turned 60 this year and consider it the best birthday gift I could ever have had as well.