Grand Teton through smoke haze
We had plans to be in Grand Teton National Park until next Sunday, but forest fire smoke has changed our itinerary. We awoke this morning to a cold, but nice sunny morning in Yellowstone. Our plans were to do our laundry (which we did), then arrive at the Colter Bay campground at around noon (which we did), and stay there for a week (which we didn’t).
The farther we drove south from Yellowstone, the smokier it got. By the time we got to Colter Bay the smoke haze hung heavy obliterating any distant views. We stopped at the campsite registration office, debated our plans to stay, and since the registrar said that it was smoky every morning and evening, she also agreed with our decision not to stay. She recommended that we go to the Gros Ventre campground on the south side of the park, as she said it was less smoky there. However as we got closer we could see that there was very little point to staying here, as the beautiful Teton mountains were so obscured by smoke that they were hardly visible.
So we drove on south through Wyoming, travelling through the mountains along the Hoback River for the first part of the trip. This was very beautiful, as the leaves of the poplars are turning golden. Only the smoke haze marred the view, though it did get less as we got farther south. Then upon leaving the mountains one drives for about 150 km through the high desert of Wyoming, at an altitude above 6000 ft, most often over 7000 feet.
We stopped in Rock Springs, Wyoming at a KOA campsite. It seems to be the only RV park in this town, so one doesn’t have a lot of choice. It’s nice enough, but pricier than most places we’ve stayed.