A CannonRide Down the Great Divide (solo)

[Cannonshot]

Built in 1920, this hatchery produces about 165,000 adult rainbows for put and take stocking in the region. Fish that are stocked are sterile. They also produce 10 different strains for statewide use. They produce rainbows, brooks, browns, goldens, grayling, and Kamloops rainbows. The majority of fish produced are 1"-6" for distro around Idaho.


The put and take fish are put into high density fishing spots. The state has a great native population throughout.


Stocked fish are disease free.


Some species of trout are more aggressive territory wise than others. It makes it important to be careful with stocking so as not to crowd out desirable native reproducing fish.




Some of the put and take fish are nice eaters.






Ashton calls itself the world's largest seed producing area. Potatos are big here.

[Cannonshot]

The water in this irrigation canal is really moving.














Water slide.


118' Grassy Lake dam (Bureau of Reclamation) built in the 1930s and recently upgraded.


Something like 15K acre feet.


It is operated by an irrigation district.




Evidence of the patchwork nature of the 1988 Yellowstone fires.


Rocky wanted to preserve much of this wondrous area. When the government wasn't getting it done, he bought up large parcels of land and later donated them to the government.


Lots of reminders.




When I was riding in this area (and some others) the road would sometimes wind through some willows crowding the path which would limit visibility. Having run into grizzlies while backpacking, I was concious of maintaining visibility so as not to surprise a bear. At the very moment I was thinking about what a bad spot this one location was I came around a tight corner crowded by willows when brown fur (a deer) popped out from behind a bush right in front of me. Another brief startling experience.





The 1988 Yellowstone fires together formed some serious fires. At the peak, over 9,000 fire fighters were assigned to the park. 4,000 military personnel were put into firefighter service. The fire burned up 35% of the park but burned in a patchwork pattern instead of taking out everything.




Trees are coming back.


Flagg Ranch. Camping available here - along with many other things.

[BAGSTR]

Cannonshot,

Can you please detail what you, and the Forest Service, consider proper Food Storage? Canisters, rope and bag over tree branch. Are bear boxes usually available? Yes, we have our Pepper spray.

How was campsite availability along the way. Were any full when you showed up at 6:00PM

Three of us are heading north from Salida Aug 15 and looking forward to you posting your tracks and waypoints. We have the Adventure Cycling Association GPS Tracks, but I like the way you have your route and Big Dogs overlayed.

Regards

[Cannonshot]

Originally Posted by BAGSTR

Cannonshot,

Can you please detail what you, and the Forest Service, consider proper Food Storage? Canisters, rope and bag over tree branch. Are bear boxes usually available? Yes, we have our Pepper spray.

How was campsite availability along the way. Were any full when you showed up at 6:00PM

Three of us are heading north from Salida Aug 15 and looking forward to you posting your tracks and waypoints. We have the Adventure Cycling Association GPS Tracks, but I like the way you have your route and Big Dogs overlayed.

Regards

I'm no expert but here is some info to consider.

In some areas they have food storage lockers (metal cabinets) to store food in.

Otherwise there are instructions on how to properly bear hang food. Here is one site with info: http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/campw_bears.html

Personally I don't carry food in - or wear/store clothes that have food cooking smells on trips like this one.

The campgrounds in popular areas fill fast (late afternoon, early evening). If you search the web for a specific NP campground, they will tell you what is full or not (and what time it filled). Also, you can look back a year to see what time the place filled up last year to use as a gauge for this year. http://home.nps.gov/applications/gla...s/cgstatus.cfm (Not sure if Yellowstone has this feature.)

The more basic and further out the camping area, the more availability. There are a lot of campgrounds around if you are willing to go off track a little to less popular areas.

I'm sure others can share their experiences as well.

[Cannonshot]

Side trip down toward Jackson.






Jackson Lake Dam (Bureau of Reclamation) was first put in back in 1906 but the log dam blew out in 1910. A better dam lasted until the 1980s when they replaced it because it was too vulnerable to earthquakes.


The damn raises the lake 30'. The water is used for irrigation.


The Snake River snakes on for another 800 miles to the mouth on the Columbia River.




The light was shining on the other side of the mountains. Best to photograph these from this side in the morning.




Info for hikers.

[Cannonshot]

[scarysharkface]

Beautiful!

[gnuse]

Thanks for taking us along to places some may never get to visit.

Can you tell me about the maps you are showing in your RR?

[oldtoolmaker]

Originally Posted by gnuse

Thanks for taking us along to places some may never get to visit.

Can you tell me about the maps you are showing in your RR?

Look in post #68

[oldtoolmaker]

Enjoying your report Cannonshot


Now I have to convince this little voice in my head that I realy don't want to do this ride.

[Cannonshot]

Thanks everyone!

Originally Posted by scarysharkface

Beautiful!

Much better with the sun from the east in the morning.

Originally Posted by gnuse

Thanks for taking us along to places some may never get to visit.

Can you tell me about the maps you are showing in your RR?

Screenshots from my GPS file in MapSource. I use Topo for background maps.


(This is the planning file that contains bicycle routes, all of the alternates, and I even added Big Dog's tracklines for people familiar with those. I have a second ready to load file that I will post for download - in addition to this one - that is ready to load with 20 tracks and my waypoints.)

Originally Posted by oldtoolmaker

Enjoying your report Cannonshot


Now I have to convince this little voice in my head that I realy don't want to do this ride.

Aw shucks, put a posse together and go for it. Very pleasant ride.

[Cannonshot]

I took 26 from Jackson back to the route.


Elk antler arch.




There used to be about 25,000 elk in this valley. When settlers moved in there were conflicts. In 1912 they put together this refuge for the remaining elk. This herd served as the nucleus for getting some other herds started up around the country.

[Shaggie]

5 Stars!!!!!!

[wayno]

Simply beautiful

[Abenteuerfahrer]

Absolutey spectacular pictures and photography...WOW...6 stars ******...

Please excuse my ignorance regarding Mapsource. I pretty well know its function but: how do you cut away all the tool bars on the left; top and bottom to make map picture so uncluttered and without seeing any hint of Mapsource frames. Thank you.....ride safe.