Hello again, Gros Ventre!
There was a winter storm on the way and by early afternoon, I'd probably want to be safely back in Jackson. Time was ticking. But not to worry. Two seconds into this area, I found moose. Since they were kinda distant and I felt kinda lazy but optimistic that a closer moose would soon come my way, I motored on at 15 mph - eyes peeled.
Success!
Not only did I happen upon a meadow of sagebrush sporting FOUR scattered moose, but three of them were near a currently closed campground road so walking out to them was about as easy as it could get.
And... I met some really lovely people moose-peeping with me this morning! Bonus!
Back to Mormon Row I went, with intent to get all artistic. Sunny with a backdrop of the Tetons was lovely yesterday but today it was snowy and with a old-worldly magic about it. Resembling a bit of a yeti, I rugged up and wandered around as the snow intensified.
This guy watched me as I made tracks in the snow back to Jackson. Like... really watched me, with those sharp eyes!
Even in the snow - or maybe because of the snow - I found the new beauty in this wintry landscape. There is no "ordinary" here.
I had a chilled afternoon photo-editing ahead of me. There may have been some chocolate involved....
Tomorrow is going to be an effort to drive home. If the stars align and the roads stay open, I'll be back in Boulder CO around dinner time. Reunited with my furry family and counting down 'til Christmas.
Footnote: It was a precise surgical extraction of me from Wyoming on Sunday! With the winter storm, subsequent high winds across both possible routes to CO, icy road conditions and reduced daylight hours, I had to pick my departure time fairly exactly and make room in my mind for the 80% chance that I'd be hotelling it somewhere random on Sunday night.
I left Jackson at 8am - based on the forecast and first hand witnessing of a break in the snow that wasn't going to last. It allowed me to follow the Hoback River through that avalanch-prone canyon on the icy, steep downhill road at slow speed. Safely.
On the other side of the canyon, my plowed road turned to unplowed road about the time I came across the plow truck tipped down the bank and stuck - dump truck of dirt still full! The road had inches of fresh blindingly white snow and I resorted to dark sunglasses in order to get some contrast that defined where maybe 2 other vehicles had driven before me.
The driving was slow and slippery but just before Rock Springs, despite the temperature still being well below freezing, the snow became thinner and the road began appearing beneath it in big patches. Hooray!
At Rock Springs I was about 45 minutes slower than Google told me I should have been and had already mentally reconciled the fact that while I might get home tonight, it would be after dark.
I joined I80 going east. The crosswind was 55+ mph and once again the road was closed to high profile vehicles on the lighter side. Audi and I blew across I80 to Laramie in record time, actually making up for the slowness of the first leg! (You don't need to know my speed.) She really does show her true colors in 6th gear and I was grateful for her stickability and first-rate handling in inclement conditions.
Long story not really short, Audi flashed 8:00 hours driving, just as I entered my Boulder neighborhood. That's just 10 mins longer than Google predicted when Google had no idea that driving conditions were tough out of Jackson! What??!! I exceeded my own expectations... and apparently the expectations of everyone who knew me and had been watching the weather channel too.
The Dallice-ectomy was a crazy fast success in part due to timing the conditions just right - and in bigger part because I got SUPER lucky enroute yesterday. The stars did just plain align!
Very grateful to be home. :-)
