Mesa Falls and Tetons

I have always wanted to go back to Mesa Falls near St Anthony Idaho.  I spent a day here when I attended Ricks College and it was beautiful.  I think it is one of the most under photographed falls, except for maybe by Idahoans.

ready to go

I passed Ricks College or BYU Idaho as they call it now and as I drove by my old dorm I found they were tearing it down! To make a parking lot! I had a lot of great memories in that dorm.  Two different apartments and 5 different roommates.  Oh the winters were cold here.  I didn't have a car and sometimes walking to the grocery store my nose would freeze shut.  It was a great place to shop because they delivered your groceries to your door.  How great is that.

Rexburg Temple

Stopped by the Rexburg Temple to take a photo.




I was on on my way to Mesa Falls.  There is a campground near here but it is not very big.  I am hopeful I can find a place to camp there.

Mesa Falls has really changed.


Like most good things, it now costs to get in and they have made the old lodge there a visitor center and a gift shop.  Still it is a pretty falls and when you go in the early evening and morning to take pictures there are few people there.

 

I stopped here first to see what it looked like.  I paid the 5 dollar fee and strolled around a bit then I decided to find a place to stay.  Oops all the campgrounds are full but there are lots of places to camp.  I just don't like to camp outside of a campground usually.  Just for safety mostly.  I went back to the Falls to wait for the sunset.  Guess what? It was just me.  I love it when there is no chatter but just the sounds of nature.

 A lot of the good places to take photos had been closed off.  I understand that they need to protect people, but really! I did climb over a safety fence to get a better picture.




This is the lodge that has been turned into a gift store.

Beautiful Falls!!  And a quiet peaceful night.  Now to find a place to camp.  The sun was fading.  I saw many places along the road, but they just didn't feel right so I turned down a forest service road that followed the Warm River.  The scenery was beautiful.

I ended up following forest road 15 for about 45 minutes when I came to a dead end at an old ranger station/ fish hatchery right next to Warm River Springs.  This is where the Warm River originates.

As I was taking this photo I heard a woof.  It was a deep woof.  Not a bark.  I think it was a bear or maybe Bigfoot alias Sasquatch!  I got out of there pretty fast.  Now I was a bit unnerved.  I still couldn't find a place to pull  the trailer into.  I finally decided to just go back to the parking lot of Mesa Falls.  I was going to go there early in the morning to take photos anyway. And at least I would have an outhouse.  I figured I would be gone before anyone showed up, even though I saw several no camping signs.  I wasn't camping.  I was just sleeping!

I woke up by 5:00 to catch the first rays of sunlight.



I think I liked the Sunset photos better than the Sunrise Photos.  Anyway here is the result.

Now I was off to Find Cave Falls and Bechler Ranger Station which technically is a part of Yellowstone National Park at the very bottom tip.  

This is a pretty rough road.  I don't know why I do this to myself.  I seem to pick the dustiest bumpiest roads in the country.  While traveling on the Cave Falls Road I saw a black object in the road in front of me.  It was a black bear running lickity spit down the road in front of me.  He was in the brush before I could stop and take a picture of him and I wasn't about to track him down.  I did tell the ranger when I reached Bechler.  

And this is Cave Falls.  I would like to go back and explore this area a little bit more.  I have heard that there is some great back country that starts from Bechler Ranger Station.

For Some Reason, maybe it is my propensity to travel bumpy dusty gravel roads.  I decided to take the Ashton-Flagg Road to Grand Tetons National Park.  Oh it is a rough long road.  And I happened to get behind some guy pulling a bunch of canoes to the boy scout camp (Camp Loa).  

But the Scenery was nice.










I found a fee camping spot right outside of The National Park along highway 89/26.  If  you like to camp "off the grid"  this is the website to use.  Be forewarned that these sites are free  or charge a small fee but they do not have amenities like established campsites.  This particular site had some incredible views of the Tetons, but also a few sites tucked into the trees.  The top was pretty full with bigger rigs (Which is just about any rig) so I went down into the trees.  This site is not far from a bathroom (about 3 miles).

This is a photo of my "rig" on the top.  You can see the awesome views.  Here is the link to the free campsites website. https://freecampsites.net/


I don't really "camp" when I go on these trips.  I don't build a fire or do a lot of cooking.  That is for times when I am with my family.  I think that is why I like this set up so much when I am by myself.  I take photos early in the morning when the light is good  and if the light becomes harsh I usually go back to the trailer and read  or sleep or edit photos. Then I start back out again in the late afternoon.

I keep my food and my cooler in the jeep along with my water.  I do this for two reasons.  One I am usually in bear country and two I don't want to get stranded in my jeep somewhere without resources.

I have a goal zero "Sherpa" battery that I charge before I go.  This will usually charge my ipad completely one time and my phone many  times.

If I go on a trip longer than 3 days, I like to stay in a campground that has an amp service and a nice bathroom.  If I can't find one I have a shower set up that I use.  The pump for this shower is charged by my goal zero.  I put the pump in my collapsible bucket filled with water and it pumps the water out the shower head.  I have this nifty shower tent that stores flat.

 Here's a photo of the shower setup.

I can set up my camp in less than 10 minutes, if I don't set the shower up.

So after I set up the camp I left to search for Moulton's Barn --a bucket list item for most photographers and it really isn't even in the park.  In fact most  good views of the Tetons are outside of the park.  It wasn't far from my campsite and it did not disappoint. 

And I was back again early in the morning.  I just have a small rant.  I was not the first one there in the morning. I went and stood by the group of people that had already gathered.  It probably wasn't my preferred location but they got there first.  Then another photographer came about 10 minutes

later and set up directly in front of everyone.  Nobody said 

anything so I yelled "Hey, your'e in my shot."  He said, "I was here first." and then  he said, "Besides you guys are in the wrong place."  About that time the sun started to reflect on the mountain.  So what do you do?

Here's the end result after I cloned the rude man out of the photo, which was very time consuming.

Another Ionic place for photographers  is Schwabacher's Landing.  I was here early one morning and it was cold and misty.  A bear walked in my photo just across the river, but he was moving pretty fast and I had my wide angle lens on rather than my telephoto lens.

I also saw some moose and their babies and I had a delightful time watching beaver.  They are my spirit animal and  I am always searching for a good close-up. 

 I noticed a young couple eating dinner next to the beaver dam near Schwabacher's Landing and a beaver was literally just 2 feet from where the young lady was eating mac and cheese. Yes they cooked their meal on a butane stove right there.  I love that. The beaver would put a stick on the dam and then he would dip back into the water to find another one. I whispered to her how cool that was and I had never gotten that close to a beaver.  She said she had never seen a beaver.  I just couldn't put my camera lens in her face to take a photo.  It seemed wrong.  So we just shared the moment.  I hope I am a part of her memory like she is a part of mine.

I had a great time at Teton National Park.  I intend to go back now that I have an idea where some of the locations are.  Here is my parting shot.

And a quote from Thoreau-- I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little world all to myself.”