Baker’s Hole, Round 1

Day 75  Sunday August 28, 2016              Gallatin National Forest, Baker’s Hole CG, site 36

36 miles towing                             10.0 mpg

We went to Baker’s Hole to get closer to Yellowstone National Park so we could arrive at Mammoth Campground at a reasonable time to get a good site.  We left Madison River Campground at 09:30 knowing we didn’t have that far to go.  We got to Baker’s Hole at 10:20 and set up in site 36 which is an electric site.  I know you’ve heard this before: we made hamburgers for lunch.

There was quite a lot of smoke in the area from the wildfires going on.  Worse than when we came into West Yellowstone a few days ago.  Marsha took a couple of shots on the highway which show the haziness from the smoke.

Looking east on US-287 towards West Yellowstone.  Can barely see the mountains which are usually very clear.

Looking north across Hebgen Lake.

Sat out under the awning to shade us and worked on blogs.  I also spent quite a bit of time looking for a new computer.  My computer, a Microsoft Surface Pro 2, is a great computer and I truly loved its portability, and versatility.  Especially for being on the road.  But the SSD drive is only 128 gigs and I’ve been having to remove files to keep room for my many photographs.  A high end Surface Pro 4, the current model, would be about $1500.  I’ve been looking at other computers in this price range and there are some that offer larger drives and memory in this price range.  Still researching looking at reviews and other factors.

Marsha was on her phone learning new knitting technique called continental.  It is faster than conventional knitting which is called English.  She had to tell me all this.

We are practically across from the Yellowstone Airport.  There are jets flying in and out occasionally.  But what was really            our attention was the double rotor helicopters going back and forth, fighting fires.  There were some large float planes flying around.  I think these are the ones that land on a lake and scoop up water.  Hebgen Lake is a huge lake nearby that they could use for that. 

The heavy smoke cleared up a little later in the afternoon, but not gone.  There are air quality alerts for the surrounding area.

It was an easy going day.  Made grilled corn on the cob and boneless pork chops.  Afterwards, took and evening walk down to the Madison River and took some photos as the sun was setting, making things look all pretty..

The campground host was riding around in her golf cart while I was making supper and I inquired about firewood.  She was embarrassed to tell me it was $6 per bundle.  But you can get 3 bundles for $15.  So I got the three bundle special.  She rode away and came back and delivered my three bundles.  She also threw in loose pieces enough to equal another bundle.  That’s what she does with wood people leave behind.

Made a small fire and sat out after it got dark.