08/29 - 10/01 - Grand Slam Western Lakes 2015

Hi Mary. We just returned from a gorgeous weekend at YSL, sharing the dock with Jay and Jolee, and catching up on their recent Alaska adventure. We had a good frost on the dock this morning with temps down in the 30s.

Regarding Bears and Racoons, I actually don't recall ever seeing a racoon in Yellowstone. We have seen plenty of bears and a few in the marina area but I have never heard of one on the marina dock or on any of the docks but I bet it happened at some point. Some people say bears don't like the floating docks. There is a campground just a short walk from the marina, much more easy pickens for bears and racoons then the marina. The marina has a lot of fishing guide and ranger activity and a security guard patrols it thru out the night. We have never had human or animal issues on the dock. There are several summer live aboards that keep an eye on things. These pics were taken this morning.

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We too had a good time with Kevin & Laura last weekend & looking forward to the 29th with more of those B dock spaces filled with C-Dorys. I sure hope you will be there to fill one of them, Jody.
 
I just reconfirmed our guest berth at Bridge Bay. The folks there are always so nice to deal with. Somehow they had entered our boat length as 35' so we had been assigned a berth a bit more distant from B dock. I didn't know the lake would even allow boats that big. I was happy to be able to correct their info so we're now assigned berth #B2. Right in the middle of all the action..... See everyone later next week.

Rob :D
 
We're packing for Yellowstone. I'm wondering if we have any plans specifically? Will we be staying in the marina or day cruising? Since there aren't many boats, one thing we really enjoyed on the North Carolina loop was rafting together anchored out and sharing a bit for a lunch break. Another fun thing at Hontoon and Powell were our pot lucks. Anyone interested in doing either of these things? I just want to make sure we're packing correct quantities of food.

I have also heard that the lodge there is quite nice so we could also plan a meal at the restaurant if folks don't want to pot luck.

Finally, I was wondering how many will be there for breakfast Saturday morning? Rob is planning to make us all his famous pineapple coconut French Toast. So bring your appetite and sweet tooth.
Mary McClain
 
We had a request for an event announcement on the front page and an all inclusive signup list for all or part of this great idea for a cruise/event. The list is in place and we will set up an album after the Bellingham cruise folks have a chance to fill theirs with pictures of the event happening now.

Thanks for the reminder. I should have had this up there sooner.
 
Mary, there isn't any specific plans, I'm aware of. It's going to be a very small group of which most have considerable Yellowstone Lake & the surrounding area experience, so I imagine it will be jointly shared & easily agreed on what to do by group or not while there. The ease of using the lodge & there good reasonably priced meals with plenty of room make a potluck unnecessary in my opinion. If not all most of us prefer the lodge for a place to eat as a group or by ourselves to the more fancy restaurant at the Yellow lake Hotel. We've had many good meals & times at both places.

Rafting on the lake could be done, but generally it's better when on a long cruise of the lake to find one of the wilderness docks not being used & stop there for a break, outhouse facilities & chat.

For any who haven't spent time in Yellowstone, there is close to a limitless list of things to do & see. We've spent time there touring the roads & back country with missing very few years out of the last 44, so now prefer to relax around the Marina area, take long or short boat rides or stay out at one of the permit required backcountry boating sites.

We are looking forward to Rob's French Toast.

Jay
 
Mary/Jay,

We are open to pot luck or if we want to play it safe, the Lake Lodge cafeteria would be the way to go. The weather is pretty iffy this time of year at YSL for outdoor dining. Friday we had an all day wind storm, waves crashing over the back country dock at Wolf Bay with 50 mph gust. It was 27 deg this morning. Our solar showers and water hoses had ice in them. By contrast, the high today was 71 deg with little wind. Photo from 8:00 am this morning.

Rumor is that Yellowstone John will be joining us for the weekend.

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Kevin, It's great to see Yellowstone John might make it. Who has the 25 by you in the photo & will they be here next weekend too. We plan on coming back up either this Tuesday or Wednesday. I love the weather this time of year in Yellowstone with the cold mornings followed generally by warm afternoons. Forunately the C-Dory now makes those windy days & thunderstorms much less of a challenge then when out in the past in a canoe.
 
Jay, The beautiful 25 was C-Puffin from Oregon. They spent several days at YSL and headed out today for Jackson. We had a great visit with Bernie and Kyra this weekend. They have some obligations back home and are not able to stay for the gathering.
 
Here is a heads up for those of you who might be traveling through eastern Idaho to get to Yellowstone. Many of the gas stations over there sell 85 octane as regular, and 87 as mid-grade. My engines do not like 85, so if you gas up in that area, take a look at the octane rating before you start the pump.
Also if you prefer non-ethanol fuel, there is a site that lists many of the stations in the U S that sells it. The site is pure-gas.org
See you there
Jack
 
Thanks for the heads-up Jack. We'll be driving thru eastern Idaho and I doubt I would have noticed otherwise. My Sequoia likes at least 87. I suspect we'll be filling up the tank somewhere not long before we enter the park.

Rob
 
We've decided to only go to Lake Powell, with one caveat. If our vacation home sells, we might have to cancel at the last moment. I've ordered a 60qt Engel, so hopefully we will be less dependent on the mushy ice that you buy on the lake.
 
Yellowstone Park Road construction - For anyone that may be coming thru the north entrance at Mammoth. Between Mammoth and Norris Junction there is construction work with some bumpy road and it can be muddy. They do have new pavement on much of it. There is maybe 3 miles of hard packed dirt with a few pot holes. Not terrible and getting better every day. The alternative is to go over Dunraven Pass, it's the most scenic drive, a bit longer route with several miles of switchbacks, good asphalt the whole way.
 
6 boats at Yellowstone so far plus a couple kayaks and a Mokai. We expect one more boat today. Yellowstone is amazing. A bison just strolled by the marina. Sunny today, cool but not windy. So, now we're out touring the lake. We'll do group dinner at the lodge tonight.
 
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