Dream Trip II
by Roger Bailey and Sharon O'dell

reprinted from Western Mule Magazine

Well folks, it looks like Sharon and I will be making August our annual pack trip month from now on. We left Centralia, Illinois at 3:30 a.m. Friday, August 22, 2000 for Cody, Wyoming. A 1 1/2 day trip took us five days because of Sharon's shopping sprees.

We were to go to Denver, Colorado on the first leg but changed our minds and went to Colorado Springs instead. Now, folks, Sharon wanted to stop and shop before we even found a motel to stay at. This was around 7:00 p.m. I prevailed and got a room first. We went through the old part of Colorado Springs that evening, but most places were closed.

Saturday morning we arose early and went to the Garden of the Gods. This is a really nice place to walk and observe nature from paved walkways.

We then went back into Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. At this point we decided to go up to Pikes Peak. This drive up to the top can be nerve racking as there are no guard rails.

From here the trip gets a little fuzzy for me. I know we drove through some of the most beautiful country you can see. Some of the towns we visited were Aspen, Vail, Estes Park, Gunnison and Leadville, all in Colorado. We then headed into Wyoming. We did stop at Thermopolis and visit with Ralph Shimon (the saddle maker).

On the drive to Thermopolis we went through the Wind River Canyon and saw the wild fire burning there. We got to Cody on the fourteenth, a day early, and Sharon had a field day touring all the shops there.

We did stop by and visit with Steve Richards of Wyoming Outdoor Industries. Steve is the person responsible for putting us in touch with Griz and Karla Turner of Lost Creek Outfitters last year. We so enjoyed that trip that we had booked with them for our trip this year.

We met up with Karla on Wednesday morning for breakfast and to meet the other two people we would share the trip. Janice Rende and Ross Capps were great people and we looked forward to our six day mountain adventure.

Sharon and I parked our car and loaded all our gear into Karla's car and headed up the road to the trailhead. Griz and Grant, Griz's wrangler, were at the trailhead waiting on us.

After loading up all the pack animals we headed up Kitty Creek to Paradise Valley and camped at Flora Lake, this lake is at about 9,500 feet and what a view we had. Howell Mountain was right in front of our tent and this would be our first day's ride.

After getting camp set up, Karla started in on supper Griz and Grant turned the pack mules and horses loose to graze the meadow, after putting on their hobbles and proceeded to make our camp a home. Supper was ready by now and what a meal we had. Boy, those steaks were good. Karla can work wonders on a meal and we were very well fed all six days.

Thursday morning came early and chilly. We got saddled up and headed up to the top of Howell Mountain which is well over 10,000 feet up. We got our first look at big horn sheep on our way to the top and also saw some elk. Once on top, Sharon got to play in the snow and had a short snowball fight with Ross. (Yes there was snow in the middle of August.) We also got to look into Erie Creek and Fish Hawk Creek from the top of this awesome mountain top. We also saw smoke from the fire burning by Yellowstone's East entrance.

I cannot describe how vast the mountain meadow is on top of Howell. We stopped and had lunch on the crest and, of course, had one of those thirty minute naps Griz is famous for. After lunch we started down. Grant and I elected to walk part of the way to save our mounts' legs. I might add here that there was no trail down at this point but Griz brush popped right on down to the valley below.

Day three, Friday, we had a move to make so Griz, Karla and Grant broke down camp and loaded up the pack train and off we went. We dropped down Neva Creek on an old hunting trail to Eagle Creek where we were to camp once more.

On the move, it started to rain and Griz, Karla, and Grant set up camp in the rain. The rain didn't last long and us guys were just itching to break out the rods and reels.

The four of us headed for the banks of Eagle Creek. Boy, O, boy, the fish were sure on the bite. It seemed like you had one on at every cast. These are all native brown trout and, while not really big, they could sure fight in this swift water. During breakfast the next morning, we had a visit from a cow moose and her calf. This proved to be the first visit of many. Seems we had made our camp in their home. Every morning and evening we had moose in camp with us.

Day four, we rode up Eagle Creek headed for Crouch Creek Ridge. On the way we saw what was left of an old plane crash and also where an old gold mine had once been. We rode up, up and up until we topped out on Crouch Creek Ridge. It seemed like we were on top of the world. We could see our own camp on Eagle Creek and see down into Crouch Creek. We did spot a mule deer and some more big horn sheep on the mountain across from us.

Griz sent Grant on ahead with Ross and Janice while him, Sharon and I kept looking for game. As a storm started to move in, we gave up the high ground and headed down ourselves. As we were walking along Griz stopped very suddenly and told Sharon her bear was there. Not fifteen yards from us stood a black bear sow and her two cubs. Now this could prove to be a real problem but the cubs headed off at a run and the sow soon followed. As we made our way on down, Griz once again spotted the bear trio up on the mountain side watching us from the brush. We made our way on down the mountain and headed for camp.

After dinner we once more headed for Eagle Creek and the fish. Once more the fish were on the bite and tonight we would keep a few to eat as Sharon wanted fish as a late night snack. Griz and Karla prepared them over the cook stove fire (we couldn't have a regular campfire on this trip because of the fire danger) and they were outstanding.

On day five we once more went up Eagle Creek to Eagle Creek Pass. This pass is the boundary of Yellowstone. From there we could look into Howell Creek and Mountain Creek. While on this mountain we saw sheep, elk and mule deer. We had lunch at the pass and, of course, our nap. I hate to admit this at my age and all, but those naps are great.

Day six was our last day and we left our little mountain hideaway with deep regret. Not one of us wanted to leave. It is so peaceful up there, not a care in the world. In all we had covered about forty nine miles of trail but it seemed like we were a million miles from all the hectic life down below. We did manage to talk both Ross and Janice into trying mules and Ross is interested in buying one now. So maybe we did make a mule convert.

Sharon and I would like to thank Griz, Karla and Grant once more. The three of them make these trips so easy and so much fun. Grant was an outstanding wrangler and really seemed to get a little upset if any of us tried to saddle or unsaddle ourselves. He informed us all that we were on vacation and to sit back and enjoy it. Kinda hard for us to do but we sure learned fast. In truth it felt kinda good to let someone else do the catching and put those heavy saddles on and off.

Karla, if you cook any better I'm not going to leave next year, you will have to adopt me. Boy, those meals were good, steak, chicken, roast, etc., with all the fixin's. Ross and Janice were sure fun to ride and fish with. We all hit it off well and had a really enjoyable. trip.

I would urge anyone that plans a pack trip to contact Griz and Karla Turner of Cody, Wyoming at 307-527-6251. They will sure spoil you.