Driggs and Yellowstone

Well, road trip number two of the month was a great success-the Greg Brown show, Driggs visit and camping with Eric & Emily then Yellowstone plan.

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We had a great drive across Idaho and pulled into Driggs late on Wednesday night. Called our host who was not at home but whose roommates Bill and Bob kindly took us in.
On Thursday, after running into Eric & Emily in town while setting our blanket out at the concert venue, we went on a drive to a trailhead our hosts gave us direction to. Along the road we came upon a deserted house that was set in a picturesque wheat field.

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The trail was quite beautiful, in the Jedediah Wilderness area at the base of the tetons, Darby Creek Trail.
Resting point:

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The trail is only 2.6 miles long each way but the elevation gain is (gulp) 1,800 feet. So we were a bit worn out by the time we reached the waterfall and wind cave at the top but it was so amazing, it was worth it. We weren't exactly prepared for this hike (not realizing the extent of it) and can never thank the gentleman with the water filter at the falls enough~ THANK YOU water filter stranger.

Wind hole at back of first part of cave. This goes through the mountain into a larger ice cave...which we did NOT go into. The air coming out of this hole was freezing (!) cold.

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Heading out of the cave:

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After hiking out and a quick shower at our hosts house we headed down into Driggs for the show. It was held at an outdoor parklike area and the weather was perfect. Met up with E&E and ate a quick dinner prior to the show then settled in. The crowd was a bit much but I stood right in front of the stage to get a good view.

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The set was long, Greg was having a good time playing to the raucous crowd but ended the whole show with a direct gaze and hat tip at....yours truly!! I about fainted and all the women around me sighed and looked at me briskly, it was awesome! Ok, so he's my version of a rock star. After the concert the three of us went up to the lookout near Grand Targhee Resort and watched the stars, they were amazing!
We had a restful night and packed up in the early am. Met up again with E&E to head to Island Springs with a couple of cool stops along the way.
Mesa Falls:

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After arriving at our camping spot along the Buffalo river, we decided to go for a swim to cool off. The river was beautiful.

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Camp was set and E&E took us to the headwaters of the Henry's Fork river, Big Springs. It was truly a magical place where this entire river just bubbles out of the ground, crystal clear water.

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We spent some time relaxing and had a late night around the fire. Then it poured rain very early in the morning with tons of very close lightening and thunder, it was truly extraordinary.
The next morning we woke early to a clear sky and herons calling and were on our way to Yellowstone. We saw many buffalo:

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elk and stopped at the geysers and hot pools.

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Pulled into Old Faithful area ten minutes before the show so we lucked out to see that and went on our way farther up. We spent time at West Thumb and drove all the way up to the waterfall and canyon area.
Artists lookout was the most extraordinary view of the day and our last big stop in the park.

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Back at camp we relaxed with E&E and all shared the adventures we had during the day. After a nice sleep we were awoken early in the morning by moose calling back and forth to each other.
We finally got up and ate a nice breakfast, broke camp and began the long drive home. Not willing to end our vacation just yet, we stopped at Craters of the Moon park.

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We enjoyed all the caves in the park, even the really cold ones with ice (ICE in the middle of August) in them.

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Finally on our way home we rolled in late to unpack, love on the dogs and hit the hay before returning to reality and the work week.
Another amazing adventure under our belt, we're thankful for our awesome truck who keeps us safe and moving forward to our next adventure.
We hope you enjoyed yet another Idaho Graziano adventure. If you'd like to see ALL our pictures, feel free to check out them out here.