Chafton's "Out West" Adventure Tour

August 20.2025

Day 8......I think...it's been a crazy week!

We ended this week in the Cool Little town of Livingston, Montana...It was Rocky and Denise's 48th Wedding Anniversary so we celebrated at the local Hot Spot. This place was touted to be Livingston's best. Well, it didn't turn out to be. It was so bad we couldn't even eat the main entree. My baby back ribs were more like 60 year old Bison, the 6 oz. filets were about the size of a silver dollar and over cooked.The green beans were fresh from the garden, without cooking. It goes on and on. Not ones meal was worth eating. We complained and got the meal comped. Felt bad for the Langley's but we had a good time talking about it. The staff apologized, gave us a round of drinks, desert, and even brought out the owner. Stuff happens.

Like I tell my "Mud Buds"......

You don't know till you go.

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

The plan was to Jeep thru the North Sector of Yellowstone but I woke with a killer headache and decided to hang loose at the campground....turns out Nurse Christine thinks its because I missed the last two nights of my blood pressure meds along with the altitude.

The Happy Hoosiers continued on the schedule and enjoyed some awesome wildlife shots and scenery views. 

On the way to Yellowstone

North Loop of Yellowstone National Park

Along the Yellowstone River

Can you find the Bear

So back at Starry Night RV Park we are prepping for an off-road Jeep ride over the mountain to Jackson Creek. We have downloaded a new app called OnX because Montana is not on the Lifetime Trail Map system I am familiar with. We visited the local Forest Service office and picked up a paper map as backup......we'll see if we get lost or not....Kelly (the manager of the campground ) loaned us two cans of Bear Spray and said be careful it's Grizzly country. 

With that piece of advice I switched my carry piece from the .38 to the 357 magnum. We came with both. Thank you Pat Harder......You and Mikee are always on our mind.

Left camp around 8:30 this morning headed over to those mountains.

We will be driving thru Willow Creek Ranch (it's huge) and hope to see some Elk and Bear.

We are getting closer, hope to get GoPro footage added later.

Lots of free range cattle along the way.

Ran upon this herd of Elk just before reaching the trailhead.....hundreds in this herd.

This statue is at the entrance to the Ranch Homestead...

Zoom in and identify it....Beautiful drive and we haven't even reached the trails.

So many pictures... such big country.

Southern Montana....30 miles fromYellowstone.

Big Black Bear down by the creek...he ran off before I could get it zoomed in.

7000 feet in the hills around Livingston, Montana....

Day 9...Travel Day

On the road again, this next stop is Lava Hot Springs, Idaho

Great spot for an over nite stay, very active family campground on a small river with tubes available to float down the rapids. 

Day 10....on our way to Circleville, Utah. A tiny town in the middle if no where. Chosen because of it's proximity to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Also as we learned later, it's the childhood home of Butch Cassity. Named Circleville by the Moormans who settled here, as it is 360 degrees surrounded by mountain ranges.

 

Can you imagine living here in 1900 

There is nothing in site for miles, not even now.....Just a highway,

some telephone poles, and one ranch about 3 miles away.

No wonder he left home and joined up with The Sundance Kid.

This man was responsible for the restoration of the property.

It is well done, with antique farm tools around the yard.

His research includes old census records of the family.

Entering Zion National Park is an awe inspiring experience.

You will find yourself saying " How did this happen?"

It's definetly a " God Thing "........

Me getting a picture of Rocky taking a picture

of Tom and Dana.

Seems you just can't stop taking pictures in Zion...

Rocky was offering this little girl a chance to pet Chevy but she was a bit scared of dogs....

Most of the awesome scenery is on the GoPro but internet is not good enough to post them yet. Hopefully later. 

Only video to load at this time...I'll try later to add more...weak internet

Long video of a compilation of several videos taken while Jeeping our way thru Zion

National Park...Time to head back to camp and load up for the next adventure.

A few more things to do before we leave this sleepy little town of Circleville, Utah.

Same brake as repaired in Wall, S.D.

Broken adjuster, so this time I gutted the whole assembly and blocked off this wheel. Future problem eliminated.

I'll replace it when we get home.

See previous blog post for First Week by scrolling down to end, choose older post.