KARKALITS & RAIBOURNS

Across the Fence 


By Arvord Abernethy 

At the same time we were taking that trip to Colorado that I was telling you about recently, two of our close neighbors were also taking trips to the Northwest. The Burt Karkalits went to Yellowstone Park and the Charnie Raibourns went to Washington and Oregon. 

Burt and Leota went to Ft. Worth where they got with their children, Ken and Nancy Beasley, and their young son, Aaron. They took a camper trailer along with them so spent most of their nights out under the stars. 

They took a northwesterly course across Colorado that took them by the Royal Gorge, Independence Pass and Aspen, some of the most beautiful parts of the state. This route took them on to Vernal, Utah which is right in the northeast part of the state. 

Near here, the Green River has eroded away much of the surface and has exposed large deposits of dinosaur bones. There is such a large deposit of them; Uncle Sam has set aside about thirty miles along Green River as Dinosaur National Monument. There is a lot of digging going on there now, some of which will be enclosed in a large building, so one can see exactly how they were found. 

Another interesting sight in this vicinity was a large hydroelectric plant. They went down into the engine room, which was immaculately clean, and saw the large turbines spinning out electricity to be used in some distant city. 

They went on to the picturesque town of Jackson Hole and then to the Grand Tetons. These mountains have often been called the most beautiful in the United States because of their steep, rugged sides that rise so abruptly from level ground, especially on the east side. They make such a scenic view with their tops capped with snow and the young Snake River crawling along at their feet. 

They spent four days seeing the sights of their next stop, Yellowstone Park. It’s a unique world of sights all its own. Probably its many, many geysers are the most noted feature of the park with Old Faithful being the most renowned. It has been erupting every hour, in all its beauty, since the first explorers discovered it back about 1870. On a cold, still morning, there is so much steam coming from the many geysers and from cracks in the ground, one feels like he is walking on a thick scum over a boiling caldron. 

The boys took their fishing gear, but didn’t take time to fish any. Yellowstone Lake is noted as a fishing spot, but it is also the second highest large lake in the world. Since its south shores lie right close to the Continental Divide, one wonders where all the water comes from. The gushing Yellowstone River runs out from under it, travels a little ways and then plunges over a cliff that is over 100 feet high. Then it hurries on to leap off another cliff that is over 300 feet high. Beautiful indeed. 

Their trip home brought them down through the western part of Colorado through the towns of Ouray, Silverton and Durango which are on the Million Dollar Highway. The aspens were taking on all their fall colors as they came through there, but some rainy weather kept them from getting out much. They came on to Fort Worth with the feeling that they had had a wonderful trip. Aaron wants them to take him back in few years so he can get more out of it.

ACROSS THE FENCE