Day 6 – Floating down the Snake River

On our way to Flagg Ranch

It was a beautiful, sunny morning. We had some free time before our Snake River float trip and we  had planned to go up to Headwaters Lodge – Flagg Ranch which was next to the Yellowstone Park south entrance. That was where we were to meet our guide for the Yellowstone lower loop tour.  I had planned it as an introduction to our stay in Yellowstone Park. On the way there,  we stopped off at Colter Bay to take another look at the marina. There were a lot of people around and many were walking along the lake or taking photos.  Shawn went off on his own so I just sat in relative tranquility having a cup of coffee.  I got out and walked around and took some lovely photos.

I met up with Shawn and we were on our way to Flagg Ranch. It was about an hour from Colter Bay. We arrived and all that was there was the lodge and a gas station and camping facilities.  By that time it was lunch time so we had something at the lodge.  Shawn ordered a bison burger and I had a bean burger.  Shawn enjoyed his.  We needed to get on our way as we wanted to leave early from our cottage to get to the meeting place for our float trip.

Meeting Place for Float Trip

It took us about 45 minutes to get to  Triangle X Ranch where we thought we were to be picked up for our float trip.  It was a working ranch with a lodge and all kinds of buildings – museum, little gift shop, barn, etc.  As I got out of the car and started to take a photo, my camera said, “no card”.  Since we had arrived early, Shawn and I figured I had enough time to return and get my card.  Of course, the more in a hurry you are, the more slow cars get in front of you.  The longest wait was at the entry gate but thank goodness I got through and made it to our cottage.  I grabbed up my card and raced back to the ranch.  I had about 15 minutes to spare. We noticed another family and asked if they were waiting for the float trip pick up.  Finally, a lady came out of the office and said we were in the wrong place and that they would come and pick us up and then at the last minute they told us to follow them. So amid a lot of confusion, we finally made it to the launching place.  People had been waiting and there were two rafts ready to be launched.  We got all the safety information and our life vests and were ready to go.

There was a family of five up in the front and myself, Shawn, two young boys on their own(they lived in Jackson, and a couple from Texas.  The guide was a teacher from St. Louis who worked for the company during the summer.  It was a nice ride but rather disappointing as we didn’t see any large animals by the river.  We did see the back of a beaver, ducks, and many Canadian geese who are making Snake River their home.Here are a few photos.

It was a peaceful and uneventful trip down the Snake River.  Sadly, we didn’t see any large animals.  We saw lots of Canadian geese,  a beaver’s behind, osprey and ducks.  I enjoyed our guide, Jack.  He had lots of interesting stories to tell.  You could tell he was a teacher because he was very organized.  He was also very strong and able to control and move the raft  in the right direction.

The whole trip took about three hours and then another hour to get back to Jackson Lake Lodge.  We were so hungry by the time we got back, I decided to go to the hotel grill to order food to go.  It took about 30 minutes to order and wait but the food was good and it was nice to eat something healthy.  I had a salmon sandwich with tomatoes, onion and lettuce and Shawn had a burger and fries.  We were very tired and went to bed as soon as we ate.