5 June 2019 Jenson Utah to Wilson Wyoming

Today we left Dinosaur NM behind and headed for Jackson Wyoming, just outside Grand Teton National Park. We took US191 back up through Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Which meant we had to climb those steep passes we had come down, and go down the steep passes we had climbed up on our way to Jenson a week ago. To add to our concerns, the temperatures were 20 degrees warmer than our trip down. One pass in particular was a challenge since it has a 5% grade for three miles followed by another three miles at 8% grade. As we started up the transmission fluid temperature climbed steadily. As we started up the 8% grade, the transmission fluid temperature spiked up to 261 degrees, just slightly below redline. We were in second gear at 3500 RPM, full throttle, and barely making 30mph. Then the coolant temperature began to climb as well. Then, we come around a corner and there is a big semi-truck (it had four axels on drive wheels!) with a very heavy load of cable. He was barely making 15mph. There was no way to pass, so we crawled along behind it to the top of the pass (there were three other RVs stacked up behind us). The good thing was, at the slower speed, the transmission fluid temperature dropped down to 245 but the coolant temperature began climbing. Lets just say we were really happy to top out onto a long plateau that was at 9000 feet. It was 20 degrees cooler and all the temperatures quickly dropped back into the normal range. We had three more big climbs but nothing came close to this one. Once we got 20 miles north of I-70, we were running between two snow capped mountain ranges and the scenery was beautiful! We arrived in Jackson about 4:30. Were staying at the Fireside Resort ($109 per night, no discounts) just down from Teton Village. The site is gravel, a bit narrow, and a little short (we have to park the truck sideways). The utilities are all the way at the back of the site and there is a large overhanging tree. We can’t get a satellite signal for the TV and our coax cable is too short to reach the cable connection at the back of the site. Not our favorite RV park. The entrance brings you up through a line of cabins (which look really nice) with over hanging trees. A bit concerning considering the road was narrow. But, it is only 5 miles from Grand Teton NP entrance. Critter Sighting: We saw several groups of prong horn along our trip up US191. We later learned that they were migrating from their winter range down in the Green River valley to their Jackson Hole summer range.