Winemaker and I decided to take a short jaunt up to a place called Hoback Junction today.  The above sign is missing two animals, well probably three or four I can think of right off hand….Deer, Bear, Potguts, Porcupines, Badgers, Chipmunks, Squirrels and Weasels, to name a few.  This sign is on the way to and from Hoback.

So, if you have read all of the stories on Bears Butt Dot Com, you have no doubt read one on my take of how this place got its name, but I did a bit of research and found a different story all together.  Not entirely off track from my own story, as it still involves mountain men.  I think my take is closer to the truth than the one on Wikipedia.  A mountain man named John Hoback was supposedly the guide for the Astor party back in 1811 and he lead them through this part of the country on the way to see what Jim Bridger was all hot and bothered about….spewing hot water geysers and ground that never froze up in the Yellowstone area….what a story teller that Jim Bridger was.

Anyway, that is our destination for the day…going up to see an old acquaintance of ours and to eat in a famous cafe in Alpine.

More later on.

Bears Butt

August 7, 2014