Hiking the North Rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Last year we hiked the South Rim trail of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone including Uncle Tom's trail, which consists of more than 300 steps down a metal stairway about 500 feet into the canyon. This year we decided to take the North Rim trail to see the Upper and Lower Falls from a different direction. We parked near the brink of the Upper Falls and made our way down a short path to see where the falls begin.

This is the Yellowstone River before it goes over the edge.

We stood where it starts down the falls. This is the scene looking down on the falls.

Surprisingly there were flowers growing out of the rocks as we looked down.

After listening to the roar of the water and marveling at the speed of the water going over the edge we continued along the path. This is the view of the Upper Falls from a distance.

 

Less than a mile down the trail we came to the brink of the Lower Falls. We had the option of walking down a switchback path about 600 feet. As we proceeded down my mind kept repeating what we heard at the real Grand Canyon several years ago, "What goes down must come up." There were benches along the way so I figured we would be ok.

 

 



After eight switchbacks we were finally at the bottom of the path and ready to see the falls from the top.

Here is what we saw.

Across the river we could see the steps that we took last year.

This is a group of people at the bottom facing us and seeing the 308 ft Lower Falls from the opposite side.

The view was amazing looking down. The white clump across the river is a snow pile that has not melted. I verified it with a ranger because we were not sure if it was snow or a rock.

The climb back up to the main trail was exhausting, but we stopped many times so I could catch my breath. The altitude of over 7000 ft got to me. Once we were on the level trail again the hike was more enjoyable. This is a view of Lower Falls from farther down the trail.

Dan zoomed in to get a picture showing where we were standing at the brink of the falls. You can see the people on the right side of the falls.

The trail continued along the canyon where we saw many beautiful sights. There was an osprey in its nest on one of the hilltops. We could see it with the binoculars.

We stopped at lookout point to view the river.

Another stop was Grand View where the river flowed below us.

The length of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is 20 miles but we only walked less than five miles out and back. That was enough for me! After the hike we explored the Canyon Village stores and enjoyed a huckleberry ice cream as a treat.

Next week we're heading to Cody, WY for our weekend.

Mitch's Graduation Party-July 13, 2013

Our flight to Ohio was uneventful and mostly on time. We arrived Friday and were able to help with the preparations for our first grandson's graduation party. Sons Dan and Doug smoked pounds and pounds of beef, pork, ribs, and chicken in a huge Goodyear smoker. It was fun to watch the process of putting the meat on foil, adding seasonings, and stacking it on racks in the smoker.

It took all day to slowly cook over the coals.

Meanwhile inside the other food preparations and house decorations were underway. On Saturday everything came together with lots of help from relatives and friends from both sides of the family.

Mitch will be attending Ohio State in August and the decorations reflected his school of choice, Red and grey were the colors of the day. Mitch and brother Matt stood still long enough for me to take a picture beside his cake and cupcakes.

We took some group photos. Here we are proudly with Mitch.

This is Dan and family on their front porch.



Kelly, Dan, Matt, Lacey, Mitch

 

This is Doug with Nancy and his kids.

 



Cheyenne, Nancy, Daimen, Mary, Doug

 

Here are the cousins together.

 

Matt, Mitch, Mary, Daimen, Cheyenne, Lacey

 

It was a busy, busy day with about 150 people attending. Fortunately the weather cooperated with sunshine and blue skies after many days of rain. On Sunday we helped clean up, and we left for the airport bright and early Monday morning. The plane we were supposed to take experienced brake problems when it arrived at Cleveland airport. One thing led to another and we left the airport at 3 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. We had a four hour layover at Chicago instead of a quick stop in Denver. Finally we arrived safely in Bozeman at 11 p.m. instead of 1:30 p.m. During the afternoon we decided to get a room in Bozeman so we wouldn't have to drive an hour and a half back to Gardiner that late at night. On the last leg of the flight we were put in first class and had a beautiful view of the sunset.

 

 

It was a trip we will not soon forget.



 



Hiking the Hoodoos/Driving off the beaten path

On our day off we decided to do a hike through the Hoodoos which are huge chunks of travertine limestone that crashed down from Terrace mountain thousands of years ago. It was named because of the ghostly strange shapes and spooky appearance of the fallen rocks. We packed the backpack with bear spray, water, and the trail map and started out early in the morning with our hats, sunglasses, and walking sticks. We found the parking area and the trail head and headed out to see the hoodoos. The trail began through a meadow and was quite lovely.

We then made a right turn into the forest. About 1/2 mile in we got attacked by thousands of mosquitoes, and that's when we remembered that we forgot the insect repellent. So we did our best to swat them away and charged back out of the woods. We'll try that hike another time WITH the bug spray! This is what part of the hoodoos look like from the road.

We formulated a plan B and decided to drive the Old Gardiner Road, a dirt road running five miles from Mammoth back to Gardiner. From the hillside we got a different view of Mammoth Hot Springs and beautiful hillside sights. This shows the Gardner River and the road we take to work.

We were amazed to see little white flowers growing up in the middle of the road.

Gardiner looked quite different from this angle.

We imagined how it must have been back in the days when stagecoaches took this road to the park.

Since the car was already filthy from the dirt road, we drove up the other side of the mountain on the north side of  town to a city we heard about called Jardine. Here's a view of Gardiner from the north.

The five mile road was paved for a short distance and then became gravel and then bumpy gravel and dirt. The five miles seemed like ten miles. Along the way we saw some wood carved statues that directed us to a scenic viewpoint.

When we finally got to Jardine all we found were a few run down buildings. The city was once a gold mining town but not much remains of it. We were glad to get back to the "big town" of Gardiner, and our first stop was the car wash!

We're getting ready for our trip to Ohio for our grandson Mitch's graduation party on Saturday. We leave at 6:30 am tomorrow and get back Monday afternoon.

Salmonflies and Trout Lake

A few weeks ago some folks were talking about salmon flies and how they swarm over the water and the fish jump out to eat them. They said that avid fishermen plan their trips to coincide with the salmon fly arrival because the fishing is so good. I was a little suspicious because I thought they were kidding me. The other day while we were sitting under a tree beside the RV we had our first salmon fly sighting. They are about two inches long and very UGLY. One landed on my leg and another on my back. Here is one on the wooden fence behind the RV.

As I looked up in the tree I saw several of them clinging to the leaves.

I became a believer. They do not bite, but they are annoying. Fortunately they are gone from our area already. And a friend who is a fisherman said that the fish love them. It's just another new experience at Yellowstone....

Friends told us about a trail that leads to Trout Lake where at this time of the year the trout swim upstream to spawn. Since the weather forecast was for temperatures in the 90's we left early in the morning while it was still cool. On the way to the Lamar Valley, where the lake is located, a fox was trotting down the side of the road. He crossed the road and stayed by the side for us to get this picture.

Then he took off running.

A little farther down the road lots of cars were stopped including a ranger so we figured that there was something interesting to see. The ranger had to holler at these folks for getting too close to the grizzly.

We were able to watch him amble through the grass until he decided to go into the water.

After that he made his way into the woods. It's always a bonus when we see a bear - in the distance!

The trail to the lake is an uphill climb and passes through some woods and areas covered with beautiful wildflowers. It is a delightful hike.

Here are some of the wildflowers that we saw.

When we got to the lake we followed a path that led to the running water where we hoped to see some trout swimming upstream. In total we saw seven of them. There may have been more, but their color blends into the rocks in the stream, and it is very hard to see them. Here's a spotted trout on the bottom of the picture.

The ones that we saw were not making very good progress. In fact, there were three swimming together and one of them got pushed back down the stream with the force of the water.

We continued along the path around the lake enjoying the scenery, listening to the birds, and watching butterflies flutter all around.

A few people that we talked to along the way asked if we saw any otters, so we started to look for them. Shortly before we had completely circled the lake some folks were looking into the water. So we stopped and saw two adult and three baby otters putting on a show.

They chased each other in and out of the water. The babies wrestled with each other.

The mama dove down, found food for the babies, and put it on a log where the little ones climbed over each other to get to it.

 It was delightful watching their antics.

Everyone was very quiet as the otters entertained us. The all of a sudden the adults started to swim off to the middle of the lake with the babies following behind. After about 20 minutes the show was over. What a delightful way to end the walk around the lake. We felt very lucky to experience so much on that hike.

As we were traveling the forty miles back home in addition to the amazing scenery we saw two stagecoaches filled with tourists.

We thought that looked like fun, but not on a 90 degree day!