Yellowstone Adventure: Ribbon Lake

I had to work on the 4th of July, but I was lucky to have the two next days off.  I decided to head out to the Canyon area and go on a hike to Artist's Point via Ribbon Lake.

I thought I had done my research good enough to know that this hike would be about five miles as evidenced by the following sign at the trail head.  2.5 miles out and 2.5 miles back.

This hike was a little different from those I've previously done because it started out in a valley filled with luscious green grass and beautiful wildflowers and also some very large critters.

 

The above photo was taken with my zoom lens about 100 yards away.  I was glad he wasn't on the trail.

 

Before long I reached the forest which had obstacles to climb over and sometimes to duck under.  At this point I was tailing a family who were just out of eye shot.  

 

There were dried creek beds with that sulfur smell so I assumed there was some geothermal activity in the area.

 

More meadows that were very wet and marshy.  You know what that means don't you?  Mosquitoes!  And I mean millions of mosquitoes.  After about 2.5 miles I came across another sign that said Ribbon Lake was still 1 mile away.  Apparently the sign at the trail head meant it was 2.5 miles to the Ribbon Lake trail head. 

 

By this time I wasn't going to turn back.  I had already walked this far and I was going to see the lake even if the mosquitoes were eating me alive.  The above shot is of the lake.  I didn't stop for more than a half a second because I needed to get away from the water and the mosquitoes.

 

I stopped and reapplied insect repellent for the second time.  The hike out was a steep uphill and slowly the mosquitoes started becoming thinner and thinner.  At the top I came across these geothermal features.  These are the things you see when you explore Yellowstone.  A ranger told me that only 5% of Yellowstone visitors ever get more than 1/2 mile from the highway.

Somewhere along the way I totally missed the turnoff for Artist's Point.   I can't believe all the different features I encountered in such a short distance.  Yellowstone really is an amazing place.

 

Missing the turnoff turned out to be great because the trail I was mistakenly on took me by this beautiful turquoise-colored lake.  It's appropriately named Clear Lake.  I stopped and took a breather here for several minutes while taking a look at the trail map that I had on my iPhone.  I will admit that I was getting a little anxious about how I would get back until I realized I was on a loop that connected with the Wapita trail head where I started.

 

Remember that big guy I took a picture of at the beginning of the hike?  Here he is again taking his afternoon siesta.  Still about 100 yards away.

 

Then he stood up and that's when I got my feet into faster gear even though I was about 7.5 miles into the hike by this point.  I topped a ridge on my hurried exit and standing in front of me about 10 yards away was another of these magnificent creatures.  My first thought was "this is not going to end well and nobody is going to know where I am".  Then I wondered if bear spray works on bison.  I veered off of the trail to give him plenty of space and luckily he never looked up from the grass he was munching on.

 

I got well away from both these guys and then stopped to snap a few shots of the wildflowers.  These are mountain lupine (I think).

 

I have never been so happy to get back to the parking lot at the trail head.    Right as I got back to my car I met the dad from the family I had been tailing.  They had found the turnoff for Artist's Point and he had left his wife and kids there while he ran back for the car.  It was a very warm day by Yellowstone standards--about 86 degrees.  I was very thankful that I had carried so much water along.  My 5 mile hike had turned into almost 9 miles.

 

Afterwards I drove over to Canyon Village to find an ice cold drink (and a flush toilet).  I only made one stop on the way back to Grant Village and that was to take the above shot of the Yellowstone River which is absolutely beautiful.

This morning I said goodbye to my neighbor in the RV lot and a co-worker, Ellen.  (We have two Ellen's and two Alan's).  She is the first to leave because of the horrible working conditions.  I've had thoughts of leaving also, but there's still so much I want to see before it's time to go home.