Life on the High Plains

After visiting Harriman State Park last week I ventured over to Mesa Falls.  Mesa Falls is administered by the U.S. Forest Service on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest and is located between Rexburg and Island Park in southeastern Idaho. It's an easy walk from the parking lot to the falls although there are several steps that have to be navigated.  The first thing you come to is the brink of the Upper Falls. Tremendous view of the river.  This is the Henry's Fork of the Snake River. Then you get a view of the falls.  This is the last prominent falls on the Snake River that has resisted human control.  I hope it always stays that way.  I hate it when a dam is built above an amazing waterfall and ruins it for all future generations. These falls are as high as a 10-story building.  They pour over the remnants of a ancient volcanic super eruption that spewed ash over much of the U.S. The river continually chisels through ...

On Wednesday afternoon I decided to head to Yellowstone's Biscuit Basin to hit the trail to Mystic Falls. It's a 2.4 mile out and back hike and at the end is this amazing waterfall.  For several minutes I had the whole place to myself.  I appreciate the serenity and peacefulness I experience at these glorious places. Once again, I'm in complete awe of the trail crews who maintain these trails and create staircases like this one for those of us who aren't as agile as mountain goats. This waterfall is on the Little Firehole River.  This is view downstream. This is the trail that continues as a loop.  I did the loop last year, it is very steep and goes to the top of the falls then through a wooded area to an overlook.  I was very unsettled on this loop last year because of how steep it was and the remoteness of the trail once it leaves the falls.  I knew it was foolish to do it by myself last year so I wasn't about to repeat that mi...

Recently I made a trip to Norris Geyser Basin to meet a friend.  She had never been there before so we took a tour.  Norris is composed of two basins, the Back Basin and the Porcelain Basin. Our first stop was a look at Steamboat which is on the Back Basin side.  I've never been lucky enough to see it erupt.  On this day it was pretty quiet so we moved on. We viewed a couple geyser pools near Steamboat before making our way over to the Porcelain Basin. I love this little pots that are bubbling with boiling water. Then we came to the overlook for Porcelain Basin.  This is the hottest thermal area in Yellowstone.  The thermal features in this basin are above 200 degrees F.   The highest recorded temperature was 459 degrees.  Two years ago a man and his sister left the safety of the boardwalk and a tragedy occurred.  The brother slipped and fell into one of the pools when he leaned down to test the temperature of the...

I love it when I come across photos on my camera that I didn't take.  A couple weeks ago our granddaughter, Miss G, was in Yellowstone and got to spend a few days with her Grammy and Pappy.  Since I was working Pappy go to entertain her and he got her signed up for the Junior Ranger Program. Normally you have to be at least four years old to participate, but since Miss G's Grammy is a ranger they bent the rules. Earning your Junior Ranger badge is something you have work for.   You have to go on a hike on either a trail or a boardwalk.  Pappy took her on the boardwalks around Old Faithful. You have to attend a Ranger Talk.  Here she is with her fellow Junior Ranger candidates listening to a talk on something.  Since there's a skull involved I assume it was about wolves. Here she is getting her photo taken with a very nice ranger outside the yurts at Old Faithful. There were also several pages of activities that she had to ...

Harriman State Park in Eastern Idaho was the private retreat for the Harriman Family (Union Pacific), the Guggenheim family (American Smelting and Refining Corp.) and the Jones family (Atlantic Richfield). In 1977 the Harriman's gave the ranch to the state of Idaho as a waterfowl sanctuary.  In 1982 it became a state park.  Yesterday on an 8 mile hike I saw pelicans, trumpeter swans, geese, and ducks plus all kinds of other birds that I couldn't identify. My favorite were the pelicans. A couple of them took to flight when my camera wasn't at the ready, but I managed to get a couple shots. I love the reflection in the water beneath. Fly away my beauties! The Henry's fork of the Snake River run through the property in addition to a couple lakes. The original buildings from the ranch remain and some of them are available for rent.  They've also added some yurts that you can stay in. Around every turn on the trails there is ...