Life on the High Plains

This past week was the 61st anniversary of the August 17, 1959 earthquake that occurred in the Madison River Canyon just north of Yellowstone National Park in Montana. The 7.5 quake caused the side of this mountain to crash down into the Madison River blocking the river.  They say the lake tilted and dropped 19 feet that night.  A campground in the Canyon was flooded, boulders crashed down into the campground.  Although there were many survivors, 28 people lost their lives.  In reading the names of those who lost their lives on the monument it appeared that several entire families were lost. My hiking buddy, Elizabeth, and I decided to go in search of the ghost village that resulted from the flooding.  The rangers at the visitor center pointed us in the right direction and our adventure began. In the picture above you can see the trees poking above the water in the lake that was formed by the quake.  It's hard to believe they are still standing there after ...

 A couple coworkers and I got up early on Tuesday and made our way to Lamar Valley in the Northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park.  We had two goals:  observe the bison rut and find the wolf pack. The peak above is Electric Peak.  If you ever want to hike this mountain you have to get up early before the afternoon storms.  It's named Electric Peak for a reason. When we arrived in Lamar Valley we weren't disappointed.  The bison rut is in full swing.  Lots of cranky boys looking for girls. The two bulls above put on a good display for us. Then we continued on to Slough Creek and were thrilled to see the wolf watchers were still there. Again, we were not disappointed.  The pack was active including the pups who were frolicking about. I don't have a good enough lens to take pictures of the wolves who are a good mile or so away.  This is the valley they like to hang out in.  Lots of cows and calves in this group.  Wolves think cal...

 Today my hiking buddy and I went in search of an old fire lookout tower in the Custer Gallatin National Forest. We were in Elizabeth's Prius and had to park at the base of this Forest Service road.  It is a primitive road and a Prius is not built for that type of terrain. If you can't drive then you have to hike up the mountain.  We had beautiful views of Lake Hebgen. We passed the tallest thistles I've ever seen. We also had fantastic views of the Henry's Lake Mountain.s. We came to a fork in the road and tried to decipher the map.  I think the Forest Service should invest in some "you are here" stickers. We chose to continue up the mountain and before long we reached the tower. This tower had obviously been abandoned quite some time ago.  A locked gate at the bottom gave the impression that maybe people were supposed to stay out. Nowhere did it say you couldn't climb to the top so when Elizabeth climbed over I decided I needed to follow her to make sure...

Sometimes in life you just click with someone.  Elizabeth and I have been hiking together for four years.  I met her my first year in Yellowstone and we hiked the park together.  The next year she worked in Glacier and Irv and I met her there for a hike.  Last year she was back in Yellowstone and we met her for a hike again in September when we went for a visit. This year Elizabeth didn't arrive in Yellowstone until late July and I was so happy to be back together with my hiking buddy. The only bad part is that I work at the west entrance and she works in Gardiner, Montana for the park's foundation so we're a couple hours apart.  For our first hike I met her in Mammoth and we went off to discover the upper terraces. There's a drive through the upper terraces, but the Park Service closed it this summer.  That means that the only way to see it is on foot. In Yellowstone if the only way to see something is on foot you're probably going to have the place to you...