Life on the High Plains

During my days off last week I decided to head over to the Canyon area of the park.  The park was not at all crowded that day so I figured it was safe to head out to one of my favorite viewpoints in the park. First stop was the South Rim of the Canyon and Artist's Point which provides the best view of the Lower Falls (in my opinion).  I'd love to come set up my easel here and paint, but it's normally way to crowded to do that in such a public area.  I waited in line at this spot and got my photo. Then I took a short drive down the road and walked a ways to get a viewpoint of the Upper Falls.  These two waterfalls are close together, but are located around a bend so there's no where to get a view of both at the same time.  For some reason I forgot my bear spray that day so I didn't dare hike in too much further. Then I decided to drive a little further south through Hayden Valley to LeHardy Rapids.  This is a great spot to see the Cutthroat Trout spawning in...

 I've been away from my blog for awhile but wanted to post an update. The day before departing for Montana I was invited to an "alumni" gathering at Young Life where I worked many years ago.  It was fun to see some of the old gang.  I hadn't stepped foot in this building in 17 years.  Most of the staff works from home now so the place was eerily quiet. The next morning I had an early morning doctor's appointment and then it was time to load up the cats and head north. We had a short first day of travel.  We stopped at Guernsey State Park in Wyoming.  The campground was almost deserted which was nice.  It was on a big lake that had nice beaches.  I bet it's wonderful in the summer when you can swim and kayak. When you travel with Ellen you have to learn to stop and smell the roses.  I saw a historic marker for the Oregon Trail so we stopped to take a look.  I read the historical information while Irv found a geocache.  Half a million...

Holy moly!  We're leaving for Yellowstone later this week.  Our planned route was through the East Entrance located near Cody, WY. This route takes us over Sylvan Pass at an altitude of 8,500'.   The Park is busily trying to get the pass plowed, but every afternoon they have to close the road due to avalanche danger. Even if the road isn't open to the public my boss said we could travel that route because I work for NPS, but it would be at my own risk.  Guess what...we've changed our plans and are now going to travel north all the way to I-90 and then head south when we get to Bozeman, Montana.  Lots of extra miles, but interstate all the way and no large mountain passes.   It's certainly going to be an interesting spring in Yellowstone!