Waterfalls, Waterfalls, and More Waterfalls

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 early spring, but all I saw on this day were a couple ducks.

Again, having forgotten the bear spray I didn't dare venture too far down the river shore.

I stopped a the "wolf pullout" on the way back to get a shot of the amazing Hayden Valley.  It was well before dusk but there were still a couple wolf watchers setting up for the evening.

On the way back home I told myself that if there was an available parking spot at Gibbon Falls I'd stop and get some photos.  As it turned out there were lots of empty spots.  I always love to visit the waterfalls early in the season because the snow runoff makes them very active.

I also wanted to see if the park had opened the Fire Hole Canyon Drive before heading home too.  It was open so I stopped to take a couple shots of the falls.  People had just stopped and abandoned their vehicles in the road despite there being a completely empty parking lot across from the falls.  I made my way past them (without calling them idiots) and parked my truck in the vacant lot.  Tourons!

In other news this week, this highly intelligent guy decided to help a red dog out of the river in Lamar Valley.  This resulted in the herd rejecting the little guy and he was humanely euthanized (the calf not the guy).  It was great that another visitor got this photo, but it would have been even better if they had followed him to his vehicle and gotten a shot of the license plate.  I have full confidence that the NPS will find him now that the story is on national news.  I've been watching for him to come through my gate, but I've discovered a lot of old white men (OWM) look very much like this idiot.

We got to close the gate down for a few minutes to celebrate Ben's birthday.  Ben turned 23 this week and is really an amazing guy.  Very personable, fun loving, and even put on the unicorn outfit that his fellow rangers brought him.  

This is the view out of my back window now.  The snow drift is down to about three feet tall and 10 feet wide.  Maybe it will be gone before July.

The park was busy over the weekend and I mean very busy.  The line at the gate caused gridlock in town on both Saturday and Sunday.  On Sunday afternoon a couple handed me this candy bar and I have to tell you it totally made my day.  People have been really decent so far this summer.  I've only had a couple people cause trouble.  

Last week we also started our 10 hour shifts.  I thought my body was prepared for the transition, but being on your feet for 8-10 hours a day is grueling especially at my age.  Every muscle in my body ached at the end of the day.

If you visit any public lands this summer be kind to the people who protect them.  We work for less that what we could earn at McDonald's or Walmart and we take a lot of abuse.  Thank them for being there (a candy bar says a lot).

Have a great week!