Life on the High Plains

My time in Yellowstone is coming to an end for this season.  It's an emotional time.  On one hand I can't wait to return home to my sweet hubbie, daughter, and grandson not to mention all my critters.  On the other hand it is heart wrenching to leave this land that I have such a deep connection with. There are many things I love about the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, but at the top of the list are the mountains. "Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God." John Muir. The Tetons when we arrived in May. The Tetons in August after the snow has melted and the sky is hazy with smoke from nearby forest fires. The view from Mt. Washburn. The peak of Mt. Washburn. My greatest hiking achievement this summer--reaching the summit of Mt. Washburn. National Park Mountain.  This is a new place I discovered this summer and I consi...

When my brother was in Yellowstone last month we made a stop at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  Luckily for me he was willing to hike down to the Brink of the Lower Falls. This was the view from the top of the trail.  We initially thought that we were headed to the waterfall in the distance.  We soon realized, however, that was the Upper Falls which is 100 feet high.  Our destination was 600 feet below us--the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. My brother and I make good hiking partners because we both like to stop and take photos and "smell the roses" along the way.  Check out his blog here . After following multiple switchbacks and sections of steep terrain we were finally at the river level. The brink of the falls was awe inspiring, but not for the weak of heart or those afraid of heights. My biggest regret is that I didn't take a video of the vast amount of water that spills over the falls.  Guess I'll have to go back. ...

The summer is drawing to an end.  In two weeks and 5 days I'll be headed home for the season (not that I'm counting down or anything).  This summer has been really nice because I've had so many visitors.  This week we had a great family reunion, sort of.  Mary and Mr. Beans weren't able to join us and we missed them.  Maybe next year. After work on Tuesday we headed down to Colter Bay in the Tetons where we rented a cabin for a couple nights.  Dana and Adam stayed at our timeshare in Jackson and Jillian and Brian brought their pop up tent trailer from Iowa and stayed in the Colter Bay campground.  Miss G got to stay with Grammy and Pappy in the cabin. These cabins are quite historical.  They were built in the 1930s at Moran Junction.  In 1956 when Colter Bay opened they were all disassembled and moved to Colter Bay to be reassembled.  I'm so glad they preserved them for many generations to come. On Wednesday the "kids" went...

I got up bright and early this morning, a very chilly morning (28 degrees), to meet a co-worker for a hike to Shoshone Lake on the DeLacy Creek trail.  We observed a special surprise of a wolf pack on the way to the trail head.  Sorry, no pictures of that, but it will forever be etched in my mind.  So glad that after two years in the Park I finally saw a wolf! DeLacy Creek is in the south end of the park.  It is close to Grant Village where I worked last year.  Last year I did this hike with my two hiking buddies and on the way out it started thundering and lightening so our hike turned into a trail run.  Today the weather was perfect although a little cold. This warning was posted at the trail head.  Would you have continued if you saw this warning? You may have heard about a bear attack in the Park last week by a sow on the Continental Divide trail.  This sow and cub are probably the same pair since the trails are in the same area....