9/11/14

Tuesday morning we went on a hike with our hiking buddies, as usual. This hike was to Hellroaring Creek, which is between Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction. On the drive through Mammoth we saw a herd of elk (a buck with his harem) laying in the grass near one of the buildings.

The hike was a total of just over four miles, that travels through burned forest, meadow and river canyon.

Halfway to Hellroaring Creek you cross a suspension bridge that crosses a 400 foot deep river canyon.

After the bridge you get back into forest and meadow.

Before we could cross the meadow, we had to wait for a herd of 20 bison, who kept a wary eye on us, to cross the hiking trail.

 

We also saw a couple of pronghorn making their way across the hills.

 

The creek isn't as roaring as its name implies at this time of the year but we could tell that it gets a lot more exciting in the spring, during the snow melt season.

 

We had lunch at the creek and then headed back to the trailhead.

Besides the forest and meadows, the trail passes near a section of the Yellowstone River.

 

 The color of the foliage is really starting to turn, since fall comes so early at these high elevations.

 

It was a good thing we made the hike as quickly as we did. The last half mile we were being chased by a thunderstorm. Fortunately, we only got sprinkled with a few rain drops, but there were some impressive lightning bolts in the distance (which, of course, we couldn't get a photo of).
 
This hike gave us all our 100 miles necessary to qualify for our pin and shirt, so we all went in to Old Faithful to turn in our hiking records and celebrate with a pizza at the employee pub. Now we can start working on our 500 mile pin.

Wednesday we decided we needed to restock our supplies, so we went into Bozeman to go to Wallyworld and Costco. On the trip back, after we re-entered the park, we saw a pair of bald eagles sitting on the river bank, across the Madison River.

 

After getting back home and putting the cold items away, we went to the company sponsored picnic at the office. They supplied hamburgers, chicken, drinks and desert. While we were cleaning up, a half dozen elk came wandering through the entrance area of the campground, causing a massive traffic jam. We were able to get a good photo of the buck.

 

We had expected things to slow down after Labor Day, but we find that we are still filling up to capacity every night. Good for company profits, but it keeps the staff busy trying to find a place for each guest to stay.

It's been getting down to freezing or below the last few nights and the weatherman says we should expect snow in the next few days. Maybe that will help cut down on the number of campers.