We had our last day off on Wednesday the 14th and decided to drive around the lower loop one last time. We saw a bunch of bison and one male elk. We were able to get a picture that shows just how stupid some of the people that visit Yellowstone are. Fortunately, the rut was over, so the guy in the photo did not get attacked by the elk.

 

We also stopped at a turnout just north of the campground and climbed down the hill to the bank of the Gibbon River. With water levels at their lowest for the year, you can see the results of thousands of years of erosion on a rock in the middle of a river.

I also made a panorama of the river.

 

We left Yellowstone for the season Tuesday, October 20th. We only went about 130 miles and decided to stop in Declo, a place we've stayed a couple of other times. Penny was able to get a few photos of the sunset, looking across the Snake River.

 

We will be heading towards eastern Oregon today and will stay at Farewell Bend State Park for a couple of nights.

Wednesday September 30th, Penny found a couple of squirrels playing "leapfrog" on our porch and got a few pictures.

 

photo   2747 crop

 

The next day, one of the herd of elk that have been hanging around the campground came in for a snack and a nap. In the evenings the guy below has been bugling up a storm.

 

photo   Bull Elk (6) crop

 

On Sunday the 4th, we went into West Yellowstone. We made our way back to camp around sunset. Along the way, we noticed a beautiful sunset in our rear view mirror, so we stopped to take a couple pictures.

 

photo   Sunset (3)   Sunset (6) crop

 

Tuesday October 6th, we hiked the Hoodoos just south of Mammoth Hot Springs with our regular hiking buddies and another coworker. We did this same hike last year and there are photos in the section from last year below. Penny did find an old log that squirrels have been stocking up a store of pine cones for winter.

 

photo   Squirrel Food (1) crop

 

Last year, our camera battery went dead before we finished the hike, so we didn't get any photos of the hot springs area. Because of movement of the hot spot below the ground surface, the water outflow has moved to an area that is only viewable from the trail behind the terraces. Most visitors don't get to this area because they don't want to get out of their car.

 

photo   Thermal Features (6)   Thermal Features (31)   Thermal Features 54

 

At the end of the hike, we had to walk between a creek and a building. As we got to the back side of the building, we noticed a few elk enjoying the green grass. The smallest elk was taking a siesta. Even though we were closer than we normally would have gotten, it didn't seem too bothered by us.

 

photo   Elk (4)

 

Penny and I decided to go to the Canyon area to take a short hike Wednesday afternoon. We were thinking of doing Uncle Tom's Trail but since we hadn't done the Red Rock Trail this year, that's what we decided to do. I recently bought a copy of Adobe Elements, so I was able to make a panorama view from the bottom of the trail.

 

photo   Panorama1

I also went back and made a panorama of some Riddle Lake photos I had taken.

 

photo   Riddle Lake Panorama

 

Though not as good as it might be otherwise, I also made a panorama of some of the shots we took at Beartooth Pass

 

photo   Merged panorama

 

We have about a week left before we head west. Because they are reducing staff now, we may have to work more hours than we have been. Penny will only get one day off this week, so we probably won't be doing a lot of hiking. Our next blog post may not happen until we get back to Puyallup for our doctor's appointments in late October.

Wednesday September 30th, Penny found a couple of squirrels playing "leapfrog" on our porch and got a few pictures.

 

 The next day, one of the herd of elk that have been hanging around the campground came in for a snack and a nap. In the evenings the guy below has been bugling up a storm.

 

On Sunday the 4th, we went into West Yellowstone. We made our way back to camp around sunset. Along the way, we noticed a beautiful sunset in our rear view mirror, so we stopped to take a couple pictures.

 

Tuesday October 6th, we hiked the Hoodoos just south of Mammoth Hot Springs with our regular hiking buddies and another coworker. We did this same hike last year and there are photos in the section from last year below. Penny did find an old log that squirrels have been stocking up a store of pine cones for winter.

Last year, our camera battery went dead before we finished the hike, so we didn't get any photos of the hot springs area. Because of movement of the hot spot below the ground surface, the water outflow has moved to an area that is only viewable from the trail behind the terraces. Most visitors don't get to this area because they don't want to get out of their car.

At the end of the hike, we had to walk between a creek and a building. As we got to the back side of the building, we noticed a few elk enjoying the green grass. The smallest elk was taking a siesta. Even though we were closer than we normally would have gotten, it didn't seem too bothered by us.

Penny and I decided to go to the Canyon area to take a short hike Wednesday afternoon. We were thinking of doing Uncle Tom's Trail but since we hadn't done the Red Rock Trail this year, that's what we decided to do. I recently bought a copy of Adobe Elements, so I was able to make a panorama view from the bottom of the trail.

 

I also went back and made a panorama of some Riddle Lake photos I had taken.

 

Though not as good as it might be otherwise, I also made a panorama of some of the shots we took at Beartooth Pass

 

We have about a week left before we head west. Because they are reducing staff now, we may have to work more hours than we have been. Penny will only get one day off this week, so we likely won't be doing a lot of hiking. Our next blog post may not happen until we get back to Puyallup for our doctor's appointments in late October.

The snow I talked about in my last post seems to have doused both the wildfires that were burning in the park. One had been burning for three weeks but was only 16 acres, the other had burned for a little over a week and was over 2500 acres. Both were started by lightening strikes. The fire danger is now down to low. It had been at high since July.

Tuesday the 22nd we took a couple of co-workers on a hike up Mt Washburn. Our normal hiking buddies couldn't go with us. It's the most popular hike in the park and is about seven and a half miles long, round trip. The hike starts at a pull out at Dunraven Pass, at an elevation of a little less than 9900 feet and climbs up the old fire tower access road to the tower at 10,243 feet. There is another trail up the other side of the mountain that follows the new access road to the tower.

The tower on the top of the peak in the picture below was our goal.

 

The photo below was taken near the beginning of the hike. It shows the Hayden Valley and the thermal features at Mud Volcano.

Farther up the trail we came across what we think is a Grouse. If you think it is some other kind of bird, let us know. We haven't found a description in our Audubon book that exactly matches the bird we saw but Grouse seems to come closest.

 

The photo below shows the trail as it leads up to the fire tower, along the spine of Mt. Washburn. Beyond is the Hayden Valley and Yellowstone Lake. At the bottom of the photo you can see the trail just below the tower. The trail actually spirals up to the tower by circling the peak one and a half times. 

One of our hikers has a fear of heights, so she had some trouble crossing the saddle-backs that have drop off on both sides of the trail in that photo, but she made it by staying in the middle of the trail and concentrating on her feet. After a rest and bite to eat in the tower, the three women took the trail down the other side of the mountain while I hiked down the original trail to the truck. I drove around to the other side to pick them up and they were just getting down to the trailhead as I drove up to the parking area. While they were hiking down they came across a herd of big horn sheep.

 

Our calves were very sore for the next couple of days, since we hadn't been hiking much recently due to our sinus infections.

I got an extra day off this week, so Monday the 28th I went hiking with a coworker from last year and her husband, who had come for a visit on the way to the Grand Tetons. We did a short hike down Uncle Tom's trail. The only picture I took was of our friends that I went hiking with. It turns out they both grew up near where I grew up and at about the same time.

 

On Tuesday the 29th Penny and I went with six of our coworkers on a hike to Riddle Lake. Riddle Lake is a few miles south of Yellowstone Lake, near Grant Campground. The trail doesn't open until July, because the lake is a breeding ground for trumpeter swans. It is also an area that has many grizzly bears.

 

We didn't see any grizzly bears but we did see a mating pair of swans with one young swan. We also saw an eagle, in a tree, across the lake.

 

Wednesday we made what we hope is our last trip to Costco, in Bozeman.