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.