Bad Timing!

It was our first Sunday in town and I had looked up the church service times over the internet to make sure we would make it on time. The service time said 10:30 so we made it with 15 minutes to spare down in Gardiner. Trouble was...that was the time for the service in Mammoth in the park. Ahhh, we jumped in the car gritting our teeth pretty sure we could still make it but, alas, there was a 1/4 mile back up to get in the park gate. Doomed for failure we pulled into the parking lot 30 minutes late. I couldn't bear to walk in that late so we gave it up as a good try.

On to a walk we declared! So we drove toward Tower-Roosevelt area and stopped at the Wraith Falls. It is an easy 1.0 mile round trip to an 79' waterfall. It is one that we did last year and I want to compare a few pictures of last year to this year to see if the constant rain has had any effects.

Wraith Falls 2013

Wraith Falls 2014

 Notice the difference of the water flow from last year to today. In our first 10 days in the area there was one day of no rain. Here's another example of the change.

brown stems on flowers - 2013

Abundant Flowers - Wraith Falls 2014

 We were really blown away with how green everything looked.

Yellow Bellied Marmot

So the rest of these pictures of Wraith Falls area are some fun Bob is having with his camera.

The marmots are quick and don't stop to pose. This was a good picture for him to be able to take!

Undine Falls 2013

Undine Falls 2014

 We drove back toward Mammoth and stopped at Undine Falls for a little walk there. The water here was swift also. Lava Creek spills over the cliff face of a basalt lava flow that is approximately 60', descending in 3 plunges. It is one of the few waterfalls visible from the road but it also has a short trail leading from the main viewing area back to the top of the falls.








   

To the left of the falls is a nice meadow. There is a trail that leads 7 miles back to the north entrance of YS. We'd like to take that hike but without a 2nd car to put one at each end, it would be a 14 mile hike in one day. I might need a week to recover, still thinking on that one :-)











Close up view of the top of the falls. Notice all the greenery everywhere you look. It was all so browned out already by this time last year. The park is so beautiful as a result of all the rain!