Bunsen Peak...old and new

This hike is one we do to acclimate to the elevation. Kathy decided to join us this time. We've always gone up the front and down the same way but had been told that going down the back side was beautiful so we decided to branch out this time.

Wildlife was in abundance if you count the little guys...1 lb or less. Here is a pretty, plump grouse that was weaving through the brush by the path.











And this little ground squirrel was daring us to pick and eat one of his berries. We did eat the berries on several of our hikes but not in front of him. They are wild raspberries, just as tasty and yes, we left some for the animals.









This is looking back NW to Mammoth Hot Springs. You can see how the smoke from fires outside the park has clouded the air. Most of August has been like this.








We made it to the top and sat down for lunch. This sign says Bunsen Peak, Elevation 8564'











By now the temperature has gotten up to 80+ so we are wrapping jackets around us and stuffing extra clothing in packs.












 This ground squirrel has most definitely been fed by well meaning individuals. It is fat enough to make it through the winter. He wound up on Kathy's pant leg but we didn't feed him.





Down the back side of the mountain we go. This type of rock is called 'scree.' I don't know the origin of the name but it must mean 'small rocks that can make you easily fall so be careful to pick your way slowly down through them.' Actually, the back side of the mountain had much more scree than the front ever has. Not a favorite so far.







Below is the Gardiner River. Osprey Falls trailhead starts at the end of the mountain trail. See last year's post for more on OF. That's one I won't be doing again!









As we got out of the scree, we went into the new forests. This is as high as any of the new trees growing that we've seen since the 1988 fires. Seasons for growing are so short and winters so tough that they take a long time to come up.








We are almost down to the road that will lead us another mile back to the car. Still pretty views as we walk.









And this is the last of the wildlife...ducks on the pond.

Even though this was a 7 mile hike, it seemed like 15, ha! We will stick to the front side up and down from now on.

Grebe Lake - New Hike

Bob bought the Yellowstone fishing license to try his hand at fly fishing. Grebe was a lake recommended so we read up on it and drove out to do the hike and let him fish.

There's nothing like a bison jam when you want to make it from point A to B within a reasonable amount of time in YS. And the front vehicles are afraid to move.





Funny side story: Last week one of the Yellowstone Forever buses was gored by a bull bison. We saw the picture of the tire. He put his whole horn in one on the back. There was quite a flap of rubber you could pull back.







Our 'boss' is also the fleet manager and had to drive another bus out for the driver to continue and said he put the jack on and would pump twice then have to jump back in the bus to let more bison walk by. Took him awhile to change the tire :)








Back to Grebe. The description is for a mostly flat hike approximately 3.3 miles in. It is one of the best spots to find Arctic Grayling outside of Alaska.

3.3 miles is quite a way to haul heavy waders along with all the fishing gear and back packs so we didn't bring them.







We got to the lake after about 90 mins and immediately saw its a very marshy area. No waders, no real fishing. Sigh. Bob gave it a try in a few places and when his hook caught in a tree, he silently packed it up.









Here are some action shots. What you can't see are the 2 fishermen with waders out in the water. They caught several small Graylings and a few rainbow trout. (YS is catch and release with a few special exceptions).

























We sloughed through the marshland to the downed tree line you can see here.



























This swan was not worried about us in the least so we got some nice pictures of it.


That is also where we ate lunch. Again, not a bad view.






Grebe Lake with Wolf Lake make up the headwaters of the Gibbon River, the start of one of the longest waterways in the world.








The Gibbon flows into the Madison River, which flows into the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi River to cover over 3,500 miles once it hits the salt water of the Gulf of Mexico.









We have decided we've had more than a lifetime of hikes through the 1988 lodge pole pine fire that ravished the park. Here's what a good bit of the hike looked like. But it was a pretty day and adding in the walk around more than half of the lake we a total of 8 miles.

Another item we didn't carry in was Bob's camera so these shots are from my iPhone.

Knox Lake - New and Improved!

Bob and I did this hike last year and found out that where we stopped was not Knox Lake, but another smaller one. So this time we hiked with Carla, Kathy, Mary and Phyllis and came close to not even getting to make the hike. There were 2 cars of us, Phyllis driving her SUV and Bob and I were in our truck. We made it close to the trail head but there was a gate open we didn't remember before so Phyllis turned up into that road.

Keep in mind that it had been a year or in some cases 2-3 years since any of us had been here, and with no service for the phones, it was the blind leading the blind on the road to nowhere! As we found out later, Bob and I were saying 'they must know something we don't' and they were saying 'surely Bob and Barb would signal us if this isn't right.' After about 2 miles of severely bumpy, rutted road, Phyllis stopped and they all piled out. This is the funniest picture so far for this season!



What they were seeing was a large rut full of mud that she refused to go thru...for good reason! We helped her turn around and get by us and then we turned the truck around (methodology was scissor turns...2' forward, turn, 2' back, turn, etc) but we did it and in going on the other road found the trail head. I don't believe any of us will make that mistake again.




And so we were off. Due to late snow melt and rains, the water was running strong. This was our first look at the Bear Creek that flows below.









The big fun for the day was traversing several of the creeks flowing downhill. Half of the group walked across logs and the rest across the bed over rocks hoping to not sink below our shoes.










This was a good bit of the look of the path we walked along. At each turn you yell 'Hey Bear, Bear, Bear.' We practiced Indian whoops, talking loudly and singing silly songs along with the constant chatter of 5 women walking along a path!

Harebell

Bob taking a picture of the field of Harebells. There are so many flowers around this year, its been exciting to see and identify the varieties still in bloom.

This is a little, double pond formed from run off. It appears to be larger last year.










Another crossing. I'm in the middle of the water as I have no confidence walking on logs. There's always the 2 options, log or water. The Forestry Service fixes a log or two from the downed trees. And in some cases there are nice bridges they've constructed.









And here is the lake that Bob and I stopped at thinking it was Knox last year. They all said, 'oh no, go further!'

And here is the next lake that we would have stopped at thinking it was Knox Lake but Kathy  said 'oh no, go further!'












Field of flowers between lakes.










And here is the official Knox Lake. The description was that of a large, turquoise lake. This picture does a good job of showing off the coloring. It may be due to algae bloom in the water, snow melt and/or the rocks in the bottom. When the wind is calm and sun shining, it's very pretty and unusual.







Knox Lake after we all had lunch.

























You can see the coloring best at this type of angle with the camera. We could see it standing next to the water but the color wouldn't show in the shots as brilliant.





As we hiked back down we saw this baby chipmunk frozen in place and visibly shaking. He finally realized there was the option of running and hiding but not before we got about 50 pictures of him collectively. :)

Chipmunks, Ground Squirrels and birds were the only wildlife around. And so, another hike is done and now we don't have to do it again (we hope!).

Lava Creek - New Hike!

We are having so much fun this year hiking with Phyllis and Kathy! They have done most of the same hikes as us but don't care and are always willing to go out when we all can.
 
They told us about Lava Creek and we jumped on it.







The picture above shows where Lava Creek travels under the road. This shows you where it comes out! On the right side of the falls is a fenced area. Above it is parking and it is called Undine Falls. Less than 10% of those that see the falls get the view from our side.

We crept as close to the edge as possible to get the full picture. Well worth the effort. We could have turned around and gone back to the car, but with the promise of a 6 mile hike ahead, we went on.









This is Bob, me and Kathy with Undine in the back.











And here is the bonus...you can't see this from any part of the road and it was beautiful. No name for this falls, at least not on our map. It is still part of Lava Creek.








This is another one-way hike so requires that 2nd vehicle which is otherwise elusive for us. And, to top it off, this is another hike that is almost completely downhill. A win-win.










 This area is called the Gardiner Valley. Our path follows Lava Creek through the valley and below the Everts Mountain.








When we saw the 3 out croppings on the side of Everts, we decided it's the future 2nd Mount Rushmore. All we need is the person with a dream....

And yes, there was another smaller area between 2 of the big ones to make it a four-some.







Lava Creek converges with Gardiner River along this stretch. We had rain for 3 days before this and both bodies of water were running high.









Our only wildlife for this hike was this pretty, plump Grouse.

Phyllis said there was an Eagle's nest along this portion. We finally spotted it. We were disappointed though, no Eagles in the tree or flying around the area. Their young have undoubtedly already taken off.






I had been wondering for a few miles how we were going to cross the river to get back to our car. And here was my answer. It's more fun to not ask sometimes and be surprised.

Swinging bridges are not my favorite, but walking across the water on logs is even less appealing.

So up the hill we went and the hike was done.