Solfatara Creek Trail

This hike required two vehicles due to the fact we were not about to walk 10 to 11 miles both ways!

So Barbara drove to the closest point, we picked her up and drove the 10.4 miles to the starting point. We knew it would be a long hike, the map showed 10 miles and our GPS wound up at 11 miles for the day.

 Either way, we were hoping to see an elusive moose or two, maybe a bear (in the distance) and whatever else might be lurking in the cover of trees and brush.

The first 'leg' is to Ice Lake and then our path diverted to the left. We felt this was our best chance to see the possible moose on the lakes edge chomping on the grass in the water that they are so fond of. But, alas, not this time. We did hear a large animal in the trees to our left and we pulled our bear spray out, talked real loud, and started off at a brisk walk!




This hike is on the back side of Hell Roaring Mountain. So named for the many steam spouts that are visible from the road as one drives by. It is full of sulfur springs as we found out that empty into the back of the mountain and down into the meadows, rather than in the front as is normal around here.






We thought we might get to follow the path to the crest of the mountain so we could see down to the road but the trail took us way behind all the hills and mountains that line the road to the front. We had several stream crossings, this one being the most challenging. Barbara Snow crossed in about 30 seconds, as did Bob.



 

I am more balance challenged so I took about 2 minutes and made it look quite scary! Sooo, our daughter, Christine, was Florida State Champ on Balance Beam twice in gymnastics. She most definitely didn't get that from me! But, we all made it without getting wet. These are Lodge Pole Pines that were placed across the water to add as a make-shift bridge.











Once again, this hike was through terrain that really surprised us.  Lodge Pole Pines: Story goes the Indians in this region utilized 28 of them to make their teepees so they had to be very tall, straight and similar in diameter. These teepees must have been huge. We walked through a large forest of them along the way. They were small, tall, thin, thick, burnt (from the 1988 fire) and some charred and still growing, many dead and laying on the ground. You can see here how they look next to the telephone poles. The trail ran under these poles for about one mile.




Much of the wildlife we saw were chipmunks (nope, no pictures this time!), this Grey Jay aka Canadian Jay,  













 a nice family of Grouse, (this little guy kept his eye on us before escorting the family in the underbrush),













and two Red Tail Hawks. The Hawks are a little elusive to catch in flight so I thought Bob did a great job on this one. Note the deep, blue Wyoming sky!








The mushrooms have been numerous and almost wicked looking. This particular variety turns into a nasty looking pile of goo when it ages. Yum, yum!










For a part of the hike we walked through a huge meadow that was almost a total bog. The consensus among us was we would not like to traverse the area during the spring rains! We also saw these acrid ponds of water coming off the back of the mountain. Some of these pools can eat your skin away in a short amount of time. In the public viewing areas from the road there are many signs warning not to get near these pools. In the back area here, we were able to walk right on by them.



And so, we walked on and on!

Here is the last mile, well, that's what we kept telling ourselves. It was fairly close to the end as it turned out. This was a hillside of all slippery rock. Not the best terrain to walk along, but at least most of it was level.

All along the last 6 or so miles, we saw fresh bear and bison scat (poop for those of you on the east coast). Lo and behold, here was one of them. He was munching on the grass about 50 feet above the trail. We've seen enough of them now to know if he wanted to catch and/or chase us, he could. So, again, we added speed to our step and moved along (little doggy??) :)



Best part of the hike to me, seeing miles of more meadowland, untouched except for trails from the animals, along the way. Scariest part was meeting the dude with huge backpacking equipment, past shoulder length hair and grubby that wouldn't even acknowledge us when we passed by each other. We were happy to put some distance between him and ourselves. Bob thought he must be eating the mushrooms, ha!

And oh look, here we are again! These were actually our ending pictures since there was no sign at the beginning. See...we're all still able to smile! After we got back to the cabins Bob and I changed clothes in record time and left to eat dinner out. It was 7:00pm by then and although we saw no wolves, we wolfed our food down AND had a desert!!

Barbara Snow elected to stay at the cabin and eat there. All in all, it was another great day with a lot of exercise and we all slept well afterward.