Ribbon Lake

This is one of those hikes that took on a life of it's own. We drove to the Canyon Village area to check with Rangers for bear sightings and were given the okay to go to the trail head. As it turned out, several other people did this hike so the trail was perfectly safe.

Many trails start and/or end with this view. It makes one want to say...Are we there yet?






This is Clear Lake, quite green and not clear at all. We knew we were going to hike through a thermal area.










It's amazing to think we were walking on a volcano with all the 'hot spots' so close by. Due to the release of the vapors into the fresh air, it keeps this from blowing.










In the Mammoth area there are boardwalks you have to stay on to see all the thermals. Here there are a few signs that say...Stay On The Path. Hmmm, there's no one to save me from myself!








If you doubt that this area is hot then you need to see the bubbling mud on the edges, hear and see the steam coming out of different holes in the ground and spitting into the air!











Ribbon Lake was hard to see once there and not worth the pictures. This is the cutoff to the loop. Aptly named Lily Pad Lake. This was where we had lunch.

The description in our guide book is 3 miles in to Ribbon Lake and 3 miles out taking a little loop. Fairly level, easy hike.




We somehow managed to make this into a 9 miler with spectacular views but more elevation change than we thought. It was still a moderate hike with a few extra miles tacked on.

We took a detour to Sublime Point. The climb was along the rim of the Yellowstone Grand Canyon. Bob took more pictures then I could ever post.




 Check out the yellow stone in the canyon. Get it...Yellowstone??

We wound up at Observation Peak on the north rim and I thought it was the end. Ah, no, we had 2 miles back to the truck further along the rim.












This is the lower falls taken from Observation Peak. The last 2 miles were pretty as we walked along the ridge all the way back to Artist Point, which is where we parked.








This fire is what provides the smoke in our area when the wind is coming from the east.

Miles hiked: 60