Mostly Harmless: June 2017

Sunday, 06/11: Since we are pretty much through with (at least the larger of) the Hawaiian Islands, we decided to do something very different for this year's vacation: An organized hiking trip through Yellowstone National Park (the "Trails through Yellowstone" package from Yellowstone Forever). We were a bit nervous at first. After all, we didn't want to sit in a bus all day, being chauffeured from one spot to another. The 'Trails' program sounded appealing - up to 8 miles hiking on dirt trails with elevation gain. That should pre-select a good crowd, no?

After dropping off the furries at Billie's and Rod's (bitter sweet, as always), we headed directly to the airport. Proof? Here you go:

The flight was pleasantly short, just over 1.5 hours. We hopped into the rental car in Bozeman, drove down to Mammoth Hot Springs where we'd spend the first two nights.

We barely made it on time to the 5 pm pre-hike training session. Phew! Our guide, Ty, introduced us to the program as a whole, asked about what we wanted to get out of this program, and left us with a warning: There were thunderstorms in the forecast for Monday (the whole day). Lovely...

Slightly discouraged we headed for dinner at the Terrace Grill (fast food kinda food) and then to our cabin (cute little bed/bathroom places, very basic). The whole place was crawling with Uinta Ground Squirrels that were (surprise, surprise!) not shy at all. One even came right up to me to grab a teeny-tiny piece of crumb from right underneath my foot!

Monday, 06/12: As feared, we woke up to... sunshine?? Blue skies????? Seriously! Not a single thunder cloud in sight! Goes to show that the weather can change very quickly in Yellowstone. So bright and early, at 6 am, we met with the rest of our group and our tour guide to have breakfast and coffee in the bus.

Our first stop was in the Lamar Valley to watch some wolves that were denning with pups in that area. They were pretty far away, so we could only watch them through good spotting scopes. A bit of a bummer (it sounded like they'd be closer), but very cute nevertheless (we saw one mom with two pups)! We also talked to a wolf biologist (Lizzie) who works with the park.

And while we were chatting, this little Mule Deer just casually strolled right past us!

On the way in we also saw our very first bison. Everyone was super excited! Little did we know that these big fellows (the males can weigh up to 2000 pounds!) would be our constant companions.

Our first real hike of the week was Slough Creek Trail (pronounced like slew).

The weather was surprisingly warm (we took off layer after layer!). Below are a few impressions from the hike (including some wildlife). We also saw both wagons that run between the "Dude Ranch" (located just outside the park boundaries and completely isolated from everything and everyone) and "civilization". Ty, our guide, had never seen them before. So lucky us!

Jonathan and Ty admiring bison fur

We turned around a bit earlier when we saw some fresh kill on the side of the road. Better safe than sorry!

In the evening, Jan and I had dinner in the Mammoth Dining Hall (regular food, not fast food). It was quite tasty (we both had bison steak... I know, I know... we admire them in the morning, then eat them in the evening...). After dinner, we briefly headed to the Mammoth Terrace. Briefly, because even though we had sunshine and hot temperatures while hiking (we even got a slight sunburn in the face), not even half an hour after we returned to Mammoth it started to rain with a LOT of wind, and it got very cold very quickly. Talk about timing!

Tuesday, 06/13: Today's forecast was rain, wind, and snow. And we got all of those. It turned out to be a bit less windy than feared, but even then, it left all of us a bit wet and cold the whole day. Amazingly, though, everybody was in good spirit and nobody complained. We were really lucky with this group. Fantastic people!

We started the morning with a hike directly north of Mammoth Hot Springs (Beaver Ponds Trail, a 6-mile loop).

Beautiful views along the way.

About a mile or so in we saw a herd of elk resting next to the trail. Most of them were pretty ok with us (they were older and used to people). Only two younger ones were a bit cautious (see the handsome fellow in the photo below). We went off-trail to avoid spooking the herd more. Great views of the wildlife!

Later on, we also saw a male mule deer just resting near the trail. He's handsome and he knows it!

After the hike, we loaded up on coffee and drove down to our next stop, the Grant Village. In the process we gained some elevation (read: snow!).

We stopped for one more short hike where Ty showed us the not-quite-as-recent kill (last fall I think?) of an elk.

And just as if she'd planned it, we saw a herd of elk grazing in the distance, and a herd of bison (with young ones!) walked casually into view a bit closer. What a sight!

Shortly before we reached Grant Village, we saw these two handsome fellows (male elk) on the side of the road and had to stop, of course! The park rangers were there as well, to make sure that the tourists didn't get too close and bothered the animals.

In the evening we had dinner in the Grant Village Dining Hall with Eric and Sean, a couple from Ohio. Good fun! They're both very entertaining. Eric is a child psychologist and Sean an IR person at Otterbein University. (I forgot to mention that our whole group consisted of scientists! What are the chances!!).

Wednesday, 06/14: Wednesday was probably my favorite day since we spent it watching various thermal features. Don't get me wrong, I love the hikes and watching the animals, but I had never seen thermal features like this before, and they are truly fascinating!

Unlike the last two days, where we had boxed breakfast in the bus, we had enough time for "real" breakfast before our trip. We went to the Lake House Restaurant for a typical continental breakfast buffet.

Shortly after we arrived, Peggy & Dave also showed up and joined us. Peggy is a trained chemist and Dave a trained physicist who both worked at Sandia National Labs in New Maxico (they're retired now). The other four members of our group also showed up a while later. Guess we all decided that this view is just too good to pass up!

Our first stop was the West Thumb Geyser Basin, just west and north of the Grant Village.

It was a bit chilly (mostly because of the wind), but at least dry for the most part. Bundled up, we enjoyed the thermal features.

For the most part, the West Thumb Basin hosts mud pods and thermal vents. They're exactly what you think they are based on their names :). Here are a few general overview photos to set the stage.

And this video shows a beautiful mud pod, happily bubbling.

But mud pods can be much more watery and less soupy too. Generally, earlier in the season they tend to be more watery, and they dry out a little more later in the year. The cooler ones are pretty colorful, with lots of greens (algae) and reds (thermophiles, i.e. heat-loving bacteria).

The hotter ones tend to be a lot bluer and clearer because they are so hot that nothing really can survive in them.

And even though we came for the thermal features, the lake itself (the West Thumb of Lake Yellowstone) is quite pretty in and of itself!

Before we headed into the main Old Faithful area, we hiked to the Lonestar Geyser where we had lunch in the field.

Ty, Kate, Jonathan, Sean, Eric.

Unfortunately, we were just an hour or so too late for the main eruption (and a good two hours too early for the next one), but we did see some foreplay as Lone Star bubbled and got ready for the main event.

We arrived at the Old Faithful area just in time to witness an eruption. Old Faithful erupts every 94 +- 10 minutes, and the amount of water that is ejected determines the amount of time between two eruptions. It is quite powerful to witness, to see the water being ejected first just a tad bit, and then high up in the air!

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the Geyser Basin to take in more thermal features and geysers.

Random person, Jan, Ty, Sean, Eric, Michaela, Peggy, Dave, random, random.

And we were rewarded! The Castle Geyser went off right when we reached it (what a treat!)!

From left to right: Eric, Dave, Sean, Peggy, Michaela, Jan, Kate, Jonathan

The Castle Geyser just kept on going for a long, long time, so we made our way back to the Inn. But from there, we could see it and the Grant Geyser erupt together for a little while.

And yeah, after I had mastered nature trails, muddy and gnarly, I actually hit the pavement while walking on a nicely maintained path... Well done, klutz. Anyways.... After this brief stroll we had dinner at the Old Faithful Inn, an amazing wooden building that was built in one winter! Quite unbelievable.

We finished dinner just in time to see Old Faithful once again. And as we were waiting, the Beehive Geyser to our left went off! According to Ty, that one erupts quite infrequently (and she had never seen it). And boy, it was just shooting water high up in the air, like a fire hose! In my opinion, that one totally stole Old Faithful's show!

Thursday, 06/15: Our last day (not counting Friday, which was our travel day). Today's focus was the Grande Canyon of Yellowstone. After a nice breakfast at the Lake

we headed north and stopped at the Yellowstone Inn, the first official Inn in Yellowstone.

We then headed to the more touristy Canyon area where we first admired the lower water fall (with lots of people there) before we hit the trail (with less and less people around :)).

We hiked past Lily Pad Lake to have lunch at Clear Lake.

Just like so meany areas in this region, this is not just your run-of-the-mill lake. No, it, too, has lots of thermal features. Below are a few short videos taken near the lake. And no, it's not raining, these are warmer bubbles rising up. Physics in action!

This steam vent on the side of the trail made quite some noise!

And again we had a close encounter with a Mule Deer (a female this time).

Jan posing under nature's archway.

We quickly hiked to the Sublime Viewpoint (which wasn't really that sublime, compared to other viewpoints along the hike!) where we saw this little fellow (a Least Squirrel... what an insulting name!) who clearly had been fed by humans before.

On the way back to Mammoth Hot Springs, where we'd spend the last night, we hit one of the famous "Bison Jams" Ty had told us about. Thankfully, this one didn't last three hours!

And we also finally saw a black bear! Yes, we were in the bus and driving past it (you're not allowed to stop on the road), but still!

Kate and Jonathan were even luckier the next day when they headed back to Lamar Valley and saw this momma bear with her cub.

Both are black bears, by the way, even if the second one looks a lot browner. Color is not a good indicator. Black bears are a bit smaller, have shorter claws, a different nose (straighter with the tip of the nose pointing slightly upward), and they are missing the characteristic shoulder hump that Grizzlies have.

We all had dinner together in the Dining Hall with lots of chatter and laughter. What a great group! We thoroughly enjoyed this trip and the company.

Friday, 06/16: Our last day in Yellowstone. After sleeping in, Jan and I had a quick bite at the Terrace Grill and then headed one more time to the Mammoth Terrace feature.