Training Log Archive: dlevine

Watching a Play.

Yup! "Arts in the Open" was putting on a play - I forget the title, but it was a 'paranormal mystery' - at the Chattauqua Institute in Boulder, CO. We got to hike, sit and watch a scene or two, and then repeat the entire endeavor. In the model of a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book, we got to vote on what scenes might or might not come next. I don't think that affected where we hiked, but I have certainly never covered 2+ miles while watching a play before!

Biking with my brother-in-law through some of the Boulder bike paths. Absolutely beautiful. Only strange thing was being on my sister-in-law's bike...

We didn't really "hike" as we went through the Tetons, but we did get a few nice shots of those mountains, too. This one (Mount Moran) is from the redundantly named "Oxbow Bend" viewing area.



...while this one (Grand Teton, I think) is from further down the highway...



We eventually made it back to Jenny Lake, but couldn't take the time for a hike as we had "miles to go before we [slept]"

For our last full day in Yellowstone, we began at Norris Geyser Basin. Always crowded, it was extra exciting by the time we left. We continued our good luck of walking in at the right time. We got to see the "after eruption" of Steamboat Geyser. Steamboat erupts about once a week (plus or minus two days) but is one of the tallest geysers in the world. We got there about 9:30, only to find out that it had gone off at 6:22. We got only the "after eruption" which is nonetheless impressive.



Normally, an after eruption is smaller than this and lasts only about twenty minutes, but this one continued for almost two hours. (We were told that's unheard of.) Word got out and the area was being swarmed with folks - mostly too late - as we were moving to the other basin.

The thermophilic bacteria-filled creeks here were chromatically impressive and we enjoyed them and the general view of Porcelain Basin.








As we drove off, we saw this guy from the road.



We continued off to Yellowstone Canyon to get the photo below from Artists Point so that Theresa would have a match to a quilting pattern she had picked up in town. Very easy hike (150 yarrds) and completely wheelchair accessible. Virtually everyone who goes here gets the same shot, but it is a beautiful one.

Lower Yellowstone Falls Trail

Down to the falls and then back up. Also drove along the northern rim and visited about four other lookouts. Great views, but no photos worth sharing...

Walking the boardwalks around the Volcanic Mud Pots area. Nice place. Particularly like Dragon's Mouth Spring.



On the way out, we saw a bunch of photographers and were able to see what they saw, too...

Hike around the Fountain Paint Pots area. Heavy wind and fog made vistas hard to come by, but it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn off the tracking until we were several miles up the road in the car....

Geyser Day.

We had driven in to see the Great Prismatic Spring. We had the expected crowds, but hadn't planned on the cold weather causing so much fog that we could barely appreciate the pools. From the side, however, we did see a cluster of folks on an opposing hillside who seemed to have a great view. We went back to the car, drove down the highway and took a very leisurely hike back to the area where a side trail led to a great lookout.

We stopped at the Old Faithful Visitor Center hoping to get directions to a trailhead that would take us from there to Lone Star Geyser. We were (incorrectly) told that no such trail exists, but that if we hurried, we could take the main trail (from a parking lot three miles south) in and we might just make it in time to catch the next eruption. The trail was an old road along Firehole river and was quite easy walking. We saw an otter crossing in front of us and stopped out of respect even as we felt the clock ticking. We got to the geyser area and thought we were seeing the end of the eruption, but we went down anyway. There were six other folks there and they explained that that was just a false alarm. Twelve minutes later, it went off!

Walking back from Lone Star Geyser to the car...

Drove back and got to see Old Faithful erupt after a wait of only ten minutes. Then we went out on a hike through the Upper Geyser basin. Lots of cool, mostly dormant geysers, but it does feel like you are walking on the moon a bit. You have to stay on boardwalks because the ground is unstable, but this bison doesn't understand the rules. He had us 'trapped', but we were able to sneak by (inside the prescribed closeness radius) while he scratched and itch.



We continued on the boardwalk and were getting ready to head back when we saw a crowd about sixty meters away sitting/staring at a mound of earth. We inquired and found that Grand Geyser was to go off soon. Sure enough, ten minutes later it went off, giving quite a show.



On the day, we saw four geysers go off with a total wait of less than forty minutes. With that kind of luck, we should have been buying lottery tickets...

It had been snowing when we got to Yellowstone and part of the "upper loop" was closed. Fortunately, the next morning it was open and we decided to hike Mount Washburn which we had been told was both a good hike and a source of great views. We started in a bit of snow, but found more as we climbed. Interestingly, the temperature climbed even as we did. It was still cold and "winter like" even as it didn't feel like winter.



There was rime ice and lots of cold fog as we climbed. We also saw bear tracks heading down the mountain. (That means the bear is behind us and going in the other direction, right?)



The top of the mountain used to feature a fire lookout, complete with indoor protection. The building is still there even though the functionality is now that of a cell phone tower. After a fogged in stay at the summit, we descended. Views got better on the way down.



...including our first views of Yellowstone Canyon.



We saw only ten folks on the way up, but several dozen were heading up as we headed down. They got better views, but we got a "winter hike" in at the very beginning of fall.

Not the most efficient route back, but a beautiful one took us to Tower Falls, a very easy walk from the parking lot (although we had to park in "outer Mongolia")