Springs and Falls

Hello once again from Yellowstone, and once again, the wifi isn’t great so we are having to backtrack a little with our stories.

MONDAY, we made a day trip to Island Park, Idaho. Ellie found a place for us to visit, so we made a plan and headed out. However, first we made a trip into town so Jim could get himself a pair of hiking shoes. Andrew, Lauren, and Zachary got these cool water canisters for when we are out walking. In addition, Lauren found some cute socks she couldn’t live without and Zachary found a Yellowstone baseball. As we were walking down the street, we couldn’t pass by

this painted buffalo without a picture.

We then headed out of town, crossed the Montana state line into Idaho and soon found the turn off to the Johnny Sack Cabin and Big Springs. For a little information…Big Springs produces over 120 million gallons of water each day. It is a Natural National Landmark and is one of the 40 largest natural springs in the world. The springs create the headwaters of the Henrys Fort of the Snake River which travels across Free County creating the spectacular scenery at Upper and Lower Mesa Falls. It has a constant temperature of 52 degrees.

This is

the Johnny Sack Cabin and water wheel house sitting beside the springs. In 1929, Johnny Sack leased a small tract of land from the the United States Forest Service and began building his log cabin at Big Springs. Little did he know that this site would become one of the most photographed sites in Island Park and that it would attract thousands of visitors each summer. Johnny built the little water wheel house at the edge of the springs to harness the power of the springs to create electricity.

The house is open for touring, so we

walked around the trail to take a look inside the cabin.

We also learned that Johnny was a small man standing only 4’11”. Lauren wanted to see

how she measured up! Then she and Zachary

took a look upstairs. They were also interested in the fact that

the bathroom was located outside!

After touring the small little cabin, we headed back around the trail and saw these

gulls enjoying the cool spring waters. The kids

enjoyed feeding the gulls and while they were doing so, we had the pleasure of getting to seeing

this muskrat swimming around. This area is also home to osprey, eagles, ducks, and moose.

Mark, Jim, and the kids then talked Ellie and I into heading back into town for a late afternoon lunch. They chose

were we all had our fill of pizza, soup, and salad.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the RV Park and then late evening we decided to take a drive to an area that we thought we might find some wildlife. However, no luck and the only wildlife we saw was

the two bears from the souvenir shopping at Mammoth Springs. LOL

We however saw

this really cool old tractor before we got to

the end of the road and the end to another great day.

TUESDAY, we were up and making a plan for the day. Jim and Ellie decided to stay home today, while our three travelers wanted to go hiking. And, hiking we did. We started out taking a drive on Firehole Canyon Drive. We found a pullout where the kids

could walk down a trail and get a closer look

at the river running though the canyon. Then, it

back up the trail. We then drove on around the curve and found the

falls. They were beautiful. Here also, we found a place

to walk down to get a better look

at the falls. We left

Poppa up top.

From here, we traveled on around to the Old Faithful area which was only about 6 miles on down the road. We needed to refuel both ourselves and the jeep.

We enjoyed a great lunch and now after a nice break, we were ready to tackle the afternoon hike.

So, it was back down the road to the Mid level Geyser Basin. We parked the car, loaded up water bottles, binoculars, and cameras and we were off

across this bridge. The first stop was on the back side of the geyser that we viewed from

the top of the mountain. Just to let you know how high we climbed, these

folks below wondered how we got up so high! Well, you just chose

one of these trails and head up.

After we enjoyed the view from the mountain, we came back to ground level and started our hike to the Fairy Falls. And what a hike it was, but at the end of the 1.6 mile trail was

the falls. Wow…

Lauren and Zachary are trying to figure out just how tall the falls might be.

Really breathtaking…I am so glad we took the hike, otherwise we would not have experienced this sight.

Now, for the 1.6 mile trip back. Andrew was

the leader. We had to forge

rivers and

go through the forest…but we all made it back to car where drinks and snacks were waiting for us. On the trip back to the RV Park, we saw

these elk enjoying the cool of the evening.

What a beautiful ending to a great day. And, by the way, our total hiking for this day was 6.5 miles of trails and mountains.

Wednesday….which was yesterday…we once again packed up our picnic lunch, loaded up Jim and Ellie and the gang and headed to the Park. Our destination was they Upper and Lower Falls. However, we ran into lots of traffic inside the park and it took up almost 2 hours to get past the eagle and the construction. But, once we made it past those two spots we were on our way. However, because it took us so long to get to those spots, we decided to find, what else, but the picnic spot. We chose a area close to the

falls. After lunch, we headed out to a viewing area called Artist Point, but on the way there we were stopped by

this big guy hanging out beside the road.

Once, we reached Artist Point, we had a great view of

the Lower Falls coming down through the canyon. This area is known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. What a view it is!

While we were here, Andrew

decided he would take over Pop’s camera. He did a really great job…

of taking pictures. He even got this picture of

Pop and I. Then, I got this great picture of

the kids with the falls behind them.

After a full day, we headed back to the RV Park…and just before we got there...this

fellow decided to cross the road right in front of us, heading out on his own evening adventure.

What a great finish to another fun day in Yellowstone!

This brings our adventures up to today….which is Thursday. We are just hanging out today at the RV Park and resting. We might take a shopping trip into town later. Tomorrow, Greg and Kate will be joining us. We look forward to showing them around the park.

Busy Days In Yellowstone

Sorry it has taken me a few days to journal, but we have been busy around here, plus the wifi has been a little slow to post. So, let’s try to catch up…it is a little long, but I hope you enjoy our last several days…

After going non-stop on Tuesday and Wednesday making both the North and South Loop through the park...I needed a little catch up time so…

Thursday, we hung out at the RV for most of the morning and actually finished getting everything set up and organized. After lunch, we headed to downtown West Yellowstone for a little shopping spree. Later, we grilled out…a great dinner and then I made my way to the laundry with all the dirty clothes! And before bedtime, I made the grocery list.

Friday was going to be a big day. Mark and I headed to Idaho Falls, about 100 miles from here. We made stops at Sam’s Club, Wal Mart, and several other small stores. We also stopped in at the Snake River RV Park to alter and confirm our reservations for our next stop in a couple of weeks. We had a great lunch and then it was time to make connections with Greg and Kate, who were flying into Jackson Hole, WY with Andrew, Lauren, and Zachary, our three travelers. This would be a turn around flight for Greg and Kate, so we decided to drive half way from Rexburg to Jackson Hole to meet them and pick up the kids. On the way over, we were able to get this

late evening shot of the Grand Tetons.

We met up with the kids in the little town of Driggs, loaded up the grand kids and luggage…said our good-byes to Greg and Kate, so they could head back to Jackson Hole for the return trip to Fort Worth. And, we started our trek back to Lions Head. We arrived here at the RV Park around 11 pm. Needless to say, none of us had a hard time going to sleep.

This morning after a good nights sleep we were up and ready to make a plan for the day. Even though this was a free weekend in the park (Yellowstone), and we didn’t know how crowded it would be, the kids were still ready to go. So, we loaded the cooler with water, bagged up our snacks, and headed out.

Of course, we had to stop

for the official picture. Welcome to Yellowstone!

Since today was a free admissions day, we found that

lots of others wanted to enjoy the park as well.

Our first stop was to check on the

baby eagle, who seems to be growing everyday.

Next, we traveled around the road to the meadow where the

elk hang out. And, there they were trying to cool off on this warm day.

Laruen and Zachary thought

they could get a better look with the binoculars.

After this stop, we decided to make our way on around to the

geysers at Firehole River. The colors on the geyser beds

were just beautiful today. We stopped along the way

for a science lesson to learn about geysers. We saw some people walking on far side of the geyser beds and made note so we could come back to this area for a day of hiking.

Next stop…

We were just in time to get to see the eruption, which wasn’t a very big one. Better luck next time. We took a little time to shop in the gift store, but it was way too crowded and we were hungry, so we decided to make our way back to town.

While on our way back to town, we talked about hiking and walking and climbing rocks, and Andrew and Lauren decided they would need some different shoes, while Zachary said his shoes would work just great. So we made a stop in town to do a little hiking shoe shopping!

Andrew’s new shoes…just like Poppa’s and

Lauren’s new shoes, almost like Moppa’s.

Wow…now we are all ready for that hike!

After our shopping spree, we settled in back at the RV Park where we are planning to cook out this evening. Doug and Joann are here for a couple of days and are joining us for dinner. In fact, everyone is starting to gather so I think I will conclude my writing for today and join the festivities out by the campfire, where I found Jim offering Andrew

a taste of buffalo meat. He took it, but a little hesitant. He then had two burgers, so I guess he liked it.

I really like it and it is more lean than chicken. Not sure how long we will be able to get buffalo meat, so we are going to enjoy it while we can.

We had a really enjoyable evening and…

What a pleasure it was to get to meet Doug and Joann yet another couple that we have followed along as they travel. Safe travels to you both and we hope to see you again along the way.

It is now Sunday, and we decided to take a drive up the the Lamar Valley where we hoped to find some wildlife. We started out and as usual we had to check in on the

baby eagle. And, yes there he was sitting out watching all of us watch him. LOL

Then we were off for our planned adventure. We made our first stop atop Mount Washburn where

kids stopped for this picture.

We wanted to hike on up to the Ranger Fire Lookout Tower, but it started to rain, so we will make that trip another day. We were on about our way, when we saw

this big guy making his way across the road. And, yes he does have the right away! Once we were passed the buffalo, we

looked across the valley and we looked

way up high, but we weren’t having much luck finding too much wildlife. So, we decided to find the next picnic park and stop for lunch…So, Poppa found

just the spot...right by the river.

Lauren said

lunch tastes better when you are eating outside! And,

Andrew and Zachary just wanted to hurry and eat so they could walk on the trail beside the river. They had a really good time...but, what little boys and girls

don’t like to skip rocks on the water.

We also would like to thank the little ground squirrels

for letting us share their home with us for lunch.

As we were leaving the picnic area, someone told us they had seen a black bear back down the road a little ways. So we were all in the car and off to find the bear. We drove back down the road and soon found several cars parked beside the road. We asked, and yes the bear had been spotted, but had gone off into the brush. However, we decided to take

a look for ourselves…but we couldn’t find him. But, we looked and looked and looked and finally spotted him way across the meadow. Too small for my camera to catch, but Ellie could see him

with the binoculars.

He finally came out enough that

Poppa and Zachary tried to see him through the camera lens. Not really much luck this time.

So, it was

back in the car to see what else we could find. And, it

was a Petrified Tree. Here is a little description, just in case you don’t really know what a Petrified Tree is…and

here is the tree.

From here, it began to

rain…so we decided to head home. But, what another great day this has been.

Once we were back at the RV Park, Ellie and I put together a little bit of this and little bit of that and fed the multitudes. The kids went out to run and play around the RV Park while I cleaned up the dishes and picked up around the RV. Now, it is time for me to round them up for showers and to to settle in for the evening. I am sure we will be up early in the morning and off for a new adventure.