On Wednesday, 8-3, we went to Fire Hole River to the swimming area we had seen the other day. It was very cold when we headed out, but when we got there, I peeled off my rain jacket, my zip-up hooded sweatshirt, my sweatshirt, my long-sleeve thermal shirt, and my t-shirt, and we jumped in. Richard climbed up so he could be swept down in the rapids. He climbed up… |
He avoided running into the other kids he was playing with. |
Then we put all our clothes back on, and picnicked by the falls. |
Thursday, 8-4, as we drove up to the Mammoth Hot Springs area of Yellowstone, we passed Roaring Mountain. With the sun hitting the steam pouring out of the thermal features, it was an amazing site. |
We checked into the campground (anyone want to take a guess on the hook-up situation at this campground?) and went for a 6 mile hike that was supposed to take us into the back country, to several beaver ponds. We were supposed to see lots of wildlife along the way. The brochure says, “Look for elk, mule deer, pronghorn, moose, beaver dams and lodges, the occasional beaver, and waterfowl. Be alert for bears: both black and grizzly bears forage in this area.” Bullshit (well, we didn’t really see any of that either.) What we saw were three farm tank looking ponds, obviously not caused by any stinking beaver, and the only wildlife we saw were two snakes, a bunch of ducks, and a ton of mosquitoes. The hike was a bummer, and gave us sore legs, so we headed down to Boiling River. Now this feature is not mentioned in any of the literature that Yellowstone hands out. They want to keep it quiet because it is overrun. We knew about it from our friend Shannon, who we stayed with in Reno. It’s not even on the map. Well, I just asked a friendly park ranger for directions, and we were on our way. Anyway, Boiling River runs into Gardner River and that is where you swim. The super hot water touches one part of you, while the freezing cold water hits another. It was a lot of fun, but even at 7:30PM when we went, it was very crowded. We had hoped that everyone would have gone home to eat dinner. It opens at 5:00AM, so we may head back one morning to try to enjoy it without all the extra bodies. We soaked our sore legs on the hot side for about half an hour, but they are still sore. |
Friday, 8-5, we took the motorcycle to the Tower area and went on another hike that was supposed to, but didn’t, offer lots of wildlife sightings. We saw the Tower Falls, and neat looking stacked rock formations from past volcanoes, then we headed back to the campground. |
(I know by now, some of you must be thinking that Richard can’t shave because his electric razor won’t work when we don’t have any hook-ups. No, Richard does not own an electric razor. He offers no excuse or explanation for his new scruffy appearance.) |
To celebrate my birthday, we drove 6 hours on Saturday, to good ole Missoula Montana, in search of civilization where we could get a campground with electricity, groceries that are not overpriced, and have a cell-phone signal, so I can upload all this stuff. We had hoped that since Missoula's name was printed slightly larger on the map, that it would be a big enough town to have a t-mobile signal so I could upload web pages. Well, not only do we not get a t-mobile signal, we don't get a phone signal at all. However, the campground we found has free WIFI, so I'm at least able to do internet and emails. So, for my birthday, I got to take a LONG hot shower and blow dry my hair. |