Our summer at Yellowstone comes to an end

It is time to depart Yellowstone National Park and words simply cannot convey our thoughts or feelings. Though we hate to leave this magnificent place, we are anxious to get back East to visit our families. We are also excited about being able to spend some quality time in Big Bend National Park in Texas. All that said we are both quick to state that this has perhaps been one of the best if not the best summer of our lives. We have truly been touched by the Spirit of Yellowstone. Since the last posting we have experienced some great events. We’ve had friends from the past visit: Avery’s from Alabama, Hubbards from Texas, and Cramers form Florida. We managed to spend a little but not enough with each of these visitors. We joined Avery’s, Tom and Karen, at the Lake Hotel where we listened to the string quartet (more on them later) and discussed RVing.
Tom is a retired Navy Captain who thinks that Navy plays better golf than Air Force. I’ll set him straight on that some day. Ed Hubbard was my boss 30+ years ago in Vietnam. We keep in contact with them and consider them our mentors. Seems we have developed a pattern of following in their footsteps. They talked us into buying a big boat and taking off and now they have gotten us into RVing. We spent time driving around the park, looking at wildlife, trying to find erupting geysers, all and all just visited. Dave and Kathy Cramer served with me at Andrews AFB back in the 80s. We just stumbled on each other at an RV Rally in Charlotte NC about a year ago. We spent time running around the park, saw wolves, moose, geysers, climbed Mt Washburn, and saw more that the park had to offer. There is something special about running into friends when out traveling like this.

Highlights of the last few weeks here, in addition to getting together with friends, include a great hike from Beckler Ranger Station to Great Fountain Trail head near Old Faithful, Climbing Mount Washburn, seeing wolves and moose, and catching some great fish.

Two of the musicians in the string quartet at Lake Village are also skilled backcountry campers. I met Leanne through her mother who we were with on a trip into Mexico last winter. Leanne is the viola player and Renee, the cellist, were planning their final trip of the season and I was most fortunate to be able to team up with them for the trek along the Beckler River. They departed a day earlier and hiked a two-day 20 mile out and back to see some falls and met me at a campsite near Beckler Medows. They had seen two bear during their two days out and I was hoping that we might see more before we finished our hike. We were going an additional 30 miles in four more days through what some consider some of the most beautiful hiking in Yellowstone National Park. We had an awesome experience. Despite the almost daily rain we kept smiling as we passed one magnificent waterfall after another. Our bushwhacking adventure up to Ouzel Falls was special and in addition to experiencing one of the tallest falls in the park, we got a good close up of Water Ouzels, or Western Dippers that the falls are named for.
A few minutes of fishing near the second night’s campsite got me my native cutthroat trout but rain through the night made for less than ideal camping. The next day we pressed on to a campsite along a massive meadow. In route we took a side hike to “Mister Bubbles” a magnificent hot pool that provides an awesome opportunity to relax and recharge. One of the thermal features we passed is perhaps the most beautiful I have seen in the park.
We soaked in the pool for about an hour before continuing on toward out last campsite. After diner we watched over the meadow in hopes of sighting wildlife of any kind. Our sightings were limited to birds and chipmunks. We completed out backpacking adventure by crossing the Continental Divide three times and arrived at Lone Star Geyser just after an eruption.
Sandi met us there and I left the girls who remained behind for one more night of sleeping on the ground at a campsite that has a history of bear activity. This was certainly my best and most enjoyable backpacking trip in the park. I am certain the great company had a lot to do with it.

I recovered for a few days and then Sandi and I joined the Cramers for another hike to the top of Washburn Mountain. Three miles of uphill from the trail head at Dunraven Pass at about 8600’ to the Observation Platform at the top of the mountain is 10,240’. It is no wonder we saw Mountain Sheep on the way up and down. We also saw blue grouse and I saw my first rosy finch.
Sandi continued to put one foot in front of the other and made the six-mile hike up and down seem much more moderate than the strenuous rating the park service gives to this hike.

The total six mile hike was most arduous but seeing the wildlife on the mountain as well as the wolves, elk, and moose we saw during the rest of the day made for an unbelievable outing.


With the end of our “tour of duty” approaching we felt we had seen or done everything on our list except for hearing elk bugle and I really wanted to join the 20-20 club by catching a 20” or longer fish on a #20 fly.

With only a few days off before we leave I went fishing nearly every day. Each day seemed more unbelievable than the previous. I was regularly catching fish between 14’ and 21” but small files were not producing. Virtually all fish were caught on #16 nymphs which is impressive but I did want to get one on a really small hook. On my next-to-last day off I hit the Madison River again and I fished hard but the fish were anything but cooperative. In desperation I switched from pattern to pattern and finally decided to try a small #20 Zug Bug, a nymph tied with peacock heril and silver floss. A 16 inch Madison brown trout took my third cast but I lost him by trying to horse him in – not the thing to do with a fish on a #20 hook. Many casts later I hooked and after about a 15 – 20 minute fight, finally landed him. A passing photographer saw the ensuing battle and stopped to take some photos. The fish measured 22” was probably 5 – 7 pounds and is certainly a fish of a lifetime for me.
Welcome to the 20-20 club.

I left the fishing hole and heard a bugling elk not far from where our RV was parked. I convinced Sandi to go for a ride and we ended up watching a massive 7X6 bull elk standing in the Madison River raise his head and snort and bugle to nearby cows. During the next two days at the visitor center we saw this same bull with his developing harem. On my last day at “work” he became belligerent and very protective of his cows.
He charged several times toward park visitors and more than just a few folks gained a healthy respect for the need to keep a safe distance from these magnificent animals—especially when it is the breeding season or the rut.

We’re packed and nearly ready to leave. Tomorrow we’ll head north then east to see more of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and then into Colorado where we will fly back to family. Life is good.

One Grand Eruption

Our tour of Yellowstone is very quickly coming to an end. We will work though the end of the Labor Day weekend. We have but 12 days to work until then. Our summer here has been more than we could have ever anticipated. The scenery, geologic features, wildlife, hiking, backpacking and fishing have been awesome. During the course of our stay here we have been sensually saturated and I feel as if I am in a constant euphoric state.


About midway through the summer we made a list of things we wanted to be sure to see or do before departing in September. Seeing as many of the significant geysers erupt as possible was high on the list. There are 14,000 thermal features in Yellowstone. I’m not sure how many of them are geysers but just in the Upper Geyser Basin near Old Faithful there are approximately 145 geysers. The eruptions of five of them can be predicted with relative accuracy to +/- 2 hours. Some erupt as frequently as every 90 minutes—others only every few days. Steamboat Geyser, the worlds largest last erupted in 2005 and some have not erupted since the early 1900s.



One predictable geyser that erupts approximately every 8-9 hours is Grand Geyser located about ½ mile from Old Faithful. Grand erupts in a spectacular display of steamy and watery fireworks. Yesterday afternoon the forecast eruption window was between 4:20 pm and 8:20 pm. We arrived there and found a seat with the wind and sun to our backs. A crowd had already formed and visitors from a sampling of states and countries waited patiently and watched the almost choreographed sequence of events unfold. We were fortunate to find ourselves in the midst of informative “Geyser Gazers” and rangers who were most willing to provide commentary. Geyser Gazers are a group of hobbyists who have turned analysis of the eruption sequence of each geyser into an intricate data collection process. The geyser gazers around us were from as far away as Virginia and as close as Wyoming and Idaho. Each with personal hand held radios set to channel 4/5 they keep listeners, including the park service, informed of geyser activities.

Like many geysers, Grand Geyser is connected to other geysers. The observed activity at one is often an indicator of impending activity at another. Grand is connected to Turban Geyser and Vent Geysers. As the window to eruption of Grand approaches, Turban begins a regular series of eruptions every 20 minutes. The Grand Geyser pool fills and drains with each eruption of Turban. Turban’s eruption appears like little more than some serious boiling. During its most violent eruptions, only it shoots scalding hot water about three feet into the air. With each eruption of Turban the Geyser Gazers wait with baited breath, hoping that the water level in the Grand Geyser Pool remains full. The drop in the pool’s level at the end of Turban’s eruption signals the beginning of another 20 minute wait for the next eruption. Grand’s eruption always coincides with a Turban eruption.

Over and over again at 20 minute intervals we watched as the pool level dropped exposing island like ridges of geyserite that are exposed anytime the pool is not completely full. After approximately 6 or 7 of these 20 minute cycles we saw the change. The pool dropped slightly and then continued to rise—ever so slowly submerging the geyserite ridges. Someone claimed to have seen waves in the pool – an indication that an eruption was eminent. The most experienced Geyser Gazer in the crowd picked up her radio and signaled to geyser gazers across the entire Upper Basin that there were waves in Grand. Then the pool began to boil followed by an explosive rocketing of hot water and steam perhaps 150 feet into the air.

The applause of the crowd showed the approval with natures geologic show which continued for 9 minutes during which Turban continued its boiling and Vent coincidentally shot its stream of water skyward adding to the spectacle. The early evening sun shining through the condensing steam added a beautiful rainbow to the spectacle.

The geyser gazers hopped for an early halt to the breathtaking display. The early halt in the action seems to allow the underground chamber to rearm for a second and more explosive eruption. We were in luck and the break came followed shortly there after by the second and larger eruption. In years past this cycle would continue for as many as 14 times. Now days one eruption is the norm with two or three being special events.

The show ended with Grand and Turban becoming silent. Vent would continue for quite some time. We applauded again as if to say thanks to Mother Earth for the entertainment and all wondered off in different directions. On our way out of the basin we were rewarded with a timely eruption of Old Faithful. For many, Old Faithful is the only geyser activity they will witness during their stay at Yellowstone. Old Faithful is a wonder but it truly pales in comparison to Grand, Lone Star, Great Fountain, or many others.


I would like to continue with more on our visit to Boiling River, the Roosevelt Arch at Mammoth or the recent significant wildlife sightings but I’ll save that for later.

Life sure is good!

Half-way through the summer and still not bored

We’ve passed our half way point in our stay here at Yellowstone National Park. There is more to see and do here than can be done even in a entire summer. We have a list of things we want to be sure to do before we leave and in the last few weeks we have been able to cross off some of the listed activities.

Just outside the Park in West Yellowstone, MT there is the Grizzly and Wolf Recovery Center. They have excellent displays on wolves and bears and the outdoor exhibits with live wolves and grizzly bears are wonderful. We have yet to see any wild wolves (one of the items on our list) but we have seen quite a few grizzly bears and a few black bears.

We took a drive around the park a few days ago hoping to see some wolves. Again they eluded us but the trip was far from uneventful. We stopped in the Mammoth area and hiked around the travertine terraces. They are really interesting. We were there near mid-day so the bright sun on the bleach-white terraces made for some difficult picture taking.


From Mammoth we headed east through the Lamar Valley to the Beartooth Highway. What a ride. The Beartooth is considered by many sources as the most scenic highway in the Continental US. It is easy to see why. The pass is nearly 11,000 feet high and the wildflower blankets in the alpine meadows were beautiful. Glacier lakes filled by melting snow (this was in July) and the scattered rock outcroppings make for some real “eye candy” as does the view from the high elevation overlooks.


Returning from the pass we again came through the Lamar Valley. At 6 PM the wildlife was more active and we saw perhaps 300 bison, 4 black bears, 2 coyotes, a dozen pronghorn, and 4 sandhill cranes. The one black bear was feeding on a carcass by the river and the two coyotes were just waiting their turn at the remains. The other bear, a sow with two cubs, was seen way in the distance.

On another outing to the Hayden Valley we experienced the bison rut. Bulls were butting heads, exhibiting strength by pacing with tails raised, and vying for the attention of available females. We stopped at the Otter Creek picnic area where the Hayden Valley wolf pack’s alpha female has frequently been seen with her cubs, but again we were not there at the right time.


We rode out bike back to the Lone Star Geyser and waited and watched the 20 minute eruption. Impressive. The 2 mile bike ride along the Firestone Ricer (creek) is beautiful. Fresh bear scat in the roadway forced us to keep up our vigilance.


My backcountry experience this week was an overnight hike to Shoshone Lake to try to catch my first ever Lake Trout. I did manage to land one but I was very disappointed in the fight.
I have hooked on to sticks that fought better. The fishing may not have been great but seeing otters, eagles, osprey, and geese was more than enough to sustain my euphoric state. The scenery was beautiful and at dusk a nearby ruffed grouse kept strumming. Interesting music to go to sleep with.

Each day has too much to write about and bringing this BLOG up to date after a couple of weeks is going to be a challenge. In addition to the normal volunteer activities, we continue to see more and more of Yellowstone. We have begun to take weekly hikes together and try to do something together other than eat meals. We’ve hiked or ridden bikes on several trails to see geysers and water falls and took an overnighter to Dubois, WY to see a real rodeo. I’ve gone fishing regularly and generally get to take one or two day backpacking trip into the backcountry.
We hiked back to Fairy Falls which is a relatively easy 5 miles round trip stroll. The hike was through an area recovering from the 1988 fire and was almost boring. There is not much shade since the new-growth lodgepole pines are but 4 – 14 feet high so the sun at this 6000’ altitude is hot. The Fairy Falls howeverwere beautiful. Yellowstone is a land of water falls (in addition to many other features). One of the thermal features we passed on the way to Fairy Falls is Grand Prismatic Hot Springs – the largest known hot spring in the world. It is appropriately named because of the prism effect of the rising steam. The colored algae and bacterial mats make the Grand Prismatic a spectacular feature.
The hot springs are beautiful and so are the abundant wildflowers. On every trip we take we find wildflowers that we did not see before. Columbines were blooming near Fairy Falls.
There is too much to see in the Park but we still needed to see a real rodeo so we headed east to Dubose, WY.
Our overnight trip to Dubose took us through the Grand Teton National Park.
These mountains are awesome. We stopped at the lodge for diner and were fortunate to see two cow moose and a calf feeding in the willows. There are more moose in the Tetons than in Yellowstone.
Dubose has a rodeo every week and professional and amateur cowboys and cowgirls travel many miles to participate in everything from barrel racing, calf roping, team roping, bronc and bull riding, and for the youngsters – sheep and cow riding. (Some of these little kids were good.) This was our first rodeo and we enjoyed it better than seeing it on the TV.
This overnighter was a nice break but we are always happy when we are in the park.
My next backpacking trip was to Grebe Lake. Grebe Lake is known for its grayling density. I’ve caught lots of trout in my lifetime but never grayling so I hiked back to the lake intent on hooking and landing my first of these silvery fighters with the large sail-like dorsal fin.
The lake is less than a mile in diameter and has four backcountry campsites – each with a fire ring and a pole from which packs and food can be elevated to keep them out of reach of the black and grizzly bear that call this area home. I’ve camped here earlier without catching any grayling but the rainbow trout fishing was good. This trip started out much the same. In the middle of the day the mosquitoes and fish were both biting. I caught several rainbows (several at 14”) and was beginning to expect that the grayling were again going to skunk me when I actually began catching more grayling than rainbows. At the end of fishing I had landed 27 grayling and 17 rainbows.
The fishing was great but just seeing all the wildlife makes a backcountry trip worthwhile. On this trip I saw Trumpeter Swans, Elk, Barrows Goldeneye (with young), Common Loons, Williamson Sapsuckers, and Short-tailed Weasel.
This place is awesome. The evening sunset was spectacular.
Although I thoroughly enjoy Grebe Lake, my next outing will have to be elsewhere since there are so many more places to go and things to see and do.
On Saturday we headed north toward Bozeman (about 100 miles) to the nearest Wal-Mart to renew some prescriptions. We stopped to look at Quake lake where in 1979 a 5.+ earthquake on the Richter scale caused a land slide that dammed the Madison River. Twenty-six people were killed when the landslide buried a campground along the river. The USACOE immediately dug a spillway to keep the pressure in the lake from breaking the dam. They expect that in years to come the water flow over the spill way will eventually erode the dam away leaving the Madison River in a similar course as it was before the quake.
In route to Bozeman we passed through some old gold mining towns, Virginia City and Nevada City. Virginia City looks like the 1860s residents just closed and locked the doors and left everything behind. The old buildings look just as they must have looked nearly 150 years ago. The shelves and racks and display cases in the stores have the assortment of goods that would have been available at the time.
Although the interior of these stores can only be viewed either through the windows or, in some cases, from open doorways, the feeling one gets is just as if you have taken a step back into time.
Obviously we are still having a good time. We have passed the halfway point of our stay here in Yellowstone. We will depart here around the 3rd of September and will make a short jog up through Montana to see Glacier National Park then head south through North and South Dakota, and Nebraska. We intend to try to fly back East in late September or early October for a quick visit with relatives and then will continue southward to Big Bend National Park in Texas where we have been offered a volunteer position at their visitor center – more on that later. We expect to depart Big Bend in January for the East where we will spend most of the year bouncing back and forth between friends and family.
Life sure has been good.