Thanks Paul. Yeah, I did a hike (last time) starting at Beartooth Lake and hiked up the same trail. At the top, I headed west and on the way back, accidentally started for home on the opposite side of the western ridge. When I found out I was lost, it kind of spooked me. It was also my first time using a GPS (I had a map too, but the map doesn't have all the trails), so I was unsure of how I got lost and what the hell I was doing. I got it figured out, but it was a half hour of stress.
Fire in the Hole
If I have a fire like the gates of hell, I can dry wood left in the campsite on one night and use it the next. The problem has been that we’re getting back so late and going to bed so early that it’s hard to have a roaring fire. Still, sitting around a fire with some music and drinks is a nice end to the day. The campground host caught us last night and we started joking about that we’re never in the site. They said, “We can tell you’ve been here because there’s an outline of your car in the dirt.
So, it’s our third and final day in Yellowstone, or so goes the plan. There’s a little loop called the Firehole Lake Drive that I like, so we aimed the car that direction. On the way, we stopped at a couple random places.
I’m going to guess these are at Beryl Spring.
The next stops were around the Fountain Group.
Then onto Firehole and a few photos at the first spring (which I believe is Firehole Spring).
We didn’t get far before running into some people who thought the next geyser (Surprise Pool, I believe) was going to blow soon. So we sat, I with camera in hand, and Julie talking to a couple about Casita trailers, and an hour later the Geyser did blow, but it wasn’t quite 50 foot high spout we were expecting.
Swimming
It’s been a week since we’ve had a shower, and on a loop of Firehole Canyon Drive, we spotted a bunch of people swimming in the canyon. I figured the water might be warmer since this area sits on top of some warm ground, so off we went.
It was nice to swim and I made a couple laps up and down the river. Swimming upstream was futile, but got my heart going. Julie took a swim too.
After the swim, we headed to Canyon Village, sat outside transferring photos (with the computer and phone plugged in).
-Changed clothes, check
-Played a few hands of cribbage, check
-Charged batteries, check
-Drank a beer, check
We also ate dinner in the cafeteria before making the drive back home. On the drive home, we discovered Julie left her new North Face down vest on the chair at the cafeteria. Damn. Since we were almost out of the park (probably a solid 45 min into the drive) going back felt like diving over the stern chasing a dropped camera.
We started hatching a plan for the next day.
Jay