Tops off on Top

Saturday after work, a few of us drove to Lamar to hike the Lamar River Trail. The trail is supposed to be a great place to see wildlife, so I had high expectations that weren't disappointed. There were the usual bison and ground squirrels, but we also saw a pronghorn, a coyote, and what was either a fox or a coyote (it was too hidden in the sagebrush to tell).

Rachel approaching a pronghorn. 7/23/16.

We hiked 3 miles in to where the trail meets Cache Creek. We had every intention of swimming, but as soon as we got to the creek, the wind picked up and a huge storm started blowing in. We sat by the creek and ate dinner, then decided to head back to the car early. Once we got back to the valley, the sun started setting. The storm produced maybe the best sunset I've ever seen.

Sunset 7/23/26.

The next afternoon, we went to Grand Prismatic. There is a trail that overlooks the spring, but it's being renovated (most likely they're building a boardwalk). Even from ground level, it's gorgeous. The colors aren't as striking, but it's still cool to see such vibrant hues coming from a steaming pool.

Grand Prismatic Spring. 7/24/16.

After Grand Prismatic, we drove to the Firehole River to the employee hot tub. In reality, it's just an eddy in the river that a bubbling spring pours hot water into. The temperature varies greatly from freezing cold to boiling hot. We were told by others to sit on rocks and to wear water shoes. The warning was important, because the ground is actually boiling. Huge, hot bubbles pop right under the surface of the sand. Even with the precautions, I managed to get burned a couple times. It was pretty cool to be basically sitting in a volcano; it's the first time it really hit me that I'm living on an active hotspot.

On Tuesday morning, I hiked Avalanche again. Since I didn't summit the first time I did it, and a group of my friends hadn't done it yet, I decided to again hike the trail built by a man-man that climbs 2,000 feet in 2 miles. We made it to the top and stayed there for almost an hour. All of us girls decided that the top of a peak was a great place to take our tops off, and we got a couple awesome pictures of us looking out at the mountains. I hope that posting this picture doesn't come back to bite me, but it was such a freeing experience, so I figured, why not. I'll post it small so as not to offend.

Topless on top of Avalanche. 7/26/16.

That night, a couple of us hiked 4 miles into Grebe Lake to camp there for the night. On the hike in, we came across a family of swans. It was the parents and two little fuzzy babies. The male got a little flustered, but they didn't seem to mind too much that we were only about 15 feet away from them.

Our site was between the lake and the river that feeds it. The river is absolutely covered in lily pads. We turned in pretty early since there wasn't a lot to do once it got dark. I slept pretty well despite being cold, but the other two slept horribly. They let me sleep in a little, then we broke down camp and hiked back to the car.

Right after we got back to Canyon, we left for the lake. We rented a motorboat, and spent an hour and a half out on the lake fishing and relaxing. It was incredible being in the middle of one of the largest high-elevation lake in the world. We could see exactly where we had been on Avalanche the day before, which made me feel even more accomplished having hiked up there twice.

Avalanche Peak from Lake Yellowstone. 7/27/16.

Next weekend, I am going with a big group to do the Bechler River Trail. It's 30 miles, and it's supposed to be one of the most amazing backcountry trips in the park. It's going to be incredibly challenging to carry a pack that far since I haven't backpacked much, but I'm really excited. It seems like the perfect last adventure here in the park. My last day of work is the 7th, and I'm leaving that night for Bozeman. I can't believe how fast the summer has gone. I don't want it to end at all, but I know it's almost over, so now all I can do is figure out how to enjoy every last second of it.

-Morgan

Peaks and Passes

Friends in the Hoodoos. 7/16/16.

The night before we hiked Avalanche Peak, a group of us went out to the Hoodoos. We hiked out at dusk, then sat and watched the moon rise over Bunsen Peak. The light on the granite when we were hiking out was amazing. I kept turning off my headlamp to look at the stars and the moon, so I ended up at the back of the group. Suddenly, the people ahead of me suddenly scattered and acted panicked. I reached for my bear spray, thinking it was a bear. Turns out the people in the front had gotten within feet of walking into a bison. We were all on an adrenaline high for the rest of the hike out.

Moonrise over Bunsen Peak. 7/16/16.

After work on Sunday, Patrick, Annie, and I hiked Avalanche Peak. The trail climbs almost 2,000 feet in a little over 2 miles. It's straight up, but we took a lot of breaks, so it was not horribly hard. We made it almost to the summit, and a storm blew in. The wind was blowing the rain into us, and it hurt too bad to stay above tree-line, so we headed down without making it all the way to the summit. 

The storm almost made it prettier though, because the sky was clear over the lake, but there were huge storm clouds on all sides. The Tetons were the clearest I've ever seen them from the park though.

View from Avalanche Peak. 7/17/16.

After work on Monday, a group of us drove to Cooke City. We ate dinner and played monopoly on a roadside picnic table while waiting for the second half of our group to arrive. Once they got there, we drove into the Beartooth Mountains to find a camp spot. We ended up at the Island Lake Campground. The moon was one night from full, so we got to watch it rise. We had 6 people in a five-person tent, and it was the warmest night of camping I've had since being here. 

Professor Jacob at the Island Lake Campground, Shoshone National Forest. 7/18/16.

The next morning, we woke up early to drive to Billings. We drove the entire Beartooth Highway, which is listed as one of the most scenic in the country. We stopped at the top of the pass, which is 10,947 feet in elevation. Rachel and I went off in the rocks to take a bathroom break, and I scared a pika. It's the first one I've seen here, so I got really excited.  Before we drove away, I made everyone take a group picture, which we took by propping Patrick's phone on his shoe on the hood of the car. Super high tech. 

Canyon Kitchen Crew at the top of the Beartooth Pass. 7/19/16.

John looking out over the Beartooth Mountains. 7/19/16.

We drove the rest of the way to Billings. There, we went to Denny's and then to Target. Half the group went to get tattoos; the half I went with found a cool record store, then sat in a park for a while. We eventually met up with the boys to see their tattoos being finished. We all went to Cracker Barrel for dinner, then drove back to the campsite. The full moon on the drive back up the pass was insane. It was the brightest moon I've ever seen. It looked like a spotlight was shining on us when we were sitting by the campfire. 

Sitting by the fire at Island Creek Campground. 7/19/16.

The next morning, half of the group went to do Specimen Ridge. The rest of us drove back to Canyon, where Patrick, Davis, Jared, and I immediately turned around and drove to Jackson. It was my first time seeing the Tetons, and I was speechless. In the park, there are huge mountains, but they mostly all have foothills leading up to them. The Tetons appear out of nowhere; it's a huge valley, then suddenly there are 14,000 foot peaks that come out of nowhere. We stopped at a pullout, and I made the boys pose for a photo...

The Boys at the Tetons. 7/20/16.

After spending the past 2 months in front of the camera, I finally decided to get a picture of myself. I wish the picture showed more clearly that my shirt says "Mountain Mama" from John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads. That song has become the song of the summer for all of us. Good thing it came out in 1971...45 years ago.

I can't even begin to wrap my head around the fact that I leave the park 2 weeks from today. Patrick and Abby already left, and I've been an emotional wreck. I'm not ready to leave this park and these people. This has become home to me, and the people I've met are my family. This has been the experience of a lifetime, and I'm just not ready for it to end.

Flowers, Fires, and Freezing

Laughing in the Flowers. Photo by Rachel Boge. 7/10/16.

After two nights of taking pictures in fields of flowers last week, I decided it was time to switch gears. On Monday night, I stayed outside of Gardiner at the Tom Miner Campground. The site is 10 miles up a dirt road into some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Driving past farmhouses that sit in front of huge mountains was incredibly peaceful. We stopped a couple times to take pictures because it was so idilic. 

Farmhouse near Gardiner, MT. 7/11/16.

We got to the campground and started to build a fire. Since it had rained all day and snowed that morning, everything was soaking wet. We wouldn't have needed a fire so badly if we hadn't decided to cook over it, so we were starving also. We tried for two hours before finally giving up and driving back to town to buy firewood and lighter fluid. After so much frustration, we finally got to eat dinner at almost 10 pm, then went to bed almost immediately. 

The next day, one of my friends and I hiked two miles into the Rescue Creek Trail and camped at site 1A2. The trail goes through, so we hiked the other 5 miles to the end, and hitchhiked back to our trailhead. We got picked up by one of the tourbus drivers who had an empty bus, and he drove us to Mammoth. From there, we ran into a couple of our coworkers from Canyon, and they drove us to the trailhead. We hiked the 2 miles in again to our site, and build a fire, which miraculously lit and stayed lit through a misty rainstorm. 

Perfect Pinecone. Rescue Creek Trail. 7/12/16.

This Tree Nose What You're Thinking. Rescue Creek Trail. 7/12/16.

We went to bed early, but barely slept since we were so cold. We finally decided at 6 am that we were too cold to stay any longer, so we packed up the tent and hiked out. 

Tavin on the Frigid 6 am Hike Out. 7/13/16.

Wednesday evening, a group of us went to Bozeman for the afternoon which was a lot of fun. We ended up playing in a park for a while and appeasing our inner children. 

Patrick at the Park. 7/13/16.

I'm now working half mornings and half evenings, and I love it. I get to sleep in two mornings a week, and then I have three evenings to do whatever hiking I want once I'm off work. Tomorrow I'm hiking Avalanche Peak after work. It's 2,000 feet of elevation change in 2 miles, so I might die on the way up, but I've heard the view from the top is one of the best in the park. Expect pictures soon.

-Morgan

Here Comes the Sun

Thermal Feature on Mary Mountain Trail, 6/29/16.

I survived Mary Mountain, and I can now say that I have hiked 22 miles in one day. We were all  grumpy and ready to kill each other by the end of it, but I definitely feel accomplished. And I surprisingly was barely even sore after. It was a cool hike, but I would not recommend it to anyone. It's not worth that many miles, especially since the scenery is nothing spectacular.

I laid low after Mary Mountain, but got right back to hiking a couple days later. On Sunday, I hiked Uncle Tom's Trail, which is just a bunch of stairs leading into the Canyon. It was gorgeous, but 305 stairs is definitely a challenge. Right as we got close to the top, it started hailing like crazy. We took shelter under some trees and waited out the storm. It was incredible to watch, but the pea-sized hailstones hurt like crazy. As soon as it slowed down, we power walked to the car and drove to Artist Point rather than taking the trail there.

Lower Falls from Uncle Tom's Trail, 7/2/16. 

For the 4th, I went with a group of people to Livingston. We camped at this awesome campground called Pine Creek. I forgot how much I love camping. Even though I froze during the night, I woke up feeling well-rested and peaceful. That morning, we explored Livingston before going to Bozeman. We went to music stores, thrift stores, and a second-hand sporting goods store in Bozeman where I got my first pair of Tevas since I was 10 and decided I was too cool for them.

Fourth of July Sunset in Livingston, 7/4/16. 

After Bozeman, we drove back to Canyon. We decided that we would do a sunrise hike the next morning, so naturally, 7 of us slept in one room so we'd be sure we all got up. I slept horribly, and probably only got about an hour total because I kept waking up. At 3:15, we all woke up and got ready to go. We drove towards Old Faithful to Purple Mountain. It's a super easy 3 mile trail that leads up to a pretty good overlook at the top of the mountain. About 2 miles in, we were able to turn off our headlamps. We should have left earlier to actually see the full sunrise since we got there at 5:42, exactly when the sun was supposed to rise. It was still striking to see the sun light up the incredible valley and geyser basin down below.

Sunrise from Purple Mountain, 7/6/16. 

We came back and napped, then decided to go to the Lake to hang out. We hiked the Pelican Creek Trail, and actually managed to see a pelican! It was windy so the water was choppy, and it looked so stark with the expanse of the lake leading out to huge mountains on the other side. I brought a book, but I ended up just sitting with my toes in the sand, marveling at the beauty surrounding me.

Creeping on Friends at Lake Yellowstone, 7/6/16. 

Tonight, a group of us girls are going to Mount Washburn to sit in the wildflowers and relax. I've never seen so many flowers in my life, especially since it's been raining in the afternoons here the past week, and everything looks even more green than before.

Work has been getting busier, but things have been running fairly smoothly. I'm still working mostly mornings, so I have time to hike in the evenings which I absolutely love.

-Morgan