TRAIPSING AROUND DEVIL’S TOWER
On the way to Devil’s Tower…. Juanita and Frankie dwarfed by Wyoming….What a welcome!
Juanita trying to capture the devil….
little prairie dogs live in the shadow of Devil’s Tower
Frankie getting ready for a run around the tower….
Juanita and I walked as Frankie ran. We stopped a lot to take photos. My lovely sister up close…
Let’s just see who stands taller….
Juanita taking a photo…
Juanita vs Devil’s Tower…..
Back to where we started Juanita and Frankie in prayer….
Me and Frainkie!!
Frankie…
He’s so cute!
Prairie Dogs goodbye…
Frankie before WANTED posters…
Clouds heading for Deadwood….
RANGER’S DELIGHT TWO
The last two photos are actually not part of the Ranger’s Delight trail but are of hills outside of the recreation area and a railroad bridge over the Bighorn River outside of Lovell, WY
RANGER’S DELIGHT
This is a short trail about a mile in length to another view of Devil’s Canyon. I took a lot of photos on this hike- some days I “see” more than others.
WILDFLOWERS AT 9666FT
From the mini but strenuous hike on the Bighorn Mountains at Powder River Pass…
THESE FLOWERS LOOK HOW I FEEL THIS MORNING…
Actually they look like they just came back from a night on the town and are ready to crash….I fell that way except I didn’t even have the night on the town!
(Flowers courtesy of the Bighorn Mountains)
LAST OF YELLOWSTONE
I forgot to post these!
I have no idea what all the flowers are in Yellowstone but flowers no matter where they root are each a delight!
Big elk!
Leaving the park through the West entrance and heading towards Quake Lake
BIGHORN CANYON (Upper Layout Creek Trail)
This was a lovely hike in the Bighorn Canyon that begins at the corrals of the historic Ewing Ranch
Erastus T. Ewing came to Bighorn Canyon looking for gold. Finding none he decided to try his hand at ranching. He knew that to make it in this arid land he would need water. On April 8, 1897 he filed with Carbon County in Red Lodge, Montana to appropriate 200 inches of water per year from Layout Creek for irrigation, mining and milling. -from the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area website.
This Recreation Area is very popular but most of the people head for the water I have been here a twice before and never saw another person hiking. (that’s how I like it!)
I don’t know what sort of grass this is but with the wind blowing the sound as it rustles is like the expansive scenery.
Looking back I about a quarter of the way up…
I wonder if this is a bear trap!
Another look back….
and a look ahead….
Apparently there is a waterfall where the water comes out of the mountain if you hike further into thecanyon but I didn’t know how far and the weather was sort of iffy. In Montana and Wyoming storms move in quick and there were clouds piling up on the other side of the mountain.
this is about a mile and a half up from the corrals.
Most of the hike once I got into the canyon was dark but once in awhile there would be a break in the clouds so I could take a photo like this…
and this!
Back at the trail head…
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS 1
Mammoth Hot Springs are not what they once were….most of them have stopped flowing but there is still beauty in the terraces after the water is gone.
This is a windy area and people lose their hats! I had my new cowboy hat on and even with the string it started to fly a few times. The good thing about a string on my hat is that I can hold the string to keep it on instead of the obvious hand to the hat maneuver.
Another hat!
More to come!
FAIRY FALLS
Fairy Falls is a very popular hike and even though I got there early there was already another car in the parking area . By the time I got back the parking area was full and people were parking on the side of the road. This is a nice hike on a well maintained trail and starts with a walk around a geothermal area. If I remember its about 2 1/2 miles to the falls.
What my hiking book didn’t tell me is that its better to hike later in the day when the sun can shine on the falls.
OLD FAITHFUL AREA
The geyser landscape…
This is Old Faithful from a distance…I couldn’t find the patience to sit and wait with the other tourists for it to blow. There is a very nice trail that is around five miles that visits every geyser in the area…there are a lot. It was around 6 in the evening and I was exhausted from a bad night of sleep, getting up up at 5 to be in the park at sunrise and hiking about 10 miles already. I missed about a mile of the trail. Its probably beautiful at sunset but I had to start heading back.
The visitors center at Old Faithful…
HEADING TOWARDS OLD FAITHFUL
This post doesn’t actually have any photos of Old Faithful but of the trails and geyser’s around it.
The first two are of the Yellowstone River…..
This is Yellowstone Lake…..
I have no idea what this cute little critter is…
I love the landscape designs around the geysers and geothermal pools…
FOGGY SUNRISE IN YELLOWSTONE 1
Always up before sunrise I drove into Yellowstone to capture the sunrise. I stop at the same Madison River turnout. Its one of the most beautiful views of the Madison River but not many people stop (I like that!) because it is so close to the entrance. Most people are heading for Old Faithful….except for the fly fishermen!
I had never walked the Artists’ Paintpots before and it is in my best Yellowstone Day Hikes book as a place that people overlook. I had certainly passed over it on my first trip to Yellowstone…but then I passed up Old Faithful as I heard it was just a parking lot-NOT! (I went there later in the day)
I got here at just the right time. There was only one other car in the parking lot and they left too soon probably disappointed by the fog but as I was going in the perfect morning fog photo opportunities were just starting!
MADISON RIVER
Three days in Yellowstone and over 600 photos not including the ones I deleted. These are of my Thursday night walk along the Madison River which isn’t too far into the park I didn’t spend too much time as I wanted to set up my tent to survive the serious storms that were predicted but didn’t show up. Double staked it and tied it down. If I hadn’t then the storm would have come!
I wasn’t here five minutes when my bear spray fell into the river and started floating away. Damn I have to get new bear spray! then I thought That’s 40 dollars…..so I jumped in and chased it down. Luckily the water didn’t affect the Nike+ in my shoe.
I love these giant thistles!
BIGHORNS IN BLOOM
I drove up the Bighorns after work looking for a place to hike that wasn’t too far off the beaten path as I had to work the next morning. Ended up finding a road that led to trails since it had lots of flowers I just walked on the road which had a lot of traffic considering it was gravel and the middle of the weekend. Popular place to camp in the middle off snow covered mountains.
BIGHORN CANYON
I went for a mystery ride outside of Lovell after work and ended up here. A nice hike in the high desert followed! This canyon is were the Pryor Mustang herd resides hopefully by the end of the summer I will find them!
FIRST NIGHT OF CAMPING (this year 2)
The ranger said the reservoir was only half full. They had released a lot of water in anticipation of the snowpack melting…they are still waiting and its the middle of June!
I found a road that went straight up the mountain great workout but I didn’t get too far up it-the silver speck is my car
This is where I stopped…rested and went back down. On trails like this going down is harder! There were horse tracks everywhere I would be scared to death riding a horse down this. I slid lots of times on the loose rock!
Ain’t it pretty?
MY FIRST MOOSE ENCOUNTER
I was at the end of a hike in the Beartooth Mountains when I spotted this moose. She stayed a bit then got tired of me and ambled on…
DEADWOOD 2 with a bit of Lead and the Mickelson Trail
Here are the rest of the Deadwood photos except for a separate post on Mt. Moriah Cemetary…Deadwood while there is plenty of history to explore is a small Reno I think half of down town is casinos and I’m not a gambler. I could have visited some of the museums but since it was the first sunny day in awhile I wanted to hike the Black Hills and there is a trail that runs on old railroad tracks called Mickelson Trail. I picked it up in Lead, South Dakota because that is where one of the locals told me was one of the best trails. It was a good hike, good to be outdoors on a trail hiking but the scenery was ok another half hour of driving and the scenery on the trail would have been better but like I said I was happy for a sunny day!
This is a little park that a church put up….this is what churches should be in the open air!
The town of Lead is known for its mining….
and Mickelson Trail….
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