Yellowstone National Park - Day 6 - Canyon to West Thumb Basin

August 28. 2018

We had big plans for this day and needed a lot of light, so I dragged Julie out of bed early.  We had our food in the car and our go cups ready for coffee when we got to the Canyon Junction. So we just needed to stop at the restroom on the way out, brush our teeth, and make sure we had our water bottles filled before setting out.

Area of our first adventures of the day

After getting coffee,  and eating breakfast in route, out first stop was supposed to be Artist Point.  I took the road to the north side before I noticed my mistake. Since we were there, walked the north rim trail before returning to our original plan. We only met a single man and a couple on the hike.

One of the views of the Yellowstone River from the north side

A close up view of boulders in the Canyon

A view from the bridge on the way to Artist Point

Near and far views were all magnificant in the morning light

Then we went to the south side to Artist Point. We got the obligatory pictures of Upper Falls and the length of the river.  Our next planed activity was a hike down Uncle Tom's Trail.  Alas, it was closed for repairs. Julie decided to hike the south rim trail.  I dropped her off and went down to park the car near the trailhead. Then I noticed it was also closed, so waited for Julie to catch up before returning  to the north side to hike to the Upper and Lower Falls.

An iconic view of Upper Falls

A little different light 

I was captivated by the green streak

Julie was a lot faster them me going on the hikes. The hike to Upper Falls is very easy, but the one to lower has lots of switchbacks.  I was pretty much done for a while but she wanted to hike to Red Rock Point.  I agreed to meet her at the parking lot. I went around twice before deciding that there was no parking lot at the trailhead to Red Rock Point. So I parked at the next parking lot, after waiting a while to get a spot. Then I decided to hike down the trail to look for Julie when I couldn't find her waiting for me. After only a few switch backs down a beautiful trail I found her.

Julie hiking back up the switchbacks from lower falls

Click here to see the video from Upper Falls Overlook

We had plenty of time to stop at Fishing Bridge and get a recommendation from the Ranger for a hike.  We decided on Storm Point Trail. It was a lovely hike, through meadows, forest, and lakeside. I took lots of pictures but most seem to have disappeared.  But I would recommend it as a very easy and interesting hike.  Sometimes the Ranger leads hikes here if you enjoy learning more about the area.  We stopped again on the way home to enjoy a small herd of bison

A very tame marmot on the Storm Point Trail

We did a lot of road sharing with bison - these are crossing Fishing Bridge

I couldn't resist a closeup as they passed a car's width from me

Our next stop was Bridge Bay.  We had also stopped there earlier to check on renting a boat,  Then we found a bull elk with five cows bugling. Today, I dropped Julie off to hike the Natural Bridge Trail while I bought ice. I finished my duties and found where the trail would come back to Bridge Bay Marine Parking Lot only a few minutes before Julie arrived back.  She had traded picture taking with another hiker who was also a Yoga enthusiast.

He was very distracted

He was kind enough to walk through a woods to where he was in better light

Julie in tree pose on top of Natural Bridge 

Then we rented a motorboat to go out into the little bay in Yellowstone .  But the wind  immediately got stronger and the ride was mostly a series of hard bangs on the waves. And we ended up taking over our hour to beat our way back to shore. I don't advise this. The larger tour boat goes in the same area but is large enough that the wave would not affect it as much.

We got a view of part of our morning hike to Storm Point 

We really enjoyed the snow a day after we had to drive through it

Our last stop was West Thumb.  There the most interesting things were a few elk. This mother even drank from one of the pools.

Elk cow and calf

Then they wanted out of the enclosure formed by the boardwalk but people would not move for them  

Finally they got to a more suitable habitat

One of the more colorful pool and my shadow

Julie at Fishing Cone

We headed back to camp, often stopping to look for wildlife. We watched the sun get ever lower and raced to find a place to stop and enjoy it. We ended up going just north of our turn  Norris Campground to catch the last of it.

Julie  caught this view of bison and a trumpeter swan

Another lovely view late in the day

We  went just past the turn to our camp to catch the last of the sunset

I'm on my first packing day, Friday, September 14.   Currently I'm procrastinating finding all my solid boxes and figuring everything I can squeeze into them, while gathering stuff I need to return to the refuge.  

I had a wonderful meeting with a Facebook friend this week.  Tuesday evening, I opened up facebook to see a post from him of MY sunrise. I deduced he must be at Red Rock and commented.  Turns out, he is a Fish and Wildlife guy who was here for the Bring Your Own Data week.  He came to my presentation I gave on native bees to the Science Wednesday crowd and we had a nice visit afterwards.  The strangest thing is that neither of us has any clue as to why we are friends. Unless someone he knows unfriended me, we have no friends in common. He works out of the regional offie in Denver and will be visiting Monte Vista NWR, my next summer home, next summer.  I have met digital friends in person,  usually with actual planning, several other times and those meetings are one of the perks of my homeless life style.