| (Yellowstone Trip - June 9 to June 24, 2000 - Part 8 ) | |
| Saturday, June 17, 2000
Woke early (5:30 is early for us) to frost everywhere. The drive, and
driver, were foggy over Dunraven Pass and out to the Lamar Valley. None
of the usual wildlife watchers could be found, not much wildlife either.
Did everyone have the weekend off?
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With nothing much to watch, we decided to do the Trout Lake hike. This lake was a trout hatchery and with fish spawning like crazy, we were worried about bears. But a Yellowstone Institute class was ahead of us on the trail, and some fishermen were at the lake – we were glad to have non-bruin company. The instructor pointed out a fish head laying a short distance from the inlet stream and attributed it to either a bear or an otter. |
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This picture is a close up of the roots of a tree growing next to the stream. The different shades of greens and browns in the sun were really quite vivid. |
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None of our pictures of the spawning fish show anything recognizable, but the reflections on the still lake were stunning. |
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| We left Trout Lake and went
back down the valley looking for wildlife. We stopped at one turnout to
scope some pronghorn antelope. Once some of them started running, but nothing
seemed to be chasing them. We went further down the road, and stopped at
a turnout where we saw some folks with some scopes. We joined them watching
a black bear feeding in the distance until the heat shimmer (11am) made
watching impossible.
Having given up on wildlife, we went up to Tower for a "nuked" burger served by another Loon - "Jakeman." After quickly sharing news with him, comparing wildlife and other loon sightings, (he was working - very hard, I might add - if his boss happens to read this!) we walked around the area above Tower Fall with its great views from above of the falls and the canyon. |
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| Promising ourselves an easy day, we decided to spend an exciting afternoon at the Canyon laundry. Carol struck up a conversation with a fellow with lots of National Parks patches on his vest, and discovered two more Loons – Chris & Doreen from Southampton, England. We had in fact exchanged emails about the Canyon cabins prior to our trips, and now we had a lovely conversation waiting for our clothes to dry. (We ended up seeing them again at dinner, and later that evening at a pullout in Hayden Valley.) | |
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Okay, enough taking it easy! Restocked with clean clothes, we took the short hike from the Glacier Boulder on the north rim to the Silver Cord Cascade overlook. |
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| This pleasant hike provided some breathtaking views from the edge of the canyon. |  |
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| On the return we saw a gorgeous red fox – big bushy tail, black ‘socks’ on its legs, and black lining around the ears – it hurried off before we could get a picture, stopping only once – behind a tree! | |
| After dinner, we scoped some more up Hayden valley. We were blessed with more wildlife activity, watching a golden eagle do some hunting and revisiting the beaver we saw at Trout Creek. We'll leave you with this portrait of two happy Loons! | |
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