YELL Day 31

Thursday 07/25/2013

This was a day for one of my little "excursions." Field trip if you will...

The trick to getting a parking spot at Artists' Paint Pots is to go early in the morning. Ahhhh...I love this place. I especially loved the white mud pot--cracked, bubbling, and white. I could have stared all day! After the paint pots I headed to Old Faithful to walk the 2.4 mile (round trip) path to Morning Glory pool. Along the way I got to see a nice eruption from Daisy Geyser. I took a different route on the way back and saw people gathering around Grand Geyser. There was a spot on the bench and about ten minutes later, it blew! All I can say is it was GRAND! The run-off from Grand has patches of orange that remind me of a creamsicle or dreamsicle or whatever they are. TR and I went to Bruce's evening program about wolves.

Elephant Back Trail on Pioneer Day

Wednesday 07/24/2013

My neighbor, Bev, and her coworker, Marlene, invited me to hike Elephant Back with them this afternoon. This trail is right next to park housing, but I've heard of enough bear encounters on this trail this season that I've never been able to hike it alone. Bev herself pointed out spots on the trail..."This is where I was when I ran into that grizzly." Well, you can get quite a view from the top! Park housing, the Lake Hotel, Stevenson (Stephenson?) Island...it was 3.36 miles round trip according to Bev's GPS and the elevation at the top was around 8,800. Whew. I was probably slower on the way down than the way up so Bev asked if they could hike ahead. So I kept calling out, "Here, Bear! Comin' through!" I knocked on Bev's door when I returned so she would know I got back down and she said, "We could hear you singing!" I had to chuckle. Singing? I could barely breathe! But at least they could hear me which means the bears did too and I didn't have any trouble. The terrain was forest with grass between the trees.

YELL Day 30

Tuesday 07/23/2013

Slept in after our weekend. Did a lot of housekeeping type duty today. Made Mexican Lasagna for dinner. And now you know all our secrets.

YELL Day 29

Monday 07/22/2013

K made wonderful pancakes for breakfast while I slept. Whaaaat??? I'm usually the one to wake up first, but for some reason, roles were reversed.

We headed to a place called Medicine Wheel which is managed by the Forest Service. You have to walk for at least a mile from your car to reach it and it is at a high altitude. It is something some Native Americans made a long time ago and it is kind of a spiritual place. You're only permitted to walk clockwise around it. There are 28 wedges and some rock cairns (piles of rocks). I want to note that the offerings and "prayers" which I photographed are pictured here with the utmost respect and as a way of enlightening those who may not realize that one way Native Americans might worship is by leaving "flags" or pouches or other tokens near sacred sites. I'm not sure if someone would be angry with me for the pictures--let me know if this is offensive. The interpreter said pictures were okay. We can never know what the Medicine Wheel means but I can't help but guess. Perhaps 28 wedges represents 28 days in a cycle or month. Maybe this is a calendar or sun dial or moon dial. Maybe it has something to do with fertility. Who knows? Just like the petroglyphs, we can't really say what it means.

On the hike back to our car we met a pika. I always thought they were bigger like a rabbit, but nope, they are small cute things. This was my first time seeing one in the wild. After Medicine Wheel we spent time in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Site. So many treasures in the National Park Service!

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

We woke up in Billings and went to Church. My! That is one strong area/mission. The people were lovely and their wards and stakes are growing like crazy!

After church, we visited an NPS site titled above. This is an amazing place loaded with history. We enjoyed all the parts of it including the Native American perspective. We watched the film and walked the trails. Must read more about Chief Plenty Coups.

Next we drove into the Bighorn Mountains and found a little camp site at Prune Creek Campground. Personally, I think Plum Creek sounds better, but for some reason they decided to go with prune...

We had fajitas for dinner cooked in our cast iron skillet over the fire. We are slowly improving our outdoor cooking abilities!

KFC and OG

I woke up in Idaho, stopped in Montana for a bucket of chicken for TR's lunch (TR stands for "The Ranger") as a special treat, and then headed for Wyoming to see the bright smile on his face when he asked, "Really??? You didn't have to do that!" After work, we headed to Montana again for the weekend and enjoyed dinner at the Olive Garden. I finished volume 33 of my personal journal this evening (Saturday 07/20/2013). Don't worry, tomorrow should get a little more exciting and involve photos!

YELL Day 28

Friday 07/19/2013

Today was a day for shopping, especially photo frames. I also cleaned and did laundry. I drove. To Sugar City. And stayed at Hotel Suzette. Our groceries spent the night in her fridge. She is SO the best!