Ribbon Lake

We hiked to Ribbon Lake (and beyond!) from Artists Point. The guide book said, "Easy, really flat!" Nope. Before Ribbon Lake we did Uncle Tom's Trail which is 328 steps straight down into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and 328 steps right back up. It ended up being a 5.4 mile day. Ken insisted on dangling his legs over the edge of the canyon during lunch. Lily pads seems to do well at all the lakes around here. The mosquito reigns.

We attended Church at Lake. I publicly bore my testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ. I just happened to be in a national park standing on top of a volcano when I did it.

"White Wolf!"

Saturday 5 July 2014

Susan and I hiked Elephant Back which is 3.6 miles round trip with some definite elevation gain. I hadn't been up there since last summer. You can see our house from there! In fact, you can see pretty much all of government housing at Fishing Bridge, the Lake Hotel, and lots of other things from there. Beautiful day, beautiful hike!

K wanted to celebrate the end of his work week by "going out to dinner." This means we went to Lake Lodge and ate at the cafeteria. We both had the beef stroganoff. We decided to play tourist afterward by sitting in the nice chairs on the expansive porch of Lake Lodge. People love staring at the lake, the Absaroka Mountains, the bison grazing, and all the other lovely elements of such a scene. Suddenly, people got quite excited shouting, "White wolf! White wolf!" K turned to me and calmly commented, "It's not a wolf. It's a coyote. It showed up on my Storm Point hike this morning."

After that K took me on a little trail to show me an historic site he learned about when he took his class about Ghost Hotels from the Yellowstone Association. It was actually a grave site. We went back to the car to head home and what crossed right in front of us? The white coyote!

Patriotic Day the NPS Way!

Friday 4 July 2014

Disclaimer: I would never approach a bison at such short range. I was standing on a boardwalk which gave me closer access for photos.

Wet beard, messy hair, swishing tail, elegant foot...oh, Bison! You are such a handsome guy!!!

Went on Ranger Kirrin's Storm Point hike where Marmot Castle was heavily guarded. The Lodgepoles are "mating" and so pollen is EVERYWHERE! You can see how it piles up along the shoreline. TR is not very happy during pollen. It was another great parade at Lake Village! The superintendent came for it and rode in the lead car. Ranger Harlan is once again driving the fire engine. What a crowd-pleaser.

SV! Day 18

Thursday 3 July 2014

Worked out on the elliptical then went to Mud Volcano to hike up the steeper side. Then I went to Storm Point and while on Ranger Landon's hike, I met a woman named Susan from Florida who is working at the Lake Lodge. We swapped contact information at the end of the hike for future hikes together.

SV! Day 17

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Lazy day. So tired. So cold here. Worked out and then napped all morning! Showered after lunch. Played a little Candy Crush on my Kindle. And that's how I squeezed the most out of my seventeeth day of summer vacation!

SV! Day 16

Tuesday 1 July 2014

We headed back into the park after some last minute grocery shopping. I don't care what your intentions are, don't ever enter Yellowstone National Park without having plenty of food and water with you. Day trip, week long vacation, or residency...it matters not. Always haul fresh food into the park.

We have become...rather fond (shall we say?)...of Woodside Bakery in West Yellowstone, Montana. They have the nicest, softest, warmest, perfectest cinnamon rolls ever. They fly past the cash register all morning long at $4.50 a pop with a line of people literally out the door! And do you know what? I would happily pay more!

So, yes, we did stop there.

I hiked Storm Point this afternoon and attended TR's evening program.

SV! Day 15

Monday 30 June 2014

Our whirlwind trip to Utah quickly closed. Right after freezing some precancerous cells off my face, the dermatologist told me I have genetically beautiful, wonderful, amazing skin. Really? No one, including a dermatologist (and at least three were in the room that one time they were photographing my naked body before taking two biopsies which they sent to opposite coasts to diagnose a rare disorder they had never heard of...), has ever mentioned this before. Where were the compliments that day???

My husband told me the blister that erupted after the face freezing looks "like you have a booger stuck to your face or something." Thank you, Honey.

We did MANY errands before leaving town, on the way out of town, in the next town, and further north all along the Wasatch. One important stop was made at Gossner's Cheese Factory in Logan. Very important.

Went to bed in Rexburg.