Day Fifty-eight - Sixty-three

Day Fifty-eight – Sixty-three:

Last Wednesday we went to Old Faithful to watch the annual Employee Talent Show. It was an interesting variety of performances. It felt like summer camp. Good times.

Thursday was uneventful. Josh worked during the day and I worked in the evening so we couldn’t do anything together. Friday was the same schedule but I ended up going by myself to Canyon to get more pictures and video of Upper and Lower Falls.

I took a trail that goes along the south rim of the canyon. I also took a side trail down a steep set of stairs (you should have seen how tight I was grasping the handrail!) to get a close view of Lower Falls. It was worth the climb. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone truly is an amazing sight. The Lower Falls is spectacular. My pictures don’t fully show the power of the falls. The thundering sound when I was up close was loud. It was fantastic.

Saturday we started early with some older friends on a hike to Riddle Lake. It was a pretty hike. Each hike we take has a few new characteristics. We saw some pretty wildflowers and the ladies we were with knew some of the names of them so we learned a little. The lake was very beautiful. When we first got to it, it was smooth and mirror-like. I got good pictures of the reflections of the mountains behind the lake.

Later after that hike we went to swim in Firehole River. I didn’t get any pictures of that, but it was tons of fun! We climbed to a deep rapid and were able to jump in and ride the current down the river. It was a little scary jumping in and being swept away, but the thrill was awesome.

We also went on the way home to see the Grand Prismatic Spring. We tried to view it earlier in the summer, but the steam from the hot water was so thick that we couldn’t see anything. This time we climbed a little ways up a hill to get a higher view. The day was nice and warm so the steam wasn’t nearly as thick. This is the largest hot spring of its kind in the world. The colors are just amazing. I love the abundance of colorful sights here in Yellowstone.

Sunday we hiked up Observation Peak. The mountain climbs are difficult. A lot of fun, but we are slow going up hill. On our way there were tons of wildflowers. There is a particular small blue flower that I really love. My picture doesn’t show how bright the actual flower is, but it almost glows the color is so brilliant.

The view from the top of the peak was marvelous. We could see all the way to the Yellowstone Canyon. We saw several lakes including Ice Lake which we hiked too earlier in the season. And also on our way down we saw the smoke from a forest fire billowing up into the air. Its still blowing this direction today and the air smells smoky.

Now we are back to another week. We’ve got a softball game tonight. Hopefully the other team will show up so we can play! The rest of the summer is going to fly by. We have many more hikes planned. I love hiking! It will be nice when we are heading back home. I miss my people!