Monday, July 20, 2009

Don't Feed the Bears

In Yellowstone they say: Please don't feed the bears. But apparently feeding the mosquitoes is perfectly okay, and I have the bites to prove it. Yes, we used mosquito repellent, but there must have been a mix-up at the factory and we got mosquito attractant instead of repellent. Aside from that, we had a good time seeing the sights at Yellowstone National Park this weekend.


I like to get off the beaten path away from the crowds, so we usually do a couple of 5 or 6 mile hikes to places most people never see. This time I found a new hike near the Canyon area.

It starts off across a meadow, where we came across a lone Bison enjoying the wildflowers.












It then goes into a shady pine forest and suddenly you are at Clear Lake.














After that the trail goes by some unmarked, unfenced, and unnamed mud pots and hot springs. It's interesting to see these things as the original explorers found them, but you have to watch your step.
















Over the hill is a nice little Lily Pond Lake.


Then the path curves up to the edge of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.



















Again, no fences, no warnings, and a very steep drop off to certain death. This is no hike for sissies or little kids.


If you're wondering why they call it Yellowstone, you know why when you walk the edge of this canyon.












The waterfalls are amazing.
















Then it's back through a nice shady forest, looping back to the start of the hike.


It's always fun to see some wildlife in the Park.
























Eagle's nest.















Unfortunately (or fortunately), we did not see any moose or BEARS this time.
I guess they did not want to come out and deal with those pesky mosquitoes.

5 comments:

Carolyn said...

John and Laura were at Yellowstone Thurs, Fri and Sat. and got to our house sat night. The girls all had mosquitoe bites but JuJu was covered. All up and down her legs and arms. I guess they got the same bug spray that you had. They had a wonderful time and saw a lot of the same things you did. What a wonderful park. Too bad they didn't see you. They camped by Yellowstone lake.

Suzy said...

I think you are supposed to replace the bug spray at least once every 5-10 years. How long do you think you've had the same stuff? It looks like you found some really neat hikes. Was it crowded because of the free park weekend?

Robin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Robin said...

Getting away from crowds must be a Jamison trait-Evan and I just went to Bear Lake this weekend and he has declared that from now on all our camping trips will be backpacking trips where we hike until there is no one left in sight, and THEN set up camp! :)

Great pictures!

John and Laura said...

Your hike sounds like it was a lot of fun. Too bad we didn't see each other there. We had a lot of fun.