But then most of you suspected as much. Well actually Yellowstone has limited entrance into the Park based on the odd and even numbers on your license plates. Odd plates go in on dates ending in odd numbers and even plates go in on dates ending in even numbers. So on our “even days”…
We hiked around the Hebgen Lake area. Our first adventure took us to Whitts’ Lake Trail. There was still snow here and there but Mother Nature had a grand display of greenery, and flowers, and wildlife for us to enjoy. AllTrails says this is a 45 minute walk. We made it in an hour and 33 minutes. As a side note, my watch is driving me crazy on my “record walk” setting. If I don’t start it: it waits about 30 minutes and then chimes in. “Oh it looks like you’re walking. Do you want me to record this?”. All nice and friendly like. Once it starts recording, every time I pause to take a picture or admire a scene, . . . It’s “Oh, are you finished?”. It’s like a 5 year old in the back seat “are we there yet?” every 2 minutes. If you happen to know a “sit there and shut up mode” on this thing, PLEASE, let me know.
We toured the Union Pacific Railroad museum here in West Yellowstone. Traveling to this remote location was quite difficult in the 1900’s. Initially, access took days and was by horseback, wagon, and stagecoach. This was followed by the train, which played an incredible role in getting people here. Everything has yellow paint because, duh.. Yellowstone. But I did have the intelligence to ask Mark why was everything yellow…so I had to point it out too. 🙂
This week we took advantage of places outside the Park. We took a hike to Refuge Point. This flood was, of course, not the first natural disaster to hit this area. In 1959, an earthquake dropped half a mountain in the Madison River, just past Hebgen Lake, and Earthquake Lake was born. Unfortunately, there were cabins and campgrounds along what was the river’s edge. This hike goes past some high ground that the survivors fled to and on to an overlook; where remnants of the cabins that flowed down the river still remain today. And of course, about 640,000 years ago there was a volcano, followed with its caldera collapsed to create the Yellowstone we know today.
The late spring seems to have really brought the wildlife out. We have seen many more animals so far than we did all of last year. I’ll send out pictures next week.
As a side note, Yellowstone National Park has reopened, 93% and dropped the alternate license plate system just 20 days after the devastating flood that ran through this area
Thanks for checking in. Stay cool and enjoy your summer.
