Sorry about the delay in blog posts.
There isn't very reliable cell service in Yellowstone.
About mid-day we set-up camp in Madison
Campground on the west side of Yellowstone. At camp we had walking
tacos for lunch, which were the most delicious thing any of us had
ever eaten. We then set out down the road toward Old Faithful. The
plan was to start at the bottom and work our way back to camp. Except
we pulled over at the Firehole Falls swimming area right away.
Doesn't everyone want to go swimming when it's 60 out? Unfortunately
for us the swimming hole was closed. It was at this point that Jason
lost his mind when he saw Lucas was wearing flip flops. Consequently
we drove back to camp for more appropriate footwear. Then off (again)
to Old Faithful.
We arrived at Old Faithful just in the
nick of time and saw her blow her top within 15 minutes. It was cool.
The boys thought it was spectacular. We then proceeded to walk all
around the developed trails in the Old Faithful area. Some highlights
included the Solitary Geyser, Grotto Geyser, and countless other
geysers, springs and pools. We walked 10 miles in all. The scenery
and the altitude were both breathtaking.
Near suppertime we stopped at the
Sapphire Pool and walked the boardwalk. Along the boardwalk we passed
(at a safe distance) a buffalo snoozing next to a steam vent. He
looked quite content. And, as evidenced by the poop, there weren't
many places the buffalo didn't graze/sleep/walk in the entire park.
At the top of the Sapphire Pool
boardwalk there was an off-shoot trail to the Mystic Falls. Ooo.
Doesn't that sound fun? We all thought so. But none of us had our
backs and we were all ravenous. We quickly made our way around the
rest of the short loop, ate our first meal out of the back of the
truck, grabbed our packs, and set out for the Mystic Falls. With a
name like that they had to be good!! It was ¼ mile to the trail head
where we were given the following options: 1) hike down to the falls
and back .7 miles one way 2) hike to the observation point .4 miles
one way or 3) hike around the observation point and down to the
falls in a loop 1.7 miles. We all agreed to take the loop for maximum
enjoyment. So we started up the mountain. Up and up and up.
As we climbed higher and higher the
trail became very narrow with sheer drop offs down the mountain. It
was becoming more and more scary and more and more dangerous. It was
also apparent that we were venturing farther and farther from the
falls. I don't know high we were or how many miles we'd hiked, but I
had had enough. The sky was turning dark and we could hear thunder
but not the waterfall. It was also clear we had gone far past the .4
mile observation point. I asked to turn around. Jason however was
sure that we'd start going down at any moment (even though the next 2
switchbacks were still heading up). “Just one more switch back.”
Then I started crying (I'd like to blame this on the altitude). And
we turned around and started down the mountain.
With me, Lucas, and Marcus silently
sobbing, Jason was urging me to keep it together (kind of like
telling someone who's upset to just calm down, right Kelly?).
Meanwhile, Samus was trying to console us three bawl babies to take
10 deep breaths, and at one point yelled at me, “Take ten deep
breaths mom, that's what you're ALWAYS telling me to do!” Okay, he
had a point. I got it together as the two littles were getting more
and more frightened by the lightning and thunder. We started counting
between the lightning and the thunder, which seemed to soothe
everyone. We quickly determined rain gear was going to be necessary
before we got off this mountain. No sooner than we suited up did it
start to rain, lightly at first, and then a downpour.
Finally we came to the fork where the
trail started. Here we met a couple of guys and asked if they'd taken
the loop. Sure they had. We asked how high up the mountain they had
climbed. Apparently not very far and nowhere near as high we had
climbed. They informed us that we had missed the turn and were
heading up a backwoods trail that would never have taken us to the
falls. Or anywhere we were prepared to go, even though we had Jason's
pot and some hot cocoa mix.
We raced back to the car, counting
between lightning and thunder the entire way. Everyone's pants,
socks, and shoes were soaking wet. The buffalo didn't stick around
for us to come by this time.
In the car we regrouped. I checked the
weather (something we decided we should do before all future hikes)
and determined that the rain would be moving past in the next few
minutes. The boys agreed that we could continue on the boardwalk
portions of the park when the rain cleared, but no more mountain
climbing.
Before the day ended, we ended up
getting hailed on while finishing up a loop. Everyone thought this
was hilarious. What can I say? We're a little off.
We ended the night with some snuggling
and Narnia. Then we slept like buffalo next to a steam vent (or as
Jason said, like dead horses).
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