This morning started early, but only because we wanted it to. The mornings here are so peaceful. Most people don’t get out and get moving until 7:00am or later. We decided last night that we would each go out and exercise this morning. We woke up around 6:00am (which, for those of you in the Pacific Time Zone is really 5:00am) and started out. Scott ran about four miles and I walked about two miles. We both agreed to stick close to the Mammoth complex, not knowing what we could possibly run into. We both saw some elk, but nothing too exciting. It was so nice; we plan to do it again tomorrow.
After getting cleaned up, we were ready to go. Scott took a quick break from loading the car to show off the cabin where we are staying. What you can’t see is the bathroom, which is located two cabins away. Hey, it’s not worth the extra $100 a night to have our own bathroom! (Although I was strongly reconsidering this at 2:00am this morning)
We had plans in the afternoon for up in Roosevelt, just northwest of Tower Falls, so we decided to stick to the upper loop today.
We had to backtrack a few miles in order to get the standard photo at the Roosevelt Arch, located five miles north of Mammoth at the north entrance to the park.
Driving south, we stopped at the Museum of the National Park Ranger. This building was originally built in 1908 to house approximately 20 soldiers who were responsible for patrolling this portion of the park. It has been maintained very well and now displays information about park rangers from almost every national park.
At Norris we cut across the center of the “figure eight” and drove east to Canyon Village. Canyon Village is home to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. We decided to take a different hike then last time. It was extremely windy at the lookout, but the view is still breathtaking.
We had a little time to kill before our 3:30pm plans so we decided to take a small side trip to the petrified tree. Yeah, it’s an old tree, what more can I say.
At 3:30pm we met up with our group at Roosevelt in the northeast corner of the loop. We had plans to go on a Chuck Wagon Cookout. Here, on our ride out to the cookout, we saw the only wildlife we would see all day. This lonely bison (and yes, this is with the zoom on!)
About halfway out, the sky opened up. The lightening and thunder was almost directly overhead. It was quite a show, but made for a wet time.
Rain or shine, the cowboys still put together one heck of a campfire cookout.
Scott couldn’t resist the cowboy coffee. I am pretty sure this is cup number two.
This is Rick. Not only was he our chuck wagon driver, but he also sang and entertained everyone with stories while we sat and ate our dinner.
At the end, just before we boarded the wagons to head back, Rick gathered everyone around the campfire and we sang along to Home on the Range. He ended with my Dad’s favorite song, Happy Trails.
The rain had stopped just before we headed back, but the wind blew and it made for a cool ride.
We had a lot of fun and I am glad that we decided to be “tourists” for the afternoon and participate.
Back in Mammoth, the sun was setting just as we were getting back.
Tomorrow we are heading south for some more sightseeing, and hopefully some wildlife spottings.
No comments:
Post a Comment