Six Weeks/14 Parks
2008
We don’t care what gas costs!
The Lamar Valley
Mt. Washburn Trail
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK III
Merry and the boys rose at 5:15 to ride back up through Tower Falls and up to through the Lamar Valley. We had heard that that’s when you can see the wildlife. It’s true. They saw coyote, elk, antelope, white tail deer, wolves, moose and bear. Oh, yes, and buffalo. Lots of buffalo, more than they could have wished for. Right by the road, chewing, pawing, making tons of noise.
Not all the animals were photographed. Some were too far away, some too fast. But here are some of what they did get.
In the afternoon, Merry, Tom and the boys hiked the Mt. Washburn Trail. Starting at 8,800’, it ascends 1,400’ in 3 miles to a summit of 10,423 ft. It was a beautiful sunny day at the trail head. At the summit, it was windy and cold. The views were astounding, if somewhat obscured by the smoke of the fire which was still burning in the southeast.
The wildflowers were gorgeous. We encountered a flock of big horn sheep grazing with their lambs along the path. We counted at least seven lambs!
8/3/08
