Day 6

Monday

Whew! I think we plowed through two or three days’ worth of activities today. This is the first time we’ve stayed in one spot for two nights in a row, so we didn’t have to take down the tent and pack up this morning. However, between sleeping in, cranky & uncooperative kids, a poopy diaper explosion all over a sleeping bag and Jeff’s shirt, and having to wash dishes three campsites away (the food-y water attracts bears, so there’s a sink in a closed room), we didn’t make it out of the campsite until after 11am. Note to self: Don’t ever assume we can “get up quick and get out” of anywhere, even if there’s no packing involved!

We headed out towards Mammoth Hot Springs. It didn’t look very far distance-wise, but we forgot to take into account that the average speed limit in the park is 35mph. The hot springs were interesting, and we had a nice long walk, but I don’t know if it was worth the two hours it took to get there! The hike wasn’t more than a mile or two distance-wise, but lots of elevation changes, and after the first twenty minutes or so Aspen was less than impressed with climbing hills and stairs. At one point, Levi sat down in the middle of the trail halfway up a hill, stuck his lip out, and said “I’m staying wight hewe!” Jaden, bless his heart, gave piggy-back rides to Aspen and then Levi. We let the littler kids set our pace, carried them when we needed to, and made a conscious effort not to worry about speed.

The orange color of the rocks in the hot springs is caused by a thermal microorganism that only lives in hot water, so all of the dry, dormant springs are white. Kendra had me take a picture of one cliff that is entirely white except for one orange spot in the middle; she says it looks like a black-and-white movie that someone splashed a drop of paint on. (I know it doesn’t sound that exciting, but the picture turned out really well, so I’ll post it when I can.)

The walk and the drive took a lot longer than we’d planned, but silly us decided to keep going around the outer loop of Yellowstone’s main road. The drive across the northern side of the park was incredible. I know I mentioned the forest fires before, but the damage is so much more evident in this half of the park. Huge areas of forest stand bare of leaves and branches, the skeletons of thousands upon thousands of trees poking sharply at the sky in stark contrast to the green undergrowth beginning to show underneath. In some areas the remaining trunks are weathered and brown, stripped of their bark and looking like a gathering of all the world’s telephone poles. In other areas, the black, charred coating remains, giving the forest the appearance of last night’s campfire. The sweeping hills illustrate the vast size of the fire; many, if not most, are bare and scarred, and a few others remain strikingly green.

We stopped for dinner in a picnic spot that was surrounded by incredible wildflowers. Pink, yellow, and purple covered the entire hillside like an artist’s paintbrush spatter. Jeff grilled burgers and hotdogs that tasted twice as good as they normally do. We mostly ate frequent snacks during our walking around, so that was our first substantial meal since breakfast.

After eating, we headed on the long drive home, stopping at the brink of the Upper Falls in the canyon area. I’ve never been to Niagara Falls, or any other significant waterfall, but the sheer volume and speed of the water as it poured into the basin below was at the same time fascinating and terrifying. The overlook is directly over the main drop of the falls, a plunging, plummeting dive that appears to be at least 100 feet. It was beautiful, but I couldn’t stop my heart from racing, especially as Levi and Kendra tried to climb up the railings and rocks to see better. Yikes would be an understatement! We stayed long enough for a picture with the river in the background—but not the falls, because I could just see the kids leaning back to be funny, and slipping off—and then I was ready to go back to the car.

Total wildlife spotted today: Two buck deer, five elk, two moose, one coyote, a buffalo (bison?), and one adorable (from a distance!) black bear, which we spotted eating fireweed about fifty yards from the road. The buffalo, like the coyote, crossed the road right in front of our car, and the others we spotted in fields next to the road. I did see another bear in a meadow about half a mile down the valley, but no one else saw it, and I couldn’t get a picture at that distance anyway.
Total miles driven: 152. Time spent in the car: at least six, maybe seven hours. It’s 10:20 and we’re not back to the campsite yet. We definitely tried to do too much today and go too far. Lesson learned, hopefully!