The start of the Lewis river and our trip North into Yellowstone, with a look back towards the Tetons.
On the way into Yellowstone we stopped at Lewis and Moose Falls.
Lewis Falls
Apparently Some Harley Riders "ain't too bright" This dude was getting refreshing water just below the falls and aherd of Elk on the river above. Can anyone say cha cha cha?
Arrived late by Yellowstone standards, as we were to find out (11 AM). Bay Bridge was a crammed site and many of the sites were in an open field where they were very exposed. And someone must have told all the rednecks there was free beer here too, because they were here in droves.
I might have to put a higher res for this one. Conversion van camping at it's finest. Remove leather chairs from back and put around camp fire. According to these people they're water proof too so it's an added bonus.
This site would prove to be my least favorite for the trip. After settling into camp we saw a ton of smoke on the northern horizon. After driving north a few minutes we were in the thick of it and IT was a massive fire.
Coolest part about fires this big is they are in a sense creators of new fires. The smoke billowing up actually forms cumulonimbus clouds, and in turn static imbalance in the atmosphere. Since the clouds don't build up a lot of moisture they don't rain a whole lot and have a ton of lightning. This is how a large percentage of the park burned in 1988 as we learned in the Grant visitor center.
Where's smoke...
Our first Bison didn't seem to care there was a huge fire nearby.
We found out later that this fire was actually “under control” and was a control burn south of the real fire, which was 20 times its size.
The flames were burning the upper canopy and lapping hundreds of feet into the air, a truly amazing site of nature’s raw power. This effectively ended our plans for backpacking in the Northeastern part of the park in the Pelican Wilderness...since it was on fire.
When we left this day the fire was 8000 acres. We hiked the storm point trail, which provided good vistas of Yellowstone Lake from a nice rock outcropping in the middle of the 4-mile loop.
Storm Point
The fire forming clouds from the point.
Us On it.
Mosquitoes coming back from the loop were horrendously huge (think terodactyls). Asked a couple of Japanese tourists if they would like me to take a photo for them and got the reply “absolutely No thank you” with a smile and slight bow.
Lots of fuel on the ground. I wished it would burn the mosquitoes.
Storm Point Flowers.
We returned to eat lunch at Pelican Creek and proceeded to watch a tanker helicopter fill up and strategically place water and retardant around the control back burn.
The Pilots would suck up water from Pelican Creek and head out to dump over the fire with guidance from ground and air crews in Cessnas.
Another View of the massive tanker.
After an entertaining lunch we headed to the West Entrance of the park and found ourselves in the mountains again. I hiked up briefly and checked out this Howitzer Cannon they probably use to shoot down avalanches in the winter from the pass area. There were boxes of rounds sitting nearby! But I think they were duds?...I hope.
The Cannon!
After looking at the Man toys in the Western passes we headed back East stopping along the way to gaze in wonder at the beauty of the burnt forests and lake views from some small day hike trails.
A view of the lake.
Another...with the 1988 fire damage, most areas had some regrowth but the higher alpine areas are slower to recover.
On our way back to the campground we hiked the Elephant back loop with another high vantage point overlooking the lake and beautiful alpine forest trails.
Some neat footbridges for the wetter seasons.
When attacked by a bear it is important to maintain your ground and composure. Let them know you're quick on the draw with your six shooting hand on your mace.
Finally if they don't believe, let them have it and be fierce...your life depends on it. If the bear is hungry or extra mad, you'll probably die anyways, but better to go out like a champ.
Elephant Back view. The only Hotel in Yellowstone down on the lower right corner.
Squirrel distributing new trees and snacking.
Following about 10-12 miles of hiking and lots of driving around the fire, we made a good-sized pot of spaghetti and went to bed on full tummies after a first full day of activity in the Park.
