Mystic Falls, Moose and Yellowstone Park

It was another one of those perfect Yellowstone Park days.  Cold in the morning.  Comfortable in the afternoon and evening.

I talked Grizzly son into one last hike before hubby gets here tomorrow.

I had been wanting to see Mystic Falls which is only a couple of miles from Old Faithful.

It's a short hike...1.4 miles to the Falls.

Notice the smugness?  It's only a 3 mile round trip.  You would think I was a veteran hiker.

The trail starts out like this.

Not much of a challenge so I know you're not impressed.

Yet.

Hang on.  Here's the Firehole River.

And here's Mystic Falls.

All uphill, by the way.  Not too bad, but I did pant and puff a bit.

Here's a closer look at the top of the Falls.

This was the view behind us.

See....I was really there.

After hiking up to Mystic Falls, we drove farther down the road to the Grand Prismatic Hot Springs.

Our goal was to climb the hill so we could look down on it which is an awesome sight.

This was as high as I was getting.  I've straightened up since the 60's.

At this point, we discovered that mosquito season has started. 

They're big here and numerous and I was afraid our entire blood supply would be drained if we stayed longer. 

On the way back to Old Faithful, we saw a ruckus ahead.  Tourists were pulling off the road, heading into an open field.

We actually saw a MOOSE!  A rare sight around here as most of them are in the Tetons.  Grizzly son went crazy as his goal has been to spot one and photograph it.  He got a picture of it before it disappeared into the woods.  I hate to mention this as he is still in a deep funk, but the picture came out blurry for some reason.

He will recover.  I think.  Hopefully soon.  There will be other moose, son.

He graciously shared a couple of his best pictures.

This picture of a bald eagle was taken on a recent trip to Bozeman. 

I think this is an incredible picture.  Prize worthy even.  Good job son.

This picture of a wolf was taken near West Yellowstone.

According to Grizzly, he was the alpha male protecting the kill.


So tonight I am a happy woman.  I've had a hike.  I saw a moose.  Roommate is off with some people in Cody and I have the room to myself.  I get to go to Bozeman tomorrow to pick up hubby and enjoy civilization for a couple of days.

All is well.