Two Oceans Plateau - Day Six

Life Lessons Learned

I really, really, really like indoor plumbing (and I am happy to accept substitutes, see the pit toilet from yesterday)

Heidi and I starting out

Holy heck! The day started off at 5 when we all woke up and hustled our bustle to get in the trail by 6:15. The up didn't start immediately but it started eventually. Two thousand feet up to be exact. It was freezing but crossing the Snake River helped.

The view from Big Game Ridge was gorgeous. On the way up, Trudy and I saw a weasel with a teeny baby weasel that was very adorable.

We got to 1050 feet and Heidi and I broke into a dance party. Kool and the Gang and then "on top of the world." There was a fire on Promontory (alder) that we got to watch blow up. The smoke was thin enough that we got to see the Tetons.

Typical lunch, tuna packet on a Wasa. Trudy gave me some spices for this day to break up monotany

The way down sucked beans. It was steep and slidey. The last four or so were less steep but by that time, my feet and legs were so tired, I didn't care.

We made it to Harebell Cabin around 5. It was wrapped for a fire that almost derailed our trip. It looked like a giant Jiffy Pop container. Trudy, Jane, Heidi and I immediately went down to the creek and rinsed off. Nothing like skinny-dipping in the backcountry. And I got to play milkmaid on the way back up.

For breakfast- tried to finish Louisiana Red beans. Too damn spicy for the morning. Ended up with granola and dried milk. 

lunch was tuna with curry and a little mayo on wasa. We also finished off the M&Ms.

Dinner- Mountain house lasagna, not as good as the backcountry pantry and left lots of cheese on the spoon.

Two Oceans Plateau - Day Five

Life lessons of the day

• I don't care how many days or how much it weighs, clean underwear for each morning is a must. I don't mind doubling up on days to save some room in the pack, but bringing fewer pairs as suggested by my friends was not worth it.
• Don't eat so many M&MS. Even if they are damn good. 

A leisurely morning was a nice start to the day. We only had 8 miles to go so we didn't try to start too darn early. And after a harrowing, steep downhill, we made it to Fox Creek Patrol Cabin at about 12:30. It was ridiculous. We were kicking some butt and taking names. Which was a good thing because this was the day that we picked up more food. And not only was it extra food for the five of us, there was the food for the two people who had dropped out early last week as well. We stopped and had a little smorgasbord.  Or a big smorgasbord. I mean, look, it's just a TON of food. A TON!

The bottle had some Firefly so we were able to toast being over halfway through the days of the trip (mileage, almost). It was such a wonderful and relaxing day and a perfect way to prep for the monster that was Day Six.

Leftover beef stroganoff for breakfast. Still good after being mixed last night but I miss having a really warm belly. 

Lunch- got to the cabin early and gorged on the food that had been left for us.

Dinner-Louisiana Red beans and rice from Backcountry Pantry. Spicy

Grizz track next to my foot

I don't have to dig a hole? Thank you, Baby Jesus!

A toast to us!

Two Oceans Plateau - Day Four

Lessons Learned

• If the sleeping bag is meant to have a top and bottom, use them as such. It's warmer-- even if you do prefer to sleep with a flap over your head rather than the regular mummy sleeping bag "hood".
• A warm water bottle, filled with boiling water and wrapped in a sock is heaven on a cold night. (Though it may have helped to have two sleepless nights and a longer hike that day.)
  
  
  
  

I even "bathed" in the creek

The hiking crew got up early to go out and help Heidi collect flowers (please note, she is the park botanist so it's okay. Normal peoples-it is illegal for visitors to collect anything, antlers, flowers, and rocks included.)

Trudy and I hung around camp. We gathered firewood, washed our clothes in the creek, and read our books. It was a mellow and lovely day.

Had the Backpacker's Pantry granola with blueberries for breakfast. I used the cold water (you can also use hot) and it was very good.

Lunch was finishing up the Lasagna and dinner was Mountain House beef stroganoff.  Also delicious.

Our fearless troops returning

A reenactment of our day

Back country life at it's finest

Two Oceans Plateau-Day Three

I tired

Lessons learned- 

• Find out which way is down before peeing.
• If you pee on an upturned leaf, it will arc back up and hit your shoe
• Nothing is so wonderful as a hot drink on a cold morning.

And cold. 

We started off earlier today, 8 o'clock. It was cold and gray in the morning which did not bode well after yesterday's hail/rain. But the sun came up and started pushing those clouds away. 

It was our third longest day today and I had developed a blister by our first stop of the morning. It was tiny and on my baby toe in between it and the toe next to it. Great. My weird feet strike again.

We ended up going through a lot of willows which is great moose area. But there were no moose. No moose for Jessi.

More Farkle

But I did fall during our final stream crossing. Once when a rock wobbled and again when I slipped trying to get up. Which earned me a new nickname, Double Whammy.

We got in about 4 o'clock which is a little worrying for our big day (14 miles) and our last day (13 miles). Mostly, we want to get in the car early enough to drive home (3 hour drive) and get in at a decent hour.

Breakfast was the rest of my Katmandu Curry with a tuna packet lunch and Backcountry Pantry lasagna was dinner. After the Katmandu curry, I mixed the dry things more evenly between my two packets.

Two Oceans Plateau - Day Two

Lessons learned last night- 

• It is better to start off with all of your clothes on so you don't have to mess around finding them in the middle of the night
• I really need I bring ear plugs, no matter what
• Two melatonin are better than one

After a leisurely breakfast, we set off into the cold morning. It was a half mile back to the main trail and we were on our way. 

It was all hunky-dory until about 3 miles out from the next campsite (4.5ish into the hike), it started raining. And then hailing. Like, pea-sized hail. It sucked... HARD. 

We all got our rain gear on and kept slogging, but it was now very cold and we were happy to get to 6A4. It stopped raining long enough for Matt to do some fishing and for Heidi, Trudy, and I to walk along the beach.

Beach frog

Yoga on the beach

It's a great campsite. Right on Lake Yellowstone with a bear box so you don't have to put your food on a bear pole. Unfortunately, it did start raining again, stopping long enough for us to get dinner but then it was right into the tents and off to dreamland.

I had enough bars to text my dad and update him on probable arrival home (yeah... Trudy and I hike slow. Slower than I thought), to post a picture to Facebook, and to download a book. Of course, the last being the most important.

River Crossing Chic

Drying out the packs

So... many... paw prings

Potts Hot Springs Basin--September

Heidi got the hookup with Ralph Taylor to get us a tour out in Potts Hot Spring Basin. It's normally off limits but... I know people who know people. We also met Dot and Jim Sweeney who came with Ralph. The basin is split into the Upper and Lower Mercurial Groups as well as North Beach and South Beach. Mercurial refers to the emotion (wildly swinging) and not the element. Basically, the tree line is the separation between the Upper and Lower. North Beach is mostly mudpots.

The basin was named for Daniel Potts who

was an early trapper. There are something like 400 features in this basin. There are obligate plants in the basin. Ones that can grow at high temperatures. According to Ralph, no one knows why the plants can stand the high temps, there is a possible bacteria that may help guard the roots.

In the various hot springs, there can be two types of bubbles. Gas bubbles don't change size don't change size but steam bubbles hit the cooler water and collapse.

Lower Mercurial Group has bigger hotter pools and geyser.

There was tall, yellow grass called "Tufted Hair Grass." It's presence means that it is probably wet or was wet for most of the year. Normally, you can sort of trust that stepping on grass tufts will keep you dry and unburned. That's not true here. You also have to be careful of the thermal quicksand. Uh... huh. This is why you can only come with a guide.

It takes decades to build a shelf like this

Why? Why would you walk through a hot spring?

Man made lagoon, the old road is holding it in

They built the original road over a thermal area

A cliff is on South Beach. This wall is where a hot spring used to be, a cross-section of 30 years of hot spring activities

Silicified bacterial mat

Effluessence, usually gypsum but Ralph didn't know what this one was

More bacterial mat

Hiking in Jardine

There has been so much going on lately that I can't keep up. So here are just a few glimpses into things that have happened recently. I will probably have to break it up into two posts. Though I had hoped to write more about each event, it just didn't happen, so here goes:

Jessica and Maeve, the two library seasonals for the summer have been here for two months which means that they only have a month left to go. This picture is from the week that we all worked on a Monday to do some preservation training.

Later that week, we had a very successful game night with Carrie, Trudy, Emily, Allie, Mariah and Janine all coming over to play Yahtzee in the back yard. Mariah showing off her red tongue

Me demonstrating how the same drink gave me pink lips

The sunset was stunning that night

That weekend I got to go hiking with Heidi. She's been so busy lately I'm frankly amazed that I got to go out not once, but twice. The first day was on Friday and we headed out at 7 and hiked for about three hours in Jardine. It's hard to tell from this picture but we actually ran into a whole bunch of worms that were hanging off of trees by long threads. It was like going through a spider's web.

This tree was covered by their webs

Heidi turning back from a stream crossing we decided not to do

Which was good 'cause we would have missed seeing the Moose mama and her baby. If we had been in Yellowstone, we would have been at the bare minimum for distance from wild animals.

Me doing a stream crossing the next day on the Bighorn Trail. Note the fancy toenails left over from cousin Sean's wedding. They matched my shoes perfectly.