Last night I slept great and was warm and cozy in the sleeping bag Travis let me borrow. I had slept last night on my clothes, which I normally do, so that they were nice and warm when I put them on in the morning. Climbing out of the tent it was a brisk morning and although my hands were instantly cold I have learned to just ignore it and continue about my morning moving around to circulate the blood. I was just thankful that for once in the cold my fingers were not locking up like they normally do. After using the restroom the sun was just starting to rise so I walked down to the lakes edge. There I stood in the black sand looking out over the lake as the fog slowly dissipated from the surface and the sounds of loons and elk were heard off in the distance hidden by the fog. Standing there, watching this magic occur in front my my eyes and listening to the eerie calls of the loons made me miss home. As far away from Wisconsin as I am this lake and this landscape remind me so much of home. Before I became lost once again in thought the sun started climbing up above the surrounding mountain and what a sight to behold.
When I left for my journey this was exactly what I had envisioned. To be sitting in the woods on a brisk morning with nothing but the sounds of the forest to comfort me and being completely at peace. Once the sun had reached the top of the mountain I turned around and headed back towards camp. There I found Travis in the tent trying to stay warm so I asked if he was hungry at all and began boiling water for breakfast. When breakfast was ready I called him over and we ate out of the same cup and after we cleaned up I noticed he had already packed all his things up. So I followed suit and in a few minutes we were back on the trail by I believe 07:30 am.
This time we spoke the entire hike back to the trail head and upon reaching our vehicles planned to visit the sites I wanted to still hit together. First up, was Old Faithful for I felt that due to my mood yesterday I did not enjoy it the way it should have been enjoyed. So driving separately we headed back to Old Faithful. Pulling it I already knew it was going to be a better experience for there were not as many people as yesterday and we had decided that we would hike to the observation point to look down on Old Faithful going off. When we reached the top we sat there waiting about 15 to 20 minutes during which I photographed the fattest chipmunk I have ever seen and a lazy raven. It amazes me how many people do not know the difference between a chipmunk and a squirrel!! It literally blew my mind.
When Old Faithful went off I enjoyed it a lot more this time for we were away from all the crowds and I could admire its full beauty. From there we hiked back down and walked along the boardwalk hitting all the geysers and other geothermal sites. Walking along Travis and I decided that the park must have hired a bunch of people, got them high and told them to start naming of the geothermal features for that is the only logical reasoning we could come up with to explain the naming system. By the time the boardwalk came to an end we were ravenous for food and so we acquired two IPAs, a Kampuchea and an oatmeal cookie to share.
Next we stopped at the Black Sand Basin and due to many of the sites not allowing my to park my camper we parked it at the Midway Geyser Basin and I jumped in his vehicle. Before continuing to sight-see we went to a picnic area and sat down to drink our IPAs with Gardettos chips and a bagel with peanut butter. Once again we started talking away and had to stop ourselves from getting carried away for we had much more to see. From the picnic area we went to Biscuit Basin and then back to the Midway Geyser Basin to see the Grand Prismatic Spring. All of it was absolutely breathtaking! The colors were so vivid and the fact that this is something Mother Nature created and not some artist with a paintbrush is beyond belief. I am beyond ecstatic that I am able to witness this with my own eyes and more importantly to have someone to share this experience with who appreciates it just as much as I do.
Due to it getting late in the day and the fact that we were both exhausted from walking around and dealing with the crowds of people we decided to hit one more thing that my older brother had told me about. We drove to the Firehole Canyon drive and jumped in the swimming area whose water although still cold was warmer than it normally would be due to the geothermal activity. Afterwards, we drove to Madison Junction to say our goodbyes.
I absolutely loath goodbyes and am horrible at them. I think I need to come up with a better solution than the awkward goodbye with a hug and see you again some day thing. Driving away I was excited to be back on the road and on my own again; however, it was a tad lonely and I knew I would miss the company of someone who has a similar spirit to mine. Leaving from the West Entrance of Yellowstone I soon found a forest service campsite only a few miles away and literally five minutes from the welcome to Idaho sign. The dirt road to West Danny Creek dispersed camping was rough and contained many large holes so the drive was slow going. When I reached my destination the camp site was right on a small rambling creek which was perfect. Parking my camper with my door facing out to the hills I set up my Coleman grill and cooked up the elk burger I received from Travis's roommate. There I sat on the back of my camper eating my elk burger while sipping on a cold vanilla porter winding down after the long day I had.
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| Photo credit goes to Travis! |
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