A Four Moose Walk

This morning Brian and I went for a walk.  It was a long walk as we looked for the elusive moose.  Just as we came back in sight of the cabin we spotted a cow and calf on the trail.

She really wanted to be where we were standing and so went around us.

While watching them we could hear crashing in the trees behind us and then heard splashing in the river.  These two were coming towards us.  When they saw us they turned and ran off into the woods where they had come from.

We continued watching the cow calf pair until they disappeared.

Fourth of July Party at Cray's

We spent the evening of the Fourth of July at Cray's wonderful cabin.  Lots of food, friends, and fun.













For the fireworks several of us launched boats and canoes to watch them on the water.  I didn't get many pictures, but here's what I did.  A great time was had by all.

After the fireworks they shot off 'reservation' fireworks, those purchased on the reservation. 

Visit from Brynne's family and a new road at the boat launch!

Brynne, Ivy, Spencer, and Livy, our neighbors from home, were up visiting their family and wanted to float the river.

Ivy is the one in the pink chair.  She was pulled along by one of the kayaks.  There was some question as to whether they would make it under the bridge okay, but as you can see they did.

On our way out of the boat launch we were thrilled to see that the road has been repaired!

I wish I had taken a picture of it last year.  It had worn down badly and had huge potholes that were two feet deep.  A car could lose a bumper on that short piece of road.  The truck and trailer had an awful time negotiating the holes.

There are even drainage pipes under the road.

Chad Bauer, owner of Mack's Inn got some volunteer help to rebuild the road and they just finished yesterday.

 What a great thing for everyone! Thank you, Chad!

Evening ATV Ride to Two Top

Tonight three of us went on an ATV trip to Two Top Mountain.  I had not been there in 35-ish years, and have been looking forward to this for a long while.  Brian and his friend Brent, drove and I rode on the back of Brian's.

 The smell and sight of the flowers in the meadows on the way up was amazing.  The views from the top were a little hazy from fires in Oregon, but breathtaking nonetheless.

  

Geocache under the rock

As I wandered around at the end of the trail, which actually ends before reaching either of the two tops, I stumbled upon a geocache.  When we opened it up there was a bit of history.



There was a nice picture of several people in their riding gear with someone who had since died.  There was a real nice monument to his memory not far from where the geocache was stowed.  His name was Brad Hill.

What a great place for a memorial.  Very thoughtful of people who miss him.  A few minutes of searching on google yielded nothing to tell me about this man.  He was 51.  A mystery for now.

Family Reunion of trees

 On the way back down we saw several groups of pine trees which appeared to be multi-generational.  The ones in the very center were the tallest and some were dead, with a circle around them of shorter trees, encircled around the bottom by little trees.  In between the circles there were trees of intermediate heights.  They looked like they were having a family reunion.

School's. Out. For. Summer!

After 4 days of sleeping, eating, resting, and reading, I am finally among the living again.  Tonight Scott and Brian wanted to fish in the Park, so I decided to go along and do a little hiking.  I was wishing I had brought my bike along but my hike was very nice, just the same.  Since I had not done a bit of exercise since last Saturday when I rode my bike 36 miles, my muscles were a bit off and it took a good half mile to loosen them up.

 While they fished on the Firehole River, I hiked to Fairy Falls along the trail that goes behind Grand Prismatic Spring.

It was a lovely evening.  I saw a few deer and some birds, but luckily no bears.

 

 The fishing was good, so I heard.

We left the river at dark and went in search of a den of fox kits, but it was too dark to get any pictures. We could barely see them in the dark, but it was fun to see what we could of them.

Jackson and Kelsey Weekend

A few weeks ago Kelsey mentioned to Brian that she wanted to see YNP in May and visit the cabin with Jackson.  It doesn't take much for us to get excited to head north, so they put it together and off we went.  My camera battery died when we went into the park, so of course we had a great day and saw lots of bears and elk and bison.  Here are some pictures of us at the cabin and on a walk along the river, though.

My Dolly - Jackson. Almost 4 years old

Jackson wanted to take my picture

Two moose standing perfectly still, as if they thought if they didn't move they wouldn't be seen.

Jackson and Mommy, my other dolly

Looking at fish

Happy Valentine's Day from the Cabin

For Valentine's Day weekend we went up to the cabin.  There wasn't much snow and it was difficult to ski on because it had been thawed and frozen so much.  It hadn't snowed since December, but we were able to snow shoe along the river.  Brian actually got stuck on the ATV with tracks twice trying to lay tracks for the skis with our track setter behind the ATV.

A highlight was on a drive back from West Yellowstone when we saw this snow sailor.  We only got a glimpse of the rider but could see his or her sail floating along the sky next to the road.  Pretty cool, eh?
 

The Moosey Welcome sign is up!

Here is that beautiful Welcome sign that Brianna and Chris had made for the cabin.  We are still not sure of the placement, but at least you can see it now!  Isn't it wonderful?!?!  Thanks, you guys!

Black Sands Spring

On our way home we took a dirt road out of West Yellowstone heading back towards Island Park alongside the airstrip.  We discovered Black Sands Spring, another great place to take visitors with a picnic lunch, some ATVs, and lawn chairs.

Black Sands Springs

A large dirt parking area and fire pit greet you as you drive into the area.  Several large rocks rim the parking area, just right for children to climb on.  There are no toilet facilities, so don't forget to bring some t.p. along with some flip flops to wade into the water with.