Following Some History: Sept. 12, 2010

First, the reason for no post yesterday is that Canyon Lodge in Yellowstone Park didn't have a good internet connection. We tried to connect from the lounge, and we were able to get to the internet, but it was very slow and wouldn't open windows. So rather than be frustrated, we stopped!

But we saw some fabulous stuff yesterday. Departure from the Tetons put on a show of mountain, cloud, and blue sky reflected in the Oxbow River. Just look!

Tetons in the morning

We headed into Yellowstone from the Tetons, sorry to leave it behind, but excited to see what was ahead. We entered the park from the south and followed the Lewis River (named for yours truly) for a good distance and then turned west to go to Old Faithful. August 25th was the opening of the new interpretative center at Old Faithful, and it is so clear in its explanations of the area that I think every geology student should go there. It was wonderful!

After spending some time at OF, we headed to the canyon area. Having checked into the lodge there, we headed to the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone for a ranger talk. She was really informative, but a couple things I learned have to do with identifying spruce and fir trees: spiky, square (each needle), spruce ... friendly, fragrant, flat (each needle), fur. After we left her, we hiked to Artist's Point for another view of the falls. We're glad we went!

Today, the 12th, we started early, and headed toward Mammoth Springs, stopping at Tower Falls on the way. There we talked to a retired woman who has been in Yellowstone 5 months this summer working in concessions ... sounds very inviting! A bison walked right past the car ... we looked him in the eye! Around three we left the park and headed for Ennis, Montana. We stopped for dinner at the Grizzly Grill where we saw the best ever phone tower!