Yellowstone National Park- Day #2



The Lower Falls and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone



Wednesday, August 1, 2012  Yellowstone National Park:  Lower Falls and Grand Canyon, Petrified Tree, Mammoth Springs and the Boiling River

 Today we were a little slower but still out of the house by 9:00am.  A small miracle truly :)  Our goal today was to drive around the Upper Loop at Yellowstone and started with the Lower Falls by the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  We took a .8 hike with a 600 foot elevation change down so that we could be right on the top of the Falls.  Beautiful and so powerful!  The hike was enjoyable and such gorgeous views.  The hike up was a bit more work but all did well, although Annika stopped to rest at every log, seat or rock.   We all made it up and enjoyed our picnic lunch with a good view of the falls from another angle.



After our climb up from the Falls.




The Lower Falls



We love seeing the falls and it is amazing to think of how God created all this landscape.  With the towering canyon walls to the rushing river with the crashing falls. 



Jonathan & the Lower Falls.



Just incredible!  Jonathan, Chris and Ben had fun taking some unique pictures with the Falls.  Not many of those around I bet! :)





The petrified tree



After the Falls, we continued down the road toward the Mammoth Springs.  There was a petrified tree that Jan had wanted to see but other did not.  The night before the decision of whether or not to stop to see the tree had nearly caused a riot.  People were jumping on the "Tree Train" in support of Jan but in the morning, the tree got cut from the schedule.  Now, we were at the end of the caravan, so Dave made a split- second decision and cut off from the group when we saw the sign saying it was ONLY 1/4 mile away.  We ran up, saw the tree (took pics of course) and caught up with the rest of the group.  Fortunately, for us they were only about a mile up the road.  A moose had been spotted so all were out getting pictures.  When hearing that we had been delinquents and went to see the tree, Jan insisted on seeing the tree.  One car went back quickly while the rest of us enjoyed the moose.  Whew- traveling in a group= not easy!!!



This is where the hot water runs over the
side and the different colors are created
by different minerals in the water.

Overlooking the top of the
Mammoth Springs

 When we were all reassembled, we continued onto the Mammoth Springs.  We hiked up most of the way to the top but then decided to drive the rest when a person said that the most incredible views were on the way up.  It is amazing to see the different colors and textures from the Hot Springs.  The springs looked very low right now but as we talked to a ranger later, he said that the water flow is the same, just the terrain that is changing with the springs coming out at different places.  I did not hear this story but supposedly, a ranger had been walking in an area thought to be safe from hot springs and fell through the ground. He had to be hospitalized for 7 months.  This is not something to play around with....soooo....we went to play IN at our next stop!



We were onto a place many had been waiting for, the Boiling River!  Dave had wanted to go in a Hot Spring and this was a place that had a river with hot springs running into it so the water was like a hot tub.  It was hard to imagine that water could actually be that hot coming out of the ground but let me tell you....IT WAS!    It was so very cool (not cool in temperature) and we had so much fun at this place!



Swimming in a hot tub



The Boiling River- All the water
spilling into the river is BOILING
HOT...trust me!



There was a river right next to the hot springs with a lot of rapids

in it and the kids loved surfing in the water until they were really cold....then they would hop into the warm water.

It was very relaxing and it still completely baffles me how the water can be so hot coming out of the ground.  We swam for about an hour and then we went out in search of food.


Cookin' in the Boiling River :)



We exited Yellowstone at the North entrance in Gardiner, which is the only entrance open in the winter.  What a fun day....and our animal count today moose, prong horn deer and some mountain goats. 









Jonathan and his buffalo



We stopped in Gardiner to get some supper.  After 2 no-gos, we ate at a little cafe and had a SUPER supper.  Jonathan had a double buffalo burger and polished it off in no time (Dave, on the other hand was not able to finish his).  We had a fun time talking and hanging out in this little town.  We had over a 2 hour drive back to Sky Haus and arrived home around 12:30am.  What a LONG day but such a good one!  Looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. 

It has been a blessing to see so many amazing creations with Dave's family!



Good-bye Yellowstone!



Weasel "Ousel" Falls Hike



Ousel Falls



Tuesday, July 31, 2012     Ousel  Falls Hike

Again, another favorite morning of sleeping in- sooo nice!  We all had a relaxing morning until Dave whipped the kids (and me) into shape with a mile run (at over 8,000 feet).  The kids all did very well but I had a problem since my lungs seemed to be on fire.  The downside of being out of shape :)  But it is gorgeous scenery!

We had found this house through friends of Jan and Rob.  We had been told that we needed to do the "Weasel Hike".  Interesting name we thought but maybe there are a lot of weasels there????  So, that was what we planned for this afternoon.  When we reached the trail head, we realized that the name was not Weasel, but Ousel.  We were close....and decided we all liked Weasel better.  There were two interesting signs at the trail head that we don't usually see.  The first one was to watch out for Grizzly Bears in the area....?????????  YES WE WILL!  The second one was to report Noxious Weeds.  Again, ???????  Supposedly there are 4 different weeds that we need to report to rangers if we spot them and then they would be in BIG TROUBLE!!!!  All of this is so new to us.:)  Jan said that she could just NOT turn a weed in, they were too pretty.

So... off we are on our hike.  Again, just incredible scenery and a very pleasant path.  It leads down to a river which we cross over and then on into the hillside. There are waterfalls and canyons that the rivers runs through.  We came to a pool with steep canyon walls running up each side. The kids loved skipping stones here and clamoring over the rocks.  I thought that this was where the hike ended as it was so cool, but no...a little farther up, we found the Falls.



We had fun exploring up on top of the falls and below it.  It is amazingly beautiful, especially when the sunlight glistened off each water drop. Gorgeous!  We briefly walked about heading home to get swimsuits and water shoes so we could go swimming in the falls but then thought...NAH, lets just swim in our clothes.  So most everyone ventured in the falls.  It was slippery work crossing over on all those river rocks and the falls itself was merciless and very powerful. 



Chris getting pounded by
the waterfall.



We got so many amazing pictures and had so much fun exploring.  Christopher even discovered a room under the falls that most everyone entered. It was NOT EASY as the water was so powerful and VERY COLD.  Even Boppa made it out to the underwater room- Way to go Boppa!  It was fun to think that he had found a place that probably not many people know about.



Here is Dave in the Chrissy hotel

under the waterfall.  So cool!



We Praise You Lord!!!!!



My niece, Erin.



We took many pictures there, too many to post but we had some great silhouettes in front of the waterfall.  What an amazing time.  After everyone was sufficiently cold and hypothermia was again a concern, some of the kids slid down rock slides into the first pool that we had come upon.  They had fun sliding down the natural slopes, trying to catch fish and after a while, just trying to stay warm.



Sliding down the slides.



Our Master of Ceremonies!



 We had a nice walk home, warmed up in the hot tub and filled our tummys with a wonderful meal by Nanna.  That night Jonathan declared was to be "Game Night".  He banned the watching of the Olympics (at least until 9:30pm), made medals and we had a blast playing "All in the Family" and "Killer".  The rules to the game "Killer" are that you need to wink at others to get them out.  Oh, that is HILARIOUS, especially when there are people who can't wink.  What fun!  It was a wonderful night of playing games together.  Good job Jonathan!

Well, we are off to another day at Yellowstone tomorrow again (it is a BIG park), so time to get some sleep.  Thank you Lord for yet another incredible day, I don't want this trip to end.



Yellowstone National Park- Day #1



Monday, July 30th, 2012    The Barretts Take On Yellowstone!



Jonathan with a bison
behind him.







We all woke up early and were on the road by 8:50am which is quite a feat when there are 16 people and most of them like to sleep in!  The drive to Yellowstone was about 2 hours long.  We were actually in the park when what did we see....but a GRIZZLY BEAR!  It was pretty far off but still impressive!  We also saw a Bison on our way in which is always cool.  We are excited to see how many animals we can spot here and we were off to a good start!





A view of Old Faithful never seen

before- this is my niece Katie :)



Our first stop was at the the Devil's Tabletop where we saw a bunch of paint pots.  If you have never seen geysers, please try to see them.  There is nothing quite like Hot Springs and the geysers that they create.  One of our favorite pools was at this stop, we just love the intense blue that the bacteria creates.  A Ranger explained that different colors are produced by the phylum bacteria for different temperatures, thus getting the blues, reds and yellow colors.  We had fun being sprayed by the geysers...it was just like being in a steam shower.  The kids were not big fans though of the smell :)  There are so many colors, smells, visual simulations here.  What an incredible place!

Our next stop was at Old Faithful!  We stopped into say hello to it first and then had our picnic lunch while waiting for the time for it to erupt again.  We had fun as the time approached and today she was fashionably late but still within the predicted time...amazing!  It is so much fun to see the geysers erupting and incredible to look over the landscape and see other eruptions.  As Old Faithful finished her show,  we headed around the pathway to see more geysers and hot springs.  We loved seeing the phenomenal colors and textures.  We were sorely tempted to touch the water many times because it is so hard to imagine boiling water coming out of the ground.  The texture  of the ground was so incredible and we had fun identifying different animal prints that had walked this ground at some point but it was now hard as rock (or at least it looked like it).  It was a wonderful walk but there was an option to do more.  It would be over a mile more so we all took a vote to see who wanted to proceed on further....or GO GET ICE-CREAM.  Yep, not hard to wonder which one one out.  And that ice-cream was yummy :)

West Thumb Hot Springs

Next we headed to West Thumb and this spot was Hot Springs located right on a lake.  As we drove into the area, there were people beside the road obviously looking at some animals.  It was an elk.  So, the kids and I hopped out of the car so Dave could go park in the proper place. We followed the elk and got some pictures of it eating.  It did not seem to mind at all.  Annika, Jonathan and I were walking back to the parking lot, when they look into the woods next to us and they say, "  Mommy, there is a bear in there."  Mind you, the woods are pretty thick so I am thinking, yeah, right.  As we stop and look....there WAS something big, black...could not really see for all the trees BUT it was fairly close to us.  As it lumbered by, we could see it WAS a bear!  YIKES!!!  I tried to get pictures but they are not real clear.  We did not know that the Park Ranger had been trying to get people out of the woods and away from the bear.  We followed it and saw it run away across the road.  Cool- now we have seen a grizzly AND a black bear. 

The hot springs at West Thumb are incredible.  To see the turquoise blue next to the dark blue of the lake is breathtaking.   The colors are spectacular.   I had asked how they knew about how deep the springs were.  He said that they used to pull aluminium boats across the springs with people inside and they would lower a steel rope to check the depth.  Wow!  That would be hot.  They are not allowed to do that anymore :)





The Grand Prismatic Hot Spring!

Our last stop in the park was at the Grand Prismatic Hot Springs. It is the largest pool in Yellowstone and the third largest in the world.  As we walked up to it, I had to comment that it was SO large, it was hard to see.  Is that not the strangest things?  But, it is true.  It was so big that you could not take it all in at once.  The best view of it actually, is an aerial view.  As we walked by it, it was like getting a huge steam bath.  I suppose this would feel really good in the winter time.  What another amazing day of seeing such unique things that God has made.   There was a river that water from the hot springs ran into and the kids could not help by wade into the river.  They said that it was warm on the far side of the river.  That is our hope on Wednesday, to go swimming in the Boiling River.  WOW!  That sounds adventurous, doesn't it?

Our final stop for the day was at Pete's Pizza and Pasta and what a wonderful meal it was.  We were able to eat outside on this gorgeous evening and some of the best pizza I have had (after the Pizza Dude Ranch, of course!).  We started our long drive home and enjoyed talking about all the amazing creations that we had seen.  After showers, everyone tumbled into bed and we all looked forward to sleeping in the next morning.



Very hungry and happy kids!



Beehive Basin



Beehive Basin Hike



Sunday, July 29th, 2012

Beehive Basin Hike

We all slept in this morning and had a great breakfast made by Rob.  After breakfast, we had a very sweet time of worship and scripture. I am SO thankful for families who love the Lord and that our kids have grandparents who love them so and pray for them.  What a treasure for our kids!

Sunday Morning worship

After a relaxing lunch, we decided to try a hike in the area...the Beehive Basin.  We thought the hike was 2 1/4 miles long but it turned out to be a little over 3 miles EACH way.  A total of over 6 miles and a steep climb...the kids did great for the hike being A LOT longer than we supposedly thought.   The hike was absolutely gorgeous and we were walking through so many alpine meadows.  The above picture was taken by my sister-in-law, Lin.  Everywhere you looked there were different colored flowers and mountains all around.  AHHHH!!!



Ready for our hike!

 Due to the unknown length and difficulty, we went in shifts back to our house but the hike was enjoyed by everyone no matter what the distance that they went.  What fun to explore and hike with all the Barretts.  We were watching for animals but again....a group of 16 is not conducive for lots of animal spottings.  I ended up taking Annika, Erin and Nana back early so we enjoyed a quiet late afternoon of playing, resting and blogging.  The hike took most of the afternoon for the rest of the group.

The rest of the group climbed up through many alpine meadows, up steep hillsides until they reached a basin surrounded by mountains.  There was a beautiful lake and many boulders that the kids loved scrambling up.  It amazed the adults that after the complaining on the hike up (especially after Jonathan kept declaring that he absolutely could NOT go any farther) at all the energy and rejuvenation that surged through the boys when there were big cliffs to climb up :)  They did have fun and it was a beautiful hike for sure.

 Nana and I went down to the "Mountain village" to see if we could buy some charcoal for dinner.  Due to no signs and many bad turns, we finally found a little store which had just closed 5 min. earlier.  So...down the mountain we went to the next "village" to find the supplies that we needed.  We did enjoy a wonderful meal of chicken and pork chops made by Joe and Linda.

We enjoyed a wonderful time in the hot tub, which felt especially good after the big hike.  The kids had fun playing the "Hot Tub" game, a favorite game they like to play when we are at the beach together, now we get to play it in Montana.  The evening ended with the watching of the Olympics and then off to bed. Tomorrow we are heading to Yellowstone National Park.

Big Sky Montana

 Saturday, July 28th, 2012  Big Sky Montana

We slept in this morning, ate a big breakfast and went swimming.  I could REALLY get used to this routine!! :)  We left the hotel around 1pm and headed toward Bozman, Montana to get groceries.  Every family is in charge of a dinner for a night and then we are all bringing extra food to share.  We actually had a  lot of comments as we were trying to find place for our bags of grocery in our already full car.  Yep...we look like a circus sometimes.



Lone Mountain



Sky Haus



We only had an hour more to the Sky Haus in Big Sky and we arrived a little after 5pm.  The Minn. Barretts were there to greet us and we are so glad to be here.  The house is beautiful and the scenery is gorgeous.  Right out our front window is the Lone Mountain which is 11, 166 feet.  They tell me that some people are crazy enough to ski down that- NOT ME!!!!!  :)

Everyone arrived around 6:30-7pm, we ate a great dinner made by Rob and Jan and then afterwards, we went out for a walk to enjoy the evening air.  There are beautiful mountain flowers every where which Annika loved picking.  The kids climbed up mountains and we had contests to see who had a better aim and could hit a tree with a stone.  Before our walk, we did have a demonstration from Rob and Dave on what to do if we ran into a bear....I don't think there is much of a chance of us seeing ANY animals with the amount of noise that we all make but it was funny to watch!

We loved seeing the sun go down and are so enjoying all the beauty surrounding us.  When we got home, we enjoyed watching the Olympics and cheering on the USA. It is very nice to not have to pack our bags up in the morning but to be able to stay in one place for 5 days.  And yes, there are bears in this area...along with moose.  It will be fun to see what we can find while we are here.


Thank you Lord for sunsets and family!



We love the Montana silhouette!



Good Night Everyone!!!! 

Glacier National Park



Lake McDonald

Friday, July 27th, 2012   Glacier National Park

We awoke this morning to a friendly face....yes, we thought it was a wolf but it turned out to be the owners dog.  But if we do not see a real wolf in our travels, we may need to count him :)  We had an hour to reach Glacier National Park and we were excited to drive through the park. 

 Our first stop was at McDonald Lake and I don't think there is a more peaceful place on earth.  Even the water was just like glass.  Oh, I could have stayed there all day.  But the most amazing part of it is the rocks....there are so many different colors.  Blue, green, red, pink, yellow, white, purple....just amazing!!!  We spent a lot of time skipping stones and enjoying this peaceful area.  I could not help but wonder what it would be like in the middle of winter...I could almost hear the snow falling softly on the ground- not another sound around.   I know that I will remember this place many time when we are having a busy day and wish that I could spend some time back here.



The Falls



       Our next spot was at the McDonald Falls...another incredible place but yet so different.  The falls are so gorgeous and the water such an incredible blue.   We had a short hike down to the river, across the bridge and then through a gorgeous path through the forest to where we could scramble closer down to the river.  We just love all the rocks and we are all having fun picking out the most special ones.  The waterfall is incredible and I love listening to the roar.  What a beautiful place!



Overlooking Avalanche Gorge



We then drove into the Trail of the Cedars. It is amazing how different each spot is right in the same park.  As far as our hikes go, this one was only about a mile, flat and easy!  We love seeing all the gorgeous trees and wandering through them.  We were able to see the Avalanche Gorge and I can't even imagine what the water is like in the spring with the warm weather melting the winter snow.  AHHHH!  On a different not, we did receive some sad news earlier this week that Chris's pet, Percy, had died.  We didn't tell him until today and while he was sad, this was a great place for him to pick out a special rock to use as a marker. 

 Our neighbor boy, Ryan, was nice enough to bury Percy under Chris's pear tree.  Thank you Ryan!

We continued our loop through the park and the road was a bit harry!  It was closed to anything larger than a minivan and the view out my window was often straight down. Yikes!!  But...WOW, it was breathtaking!  Our last stop was at Logan Pass.  During our drives, we have cris-crossed many times over the Continental Pass but were never at a good spot to stop and get a picture.  Thankful that we were able to cross these places in a car and not a covered wagon!



Annika & the mountain goats



Logan Pass was an INCREDIBLE stop.  Before we even got into the Visitor's Center, we were able to see a whole group of Big Horn Sheep on a mountain close by.  Wow, it makes me nervous to see what they walk and climb over with not a thought to it.  Out the back of the Visitor's Center, there was an amazing hike up through an Alpine Meadow to a huge snowfield. It reminds me so much of Heidi or Sound of Music- so fun!  No- we did not break out in song :)  On our way out to the snowfield, what did we come upon but a mother goat and her baby.  We could have reached out and touched them, although no one did.  They were so cool!

We made our way up to the snowfield, and while it was a bit treacherous climbing us, that was part of the fun. Jonathan did have a big fall and scraped his side a bit but he was still game to continue.  We had fun throwing snowballs and racing up and down the snow.  We would have loved to continue farther (or at least some of us would have :)  but we headed back down the mountain.  Gorgeous day and Incredible scenery!!!  We love it!!!  We are so glad that we were able to get to Glacier as this was a place we were not sure would fit into our trip.  So thankful for all the incredible places and scenery that we have been blessed to see.

 

 A quote by George Bird Grinnell (1901) seemed to describe what I feel much of the time, "  No words can describe the grandeur and majesty of the mountains, and even photographs seem hopelessly to dwarf and belittle the most impressive peaks."

 

As we said good-bye to these mountains, we headed our car toward Helena, Montana where we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.  When we arrived, we enjoyed watching some of the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics.  What another incredibly fabulous day and tomorrow we look forward to meeting the rest of the Barrett family in Big Sky!