TravelingMel

A couple weekends ago I went down to Yellowstone with the intention of skiing the Pebble Creek trail near the east entrance of the park. When I got there I read the description of the trail and decided it was too steep and avalanche-y for me to ski myself.

I checked out a few trailheads and ended up skiing the (closed) road to the Slough Creek trailhead, through the campground and across a meadow.

It was pretty.

The beautiful Beartooth mountains.

Downy woodpecker.

Soda Butte Creek.

Bannock Creek ski trail, obviously.

Coyotes mousing.

A herd of bison at Slough Creek. They were not that happy to see me ski by.

Nice photo, Mel. Thanks.

More pics here.

For the third year running we took a little ski tour with our friends from the Sacred Mysteries Bookstore. David, the owner, gets a group together and I act as the unofficial guide (really I just ski...).

Last year we skied around the Mammoth Terraces in 0 degree weather. The year before, we skied to Tower Falls.

This year we skied to Tower Falls again. The weather was lovely, the bison were present and the falls were frozen over with running water behind the ice.

We started the day at the Boiling River and then met up with the other 6 folks at the Mammoth Hotel. From there we caravanned to the Tower Falls trailhead. Even though it hasn't snowed in forever and there wasn't much snow on the drive over, the trail was surprisingly good. it had just been groomed that morning and was lovely.

On the trail to the Boiling River.

Enjoying a steamy soak.

Finn is a naturist.

Bison along the trail. Skiing past them may have been the highlight of Anders trip.

Looking for grass beneath the snow.

Big mountains and basalt columns.

Armando skis past a frozen spring.

Richard, the Aussie massage therapist, coming down a hill.

Finn takes a break in the sun at the Tower Falls turnaround.

Anders, happy to get out of the Chariot.

Tower Falls.

David coming down a hill on the Campground Loop that was steeper and longer (and more fun!) than it looks in this photo.

Erin makes it down the hill.

Armando descends.

Passing the bison on the way down.

The boys watch bison.

Almost back to the truck.

So sleepy from the ride.

Hotel building. I just threw that in for fun.

In case you were wondering what it sounds like when the boys sleep...

On the second of January I took my second solo ski of the week. (Here's the first if you missed it.) H and I are going to try to give each other a day off every other week. I spent mine in Yellowstone.

I started on the Upper Terrace Drive and quickly turned onto Snow Pass Trail.

Leaving the Terraces to climb up to Snow Pass.

It's a gradual and then steep climb up to Snow Pass starting out in junipers and quickly transitioning to the standard fare of Yellowstone''s non-lodgepole conifers (Doug-firs etc.).

Looking up the Gardiner River.

Juniper berries.

Bunsen Peak (named after the dude who invented the Bunsen burner). This one is the money shot.

On the last jaunt up to the pass I said to myself, "They should call this Herringbone Hill, gasp (suck air)". The next day my friend Jessica said she calls it "Herringbone Hill". So, we must call it that from now on. (The herringbone is a technique to get up a hill too steep for any other technique. You angle the tips of your skis out to the side, and press the inside edge of each ski into the snow as you push on it. It's not that fun and best avoided if possible.)

There was a little downhill after the pass and then onto the flats.

Over the pass and onto the flats.

Just a pretty picture.

I kept racing up to these skiers and then stopping to take photos. It's nice to have people in some of your photos and when you ski alone, you have to catch them sometimes.

Now they crest the little hill and I have almost caught them!

After I passed the other skiers I noticed there were coyote tracks (which didn't photograph well) in the ski tracks for almost the whole ten miles. Cool.

When I got to the road, I crossed it and skied the Bunsen Peak Trail around the stand-alone mountain.

Looking back from the base of Bunsen Peak.

The other side (south side) of Bunsen.

Lodgepoles, lodgepoles, lodgepoles. Eighty percent of the trees in Yellowstone are lodgepoles. They are a weedy tree and can tolerate the porous, low-nutrient, volcanic soil better than anyone else.

Now on the north side of Bunsen, looking toward--and over--Mammoth.

Mt Everts. Named for a half-blind guy that got himself lost in the park during the olden times. He lived. Barely.

After a few miles there is a big, long downhill (followed by a steep, short uphill) back to the road. My plan was to ditch my skis and hitch a ride back to my car. When I got to the trailhead, Jess (of the Herringbone Hill comment), Chris and the girls were there getting ready to ski. Jess gave me a ride to the car. Wasn't that nice of her?

I just have to say that I LOVE skiing in Yellowstone.

The saga continues. On Sunday of Father's Day weekend we packed up all our junk and gave Henry his Father's Day gifts. There were several from me, but the best ones were the hand colored card and handprint washcloth from Anders.

Henry with his hand printed wash cloth and hand drawn card. And Anders.

After breakfast at Shades we headed through Grand Teton National Park and into Yellowstone. The Tetons were blanketed in snow; if you only saw the mountains you would have thought it was the middle of winter, not the middle of June.

We stopped for a picnic lunch at Grant Village.

Anders tries to stuff a banana in H's soda to make it less toxic.

Anders fell asleep after lunch so we drove as far as we could and pulled over at the first pull off when he woke up. I pity the fool who does not get Anders out of the car when he wakes up. He is often a delightful boy, but when he wakes up from a car nap--watch out. Norris Geyser Basin was our first available stop, and so while it is always crowded mid-day in the summer, we stopped anyway.

The locals sometimes take up the road and cause traffic to stop.

Anders tries to remove Henry's sunnies while Norris Geyser Basin gurgles and splashes in the background.

Just seconds after a young elk broke through the crust.

The elk seemed to be ok.

Even in mid-June the low hills behind Norris were covered with snow.

Anders walks the boardwalk at Norris.

Anders points out where my nose is. He can also point to mouths, eyes, ears, hands and belly buttons.

During a break, Anders picks up rocks and dirt...

...then deposits them in their rightful place.

I congratulate him on a job well done.

On Saturday we met Big H and Mogie for breakfast at the Bunk House in Livingston. Even though it was their 40th anniversary (HAPPY ANNIVERSARY) Big H brought presents for everyone. Mogie got a beautiful Yogo sapphire and diamond anniversary band and I got a mug with a photo of the Tetons (I had been going on and on about the view). Henry and Anders got breakfast. Well, we all got breakfast.

From there we headed back up to Brandon and Tucky's place for a short visit. Anders and I hung out in the car because I couldn't bear to wake him up after a night of not enough sleep and Henry chatted with his cousins.

Next stop the Grand Teton Brewing Company in Victor, Idaho--about 6 miles from Driggs. I'm writing a story about microbreweries for Big Sky Journal and figured I'd take a tour from one of the brewers since we were down that way. As it is their 20th anniversary this year it seemed like a good fit.

Henry and Anders accompanied us for most of the tour (check H's blog for what they did the rest of the time). All three of us enjoyed their root beer and Henry and I got to sip a couple beers.

A hopeful sign.

Todd the brewer stands behind some of the cellar reserve beers made to celebrate the 20th anniversary. Turns out that he and I were in Missoula at the same time and know some of the same people.

The fermenting tanks where yeast is added to sweet wort and turned into beer. Todd said, "Brewers make sweet wort, yeast makes beer". Thank you, yeast.

Yummy organic beer.

Baby's first brewery tour.

From the brewery we headed over Teton Pass to Jackson to take advantage of their super fun recreation center. Part of the time I lived in Jackson I worked at the Rec Center and knew Anders would love the little kids' pool.

Swimming, swimming in the swimming pool, when days are hot and days are cold in the swimming pool... Does anyone else have this song running through their head almost everyday?

H enjoyed the pool and much as Anders.

Anders could stand up in most of the pool, which he loved. They have a bubbler, waterfall, 2 waterslides and a mushroom that spouts water. Not to mention balls and noodles. What more can a kid want?

Toweling off.

Next on the agenda (this was a fairly busy day) was checking into the Antler Inn and meeting up with my friend, Heather. While Anders napped, Heather and I walked around town a bit and picked up some Nepalese food for dinner.

But, wait! There's more. Come back tomorrow for day 3 of Father's Day Weekend.