The past week was a mix of seemingly unrelated events. First of all, we got snow. Real snow…on the mountain tops and on the grass in front of the clinic. The freeze line was very distinct at about 6000 feet. Then just two days later we celebrated the first day of Summer…according to the calendar. The temps quickly aligned with the calendar and by the end of the week we were in the 90’s. Go figure. Heather and I went on several outings with Ranger Joe and friends hiking around the north entrance of Yellowstone. Ranger Joe took us on one of his favorite evening routes up and around the back of Mammoth Hot Springs to get a unique view of the terraces.
We spent another evening walking along the closed former north entrance road down to where the 2022 floods caused catastrophic damage and eroded the roadway. While this was an interesting sight to see, we also saw several animals along the hike. First a mama bear and her two cubs up on a hill walking along at a safe distance. Then we spotted a big-horn sheep standing on a rocky cliff just as one would expect. After our hike, we gathered around the campfire in Ranger Joe’s backyard. As we were hanging out and sharing stories, we got a visit by a few elk. At first, they kept their distance, but slowly kept getting closer so we relocated ourselves to the back patio as they checked out our campfire and eyed the bowls of popcorn. After a few minutes they wondered off into the surrounding brush. Heather and I ended the week with a hike on Beaver Ponds Trail, enjoying the wildflowers and surrounding valley views.
It was a fun week experiencing the extremes of nature in a beautiful setting, sharing time with wonderful people!
