Today wasn’t a total wash, though it was just as dreary as yesterday. With the weather threatening rain, I decided against any long hikes today. I don’t have much in the way of rain gear, and I can’t risk getting sick while on the road. So, just another quick couple hours on the trails it was, then due West I went.
Photos from the hike:
Is it just me, or does this guy look more like he's dancing than drowning?
(More after the jump)
More stuff you don’t see in BG, this was the view outside my car window when I woke up (on the edge of the parking lot at the Flying J Travel center outside of Great Falls):
Morning by the Flying J
After breakfast, I spent most of the morning in the truckers lounge, sifting through 680 digital photos, cropping, editing, etc. Then it was westward once again. I got to the Saint Mary entrance of Glacier about 3:30, and thankfully the visitor’s center was still open. It turns out the only road through the park is closed for construction 13 miles in (yet another bump on the road due to visiting these parks in the off season), so all I could do today was a short drive to where the road closed and an very short day hike. I didn’t get on the trail until four thirty, and the forecast called for sunset at 7:01, so all I could do was go out an hour and fifteen minutes and come back. Still, it was nice little hike. It’s been dreary and raining most of the day, which is fine for hiking (I actually like a soft rain when hiking through woods), but kind of puts a damper on photographic ambitions. Never the less, I got a few decent exposures today:
The view from Route 89 on the East edge of Glacier National Park
(More after the jump)
Yellowstone National Park smells bad. It’s the sulfur you see. Not the entire park mind you, but definitely anywhere near a geyser, and sometimes when you least expect it, you get ambushed by a strong whiff of something that God never intended for human nostrils.
I had planned on going on a day long hike today, but a late start coupled with a desire to get back on the road while it’s still light out (I’ve found I dislike driving at night on winding mountain roads) nixed that idea. Instead, I just pointed my car in the direction of the North Entrance (my intended exit from Yellowstone), resolving to stop anywhere that looked interesting, but to generally be making my way out.
I first pulled off at the Norris Geyser Basin, a large basin of geysers with boardwalked trails leading you around. I would have been disappointed to leave Yellowstone without seeing a single geyser, so it’s a good thing this area was conveniently located between my car and the exit.
Photos of sulphury goodness:
Wide angle of the Porcelain Basin
(More after the jump)
