After scoping out the park, we returned to Fountain Flats Drive to hike our first full hike. (We had done plenty of walking up to this point, just not to one destination.) Fairy Falls is one of the scenic falls within Yellowstone that is photographed the most. There are 2 trails in - the one less traveled and the one where the trail head looks like 5:00 p.m. traffic on I-5 and I-90, in other words packed. We took the trail less traveled. It added about a mile to the overall hike, but it was worth every step. The trail is extremely level, so if you are inclined to walk 8 miles (round trip), consider this one.
Along the way were a variety of hot pools steaming up and signaling their whereabouts. It was wonderful to walk up to the pools and geysers without a) boardwalk boundaries, and b) hoards of tourists elbowing their way past to glam for a picture (very annoying). Around most of the pools, it is evident that the Bisons use the area as their winter home. What first looked, at a distance, like rocks turned out to be anything but....
Onward to the falls and lunch. Dave was pretty certain that we would be the only people at the falls. Ha! It turns out that the trail most traveled is also the trail taken by tour guides to bring folks to the falls. Kudos to them for making the trek. Happy to leave them and head back to our trail less traveled!
Before we headed back to the truck, I talked Dave into taking a .6 mile detour to Imperial Geyser. We had come this far, no sense in leaving any geysers not viewed! OMG. As we rounded the corner of the upper trail, we were greeted by an amazing view. Once around the corner, the view improved. The highlight of my day!
No comments:
Post a Comment