Fairy Falls......

A double rainbow!! After a wicked storm blew through the campground, we were treated to a double rainbow that went end to end. Amazing! Tom wanted to look for the pot of gold!

can  you see the double rainbow?

it goes from one side of the campground to the other

One of the most popular day hikes in Yellowstone is Fairy Falls, near Old Faithful. It is an easy 5- mile hike through lodgepole pines, which brings you right to the falls. The falls are about 200 feet high, and are a lovely treat at the end of a trail. To get to the trailhead, you walk along a crushed stone path behind the Grand Prismatic. You get to it from a separate parking lot just for the trailhead. There were other thermal features that we passed on this part of the hike as well, that we hadn't seen before. Actually, these thermal features are all over! Its just that you can't necessarily see them except for the steam rising in the distance, and you can't access them.

hot spring-pretty color!

hot springs flow into the river

more

fumarole

so many geological features

heading to the trailhead for Fairy Falls

more hydrothermal features

this place is cookin'

Along the trail, the wild flower show contined. We are starting to see other types of flowers now too.

Off the actual trail, are "unofficial" dirt trails that lead up the hill and into the trees. These trails are rather steep once you hit the tree line and go above the trees to give an outstanding view of the Grand Prismatic. Many people were on this trail just for that reason...to get to the "unofficial" trails. There were about 3 or 4 of these trails right in a row, all to view the Grand Prismatic. (This is where a park visitor was killed in June. A dead tree fell on him, they had to get him to the trail, and then he was airlifted from there. Yikes!)

unofficial trail to the left

Grand Prismatic behind me....no boardwalk on this side!

very pretty bacterial mats

other side of Grand Prismatic

After about a mile on this crushed stone trail, the trail for Fairy Falls begins. It is mostly through lodgepole pines. Very nice hike...though bug spray is a must. Even with the bug spray, we were getting eaten alive..hahaha. We had a lot of company, as this is a fairly popular hike.

trailhead

not sure what this is on the tree? a worm infestation??

fun trail

walking through the pine...can you smell it?

A lot of the forest here was burned and is regrowing. You can see wildflowers and grass everywhere throughout the downed trees. The trees and other flora are growing back. The power of nature!

flowers peeking through

looking for bears

more flowers and trees growing 

regrowth happening

so pretty

Finally, around a bend, the trail ends and this is what you see! A beautiful waterfall. So nice!! We stopped for a bit to admire and watch the water fall. Its so mesmerizing.

200 feet high

top of the falls

Fairy Falls

flowers right on the edge of the waterfall 

On the way back, I took some more shots of the land coming back. The wildflowers are so nice, and grow just about everywhere. What a pretty trail this was...even with the mosquitos!

regrowth

new ones...in yellow!

well maintained trail

also new to us

look at the tall white ones!

and then some flowers are completely done...gone to seed

pretty pink

this was another new one

i used to be pretty good at the balance beam, believe it or not! hahah

regrowth...flowers too

We try really hard to be good hikers. One of the golden rules is to stay ON the trail.  So, with great trepidation and guilt, I only went up a little bit so I could get the money shot of the Grand Prismatic. I didn't go all the way to the top, just about half way through the trees. I can certainly understand why everyone goes up this trail! The view is amazing.You just can't see this on the Grand Prismatic boardwalk.

Grand Prismatic behind me again

the sun is out now so the colors are more vibrant than at the start of our hike

going up the "unofficial" trail ( I know!!)

a little higher

isn't that amazingly gorgeous!

more

Back on the official trail, I just had to take a few more pics of the bacterial mats. I just love the swirl of color. Nature's art! The hot springs seem to just flow into regular rivers. We see this in a lot of places along some of our drives. Its such a wild environment. You know the earth is alive under your feet!!

this looks like modern art for my living room (Wait! What living room?)

more bacterial mats

springs flowing right into the river

interesting

more hot springs

more hot springs

what features! A little different from what I'm used to!

  There are many picnic spots to choose from along the loop roads, and they are very popular. You can buy lunch at most of the Visitor Centers in the park, but bringing your own and eating in a beautiful setting is far more enjoyable for many people and for us!

stay hydrated!

nice spot for lunch!

elk lunching too!

Towards the end of our stay in Island Park, Idaho, Tom hiked the ridge trail in Harriman State Park. He had been waiting to do this the entire 3 weeks we were there, but the trail wasn't open due to bear activity. So, finally, the trail opened and he could take a nice long ridge trail hike without me (the ball and chain, afraid of heights, afraid of bears, afraid!) and really enjoy himself. We have good radios we use to keep in contact. So, I had a "knitting day" in the park, which was just lovely!! I had a project, my lunch, and a nice spot in the shade facing the Henry's Fork of the Snake River. (I took a nice walk too!) We kept in contact periodically with the radios, so I knew where he was on the hike and that he was doing ok. The hike starts through the meadow that we had hiked through on an earlier visit, then veers up the mountain.(Turns out, I probably could have handled this one! No ledge walking!)

more pretty wildflowers

starting the hike together

so summer-y

Bye now....Be back in about 3-4 hours

heading out through the meadow to the ridge

end of some of the flowers already

OKAY! That hike was great!

In the meantime, a few very nice folks stopped to chat with me. I learned all about fly-fishing! Some nice guy was so excited because he had just caught a trout in Henry's Fork, which was right in front of me. He proceeded to inform me that this was one of the top 3 world-class fly fishing rivers, and to catch a fish there you had to be pretty good and it was a really big deal. He described it as the post-doc level of fly-fishing. So, I am putting this here in the blog in case any of you fisherman out there are interested. The whole area around Island Park, Idaho/Harriman/Henry's Fork looks like a dream spot for fly-fisherman! No fancy hotels here (that I saw), but plenty of cabins, lodges, and camping. The fishing is fantastic and the scenery is spectacular too! And its about a half hour drive to Yellowstone. Just sayin'.

my little spot in Paradise

another new flower!

pretty!

I tell ya, i always have my camera at the ready 'cause you never know what you will see. We were driving back "home" and on the road our campground is on, we saw some horses and just thought some folks were doing a trail ride through the Targhee National Forest. But no, a little farther on down the road, we saw tons of cattle again. And....a cow fight! Wow...they were really going at it. Don't know what started it, and don't know how it ended, but we drove by s.l.o.w.l.y so we didn't become involved. So, I guess those guys were cowboys, not trail riders! A couple of minutes later, we were at our peaceful campground with the beautiful meadows.

the road back "home"

cow fight!

they aren't kidding

meadow in front of campground