Bison directing traffic

...where the Buffalo roam....

A perfect site by the Slough Creek

The campsite and Slough Creek after a rain

The Slough Creek hike...

...through amazingly beautiful and serene meadows

Slough Creek, which attracts fly fishermen from near and far for Cutthroat Trout

Sagebrush and wildflowers

A mother Elk and her calf

Mammoth Hot Springs

Hiking the North and South rims of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Yellowstone gets its name from the yellow stone that has a lot of iron in it, which gives it the yellow, yellow-green, orange and red hues

Yellowstone Falls

Hiking the Buffalo Fork Trail. The first time I ever had to ford a river, but not the last on this trip. It was about mid-thigh deep with a stiff current

Another beautiful meadow

Marble size hail and a late afternoon pop-up severe electrical storm. I had to hustle to get to lower ground and get off the meadow. Not where you want to be durning a thunderstorm...

I had to hunker down and wait for the lightning and hail to stop before attempting to ford the river and get back to camp

The Specimen Ridge Trail. Hardest, most adventurous and most fun hike I've ever done

Bison are trail hogs. Always have to give them a wide berth

Met Bowen from Ottowa about an hour into the hike. The only other person on the trail all day. Safety in numbers...

An 11 mile gradual climb. 3,300 foot elevation gain (believe me that's a lot!)

We had lunch and a premature celebration. We thought we had reached the summit of Amethyst Mountain after 5 hours of hiking, but it was still an hour away as it turned out...

We finally made it to the top!

The summit of Amethyst Mountain. Elevation 9,614 feet

Freezing cold 80 mph winds. It felt like we were in a hurricane, but an amazing 360 degree vitsa. That's the Lamar Valley below, known as the Serengeti of Yellowstone, due to the abundance of wildlife

Bowen with his bear spray and windswept hair

And finally the steeper, but shorter hike back down...

Through meadows and thickly forested bear country

The Lamar River. We didn't know in advance how high the water level would be, and if we would be able to ford it. If not, it would be too late to double back and we would be eaten by wolves and bears

As it turned out, it was only knee high, but painful and slippery in bare feet.

I was expecting to double back at the mountain, and not ford the river, but Bowen was adamant about doing the whole trail including the ford at the end, and I couldn't let him do it alone...

After 12 hours, nightfall was approaching and we had to hitchhike the 10 miles back to our cars at the trailhead. Tough hike, but totally worth the pain

Yellowstone National Park

The Rockies →