June 5 Yellowstone National Park -- First Full Day

June 5    Gardiner,MT   Yellowstone National Park  First Full Day

I hopped out of bed before 8 am to call the Yellowstone Institute Association to see if I /we could get in either of the two classes.  I knew it would never happen. The Bears class was full with a wait list. BUT, the “Observing Wildlife like a Naturalist” two day class had room for me.   The class originates at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch (about 1.5 hours from Gardiner) and is expected to start at 9am Saturday and even other earlier on Sunday,

I signed myself up for the class and Chick will be free to fish or go roaming on his own. However I did book a cabin for Saturday night at the Ranch so we won’t have to keep driving back and forth from the trailer.  Tonight we get to “pack” the stuff for the overnight:  bedding, food to prepare, and warm clothes. 

Once that was done and breakfast concluded  we packed a lunch and headed out for our today’s adventure.  We headed for Cascade Lake Trail way on the east side of the park (we are in the upper northwest).  These are some of the scenery on the way. We had to cross Mt.Washburn that still has some snow.

ASPEN TREES

LADY ELK

MALE PRONGHORN

BISON

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD

YELLOW BELLIED MARMOT

ROAD ACROSS MT.WASHBURN HEADING TO CASCADE LAKE

 The trail was pretty easy—about 2.5 miles out and back to the lake through meadows with wildflowers and woodlands. (I have put the wildflowers in the FLOWERS BLOG) Signs warned us to look out for Bison and Bears, but our biggest problem was fording tiny creeks with very muddy approaches.

CASCADE LAKE TRAIL

CASCADE LAKE TRAIL HAZARD

CASCADE LAKE TRAIL -- LARGER HAZARD

PAUSE FOR A SIP OF WATER

CASCADE LAKE BARELY VISIBLE ACROSS THE MEADOW

By the time we got to the lake we were starved so we sat on a log under some trees and ate. A young Asian couple with there at the same time.

Chick headed down to the lake the fish.

 He saw a couple of fish, got a nibble. Was preparing to switch to dry flies when thunder erupted. 

THUNDER CLOUDS GATHER OVER CASCADE LAKE

Being the tallest structure in an open field beside a lake with a pole in your hand sounded somewhat unsafe, so we put it in high gear and headed for the woodland part of the trail as fast as we could go. 

CASCADE LAKE TRAIL

We may have set a record for that return 2.5 mile trip.

Onc e in the truck we noticed it was only 2:30 pm so we headed further south to Fishing Bridge.  What do you do at Fishing Bridge?  Interestingly enough the Yellowstone River which flows through there is restricted to no fishing.

 So of course we did what we always do---got double scoops of Wilcoxsen Ice Cream – made in Montana and absolutely fabulous.  Chick got pecan praline; I got Moose Tracks.

After a trip to the Ranger to be sure we had the fishing regulations correct, we headed back home. Thunder and sprinkles accompanied us the whole way.  We did each get to see a black bear off the road, but they were too far away to get a good picture.

Just a we pulled into the trailer and got inside it began to rain seriously . Once again God got us safely home.   After supper tonight  I will work some more on getting “caught up” on my blog since I will be away from all electronics for the next two days.

All in all a very successful first day in Yellowstone.