Yellowstone Adventure - Day 34

  Well today was a day of firsts for sure.  I was invited to go on a hike with a couple I work with, Bill and Sandy. They come to us from Colorado Springs and attend church with me also.  Bill said they were going to hike to Fairy Falls and asked if I was up for a ten or eleven mile hike. I have been here long enough to ask the big question, "Is the hike steady elevation or does it involve climbing?" Bill said it is mostly level and a easy hike. I told him I would love to go and he said they would pick me up at ten in the morning. Bill and Sandy live in a motor home in our employee camping area.  I got up around eight to eat some breakfast cereal and pick up my usual lunch.  Really do I have to tell you what it is?  I got my lunch and proceeded to pack my day hike pack I used on my cancer/hospice walks. I made sure I put in plenty of water and applied a combination of sunscreen and mosquito repellent. The temperature today was going to be a high of eighty degrees. The highest we have had so far but the good news and bad news was the wind was going to be gusting around fifteen miles an hour. Facing the wind on the hike was going to be tough but having it at our backs would help.  Bill and Sandy picked me up on time and we headed down the road about twenty miles to where the trailhead started. The hike started just short of the Nez Perce river and a very large meadow. Also to the left of the trail and several miles in the distance was the Grand Prismatic. We headed down the trail and saw only a few other hikers. About a mile up the trail we spotted a coyote. Unfortunately that would be the only animal we would spot on the hike. The hike took us through meadows, wooded areas and over several small streams. After about five miles we came to a clearing and bill said to look to the left. There she was in the distance, Fairy Falls. I expected a falls but did not expect how tall it was. She was about a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high and fell into a large collecting pool. The amount of water was not overwhelming but a good amount to create a very pretty falls. We hiked down toward the falls and we passed the steam that flowed from the falls and approached the pool. The falls provided a very nice mist that cooled the area and was very pleasant after a semi hot hike.  We decided that the base of the falls would be a good place for lunch. So we all broke out our lunches and sat on a fallen log. It was not to long before our good lunch attracted the attention of a Raven. He must have been fed by some hikers in the past but we were not going to feed him at all. He would hop up on the log about two feet from me and just caw at me over and over. Once he felt he was not going to get anything from me he jumped over to the other side of the log next to Sandy and cawed at her too. I took several pictures and videos of the area and uploaded them to Facebook. After our hearty lunch we headed down the trail that would take us further into the hills and some geysers hidden in them, but first we had to cross the stream as the trail bridge was washed out.  After examining several crossing place we chose one with the most fallen logs to use to walk on. I decided to go first and was very proud of my balancing ability. It would not been a high fall into the stream but it would still be a wet fall. We all made it safely and proceeded into the woods that would take us to the hills with the geyser. After a few miles we could tell by the smell that we were close to some geyser area. Sulphur aroma was all around. Also the creeks and streams we were near had that discoloration that is caused by being fed by a geyser. Up around a bend we spotted two geysers. Unlike Old Faithful these geysers were erupting all the time. Not high eruptions but steady. The main two we saw were erupting about the height of four feet in the air. The interesting thing about these geysers was there were no signs warning people to stay back and very hot. Evidently they trust hikers to have more intelligence than regular tourists. I got as close as I wanted and was able to take some great pictures.  We headed down the trail that would take us through a very large meadow. The park set up many elevated logs to walk on in this meadow because the stream that went through the meadow would overflow in the spring and create a marsh verses a meadow. This condition created some excellent grass for the bison to graze on. The bison were no where in sight but their droppings were everywhere. One of the old timers here told me that the bison have a sense that summer was coming and the herd gradually moves to more northern areas because soon the grass in the meadow we were in will turn brown and die off as summer passes. There were a few bison left in the area but not as many as I saw when I first got here. Occasionally the meadow would give way to a geyser and hot springs. This is an amazing area for sure as just on this hike I saw so many elements of the park. Rivers, streams, creeks, hot springs, geysers, meadows, forests and amazing water falls. The meadow trail we were on met up with the trail we started on and the loop was complete. My legs were glad the car was in site for sure.  
  Bill and Sandy dropped me off at the dorm and I thanked them for including me on the hike. They said they will contact me next Tuesday for another hike. I thanked them again and told them I really appreciated the hike and the conversations on the hike. We got to know a lot about each other for sure and had several great discussions on God and the Bible and the Holy Spirit.
  After dinner I decided to head into West Yellowstone to update my cell phone. Also to do a little wildlife hunting at dusk. Hoping that the animals may be more active then.  I was pleasantly surprised that on my way back by biscuit basin a moose was making its way across a river and towards the road. I have yet to see a moose yet so this was a thrill. I took several videos of it and uploaded one to Facebook. A great way to end the day for sure.
  Well I know I will sleep well tonight and I hope you all do to. Thank you Lord for some great scenery today.  Stay well.