Yellowstone Adventure - Day 90

  Slept in this morning a little bit but managed to get to EDR before breakfast was over. Saw Bob at breakfast and asked him if he wanted a ride into West Yellowstone. I told him my plans were to first get to a free Wi-Fi and then to go to the gun shooting place. I told him that my son's Logan and Jacob gave me money on Father's Day to shoot two guns. The first would be a Thompson submachine gun and the second would be a Gatling gun. He said he had errands to run there and would be glad to go.
   We headed out around seven thirty and the way was pretty clear to West Yellowstone. No bison blocking the road. The gun place opened at ten so I dropped Bob off to do his errands and went to use some free Wi-Fi.  After updating my phone I met Bob at the gun shop. I told the guy running the place of my plans and he said we would first start with the Thompson. I picked a good target of a nazi zombie and some ear protection and headed with the guy to the range. After he explained the workings of the gun and showing me the best way to hold it, he popped in the first of two clips I bought to shoot. Handing my cell phone to Bob to record the event, I picked up the gun. Ensuring it was in single shot mode I assumed the position to fire and aimed at the head of the nazi. When I pulled the trigger I was surprised by two things. One that I put a hole in the nazi's head and two the recoil of the gun was almost like a four ten shot gun. The next four shots hit the head and that made me smile. I leaned back to Bob and said "OK I am changing to fully automatic." I flicked the switch on the left side of the gun and repositioned myself. I pulled the trigger and just like the guy warned me the first shot hit where I was aiming and then the gun just started climbing up. The shots peppered the target in a straight line up and several then hit the wall behind the target. Putting in the next clip I did several single shots well but the fully automatic was tough to control but I did better the second time for sure.
  After the Thompson I chose to do a pistol rather than the Gatling gun because of issues with the gun. I chose a Ruger replica of a single action Colt 44. I also paid extra for more rounds to shoot. After getting simple instructions I loaded the gun and this time I had an evil clown target to shoot at. Pulling the hammer back several clicks I aimed and squeeze the trigger. The first shot was high and missed the target completely. The next five rounds were better and two actually hit the head. After reloading I aimed for the hand and was surprised to put two rounds right next to each other with no space in between the holes. The guy supervising said he was impressed with those last six shots. Reloading the next time I let Bob have a shot. I asked the guy if he had a holster and he said "You would probably put a round right in your foot." I laughed and told him "You are a good judge of my abilities and probably correct." Bob enjoyed shooting and we retrieved the targets and thanked the guy helping us. It was truly a great Father's Day present and I will be taking the targets home as presents for Jacob and Logan. I may go back one day and shoot a Henry rifle if there is time.
  Heading back into Yellowstone we were greeted by, yes you guessed it, a bison/tourists road block. After waiting a half hour the rangers finally showed up and told people to stop blocking the road and get moving. We finally made it back to the dorm for lunch.
   After lunch I decided to do a hike on a trail down south. Heading out I reached Duck Lake and pulled over to see if any bear were in the valley below near Duck Lake. About ten minutes into viewing the valley a helicopter flew low and was carrying a bag. It was a firefighters helicopter. It circle once and then lowered the bag into Duck Lake and then rose and flew over me and headed out. About five minutes later it returned and repeated the maneuver. I thought the fire must be close. From what I hear we have four fires around us. Mostly contained but still active. In fact while we were in West Yellowstone this morning the smoke was pretty thick from a two hundred acre fire six miles out of town. 
  After watching the helicopter for a few more maneuvers I headed south to Lewis Lake. I pulled into the trail parking and looked over the map. I saw that the first part of the hike was 6.7 miles to Shoshone Lake and then the loop back on Dogs Head trail was 4.7 miles. I thought to myself slightly under twelve miles and mostly close to a lake or creek. This should be fairly easy and I hoped level. Well I was wrong on both counts. After loading the backpack with water, tying on the bear spray and putting on some sunscreen, I headed out on the Lewis Creek trail. After about a mile I reached Lewis Lake and the view was great. The trail skirted the lake and headed toward the Lewis Creek. The creek feeds Lewis Lake and the creek originates at Shoshone Lake. After about three miles the trail started going uphill and down and I started to figure that this may be more than I bargained for. When I reached about five miles in I was debating about turning around and going back. But I really hate backtracking more than I hate sore legs. When you are five plus miles into a hike and things get tough then you just have to, as they say, "Suck it up buttercup" and keep moving. The views along the creek were great but no animals in sight. After another mile I yelled a hello to a couple paddling down stream. They waived back and I felt that at least if I get stuck on the trail someone may be around to rescue me. :)
  After six plus miles I reached the intersection of my trail and Dogs Head trail.  I veered off to a campsite and rested on a log talking to a couple of guys from Colorado that were camping and fishing Shoshone Lake. After several minutes and several drinks of water I reluctantly headed back on the trail. The junction sign indicated I had 4.7 miles to go to get back to my car. Well the trail was mostly in woods and I liked that but it was quite a bit of uphill and downhill. Which my legs did not like. Needless to say I took many breaks on this trail to rest my legs and drink some water. Still no animals on or around the trail but plenty of squirrels and chipmunks. After three miles I reached a hippie like guy sitting on a log drinking a beer. He said it was a good day for a hike and I said yes, but my brain wanted to ask "Is beer a necessity to hike?" After another half hour I reached an open area and I could see my car in the distance. I murmured a resounding "Yes!" Getting to the car I opened up the back of the vehicle and climbed in to remove my shoes and socks with an "Ahhhhh!" I had sparer bottles of water and drank my fill. I thought to myself "Never again will I take a trail I did not research the terrain in advance." I got cleaned up and put on a dry shirt and climbed into the car to head back to the dorm. After just a quarter mile down the road I saw two Taiwanese girls hitchhiking with a sign that said "Old Faithful". As I got closer I recognized them as two of my co-workers. As I pulled up and stopped they recognize me and laughed and climbed in. Believe it or not they were on the same trail I was but several minutes ahead of me. They were thanking me over and over for stopping and I told them I could not leave co-workers standing by the road. It was good to have company back to the dorm and they understood English pretty well.  
  We all made it back to the dorm safely and I headed to the EDR to eat my sack lunch and then to the showers to get the stink of the trail off me. Tomorrow will be an easy day of rest and no hiking. My legs are shot.  The good news is that with this hike I have exceeded 100 miles of hiking in and around Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.
  You all take care and I really want to thank you for reading about my adventure.