We decided to do a different hike today. We went with our sister, Teri, to Yellowstone to hike to Mystic Falls. The trail starts at the Biscuit Basin parking area. It starts with boardwalks and then at one end of the boardwalks you take off on the Mystic Falls trails. (There is a sign.) You can hike just to the waterfall which is about 2 miles round trip or hike a loop trail which is 3.7 miles. The hike to the falls is pretty gradual, but after that it does get a little steeper after the waterfall to get to the top of an overlook. You can see all the way to Old Faithful and you also have a great view of Biscuit Basin. The waterfall was amazing and a lot bigger than we thought it was going to be. The only downside of the hike were the mosquitoes. Definitely, take repellant! They were especially bad at the junction of the loop. We hiked the loop trail and got some great views of Yellowstone. Once we passed the waterfall, we were basically alone on the trail. It's always nice to find a place away from the crowds in Yellowstone. We also did a short hike by Yellowstone Lake. It started near the Fishing Bridge Visitor Center (called the Pelican Creek Nature Trail) and was about a mile round trip. It would be a great place to take kids as it is a short hike with a nice beach at one end of the loop.
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This morning we decided to get a quick hike in that we had not done yet this summer. We chose to hike to Packsaddle Lake. This is hike is in the Teton Valley. You can turn on the Ehco Ranch road and follow it all the way to the turnoff for the hike. The last time we hiked to the lake was about three years ago. It is a hike you can make it shorter or longer depending on how far you want to drive on a forest road. The road is not very good for small cars but SUVs can make it a lot shorter hike. There was also one spot on the road that had been flooded and still had quite a bit of water on the road. We hiked close to 3 miles but you could easily hike 5 miles or less than a mile. We started off early and got to see the sunrise over the Tetons. The only downfall on the hike was the mosquitoes. They were BAD! We applied repellent three times in the three miles, so it might be better to wait until fall. If you do hike this in the near future, take repellent. You will need it. There were also some strange dogs howling in the distance. And cows. They did not appreciate us scaring them off the trail.
Lower Palisades Lake was our hike today. We have done it before but wanted to see how much water was on the trail. If you've never done this hike, it is about 4 miles to the lower lake and you cross the creek about four or five times during the course of the hike. The creek that follows the trail was very full and made it difficult to hear each other as we hiked. It was a beautiful day. We expected to see a lot of water on the trail because of how high the water was running, but the trail only had a few muddy spots to get around (and all of those came in the last mile of the hike). It was so green and the trail was not too crowded. There were a few people camping near the lake but it was a very peaceful day. We completed the 8.5 miles of easy rolling hills in about 4 hours. We are hoping the snow in the Tetons melts soon so we can do some hikes in those mountains.
For our Spring Break this year, we headed south to find some sun. We had to go further south than last year to find some truly warm weather and so headed to Tucson, Arizona. We wanted to see another park (Saguaro National Park) and get some hiking in. It was great to get some sun and exercise. We got to see a lot of fun things. We stopped at the Valley of Fire near Vegas and did some short hikes there. The rocks were similar to those found in the South Coyote Butte and White Pocket area. We did some short hikes in Saguaro National Park (on the west side). We also saw the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Old Tucson. Our longest hike was to Seven Falls in Sabino Canyon. It was about 8.5 miles and a great workout. We were pretty sore since it was our first real hike since October. We took a quick trip to Tombstone and tried to get some pictures at the Final Four Stadium in Phoenix. (Tried and failed because the security was so intense there we could not get within 1000 feet of the stadium even just to take a picture. Even on Sunday morning when no games were being played.) On our way back, we went by way of Monument Valley, which was very cold and rainy but still beautiful. We also did a quick (cold and windy) stop at Dead Horse State Park near Canyonlands. It was a great trip. We got some new lenses for our camera that we got to try out as well. We are excited for this to be the first of many trips this year. Harvest Vacation is one of the great perks of working in Southeastern Idaho schools. The districts in the area take one or two weeks off while the potatoes are being harvested. Students work for the farmers to bring in the potatoes, which gives us an opportunity to go and see some places. For the past few years we have attempted to win one of the few permits to hike to The Wave in the North Coyote Buttes area. This time we went through a tour company in Kanab, Dreamland Safari Tours. We still did not get a permit to The Wave, but we got a permit for the South Coyote Buttes. Our tour was to the White Pocket area and South Coyote Buttes. The reason we went with a tour company is that the roads are terrible. There is very deep sand and many rocks for miles and miles and miles. We are so glad we went with Dreamland Safari Tours. Our tour was lead by Steve (who was in training) and the owner, Will James. We were shown great spots for photos and saw so many beautiful places. We will not be able to put in all of the pictures but hopefully you can get an idea of the beauty of the area. (We didn't think too many people would wait for 500 pictures to scroll through.) South Coyote Buttes are considered the lesser of the Coyote Buttes, but The Wave will have to be really spectacular to beat them out. Next time we go to Kanab, we are planning on doing another tour with Dreamland because they were so awesome! Our tour of White Pocket and South Coyote Buttes was the highlight of our trip, but we also went to San Diego, Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, Zion National Park, and hiked to Kanarraville Falls again. We also saw all three shows at Tuacahn, which were great. The shows were Tarzan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Peter Pan. We packed a lot into one week (including over 2000 miles of driving), but it was so AWESOME! Once September hits in Idaho you never know what weather you will get. You can get snow, rain, or sun. Melinda and Elisa figured this Saturday morning was one of the last few beautiful ones so we headed to Irwin, Idaho, to hike to Lower Palisades Lake. We really hadn't figured on the leaves changing, but many of them were which made it even more beautiful. We started hiking at 7 a.m. and it was chilly (about 35 degrees). We did not see anyone else until we were headed back. We have done this hike before and enjoy it because it is relatively flat. The hike is just over 4 miles (8 round trip) to the lower lake. You can hike an additional 2.7 miles to the upper lake. We did not do that today but have done it before. This may be our last hike of the season (except for some in Southern Utah when we go in October) so we are glad it was a great day for hiking.
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Two Trekkers
Elisa Gee and Melinda Gee, just two sisters who love to travel. We both work in schools and have summers to play. Archives
June 2017
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