Over The River And Through The Woods To Union Falls We Go

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but we have made friends with our boss Gill and his fiance Nicole. They are super nice and we hang out from time to time and always have fun. So when they suggested going on a hike we were all for it. When he said it was a 16 mile hike, I had to think about it. The longest hike I have ever completed was eight miles. Gill is a pretty good salesman and made it sound like a blast with a huge reward at the end of the first leg, Union Falls, where several rivers come together and make a vail-like falls. It sounded spectacular.

The next day we met for an early breakfast and drove to Yellowstone for the start of the hike. On the way there Gill got a call from work that the computer system crashed and he needed to come in. I should have taken that as a sign that I wasn't meant to go on a 16 mile hike. About an hour later the computers were fixed and we were on our way, yet again to the hike from hell....I mean the hike to Union Falls. It started out innocent enough, with the mosquitoes eating us alive in the parking lot. A short ways into the hike we had to cross a knee deep (or upper thigh deep for us short folk) stream, which was actually quite cool, both literally and figuratively.

I like when a hike has different elements so that it is not boring and I will say that this hike was definitely not boring. We crossed streams, hiked through mud (where I almost lost my shoe), dust, Logepole pines, brush, rocky downhills, more streams, bypassed the hot springs (because it was just too darn hot outside to jump in a hot pool), and ultimately ended at Union Falls. Just as promised, it was spectacular. We ate our packed lunch and watched the falls....well... fall, took pictures, and then started the trek back. Mind you we had gone eight miles, only half way into the hike. We still had to hike the eight miles back the way we came.

I think ten miles was my breaking point. I was doing great, joking and telling stories, but then we started climbing up hill, step, by awful step. Gill and Nicole were way ahead and it was just Scott and I. Out of the kindness of their heart or pity, I don't know which, they would wait for us from time to time. I knew it was bad when I couldn't speak anymore. Both dehydrated and heat exhausted I thought I was going to pass out, but I trudged on. Scott stopped telling me it was almost over after I pretty much took his head off with my glare.

I was so happy by the end I forgot about the 10 miles of very bumpy dirt road that we took out to the hike and now had to drive back on. Now that the adrenaline wore off, and with the car rocking back and forth, the nausea started to set in. Yes folks this is the part of the story I would much rather forget. I got sick in front of my boss. At least I had the grace to make it out of the car. Not the highlight of my career.

Needless to say I don't think we will be doing any more 16 mile hikes even if there was a pot of gold at the end. Okay, maybe for a pot of gold.

Close Encounters of the Yellowstone Kind

I have never lived this close to nature before. One of our neighbors sent us an email the other day with a picture of a "visitor" we had. A big moose was right outside our coach just munchin' on some grass. We also have a resident fox and several mule deer that we see from time to time. Out of all the parks we've stayed in we have seen the most wildlife here. It is truly amazing.

We traveled on a short section of the lower loop in Yellowstone the other day, and stopped and saw Old Faithful, which was punctual as usual. It was so neat to see the boiling water and steam shoot out of the ground. The most amazing thing we saw were the geothermal pools. They were like something straight out of a science fiction movie. I just couldn't get over the vibrant yellow and blue coloring of the pools. It makes you want to jump in, except for the fact that the water is scalding and the minerals might make your skin fall off. No big deal.

One of the perks of working for Grand Teton Lodge Company is that you get to go on all the activities for free. You also get to use the boats on a first come first serve basis. (Remind me again, why we dragged our ocean kayak all the way across the US?) Anyway, we decided to take advantage of the kayaks, and took two out for the day. I am pretty used to tandem kayaking and when I get tired Scott paddles for the both of us. You really can't do that in a kayak for one. Man my arms are killing me!

Stayed tuned for more adventures from the wild, wild west!

Click here to see all our photos from Yellowstone

Click here to see some kayaking pictures