We layed into a breakfast buffet at the camp restaurant in the morning, piling our plates with heaps of food, perhaps out of fear that we wouldn't have other food opportunites down the road.
We continued north out of Teton park going up and down a winding road, thick forrest all around us. A few miles before the Yellowstone park entrance I took on a large decsent into this spectacularly huge open valley. Nothing but open undisturbed woods surrounded me and the consideration that this land has been kept largely the same since it's formation 600,000 years ago held a powerful grip on my imagination.
I met up with Ryan near Flagg Ranch. He suggested we visit a camp he was told about by a women in Lander so we headed down a dirt road, across a low creek and into a camp where we met Jim, a horse wrangler with long whispy hair and a bushy mustache. He was kind to talk to us as he shod one of his horses, telling us about how his father started the camp after WWII. His love for his horses is subsidized by hauling trees off the mountain in the fall and being a "snow farmer", someon who lays snow making equipment on a ski mountain, in the winter. "Its gorgeous here, but you can't eat the scenery" he told us.
After entering yellowstone park we rode up to Grant Village and decided to camp their for the night. We new we would be slowing down our pace to enjoy the park and 40 miles on the day seemed pretty good. After setting up my tent I decided to ride up the road 2 miles to west thumb to check out the thermal pools. All of the where spread out alon the shore of Yellowstone lake, some with deep red stone and rich blue water. A strong smell of sulfer wafted through the air. As I came down the wooden walkway a large Elk walked across my path to reach a small shrub which she began to nibble at. I ended the day with a mile hike up a hillside to gain a full view of Yellowstone lake and the mountains beyond, well worth the effort.
I returned to camp to have a wonderful meal at the restaurant right on the shore of yellowstone lake at sunset.
I saw on TV once that the Earth popped a pimple there.. A large underground swelling of heat and magma that eventually exploded. Rumors are that land around Yellowstone is rising up, an indication that this swelling might be happening again.
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