Yellowstone National Park/Grand Teton National Park, 9.26.21 - 10.6.21, Part 8 of 11
The Lamar River Trail was one of the things I was most looking forward to doing on our trip to Yellowstone. I had read so much about the beauty of this valley and so I was extremely interested in hiking away from the road and immerse myself into the landscape. Bridgit and Candice were completely content to hang at the trailhead which was a nice spot in its own right while Kent and I decided to hike about a five mile out and back to the Lamar River Ford. Once again I carried bear spray as a precaution.
The Lamar River Trail started out by dropping down to the river and crossing on a bridge before heading out across the sage flats along a rocky escarpment. After a long flat stretch, the trail climbs up a gentle hill past some lush meadows before making its way to the Lamar River again about two miles from the trailhead.
Autumn color on the bushes lining the Lamar River
We saw many fishermen in all the rivers. Lamar River and the Absaroka Mountains
Aspens along the trail
Huge side valley off the Lamar River Trail
Up on the hill before we dropped down to the river, we could see a large grove of Cottonwoods about a half mile further downstream. After we hit the river we decided to follow the bank down to the Cottonwood grove before turning back.
Cottonwood Grove across the meadow
Looking up towards Soda Butte Creek from the Cottonwood grove
The Cottonwood grove
We basically came back the same way with one change. A herd of bison now occupied the trail by the lush meadow so we left the trail and climbed over a big hill to give wide berth to the bison.
We basically came back the same way with one change. A herd of bison now occupied the trail by the lush meadow so we left the trail and climbed over a big hill to give wide berth to the bison.
Lamar Valley
Amphitheater Mountain
Bridgit’s brother is an avid fisherman and we wanted to get a good fishing photo for him. This one of the two guys fishing the Lamar River turned out nicely.
Fishing the Lamar River
Once again, the timing was all falling into place. With all the things we did throughout the day, by the time we completed our hike to the Lamar River, the sun was low in the sky as we drove back through Lamar Valley. Along the way we saw another group with their spotting scopes so we pulled over. Much to our amazement, this time it was a wolf pack! They were a really long way away in the shade by the tree line on the complete other side of the valley. They were too far to even see with the naked eye but through a scope we could see when one would get up, turn around like a dog does and lie back down. Another rolled onto his back and scratched his back on the ground. It was all very exciting and for all of us our first wild wolf sightings of our lives, but they were really far away and pretty hard to see.
After watching a bit and high-fiving our amazing success, we drove through the beautiful setting sun back to Mammoth Hot Springs where we ate at the Hotel Dining Room before driving back in the dark again to our rooms in Canyon.
Wolf watchers
We only had one more day to enjoy Yellowstone. For that final day, check out Part 9!