Category: **Our Awesome National Parks

Naturalist’s View–Lamar Valley

Posted on by Joy

Yellowstone Association, a non-profit partner of the National Park Service, is dedicated to educating us all on this amazing place called Yellowstone National Park. They offer seminars on a wide range of topics at their Yellowstone Institute, located at Lamar Buffalo Ranch. Not only do we get to learn surprising and interesting things about this vast land, but we get to stay at an historic location in the Serengeti of the West, Lamar Valley in the Northern Tier of Yellowstone. What an adventure today as our seminar group heads up into the mountains to see the only remaining wolf pens used for the 1995-96 reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone. Come, explore with us.

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Continue our walk . . .

SNAP*Shot: Lost Creek Falls

Posted on by Joy

Lost Creek Falls is a 40-foot waterfall in a steep, narrow box canyon behind the historic Roosevelt Lodge, a log structure built in 1920 to commemorate a visit by Theodore Roosevelt. The narrow canyon is home to Douglas and Subapline firs and moss-covered hillsides offering a pleasantly cool walk.

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This short walk meanders along the creek that blissfully cascades over and around granite boulders on its way down from the falls.

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Lost Lake–5 miles out, 2 miles back

Posted on by Joy

Heading into the wilderness takes a combination of love, mindfulness, caution, and knowing and respecting your physical limits. Montana and Yellowstone are places of glorious big sky, mountains, and many trails with awesome elevation gains. So I stand on the edge of wilderness, knowing beautiful Lost Lake lies ahead, with  a willing heart, mind, and feet but lungs that make me reevaluate the wisdom of every trek.

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Continue walking . . .

SNAP*Shot: Harlequin Ducks

Posted on by Joy

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Turbulent, icy cold waters is where you will find these small, brightly colored waterfowl called Harlequins ducks. The largest ducks are about 16″ from the tip of their tail to tip of their bill. In winter they choose the roughest northern coastal waters, but in summer they grace the wild, swirling LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River to mate. The females will remain here raising the young through the summer, returning north in early autumn. These diving ducks feed on crustaceans, small fish, insects, and other assorted life they find as they swim underwater and even walk on the bottom searching the rocks for food. Studies have shown many adult Harlequins have had broken bones, probably a result of living in such rough surroundings. Welcome back Harlequins!

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