About an hour from home and 3,000 feet higher, is Tarryall Road which takes us to Tarryall Reservoir. I’ve wanted to travel this quiet back road for some time, but what better time than when autumn color is at peak! This is a new trip for us both. Let’s go.
The narrow trail beckons, well worn by valley explorers. Curving along the hillside to the rock and rolling creek revealing Teals bumpity, bump over rapids to tranquil pools and sandbars.
The knoll on my right increasingly pulls at my imagination. Strolling the well-trodden trail but constantly glancing right. Resting in the cottonwood’s shade yet being pulled toward that knoll. Covered with gnarly gray-green sagebrush, a fading facade of summer’s flowers, rocks that blend with cream-colored sand, and rocks along the creek popping with rust and pale green lichen.
This well-traveled trail stays close to the creek but the edge of that knoll–what might be on the other side? It’s just a short walk to wonder. The imagined visions explode with possibilities. A rolling landscape with hundreds of bison like huge rocks across the valley. A mirrored lake reversing the mountain forest above. Flowers ablaze adding red, yellow, purple to the color of sage. Songbirds galore keeping the cadence. The pull is too great. Heading up to the knoll’s edge to see what wonders await.
Through thigh-high sagebrush making me smell like Thanksgiving stuffing. Avoiding red stems with thorny warnings. Passing tiny plants with spiky yellow flowers so small a bee cannot get a foothold. Purple asters losing their petals to late summer weariness. Small spiders and grasshoppers jumping away from my footfall. The last few steps to the edge’s promise–excitement fills me. With camera ready I step to the top!
A rolling landscape of sagebrush and grasses, like a rubber-stamped picture of the landscape behind me. With late summer smells of dust and clicks and busses of grasshoppers and bees. With thigh-high sagebrush and late summer flowers.
But wait. See it? The edge of that knoll ahead. With a smile of renewed anticipation, I’m off! It’s just a short walk to wonder.
Until next time . . . be amazed in your neck of the woods.
Springtime in the Rockies leaves you guessing at the weather no matter what the forecast. Springtime along Yellowstone Lake is no exception. Surrounded by huge mountains that can generate their own weather further complicates forecasting. Yellowstone Lake, the largest fresh water lake above 7,000 feet in North American, covers 136 square miles and the winds can really move along that flat surface. Although we are starting our day with rain, some snow, a bit of ice called grapple, minimal wind thankfully, and seriously overcast skies, let’s remain hopeful.
We begin our trip at Fishing Bridge heading southeast 10 miles to Lake Butte Overlook. Let’s hope for brighter skies, maybe even some sun. On our way back we’ll be stopping along the northern shore of the lake to see what we will see. Always an adventure regardless of the weather, because my friends, there is never a bad day in Yellowstone!
Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley is a sparkling winter wonderland, and the Lamar Buffalo Ranch is an ideal mid-valley location with a bit of civilized warmth from the frigid winter surrounds. The ranch was instrumental in saving bison from extinction in this country in the early 1900’s. Today, although not open to the public, the ranch hosts educational opportunities through Yellowstone Forever Institute and the National Park Service’s Expedition Yellowstone.
Let’s walk up to where Rose Creek splits into three separate creeks as it races down into the valley to join the Lamar River. The trail is hard packed, but we will put ice-traction cleats on our boots for safety. It is a little after 10am and about 8 degrees, but with no wind, it feels much warmer. What a beautiful day! Don’t forget your sunglasses.
