And just because I said the Internet here was good, I cannot connect to any of the SSIDs here this morning. And it didn’t get better the rest of the day either, so we had to use our phones and hotspot. We did our routine in the morning, plus Carol did laundry too. Girls did their school work, I had some calls, etc. Bia got done around 11 as usual, and Bella finished soon after lunch.
We decided we’d do Yellowstone again, but do the West side which is closer, and do a trail. We chose the Fairy Falls trail, which gives us the Grand Prismatic overlook on the way, and ends in a water fall, the largest one in Yellowstone. We made sure we had enough water, snacks and everyone had their hiking shoes as the trail is 5 miles round trip.
It’s always cool to drive in to Yellowstone even the third, fourth or more times. You always see something different, some different angle of light, a new path you had not noticed, etc. This time we took the Firehole Drive as we drove towards the basin areas. That is an awesome 2 mile drive, you go into the canyon, and follow the river up the mountain right next to the canyon. Awesome views. We did make a stop at the end, and we climbed down the rocks and got close to the water.
The girls love climbing rocks, so they were super excited.
They still had sandals on, so we didn’t get too crazy, but Bella took her sandals and socks off and was going up and down the rocks near the water, and putting her feet in the water. They really enjoyed that spot, Bella even asked to go back there tomorrow. hahahaha.
As we kept driving, there was a herd of buffalo right next to the road, not long after Firehole drive, so I pulled over. Carol and Bella went down and got close to take pictures. I stayed with Bia in the car, watching, and taking some pics from there. They were that close. That was very cool. Bella is getting into taking pictures, she really likes Carol’s bit professional Canon, and has asked for one for her birthday. I have been letting her use my phone for some pictures, and she actually does a really good job. She was taking some pictures with Carol’s camera, and caught stuff Carol didn’t even see, like a family of buffalo with a baby in the middle of the herd.
Next we went to our “final” stop of the day, which was our trail to Fairy Falls. We got our gear, bear spray and all, and went. First stop was the overlook of Grand Prismatic from above.
It is much easier to see all the colors and the size of Grand Prismatic from there, just amazing. The trail to that point was very wide, like 2 cars wide, very easy until you take the overlook path which then gets steep.
We continued on the trail, and little by little it got narrower, and we got to walk in the middle of the forest for quite a while. Just a trail, maybe 3-4 person wide, in the middle of tall trees, with turns here and there, but mostly flat, so very easy.
We saw lots of trees, lots of fallen trees, “chippies”, a few birds and a small garden snake (I think, not really sure what kind it was, but it was small). The girls were talking non stop on the way there, mainly about their plans for when we get back home, and their YouTube channels, and what content they will have in there, etc.
Bia was focused on her channel, she even has a name now, it’s Bia’s Adventure Park, and she has at least one hour of hiking full of ideas for it hahahaha.
Bella was more focused on how she wants to make movies, and wants all this equipment, cameras, video editing computers, and a very large indoor movie set, like an old Walmart, according to her.
As we were getting close to the water fall, Bia started complaining her toe was hurting, so when we got there I had her take her shoes off, and I could see the imprint of her socks seam on her small toe, poor thing. I had her put her foot in the cold water, and then gave her my sock so she could return, and that seemed to help. As we got close, a few steps in we could see the waterfall, it is very cool.
Great spot, in the middle of the forest, with some rocks to climb over, nice prize for the hike. It’s not a huge waterfall, but it is the biggest at Yellowstone, I think it’s worth the hike for the chance to be in the forest, and see the waterfall. Nice spot to take a break from the hike, eat snacks, relax a bit and soak in the beautiful nature.
The waterfall forms a little pool, and lots of rocks kind of enclose it, so it’s easy to get close to it and feel the water mist in your face. There’s also a really big tree log you have to cross to get there, and that’s another nice spot for pictures. We were there for about 20 minutes, enjoying it and taking pictures. I didn’t want to stay long as we were close to sunset, and I didn’t want to be in the trail at dark, so we hurried up on the way back. This was nice to do, I enjoy these hikes, especially when we manage it well and everyone is hydrated and has energy. Total hike was 5.5 miles, and just under 2 hours of walking time.
That was all we wanted to do for the day, so we decided to drive back to town, West Yellowstone, and find a place to eat, have ice cream, etc. On our way out of the park, we got to see another beautiful sunset, and got a few more amazing pictures.
We saw another herd of buffalo grazing, we saw some elk a little further out as well. The road was busier than usual for us, but we usually leave after dark and this time it was not all dark yet, so that’s when most people leave.
Carol found a pizza place for us, Wild West Pizzeria. They have really good pizza. We had to wait for like 30 minutes so we just walked around town as they’d be calling us when ready. I had a spicy pizza, and it was great with the craft IPA they had on tap. We all enjoyed our meals there.
By time we were done it was past 9pm, so ice cream places were closed, so we stopped at a Gas Station for ice cream, and Carol got me a six pack of local beer :). By time we got back “home” we were all tired and ready for bed, it was a very nice day.