September 15, 2009
The weather today is cooler and rather iffy as far as the rain and sunshine. We decided to take the longest day trip planned for Yellowstone. Mammoth Hot Springs is up by the northern entrance of the park. I have read about a natural hot springs which is legal to swim in just north of there and decided to take my swimming suit, just in case.
The hot springs up in Mammoth were rather uneventful...many are not flowing and haven't been for awhile, but still a sight to see. We drove up to the nearest town, Gardiner for some grocieries and gas. On the way back, we looked for the hot springs. It is unmarked and a half mile hike from the parking lot. The weather was coming in with some thunder, but we wanted to at least se it. On the path to the springs we saw some elk doe crossing the river thinking it was pretty cool...then, we saw what was following them-an elk buck in chase during rutting season..........that was a hike stopper! Being only about 75 feet away, we held our place and watched the spectacle. He followed them across the river over our path and up the hill. He was definitely in chase and was calling to the gals.
A Korean couple passed by us and were going to get closer to see and we advised them to let the crossing be and wait. They had found out about the hot spring from somebody at their hotel. We could see the springs flowing out of the wall of the river and the waterfall into the section of the river that had been built up with rocks to help form warm pools. I was ready to join the other tourists and have a nice warm soak! As if the elk wasn't a big enough warning, lighting began to stike....and close. We are outta there! No soak for me today. Again, the tourists were oblivious to the danger. Amazing!! But, the walk and drive that day was well worth the elk spotting.
Tomorrow, we hope for better weather so we can hike the south rim of the canyon.
