The BoneBlog

West Yellowstone, MT – Shhh. The family is still sleeping. Yesterday was a very long day filled with hiking, sun exposure, driving, mosquitoes, and temper tantrums.

Our travelers toured the north loop of Yellowstone, beginning at the Madison Jr. Ranger Station, working north through Mammoth Hot Springs, then back south and east to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. They saw numerous falls, lots of elk and bison, and a bald eagle, but no bears or wolves. The family has not yet lost hope to see these creatures yet.

The Interesting Character of the Day revealed himself in the evening when our exhausted family was waiting for a dinner table in West Yellowstone. Ethan was having a fit because he was starving and tired, and a gentleman in sweatpants and riding chaps struck up a conversation with Michelle about it. He even went so far as to refer to himself as “riding the iron horse” and Michelle nearly strained her eyes to keep from rolling them.

Immediately after dinner, the family returned to the camper and fell into bed. They are touring the south loop today and will try to get some fishing time in for Laurel.

“Yellowstone has a LOT of fishing regulations, including barbless hooks and mandatory killing of all lake trout, plus some areas are fly-fishing only and Laurel doesn’t have a fly rod, so I spent some time reading up on regulations,” Michelle reported last night. “I don’t particularly care to pay a federal fine for allowing Laurel to violate the rules. I’m sure that will cause her all manner of consternation because with her recent fishing luck she will probably catch only cutthroat trout (mandatory release) and will want to keep them all.”

Photos:

Great pics! We would have loaned Laurel a fly rod, barbless hooks, etc. if we'd known you didn't have them! Paul's obsession pre-triathlon was all things flyfishing! Hence Madison's name, but I think you've already heard that story...