Part 8: Our 6 Mile Hike

We decided to hike today. We stopped by a ranger's station and asked for advice. The ranger unhesitatingly suggested the Beaver Ponds Loop for our requirements. Off we went. It was a great hike: very picturesque, varying beauties of scenery, lots of wildflowers, and even wildlife. We did have a couple hiccups on the hike, however. More on that later...

First, on our drive to the hike's starting point, we came across more cars pulled over to the side of the road than we'd seen yet (always a sign of wildlife in the Park). It must be something big, we thought. Sure enough, there was a grizzly bear foraging across a large meadow. Even with my telephoto I only managed to capture a big brown lump.

Dave and Justin viewing the grizzly with Justin's new binoculars

We were taking the Beaver Ponds Loop trail. Notice it's only supposed to be 4.3 miles from this point.

The first of many varieties of wildflowers

At the beginning of our hike, and we were all fresh and full of energy

More wildflowers

After climbing almost straight up for the first half mile, we were rewarded with awe-worthy views

Wildflowers

Unique butterfly

I don't think I would ever get tired of hiking with such astounding views

About a mile into the hike, we stopped to eat lunch on a rock that was off the trail just a bit and overlooked the valley below. The rock was covered with orange lichen, and the view was the picture below. Remember the view and the rock covered with orange lichen: both are directly related to our upcoming hiccup.

Justin, examining another unique wildflower

Aren't these incredible?!

Taking a water break

Justin enjoyed leaping across this rock bridge he went back and forth several times

Changing scenery, all still beautiful

At first we thought this was a beaver (being on the Beaver Ponds loop and all). But it lacked the signature tail. Our best guess was a muskrat.

A beaver dam

Stopping for a little break by the beaver dam. Little did we know it, but our hike was about to take a turn for the worse (but not too bad, don't worry).

I don't know what kind of bird this is, but I got a great picture of it!

We were startled to see two mule deer resting peacefully along the trail. We went as quietly as we could to get close before they ran off, but they stayed here resting while we passed them by.

After we saw the deer, we climbed straight up again (which was strange, because Dave had viewed the map data on our gps unit and assured us there would be no more climbing. We followed the trail up and around and eventually came up to a flat area. We kept walking, both Dave and I thinking the views were very similar to the one we enjoyed at lunch time (remember?). We walked a bit farther and notice a rock off the trail, covered with orange lichen overlooking the valley. Identical rock; identical view. Dave looked at the map and compared it to the gps data in consternation. We were supposed to be on a loop, but somehow we must have ended up back on the original part of the trail and skipped over half the hike! We were amazingly disheartened. One of the reasons we love hiking loops is so everything is fresh and nothing has to be repeated. Plus, Dave and I could absolutely not figure out how we had taken a wrong turning. There had been no place to even take a  right turn much less a wrong one. We had crossed no trail intersections. Plus, the gps showed that we were no where near our original trail (yes, this should have been an important clue!). We kept hiking, confused and disappointed that we messed up and would miss much of the trail.

I'm not sure how long it took...maybe another 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile?...before Dave re-examined the evidence a bit more objectively: the trail map showed no other possible trails we could have crossed over on, the gps  map had tracked our exact path and showed we were definitely NOT on or near any path we had already walked, and the only reason Dave and I were convinced we were somehow transported magically back to a part of the path we had been on before was the orange lichen-covered rock and the particular view. Well, the truth of the matter is that there really was a SECOND orange lichen-covered rock set off the EXACT distance from the trail with the EXACT same view as where we had stopped for lunch! We weren't crazy after all!

After we got that figured all out, we felt better, but as Dave was comparing the gps data again, it turns out we still had 1 1/2 miles to go, and we were already almost at the 5-mile mark. That last 1 1/2 miles was hot and slightly grueling. Justin and I were both ready to be done, but there was nothing for it but to keep going. Of course we eventually made it and felt extra self-righteous at the knowledge that we all made it on a 6+ mile hike!

At the end of the trail

Of course, Justin insisted on a picture all by himself as well :)

After we made it back to the car, we drove into Gardiner and got ice cream at the local store. We were thrilled to discover they carried a dairy free chocolate ice cream made from oats. It was delicious!

The adventure continues...click here to read more.