A Glimpse of Venice

We took an early morning vaporetto ride along the Grand Canal towardsd Academmia. The sun was just beginning to peak above the buildings and rush hour was in full force. Still not everything is moving quite this early as this row of gondolas attest.

I will have much more to say about our trip to Venice soon but I thought I'd share some photos now. Venice is greatly affected by the water that surrounds and infiltrates her geography. The water affects how they have built things and how Venetians move through their lives. The. canals make the city attractive. The light that strikes the canals is integral to this.

I strongly suggest, as do guidebooks, taking a water bus (vaporetti) ride during the golden hours around sunrise and sunset. You will have to struggle to get a good viewing spot but if you manage it the rewrd is watching the play of light off the sky, water, and buildings that are anchored by Venice's intricate canal system. Since traffic is slow you have a chance to get good pictures even with a point-and-shoot like I used here (Panasonic Lumix LX5) and elsewhere.

It was not always sunny. One day, in particular an afternoon, saw overcast skies. The leaning tower in the background may be tthe bell tower for San Pietro di Castello.

During the rain storm that lasted close to two hours we settled in for an exceptionally long lunch at AAcqua Pazza with some friends. For us a meal lsating an hour is lengthy but the rain kept us under the canopy and true to Italian form the restaurant was in no hurry to free up our table (i.e., kick us out). I had wondered earlier how well the paving stone sidewalks would drain as I saw no sign of gutters or drain grates. WHen we finally left the paving stones were wet but not flooded. I suppose the walkways slope slightly towards canals and maybe I just never saw any drain grates. The walks were also still easy to walk upon - not slippery.

One nice thing besides spying interesting views about a morning ride and/or walk along the canals is you get a chance to see the city come to life. Boats are dropping people off everywhere. They are also dropping off or picking up stuff up. Once material is off a boat it is moved through the streets, no matter how narrow, by people either working alone or in pairs pushing and pulling dolleys of carefully balanced items. Many of these dolleys have special little wheels in front that are meant to be hefted up each step of an arched bridge to aid in getting the loads from one side of a canal to the other. It must be a tiring job.

 

 

Snow in Gardena Valley

We spent a good bit of time on a ridge that undulated around the 2,150 meter mark. Now and then we dipped below treeline which was particularly pretty.

Our free day, September 12, was a bit dreary with on and off again rain in the morning and especially afternoon. Clouds were pretty low so views from above the valley floor were all but nil. I suppose the weather made my minestrone soup at the mountain refuge at the upper terminus of the funicular (call it 2,100 meters elevation) more enjoyable but a view of something other than clouds would have been nice. We spent a good bit of time wandering around the town of Ortisei and then a fair bit of time just hanging about the hotel in Selva. This is all to give you a sense of the change in the weather. Snow was forecast for that evening and snow is what we got. Now, keep in mind that it can snow up high and do nothing or at most rain down low. That is what happened. The snow line was probably just over 2,000 meters but probably not quite 2,100. The higher you would go the more snow there would be. We planned to reprise the hike Mom had done Tuesday which spent much of the time contouring along a ridge with several fine views across the Gardena Valley. The official walks were either too much or too little as far as we were concerned.

The snow line was not that far below the upper terminus of the funicular. Where we spent much of our day, around 2,150 meters, snow was a couple inches deep on the slopes. The hiking paths were clear.

From the funicular we passed over the snow line not long before reaching the upper terminus. Today you can see Ortisei as the cloud ceiling is much higher.

The mountain hutte is not far from the funicular (to the east). A s all church, not shown, is not that far west of here.

Halfway in the Dolomites

Sassa Lungo dominates the surroundings and changes color throughout the day. Here, late morning it seems black and forbidding as seen from the grassy slopes near the mountain hut called Juac.

We are at the halfway point of our time here in the Gardena Valley of the Dolomites and I thought I would share some thoughts about the trip so far. Lets start with some simple superlatives: the scenery has been grand, the weather great, the hotel superb, the food sublime, and the group very good.

Selva is one of many small town in this part of the mountains. It, like its neighboring villages, really thrives when winter comes and the skiers appear. Hotels abound. Now at the tail end of the walking season things are much quieter but the things we have seen here in Selva and her neighboring towns of San Cristina and Ortisie (sp) strike us as remarkable. The towns are clean, clearly well cared for, and there is a sense of pride that is hard to miss. When you toss in the incredible engineering that is on display with all the chair lifts, gondola of various sizes (from the Coffin Lift that squeeze two people into phone booth sized coffins to 50 person shuttles that look like they should be flying into space), funiculars, and more you can't help but marvel at the impact people have had on this area. It is a pronounced impact and yet it doesn't feel nearly as intrusive as it could. Sure there are scores of wonderful rifugios dotting the mountains serving all sorts of food and , I think, often providing some overnight facilities. Often these mountain huttes are built into places that seem awfully inaccessible. For instance Demetz Hutte sits in a notch of rock at about 2,600 meters at the terminus of the Coffin Lift and a pretty steep set of paths on either side of the pass it resides in. Add to all this the fact that a lot of the mountain slopes have their grass cut somehow, in preparation for making good ski trails, and the impact people have becomes ieven more impressive. And yet, though the impact is there so is the natural grandeur of these mountains.

This proved a well travelled hike. It also had some of the most varied scenery from woods to scree fields.

From a place like Ciampenie you can gaze out across the rolling mountains and see mountain hamlets, massive rock formations like Sasso Lungo or Mount Pick (sp) and catch the jingle-jangle of cowbells on the breeze as small herds move about. You can walk well maintained, though frequently fairly steep, trails that take you through mountain forests on moment and then through an alpine meadow that I am sure sometimes is full of wildflowers the next. If you are really lucky you might pass through a high alpine hamlet, yes a human abode, where a group of musicians carrying 10 foot long pipes with flared bells at one end regaled denizens of a cafe with airy horn music (changing the notes like a bulgar does by changine how they blow). And all the time you have big mountain views to gaze upon. It is majestic in its own way and I find that more impressive not less when you reailize just how much people influence the area.

The steep trail between Vincenza and Demetz mountain huts.

This rocky ascent has to be one of the toughest portions of an HF hike we have ever done.

To reach the Demetz Hutte (shown here) from Vincenza you climb switchbacks and then a rather rocky rough and quite steep trail some 400 meters in less than a kilometer.

We have done 3 walks so far. They have all been in the 8 to 9 mile range and had elevation gains and losses in the 2,700 to 3,000 feet range. Often the descent has happened far more quickly than the ascent. But sometimes, as was the case with the walking segment between Rifugio Vincenza and Demetz that ascending was very steep indeed (about 400 meters in about 1,500 meters of trail). Trails have been either what an American would consider a hiking path and typically in very good repair with good footing even when steep or single-lane mountain roads. At the start and end of walks you have to trek through towns and, of course, that means walking sidewalks and such which can be a drag. While, for example, the walk between San Cristina and Selva on an old railway grade that has been turned into a walking and cycle path is easy it is still a 2 mile drag after you have spent the day tromping through the mountains. Some of the walks we have done have been quite popular. Their were surprisingly large numbers of people, often in good sized groups, on the pretty strenuous walk that lead us to Rifugio Vincenza and up to Rifugio Demetz. While the walk that started with a gondola ride (the Seceda lift) from Ortisie and took us to the summitt of Mount Pick (sp) and then to the mountain hut Fereda was consierably less crowded. Usually you can feel as though you have the area to yourself.

We heard these fellows long before we saw them. Very special.

One last little note in passing should be shared. Our hotel, the Malleier (pronounced Ma-lay-ah) has been excellent. The rooms are comfortable, well appointed, and very well taken care of. The staff clearly care about the place. The food has been wonderful. We have a continental style breakfast that includes cereals, fruits, breads, meats, cheese, and more. It is ample and more than enough. Where they really shine though is at dinner time. We have several courses starting with a salad, then a couple appetizers, followed by the main dish, and a dessert. Everything has been delicious and very well presented. We had one evening of serious concern when the dessert was listed as "omelet surprise" and no one knew, or would admit to knowing, what that could be. Fortunately it had nothing in common with an omelet but was rather a merengue, ice cream, light cake, chocolate and berry sause confection that was delicious and totally squelched our desire to walk down into Selva to Cafe Monica for galato.

After descedning from Mt. Pick (sp) we found ourselves on rolling paths with grassy valleys spreading out below us and massive mountains rising in the distance.

 

Glacier National Park, Day 9 - June 15, 2012

Blue tinged at the edges Avalanche Creek's water tumbles down the mountainside through the forest of huge cedar, larch, and hemlock trees.

This is our last day visiting National Parks. We decided that this last day would feature some gentle hikes and so we settled on a couple shorter treks with very limited elevation change. The weather was going to be quite fine from what we could tell. We had the overpriced, at least you never really feel as if you get your monies worth, buffet breakfast before heading back to really hike the Trail of the Cedars.

Last time we just walked a poriton of this 0.7 or so mile loop to reach the Avalanche Lake trail. Today we intended to really wallk the whole loop and see the forest properly. The red cedars, larch, and hemlock. The cedars are really what take your breath away. While it is true most of the trees in this forest are centuries old the cedars struck me as the most imposing with their massive trunks rising straight into the air. The forest has an open regal feel to it and a sense of quiet wonder is easy to imagine if you pause for a moment. Add to this the roaring Avalanche Creek with its frothing white yet slightly blue tinged water tearing down the mountainside and it is easy to see how people could see this area as sacred.



The glacial silt, sometimes called glacial flour, helps add color to the frothing water of McDonald Creek.

We drove down to Apgar Village to hike around the southern end of McDonald Lake. We toyed with the notion of hiking the western shore trail that runs some 7 miles along the shore of the lake but we were not about to do a 14 mile out-and-back hike (if only you could hike it one way and catch a shuttle back to your car). So we decided to do the 1.9 mile hike that would take us along the Rocky Point Nature Loop trail. What makes this collection of trail particularly interesting is that you find yourself hiking through burned and unburned areas. The Roberts fire of 2003 burned a substantial portion of the park and you can see some of the boundary lines where the fire stopped quite easily. Fish Creek marks one of those lines: on one side tall mature trees stand and on the other scores of denuded trunks remain pointing to the sky (most are lodgepole pine). It is a rather stark boundary. But it is important to remember that the fire helps promote new growth. As we walked the easy path through the now nine year old burn area we saw many wildflowers blooming as well as saplings of mountain maple. I expect new lodgepole pine were growing too. The amoount of low-growing plants in this area surpassed anything we had seen so far.









Looking out on the southern end of Lake McDonald from the western shore along Rocky Point Nature Trail. Here (top) the trees have mostly escaped the 2003 fire though if you turn a little bit (bottom) you can see the results of that fire.

We enjoyed our gentle hike along this nature trail wishing we knew a bit more about what we were seeing. A couple of signs provide some minimal information but that is all. We encountered a few other people enjoying what had turned into a very warm day including a hiking group from West Glacier that seems to focus on getting small children out into the wilderness. Great for them.

After the easy hike was done we had a fine lunch at Eddies in Apgar Village. Good burgers and sandwhiches and a superior huckleberry milkshake served in a classic metal milkshake glass and more than large enough to satisfy the three of us. Perosnally I think this little restaurant was definitely a step up from what we had in the lounge at McDonald Lodge. A damn fine milkshake indeed.


The view from the DeSmet. It really is a very pretty lake.

We tried to find one more hike but ended up bailing just a few tenths of a mile short of the northern terminus of the western shore Lake McDonald trail. The single lane dirt road just seemed to be getting to be a bit much for the car. We rounded out the afternoon with a boat tour on Lake McDonald. The 82 year old boat, the DeSmet, takes people on an hour-long tour that runs up and down the lake. A ranger gives a bit of commentary that really was nothing to special (I think she did better answering questions one-on-one). It was a nice way to see the landscape from the brilliant green waters of the lake. If you are looking for something relaxing to do this is certainly an option. Definitely better than sitting on the grounds outside the lodge wondering if the Columbian Ground Squirrels (whistlepigs) are going to assault you.

Glacier National Park, Day 8 - June 13, 2012

Just before reaching Snydet Lake we had to cross a couple sizable patches of snow. If you stepped into a hole you could expect to sink a couple of feet if not more. With the sun high and bright in the sky I found I had to squint as I crossed the snow.

We awoke to partly cloudy skies. What a wonderful change. Sunshine was shining through the windows our rooms and the day promised to be much more pleasant from the outset than the previous day had been. It is always easier to get moving and out and about when it is not grey and raining. Anyone who has had to do camp chores in the rain knows this to be true.

It is easily a 40 mile drive from Kalispel to Lake McDonald. We arrived at the Sperry Trailhead which is across from the Lake McDoanld Lodge a little after 09:30 and were on the trail by 09:45. The temperature was probably right around 50F at this point but we expected to warm right up as the trail, a 4.4 mile hike to Snyder Lake (9.9 miles round trip) would ascend 2,147 feet. At first the trail is very wide, easily wide enough for a car to drive though it really is a trail and never was a road of any type. The climb is actually pretty steep probably gaining 600 feet in the first 0.6 miles before easing off and rising an additional 400 feet over the subsequent mile. You will find yourself striding through forest here but it has a different feel from the climax forest of hemlocks you find when walking a trail like the Johns Lake Loop. This forest has more variety of trees; it certainly has shrubs and such growing at ground level. In the background, sounding temptingly close but invisible, is the roar of Snyder Creek tumbling down into Lake McDonald. I don't think you ever actually see the creek. Now and then during the initial climb a view of Lake McDonald becomes visible but it never was much of a photographic moment. I'd say we had better views of Jenny Lake when we hiked up to Inspiration Point.

After we passed the intersection that heads one way to Snyder Lake and in the opposite direction to Fish Lake the climbing became much easier. But the trail grew considerably wetter. The word our guidebook uses to describe the trail conditions is "damp" and I think this is an understatement. The trail narrows from the very wide to traditional trail-width and begins heading north-northeast slowly gaining elevation over the next 2.8 miles. Numerous small streams, surely seasonal, flow from north to south draining into Snyder Creek. These streams turn many stretches of the trail, which you share with horse traffic (though we saw no horses) into muddy quagmires. I suppose it isn't practical to put puncheon over the worst stretches given that would probably make the trail tougher for the horses but it sure would make it easier to keep your feet dry without making slight detours off the trail to find a higher drier patch of ground. I suppose if you are wearing ankle-high shoes, espeically waterproof lined ones, this will not be a problem but if you are wearing low-cut shoes espeically trail runners expect to soak your feet in water and mud. I certainly did.

We found the ascent was slow going as we tried to avoid the worst of the muck but it wasn't a tough climb. As we ascended we noticed that the plants seemed to be changing somewhat. For example, we started to notice glacier lillies and bunches of bear grass and cow parsnip along the way. When we came to a scree field we started to hear the high piping squeaks of pika calling to each other. I suppose they were announcing our presence. They had to do that a lot as several small groups of people were on the trail at the same time we were. One duo were clearly doing trail maintenance: a two-man chainsaw crew whose work we encountered a couple of times. Thanks.

After leaving the scree field and the well defined rocky path we came to our last major obstacle: a large snow field. This snow patch was quite firm and probably close to 3 feet deep. Certainly the couple of holes I stepped into swallowed my leg up to my thigh. We carefully worked our way across the snow following the footsteps of those who had gone before and in due time came to the bridge that crosses the outlet for Snyder Lake.



While perhaps not quite as ete catching as Avalanche Lake Snyder Lake is still quite pretty.

Snyder Lake is a small lake. It sits in a basin that though nice didn't have quite the same wow factor we expereienced wtih Avalanche Lake. That isn't to say it wasn't nice; just not quite as eye catching. You can hike farther around to see additional views of the lake and we went a little ways around (nowhere near as far as some) before we turned back to return to the trailhead.



The flora changed as we climbed the 2,147 from the trailhead to Snyder Lake. That is one reason I enjoyed this hike even with its sometimes annoying muddy stretches.

The return trip went onsiderably more quickly than the ascent did. We managed to travel through the muddy stretches more quickly than we had on the outbound leg and the steep descent down the wide poriton of trail seemed to fly by. We probably descended the 4.4 miles at least 30 minutes more quickly than we had done the outbound journey.

The afternoon was spent in either our small rustic rooms or in the main lodge. The rooms aren't much. They're small and the furnishings are definitely nothing to write home about. In some ways they are a bit reminiscent of the rooms we had in Tortuguero, Costa Rica though those rooms were more airy. I know Dad was less than thrilled with our lodging.

Glacier National Park, Day 7 - June 13, 2012

Avalanche Lake sits some 500 feet above the main road at the end of a trail that is a bit more than 2 miles long. It felt like we climbed more than that but I suppose that could be in part due to the rainy conditions. It was a lovely lake and I can imagine people hanging out on the wide beach for a while.

Today was our first full day in Kalispel, MT which is a fairly sizeable though rather spread out town that lies several dozen miles outside of Glacier National Park. This means we will have some lengthy driving to do to get to our planned hikes. To get here we had a lengthy but uneventful travelling day. The travel took us through some fine national forests including much time spent driving along the Galetin River. We also lucked out in finding such pleasing little places like the Coffee Pot coffe/bakery/pottery crafts shop in Four Corners and the pleasant little bar Trixie some hours later where we had lunch.

Today when we got up we learned that the weather report we had read was accurate. It was cooler and raining on and off. The rain showers were never very hard but the rain was incessant and that definitely had an effect on the hiking. We decided that we would do a couple shorter hikes to get a sense of the area around Lake McDonald. We will be staying at the lodge by Lake McDonald for two nights which will shorten some of our travel time considerably. Our first hike was going to be a basic loop around Johns Lake. This is a gentle hike of a bit more than 3 miles.



The forest around Johns Lake is a lush one of hemlocks and cedars. Near the edges more ground over appears with patches of bear grass like this. Within the forest depths it is a different story. Not much light, and rain, gets down to ground level.

The forest here is lush. Hemlocks grow tall in the forest here and I think we walked by firs and cedars too. I'm sure we strolled by many other types of trees too but I don't think any of them were diciduous trees like maple, oak, or beech to name just three. The forest canopy was dense enough that we did not find much growing at ground level. Bear grass popped up now and then and you would think ferns would abound but we saw very few.The walking was easy and the rain barely reached us through the forest canopy. You could see the numerous raindrops rippling the green surface of the very small Johns Lake. The licheons that shroud much of the forest must love this amount of water.

Perhaps the highlight for this loop hike is the views you get of McDonald (?) Creek as it rushes headlong down into Lake McDonald. From the bridge you can see a waterfall upstream and torrents of water roiling below. A few whispy clouds cling to the side of the mountains in the dstance rising towards the completely overcast spitting sky. At this point we started to follow a somewhat more muddy horse trail. We missed our turning and ended up walking perhaps a half mile more down the horse trail before realizing our error. I think the horse trail popped out not that far west of where the proper loop trail pops out. Walking the proper trail just above the roaring creek was a very nice change from the horse trail. The last bit of the hike along the main road was a bit soggy and uninteresting but overall we enjoyed the loop and our first glimpse of this forest that reminded Mom and Dad somewhat of forests in the Pacific Northwest.



McDonald Creek is a fast flowing stream. Later on when crossing the second bridge we could see where the creek flowed into Lake McDonald looking rather like an ocean. But here what caught our attention were the wispy clouds rising against the mountains.

We did not want to eat our purchased sandwhiches standing in the rain. We went to the Lake McDonald Lodge and had lunch there and I must say the lodge seems like a wholly congenial place. Standing by the fireplace just before leaving was a real joy. It felt nice to soak up the heat and let it dry my pants. We intended to hike to Avalanche Lake which is a trail that starts just before the road is currently closed to through traffic. We parked by the start of the Trail of the Cedars and put on our rainwear.

The drizzle continued on and off as we walked the boardwalk and paved trail that leads to the start of the trail to Avalanche Lake. That trail is mostly a dirt trail though at the start you walk above the roaring, how else, Avalanche Creek atop red rocks. For anyone with good vision and normal balance this is not going to be a problem. I found the rocks a bit slippery and annoying to tread. But the rocky section did not last long and soon we were walking along a gently rising dirt trail.

The guidebook says the trail ascends 500 feet but I think this is actually a bit low. I In dry conditions I am sure it is an easy trail for anyone of decent fittness to walk. In the rain it is a bit more daunting though still hardly a strenuous workout (we did see some people on the trail that seemed woefully unprepared).

The forest again was rich and dense with tall trees. It really is a very nice forest trail. It just seemed to take us longer than I think we expected it would. The rain slowly wetted out my pants. I am pretty sure the clammy feeling I felt along my torso was sweat. Of all of us I think Mom was dealing with the rain the best in her Glacier Blue poncho and purple rain pants. But as I have already noted the rain really wasn't that bad and while under the cover of the trees not that many drops actually struck us.

We passed by what we had first thought was the lake but turned out to be simply an open space along Avalanche Creek. We still had perhaps a half mile of gentle ascent before we reached the goal: Avalanche Lake. This lake sits in a cirque that has several tall thin waterfalls pouring down into it. The snowfields of some of the mountains reflected wonderfully in the waters of Avalanche Lake. I suspect the water is both clear and quite cold. It's probably a wonderful emerald green when the skies aren't quite so overcast but I'm not sure of that. It is though, without doubt, a very pretty spot and well worth the 2.7 mile hike even though it is a popular hike. We were actually rahter surprised at how many people we passed heading in both directions on this wet afternoon. Many people were dressed in what seeemd to us as woefully inadequate clothing.



One last view of Avalanche Lake.

We made the descent back to the cars more quickly than I think we did the ascent. Some of that was my usual slowdown where descents are concerned but I also did not need to stop for a nature break. I think my particular problem, no reason to go into detail here, may be a bit worse of late. Maybe I will be able to do something about that in time but that has not proven to be the case so far.

We were all glad we had done this hike. The rain had subsided during our time at Avalanche Lake but that was really the only respite. We began the drive out of the park passing the large deep green Lake McDonald as we dropped elevation and left the park under the still overcast skies that were now showing a bit of brilliant sun peering through. By the time we reached Kalispel a lot of the clouds had dispersed and the sun was shining through a partly cloudy sky: figures - the hiking was done and the weather finally got really nice.

All in all we probably hiked somewher around 9.0 to9.5 miles today. It was a very good day even though the weather wasn't what most would consider ideal. Sure we got a bit wet but that was alright.

Yellowstone National Park Day 5 - June 11, 2012

It is about 1.2 miles to the Monument Geyser Basin from the trailhead. The bulk of the 650 foot ascent is done on steep switchbacks like this one over 0.65 miles. You do get some nice views of the valley and Gibon River.

Today dawned with sunshine and pretty cloudless skies. The forecast was for a high temperature of around 61F and partly cloudy skies. That would be quite a change from the previous day if it came to pass. We decided we would again do a few shorter hikes to get a better sense of the geography and ecology in the area. The drive into the park this morning was not that bad - no real slowdowns for gawking as we drove towards Madison Junction and then along the Gibon River to the trailhead for Monument Geyser Basin Trail.

The trail to Monument Geyser travels along the narrow Gibon River for a short time and then quickly ascends to the top of the mountain where the geyser basin is located. At the outset you are walking through densely packed lodgepole pine forest. I believe this is young forest that has been growing since the 1988 forest fire. You can still see plenty of signs of that fire in the form of bare burnt tree trunks and downed logs. After about 0.7 miles the trail turns away from the river and road and begins its quick steep ascent along dirt switchbacks: gaining about 650 feet in about 0.65 miles. It is steep climbing but the footing is prety good. If the trail has a flaw it is the traffic sound you can hear as you climb (a problem anywhere really given how road-accessible the park is). We got some great views of the Gibon River winding its way across the valley as we continued the ascent. In due time we reached the summit. We could smell sulfur so we knew we were nearing the geyser basin. The sun warmed us but we also lost some of the shelter from the trees so the effects of the breeze were more pronounced. When the geyser basin came into view we saw a few places where steam was rising and water was bubbling. No doubt there are times when geysers erupt in a showy fashion but for us at this time their was not that much obvious activity.



The geysers here at Monument Basin did not put on much of a show for us but they are active.

Until we were nearing the end of the descent back down the switchbacks we had not encountered anyone on the trail. In the last third of the descent we passed three couples heading up. That seems to have been our pattern: seeing very few if any people on the outbound leg and then seeing many people heading outbound as we retrace our steps. Persoanlly, I am glad we pretty much had this trail to ourselves. It is nice to view even a less-active geyser basin that is a bit more remote and not mobbed by throngs of people.

Of course, some of the best geothermal areas of the park are mobbed by people. Our next stop was the Artist Paintpots basin whcih is full of mudpots, bubblers, and maybe a geyser or two. The minerals in the bubbling water have colored the immediate surroundings in reds, yellows, and even milky blues. If you pause to listen you can hear rushing boiling water sounds as well as the distinctive bubbling sound that escaping gas makes as it causes mud to bubble. Artist Paintpots is a popular place.









Artist Paintpots Basin has it all. From bubbling mud pots, colorful blue pools, to steaming geysers and not springs all surrounded by trees. The top photo looks from the trail junction of the loop and path to the parking lot. The bottom photo peers back towards the parking lot from one of the high overlooks.

Like many other geyser basins trees and the like grow right up to the point where they cannot do so. We strolled down the wide accessible path for about a third of a mile to the boardwalk and gravel paths that loop around the paintpots. If you trek the whole way around you will hike a little more than a mile: anyone can do this it is totally accessible except for a few steps. Although the parking lot was quite crowded once we began walking the loop it did not seem all that bad except at a couple of the grander viewpoints. I am sure during the high season things would be different but we did not feel overwhelmed.

After lunch at Madsion Junction where the chipmunks have definitely figured out that if they hang out by the picnic table they can fatten up on leftovers we set out for our final hike of the day. We had heard about Purple Mountain from a park ranger as an interesting place to explore so we decided to check it out.

Purple Mountain Trail runs from the road at Madison Junction to the top of Purple Mountain about 1,500 feet above the road. The trail is about 3.2 miles long. At first you gently wind your way, slowly ascending, through sub-alpine forests. In fact the trail made us think of hiking trails through forest back east. It was quite enjoyable hiking through the surprisingly quiet forest. The loudest sound, sadly, was the road but now and then you would catch the twitter of birdsong.

Perhaps a bit over 1.7 miles in the switchbacks really begin. At first you are switchbacking back and forth through the forest on a dirt trail but soon enough this changes. The trail become more sandy with small stone, a bit akin to scree slopes, and the forest begins to give way. Trees and shrubs cling to the edge of the mountain and you begin to get views out to the south. On a clear day we were told you can see all the way to the Tetons but I don't think we saw anywhere near that far this time. For the next mile or so the trail gains about 800 feet traversing rather long switchbacks. The footing is pretty good even though the trail is at times a bit narrow.

When you get to the mountaintop you may be a bit dissapointed as there are no real views on the tree covered summitt. However, there are places to sit down and enjoy a snack on a warm afternoon and we did that before beginning our journey down the switchbacks. I am sure that a person with normal vision and balance could zip down the 9, I think that's right, switchback far more quickly than I did. It took me about 45 minutes to reach what I would call the non-switchback portion of the trail. For the next 25 minutes we worked our way down the forest path before crossing paths with the first other people we would see on the trail. Perhaps that small group is hoping to see a nice sunset from a switchback. We spent a bit more than 3.5 hours on the trail taking a few nice breaks along the way. We enjoyed the trail.