To get the full impact of this magnificent country we call the Yellowstone Ecosystem simply click onto an image to enlarge it to full screen size

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July 19, 2010

I usually take mondays and tuesdays off at the gallery and from painting and spend that time in the mountains. Yesterday Vicki and I took off at 5:30 pm and headed towards the East Fork River trailhead. It is a 22 mile drive off the hiway over an increasingly rough road particularly the last 4 miles on the Shoshone National Forest. The scenery is to die for. Castle Rock rises skyward and is the leading landmark as you drive up the valley. This area is maintained for winter elk habitat and is amagnificent mix of badlands, high hills, grass and cottonwood filled valley floor. The road rises higher and higher towards the peaks of the Absarokas.

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July 19, 2010

Leaving the valley floor we climb into the hills. Eocene era badlands give way to rock faces of many colors and descriptions. All lending themselves to a rainbow color of land forms.

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July 19, 2010
We finally make our way up and over a pass and drop down into the East Fork Basin. This is wild country with many peaks and timber covered ridges interspersed with sage and the East Fork river itself flowing along the valley floor until it enters a deep canyon to emerge further down country onto those meadows we had followed just 30 minutes earlier.
I did a pack trip into the headwaters of the East Fork River several years ago and camped at the base ot the steep sloped mountain on the left. It is an extinct volcano.

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July 19, 2010
Coming to the trailhead the afternoon is fast turning to evening with the westward coursing of the sun.
With bear spray, camera and lenses and binoculars in hand we hike up the steep trail that leads into the wilderness to where we can look out over the river bottoms both upstream and downstream being able to see a lot of country and mountainsides leading up above timberline. It is quite a view of a lot of great country

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July 19, 2010

From a vantage point high above the river bottoms with binoculars it is fun to scan the countryside searching for wildlife that might be found among the sage, pine covered mountainsides. There has to be many including Grizzlies but they are just not visible to us. The river bottom is covered in willows that alone could hide anything.

We are alone in the basin except for the sounds of Clarks nutcrakers that are jay like going about their business announcing to all of our presence. That and the constant hum of mosquitos. Thank goodness for mosquito spray

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Wildflowers cover the basin in an array of color and form. These American Bistort amongst the sagebrush and aspens are only a sampling of what can be seen.