Eclipse Trip! - The Hoodoos

We were so excited for our second hike in Yellowstone. It took some thought to decide on a trail. Initially, Danny wanted to do the suspension bridge over the Hellroaring River...but I know I don't love heights and I was pretty sure my Mom was even less of a fan than I am so I convinced him to try that trail another time. We decided on the Hoodoos Trail in the northern part of the park. In our trail book, it described the Hoodoos as an "other-worldy rock formation". Sounded like a neat hike to us! 

We invited Mark and Megan to come up from Rexburg and join us for our hike, and they were totally down. They met us at the cabin first thing in the morning and then we all piled in the suburban and made our way into the park. I guess we failed to explain to everyone that doesn't come to Yellowstone every year that it's about an hour-long drive to get to the north part of the park. Oops. :) But everyone was a good sport about it...even when Claire got carsick. Poor thing.

It was an absolutely perfect day for a hike! The weather was cool, but not cold, and the sky was clear.   Danny and I were particularly pumped, because we knew from our previous hiking experience that there would probably not be more than a few hikers on this trail. The northern part of the park seems to be less congested, which makes for amazing hiking! The trail started out in a sagebrush meadow, with Swan Lake behind us. The colors were just amazing...every shade of green reflected in the sage brush, with soft lavender sage flowers, yellow and purple wildflowers, and the browns of the mountains in the distance. The air was clear and sweet, and the only sounds around us were the birds and the breeze. I swear, it feeds your soul...

It didn't take long before the scenery began to change, and we entered the tree line. Tall pines surrounded the trail, and gave the air that wonderful mountain smell. We all enjoyed walking and talking, and just soaking up the wonderfulness that is Yellowstone. Once Danny figure we were around the halfway point we started watching for a nice place to eat lunch. We entered a more heavily-wooded area with some fallen trees to provide seating, and it was the perfect place for a rest and lunch. It was here that Danny realize that my new Apple Watch could remotely activate the camera on my phone...so we were able to get a selfie by propping my phone in a tree! Gotta love technology!

Feeling recharged, we hit the trail again. We were all pretty excited to see these "Hoodoos", but we weren't quite sure what to expect...or when to expect it. So every rock we'd see, the kids would say "Look! A baby hoodoo!" After a while, we really started to wonder if we were ever going to get to these other-worldly rock formations! We kept on hiking, and the terrain started to change...again. It was so incredible to see such a variety on one single hike! Yellowstone hikes are cool like that. :) The hike was a loop around a mountain, and as we came toward the side we started at, we got an awesome view of Bunsen Peak. That's a hike we really want to do, but it's pretty strenuous. The kids are going to have to get older before we conquer that trail...but we'll do it someday!

Finally, after hours of hiking, we started to see some interesting rock formations. But the kids were pretty skeptical that we had finally found the Hoodoos...the were pretty puny and unimpressive. :)

And then we finally entered the Hoodoos!! It was totally worth the hours of unimpressive rocks we thought might be the Hoodoos. :) And as it turned out, "other-worldly" was as apt description! It's almost like a rock graveyard. These boulders have fallen from the mountain above, and so everything looks very unnatural. Instead of exposed rock from the earth, these are rocks that have landed at odd angles and on top of other rocks at odd angles. It was so amazingly cool to walk through there! It would be an amazing place to just stay for a few hours and explore!

As we exited the Hoodoos, we came upon a doe and her fawn on the trail. She was just gorgeous, and her fawn was adorable...though he bounded into the brush before I could get a clear picture of him. But if you look close you can still see him. Claire and Sophie were so excited to find some wild raspberries on the side of the trail. They wanted to try them, but I couldn't be 100% they weren't deathberries disguised as raspberries, so they settled for a picture. :)

After having hiked 5.4 miles the day before, we all started to feel pretty tired as the trail wandered on before us. We've never combined hikes back-to-back like this before. But I have to say, even with my legs feeling the fatigue our kids just kept hiking along! No one complained. They just kept going! It helps that Mark and Megan were there...my kids adore their cousins, and it helped to keep it fun for them. However, I think we were all a little jealous of Joseph that he could sleep whenever he wanted. :) 

I still can't believe how much I have grown to love hiking. And I love that Danny and I love to do it together, and with our kids. There's something about the physical exertion, and being outside...it just puts our souls at ease. I love the time we get to talk, and not talk. Mostly, I love hiking and I love Danny and I love our kids. :)

Well, about four hours and 6.76 miles later we finished our hike! The end part was a bit more strenuous than we had anticipated...especially for Grandma Candy's bum knee. But even with a limp in her step, she couldn't stop talking about how awesome that was. Really, all of us were just amazed at what we had just accomplished and what we had been able to see and experience. I'll say it again, the best way to experience Yellowstone is by hiking!

Admittedly, we were pretty exhausted. But it was absolutely worth hiking two days in a row to fit both of those hikes into our weekend. We can't wait to get back next summer!