I felt today I needed be on schedule. It’s a drive out to all the thermo pools and
having to cross the continental divide feels like it's that much more work on the energy level of things.
So I didn’t finish my instant noodle breakfast. I put it in the trunk and drove off with it. I noticed five hours later, clumps of plastic
formations waxy hard were floating on the surface.
It was so gross, I was shocked by how I have been putting this unnatural
thing into my body. This cannot be good for the body.
I arrived at Midway Basin and sat in the parking lot to
do my hair and put on sun block. When I
stepped out I noticed bald eagles and ospreys were going at it with the
crows. The bald eagles and ospreys were
teaming up against the crows. It might be because the crows snatch their babies and devours them.
It was quite a scene in the sky.
The Firehole River was beautiful. I
enjoyed the walks on the trail. I finished my nice
strolls before three tour buses unloaded all their passengers. They flew to the restrooms. I guess their bus did not have a restroom.
I decided I would skip the two mile hike that connected
Fairy Falls and Grand Prismatic Spring.
I would have to walk through unstable ground and this would strain my
already very strained right side of my body.
So I drove to the Fairy Falls parking lot, it was packed and so I just
parked along the road instead.
Grand Prismatic Spring was beautiful. While photographing plants and bugs I noticed
beautiful cloud formations through the trees.
As I looked through my camera screen, I saw a pair of antlers reflected
on the mirror of the spring. I looked out
and saw that it was a male elk. It was a
breath taking moment. It was better than
Harry Potter’s patronas. The elk
continued to get bigger as he walked closer towards me. He grazed at nearby greens. I stood there admiring the raw beauty he
wore. He was a young adult and had
velvety antlers, they were large. Then
he walked close and passed by on the trial for the shrubs. What a gift, perfect timing, just magical to
be present in that way, just like that. I
would have missed it if I opted for a short cut on the trail. This made my day! Grand Prismatic Springs was already an amazing
beautiful sight and this was like extra serving of dessert on top of what was already an amazing meal. 
I continued on the trail and the sky began to rain. I pulled out backpack rain protection cover
and stood under a tree for a bit. I
contemplated what I should do next. The
option given that it was raining was to turn around and be done with this trail or
to continue regardless. I decided I would continue
on the trail and that my soft shell jacket was up for the task of keeping me dry, figuring that was why I paid so much for it. The trail itself was not spectacular to me. It was also full of mosquitoes and I got plenty of bits. They went through my clothes, the only part that was protected was the areas that had a soft shell on. The trail was a combination of burnt old growth and new growth. I looked at the pain and devastation of the burnt twisted fallen trees and found it to be visually overwhelming to take in.
I saw a family of four backpacking. The children were in elementary school. I admired them and recalled how I used to do
that. I then had an internal meeting about
it, “I’d like to do that.” “Not, I don’t
want to haul all the weight, day trips are okay.”
I was feeling hungry after a mile of strolling. I told myself I'd eat crackers when I am
making a u-turn on the trail. I saw
Fairy Falls from afar and called it a day.
All falls are different, unique, and has it’s own beauty, and I find it
a challenge to not compare it to Yosemite Falls. As I munched on my cracker, I followed two
women and eaves dropped their conversations about jam.
Then I invited myself into their conversation. Geri makes famous jams and gives them away as
gifts. I finally inquired on how to make
jams. Through this conversation I learned
not getting the right pectin and the proper amount of sugar made the difference
of success or failure in jam canning process. That the sugar
had to be added last after the fruits bubbled in boil. We just kept on chatting about fruits,
vegetables, pies, etc…
Geri needs a hip replacement and refuses so she limps
instead. Geri’s husband died of a heart
attack while smoking on their Alaska trip on a boat. He was very happy on that trip. She decided she couldn’t live in the same
place they shared their lives in and moved to Lander, Wyoming to be near
mountains and grow her own vegetables and fruits. She loves slide photography and her husband
took care of many things for her. She
said she’d just go and quit photography if she can’t do slides anymore because
it is all she knows in this digital era.
That it is all she has and she doesn’t want to move up into the digital
world. That it is too much of a
challenge for her with computers etc… I
recommend she get a neighborhood teenager geek and trade work for jam. I advised her not to give up photography, it
would be giving up the “Zone”. I didn’t
know what her religious orientation is, I just called it “The Zone”. I saw she heard me and something clicked
inside her and she got it. I think this was the entire purpose of this hike.
Yes there is a
photography zone. It’s meditation,
focus, concentration, spiritual, and I find it very important, something you can't just quit.
I told Geri I was a wedding photographer and I am now a
substitute teacher. Geri said she always
felt fortunate to come across a teacher.
She decided to give me a jar of jam from her truck. I said I’ll take a scoop not the whole jar
and she said she’s got tons and wants me to have a jar. I told her I’ll accept her gift if she
accepts my gift of Belgium chocolate. We
both agreed and it was a happy exchange waiting to happen. 
Sometimes the trail or Fairy Falls in this case or the
object of the goal is just a bait to string you along, the real goal and
objective is to come across others and let answers surface, deep healings to
begin, and remember how much strength you have to stand tall and strong on
solid reliable ground.
I find it amazing that they found me amazing and
inspiring, an example to model after, a goal to strive to. The chocolate was definitely for them. I carried them from afar and took great care, all for them.
I was very tired after this and it was 1pm when I pulled
over to Biscuit Basin and strolled around the beautiful water, the colors were
of blue sapphire. I loved all this
beauty. To enjoy Yellowstone National
Park you have to love animal sightings and looking at pools of colorful water
and to accomplish this, you have to slow down.
Mystic Falls, mosquitoes attacked me while I pee behind a
tree. I have always found that to be a
unfair play by the mosquitoes. Restroom
time should be time out time. On the way back I looped to Shell Spring and
felt the warm sauna blown by the wind and stood there for a body healing. I
decided to take my shoes and socks off for a feet sole healing. I sat there for fifteen minutes and just
inhaled it all in. It rejuvenated
me. I didn’t get my feet soaked but I
got a sauna bath. The Shell Spring
coincides with Jewel Geyser.
Jewel Geyser goes off every ten minutes. Shell Spring empties out after the geyser
sprays. The spring bubbles and fills in
preparation for the spray.
I munched on chips in the car. I was hungry and I was still an hour away
from camp. I can’t look at the mileage,
it is 35mph over the continental divide and I drive slower for safety in my very old car.
An elderly couple said there was another car accident on
the road. There seems to be like one per
day here. At Yosemite it is like one
bear break-ins per day and here it’s car accident. Exercise caution!
The drive back to camp was exhausting. I started to wonder off mentally on Harry
Potter and Twilight Saga on how well each book was written and how I should
read them again and how I should spend that time instead of reading sutras
etc.. Seriously? Really? Not a wise wondering to follow, totally bad advice is what my well rested mind would be clear to recognize.
I was so tired that when I got back to camp I laid on the
hammock for twenty minutes to lift my feet up and rest. My right ankle hurts, it actually went
numb. I can walk better today but just
five hours of strolling on flat trail wiped me out.
I ate buttery avocado with nori, nutritional yeast, and
then I cooked quinoa in lime and herbs mixed in with beans, green bell pepper
and aloo mutter. I also drank two cups
of honey water. I made pancake in heart
shape and really enjoyed maple syrup. I
dug into Geri’s blueberry jam. It wasn’t
very sweet and that was nice. I had
Darjeerling tea with my pancake dessert.
