last days of trip with photos

After the hike, we reached boulder montana a spa kind of place with thermal hot pools, but before rest, we needed some health food. the problem, this small town at night, even on a friday night , the only open places are a pizza place and a bar. so we went to this bikers bar. we sat down expecting service, and after a few minutes, tha bar guy calls us to him, says he is busy, never seen this before in the US, but that is why you travel, to experiance new things. our healthy burger meak was very tasty, this bar had some cowboys playing pool and shuffleboard under a ceiling of many beers/girls photos, after refuling our stomach, we returned to the hotel for an extreme scrubbing shower.

 

next morning we tried our scrumptious breakfast which was good and we dipped in the natural hot spring pool. we headed out to explore montana, state number 43. butte is a mining town with closed mines today, beyond its glory days, but the signs of mines are everywhere with memorials, huge exavators, mining towers, and colorfull hils. the mineral museum showed all kinds of gems and minerals, including glow in the dark florescence gems, the derbi place server good steak and without noticing the day was half over.in the evening we went to helena, the capitol city, but went to late and barely got to see the state capitol building before it was too dark. later we went to see 'the campaign', i was on the flor from laughing so much, go see it.

next morning after the same scrumptious breakfast we went to see a ghost town, several empty building later we left this town disappointed after not seeing a single ghost and not impressed by these buildings. we then headed for a stalagmite cave for a 2 hour tour, nice cave but not a must, we reached bosemand and did a little tour of the city, these post hike days for meant for relaxation, we explored a bit , didnt do much and rested.

 

the below links contain photos from the last few days and more hiking photos

 

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the 4 days before or suitcase tales

the first and last days of the trip, before and after the 4 day hike.

while we were traveling incident free (an incident by itself) from Cleveland, our travel companions Libbi (a.k.a mom) and Moti traveled from Dallas and st. Louis respectively to meet us. Dallas has 2 airport, a mega huge one and a tiny monitor less airport, mom flew from there. a short connection and a very late plane made her nervous. they were supposed to meet in Denver for the next flight to .Bozeman. the Dallas plane left very late and was not scheduled to land before the Denver one would take off, lucky, the Denver flight was late as well and in the airport they still talk about the strange husband who distracted the stewardess, misplaced the pilot's keys, loosened some air in the plane tires and begged them all to make the flight delay just a bit longer so that my mom would make this flight, amazingly she did, how ever, moti's suitcase (from st. Louis, remember) decided not to fly to Denver, boring place for a suit case, but decided to go to Chicago instead, how come, no one knows, perhaps there was a reunion.

 

the next morning, we all met in bozeman, minus the suit case. we got a full size car after instructing everyone to pack less then usual. we met for lunch in a place that had matzo ball soup! i couldn't resist, but I wish I had resisted, no flavor, after gathering every one's belonging including the overdue case that arrived unescorted from Chicago (moti made a complaint about the missing case, and after he picked it up the next day, the airline didn't even bother to check if he got his stuff... you can always trust the airlines), we realised that we need a bigger car, since no one (my self included obeyed the instructions of packing light). so we got something bigger that eats too much gas and even in that , things were tight. at this point, moti realised he forgot his glasses at the hotel, and called, after many attempt to reach house cleaning, nothing was found, this was not his day.

 

well it was a trip after all and we headed towards our 1st hike, not far from Bozeman, it took us time to find this trail, and surprisingly, there was no gas station or any store at this exit, a problem for us without water, lucky there was a house by the trail, and we walked in. the owners were not there but workers did whatever they did and let us use the hose to fill up. shortly after we begun hiking few miles straight with some tiny creek crossing over bridges or rocks then the trail went up and up. not all of us are in shape and at some point we decided to head back shamefully without reaching the top. the way down was much easier and we passed a biker riding this hill to the top, insane people. we kept going east and passed a bear sanctuary, rescued bear that were seriously abused for years in private homes can be found here, these people should be shot! the bear are cute in their enclosure, but it did not mean we get to say we have seen a bear in nature.

 

after an avocado and  recharge (+cappuccino) at sub way for some (and non avocado bagel for me) we headed south to Gardiner, the entrance to yellow stone.

dinner was at the lighthouse, this place was filled with photos of ships, lighthouses and mariner things, strange since Montana has no ocean, after asking the very enthusiastic waiter, we found that it is name after a similar business in this area...ahh, why that business was named the lighthouse we don't know. good food though.

next morning we entered the park and found a group of 6 elk , females and young, sleeping right outside the gates, this discovery was a promise to an animal full week.

 

we reached the information center\hotel and loaded up with maps and the must essentials such as cappuccino and ice cream and headed for beaver ponds trail. the trail goes up right away and after 190 meters!! world record distance, there was a request for rest and a break!, 190 meters... after the break we kept going and saw a big fox or a small coyote, we are not positive, either way this foyote ran back and forth and we were excited. this trail goes by several beaver ponds, 8k of trail with lots of not too steep ups and downs. we saw a few chip monks, squirrel, butterflies, very noisy grasshopper, which look like butterflies when they jump and make a very unique sound. and one snake, well I didn't see the Snake though I stood 2 paces behind the seer, who swore it was a snake. on the way back we passed a mother and cub elk walking in the forest and a woodpecker. we reached the end point, Mammoth falls which are geyser falls, and after leaving the cappuccino drinkers for a grazing session on the grass, we headed to see the interesting geyser pools and colorful bacteria that surrounds it. after this short hike we all went (after getting more cappuccino ) to a place where a boiling river meets a cool creek and creating a warm soaking area. we soaked for a while enjoying the warmth of the water, then passed by the visitor center once again, no cappuccino this time, and headed for a mile long trail to some falls, the trail and falls were not impressive, but we did see our 1st posing Marmot, sitting on a log, then eating and running around, very nice. after another stop at an impressive falls (with photos but no need for a hike ) we passed the visitor center once again, no drinks and headed south for West Yellowstone for the night. on the way we passed more geysers of various sizes. the MC lounge provided us with decent bison nachos (though we have not seen bison yet) and other good food.

 

Next morning, after good breakfast + cappuccino, (yes they are addicted) we returned to the park for faerie falls trail, the road goes by geyser pools of various shapes and geyser clouds can be seen where ever you look. the flat hike passed a growing forest and we actually missed a sitting bull elk at the side of the road, we headed back and saw it after someone told us, the brute was sitting and regurgitating its food without a care in the world, the falls were tall but not much water, but a chipmunk wanting food played with us and posed (got no food from us, it is a nature preserve, but did from others) , we also saw a few more Marmots. we decided then to not go directly back but make a detour, not a great move, it made the trail too long and w ran out of water in a very hot day without seeing any animals. we got to the car a few hours later thirsty but satisfied (not too thirsty), we walked to another geyser area, some places have boardwalks and you can get close to the mist and bubbling mud and clear blue pools of death.

 

dinner was bad, bison steak, lean they say, is just chewy mess. i wish they had lined a cow next to this lean steak for some flavor.

our last day started with a bald eagle, ducks and 2 bison standing and grazing. we reached old faithful for a map, and heard that a rare geyser, is about to erupt, we hurried there and watched beehive geyser (150% larger then old faithful) and one of the largest geysers in the world erupt , impressive and very lucky for us. we didn't stick around the see its more famous but shorter brother and went to a trail to a Small lake, on the way Moti saw a snake! I was a meter behind and didn't see it, the conspiracy continues. we had a picnic by the lake and watched a guy catch and release fish, cruel hobby.

 

we reached Jackson hole later that day and after a de-dusting shower, we walked in the pretty ski town and went to an organic place, all the stuff is organic and has lots of abnormal vegetables like zucchini, this is a treat for the rest of the gang but horrible for me, i ended up with kids meal pasta (in this place it is rice noodle with earth right butter...nothing is simple here) and a pity look from the waitress. but the rest enjoyed it, we kept walking in the city's many galleries and didn't get anything, we reached coco love- a gourmet chocolate place- one of the only 2 chocolate artist in the states according to the sign and enjoyed some treats (including cappuccino for those who drink the stuff) and went to bed after doing laundry.the next morning we would separate and the suitcase with mom and moti would return to Israel and we would begin our 4 day hike , which I already talked about.

 

p.s not sure where, but Alla also saw a snake without me seeing and in the 4 day hike, a kid named Jonathan also saw one- that is 4 snakes without me seeing wither one, conspiracy!!!

 

 cheers... i will do the last days at  later time

 

p.s mazal tov michal on your 6th 29 birthday

on an ermine , sky boxes, oatmeal and other abnormalities

we didn't pack fast enough last Tuesday morning, but decided to quickly go to the Bunnery, a great breakfast place we were told, I got some biscuit and gravy , my usual when i am in the west, and Alla got some yogurt, not a complicated meal, and to go, yet it took them 35 minutes which had me in a state I don't like of being late and having nothing to do but stare at the kitchen not making my stuff. we hurried up the mountain from Jackson Hole into Idaho and reached our starting point only 25 minutes late.. lucky, others came later still. we checked our stuff, said hello to our guides, then we all drove to the actual starting point (the 1st was their ranch, a gathering place). we reached the ranger station and soon after we started our 4 day walk in Yellowstone. the 1st day was 6 miles to camp passing in pine forest and wide open grassland meadows. flowers were rare, and the mountains were looming in the horizon. we had a river crossing, you take your shoes off, wear sandals and cross hoping the water will not pass high thigh height. the water is old and refreshing and we stop for lunch right after the crossing with some pastrami, cheese, bread, spicy hot mustered and avocado (this fruit is huge now over here, you see it everywhere, but it doesn't mean I have to like it, I don't). we keep going in the meadows avoiding horse poop and not spotting wildlife. Dian, the naturalist guide tells me that this is not prime grazing land, shame, this area begs for a herd of elk and wolves to follow them. we pass a 2nd crossing, pass some trees chowed by beavers (with no beaver sighting) and reach the 1st night camp only to be attacked by mosquitoes, them I wish I had not seen.  we leave the bags and had for a soaking point. the trail goes slightly upward and passes on areas with wild flowers which I like to see and the camera is working overtime. we walk by a creek and soon reach a high waterfall and next to it enters a small creek of boiling water. this phenomenon of boiling creeks is common in this park, but when a regular cold creek and a boiling creek meet, you get an area of hot but not too hot water, great for soaking. we enjoy a hot , but sulfurous bath while the waterfall spray hits our faces, then we had back to camp. As I reach the camp, I  wear, long pants, short, and wear a head net to leave no space for the mosquitoes to have their way with me, they still manage to bite a bit. we walk only with day packs, the rest of the gear arrives on horse back with the tents and cooking gear. Deb, the master wilderness chef makes good chilly and I don't recall what else but I remember liking it. this is bear country, and tough we see no bears we take precautions, with bear bells and bear spray close at hand. we went to sleep early, not much to do after night fall, and the food and anything that smells like tooth paste is tucked away up high where the bears cant reach. waking up early before the sun actually warms the area is nice, you can warm your self with a hot cup of coco (or coffee if you prefer) and use the sky box. the sky box is a wooded box with a big hole for your natural business and you can sit and enjoy the view of the forest and the sky. 

after breakfast of bacon and some other things, my memory doesn't work anymore, we broke camp and headed for the Bechler river canyon, this day would be 10 miles (16k) of ups and downs with 4 river crossing, one of them with water rising above the areas you don't want them to go. lucky we have quick dry everything and it is dry here, so everything dries quickly. the path along the river is filled with pretty waterfalls, chipmunks, squirrels, more horse poop and lots and lots of berries of all kinds, we have some raspberry, service berry, thimble berry and huckleberry with some other berries and currents we are not suppose to eat. we pick lots of them and try out, tasty! the long day ends in a pretty meadow in which horses from another group camped , and when horses graze , the poop, so finding a poop free zone for our tent is a challenge. this camp is at over 7000 ft elevation and close to the edge of the hill, it gets dark soon because of the closeness to the western wall of the canyon. dinner is pasta and some good desert. before dinner we went to the creek for a creek shower, the water is cold but not too cold and shower is needed after over 7 hours of walking. at one of the crossing this day, the horses just caught up with us (they walk faster but it takes more time to break camp and load them so they begin walking an hour or two after we hikers leave). and Deb lets Jonathan, age nine to ride the horse over the creek, 1st ride of his life and a great memory for him. our group has 5 hikers, 2 hiking guise, 2 guest riders and 2 riding guides/ camp leaders, 11 total and seven horses. Ruth an is a crazy person who runs 100 mile races! (160K) and finishes in 22 hours, insane, Jonathan is her son. the husband (not present at the hike) did only 50 mile race, "only" she says! 50 miles is 2 marathons back to back, the kid should be some athlete. they came with Sidney, the niece. the other two are Alla and myself walking slowly in the rear. the horses decide to graze next to our tent at night and keep us awake half of it, I am asked by the other awakee to get the horses away, but I don't know how to handle them and prefer being awake then getting a horse hoof in my face.

day three is the shortest day, only 5-6 miles but the most elevation change, after a breakfast of blueberry pancakes we leave the canyon and passing small geysers and thermal rivers filled with red bacteria and reach Mr bubbles. this is another soaking point, creating a small pool with a hot bubbly source in the center, you have to pick your point, each step you take leads you to a new mix of hot and cold, some are too hot, some too cold, we move around from spot to spot and soak for 45 minutes in this divine pool. as we go on, Diane tells us about each of the abundant flowers found by the streams, this is a monkey flower, this is an elephant head and the rest I don't recall since they have boring Latin names but they are still pretty.  the hike ends with a marsh, lucky we have sandals or we would have wet shoes.  in the evening we go again to soak in a small cold creek, this one is colder so we more splash ourselves than actual soak, next to this creek is a small fortune of wild flowers, the loveliest point on the trail.

usually mountain views would be my favorite but the sky is hazy most days and you cant see far, and this pine forest and open meadow though pretty are not breath taking for me, well, this is still a very interesting place but is not on my top 5 or even top ten (don't worry, i wont list them). just before dinner, we spot an ermine, which is a type of a weasel, un fortunately it walks fast and no photo of this uncommon predator, the ermine would be the only interesting animal on this 4 day trail.

oh, earlier that day , Alla stepped off the trail and stepped on a field mouse hidden under the grass, the poor thing was suffering, there are no vets here, we left it there with looming prospects of survival, perhaps an ermine will have an easy meal. dinner was mash potatoes and something, need to by some memory powder!  at night we got out of the tent and the less hazy skies were filled with stars, the milky was was very visible and beautiful. day four started with oatmeal ( I only remember since I don't recall ever eating it)  it did not look appealing , but it was OK, with some sugar, brown sugar, milk and granola, I even came for seconds and the banana bread was good too. this will be a hot 12 mile day (17k), the longest of the trip but with the added incentive of finishing and reaching the promise land... ice cream. the trail starts up till we reach grants pass at around 8600 ft or about the height of mt Hermon. the elevation is getting to me a bit, or perhaps I carry to much weight under my skin. and mouse-killer walks slowly in her own pace worrying about baby dusty, approximately one month old fetus today, after the pass the trail descends more then ascends for the 1st time in the trail. a butterfly (lots and lots of them are about) flies in front of us running away from our shadows we followed it for a while and didn't pay attention to the road and all of a sudden I am on the ground with another sprain. the butterfly did it! (this is what Bart Simpson dreams of being after he burns the school down in his dreams and principle Skinner is to blame! why butterfly he says? because no body suspects the butterfly! ) well I was there, it was it, and moments later Diane puts sticky tape on my ankle and then a bandage and some pain medicine. the pain is sharp for the first couple of minutes, then becomes dull. the ibuprofen helps and I am quickly on my feet for the last 6 miles (10k) of the day, never walked this long on a sprained foot, and I think it actually helps it, now a day later, it is sensitive but without pain. we eat wraps with salmon for our last lunch and hike the rest of the way till the trail head next to old faithful. we missed the eruption of lone star geyser (erupts every 3 hours). at the trail head, the jittery horses are nervous and one of them , chained to a very large sign post, yanks the sign away! and drags it to the nearby road almost causing an accident. we say our goodbye as we are driven to old faithful parking lot. after getting to our car, we go to the store and get...yummy ice cream, then drive 3 hours to our hotel, on the way we spot elks crossing a river and a bison playing around in the dirt, the roads are better then walking for wild life viewing! we reach our hot spring hotel close to dusk, and after healthy burger dinner at a nice bar, we return to the hotel only to see several deer, then after a long shower to remove lots and lots of dust from every nook and cranny , we crash to sleep

Bechler creek 4 day hike photos

here are the hike photos, detailed blog will arrive this weekend

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3 snakes and no photos photos

too tired too blog, but for now, accept way too many photos of yellowstone

You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: 2012-08-12 yellowstone 2012-08-12 yellowstone Aug 10, 2012 by gil.even View Album Play slideshow If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=gil.even&target=ALBUM&id=5776367962402752625&authkey=Gv1sRgCK-Fosbnz4H-9AE&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

on happy together and creation

Last week we went to Cain park for another concert, this would be the 2nd time we see these legends of the 60s. the average age there was retired and I was definitely out of place, but who cares, I love some of those songs. the Buckingham went up first, don't care for them, but OK sounds. from this point every artist sang at list one of my favorites. The grass roots with 'live for today' , Puget and forgot what his band name was- he sings "young girl, get out of my mind" , the monkeys came later , or one monkey with "I am a believer" and "day dream believer" he has faith apparently, and the finale with the turtles and the happy together song which was our pre-walk the isle song. 13 hits combined to be a great evening. we sat on the grass, but for the final song, all the performers from all bands came together on stage and did a Melody of their hits, at that point i got close to the stage (adult crowd, stays in their seats, no need to push to get through) , the turtle guy threw guitar picks at the crowed, one landed under a seat not far from me, but these guys move slow...i crawled fast under 2 chairs and got it before they even knew I was there.... now my show pick collection has 2 items (previous one from air supply).

 

being very happy together we left for Chicago to meet some of Alla's family which I have never met. no need for the family tree, lets say they are some sort of cousins. we left early relatively and managed to get there in time for dinner and after Alla finding an 'uncle julios' there, we couldn't resist and salivated over these fajitas. I printed some walking tours, but instead we went to the museum of science and industry which is found in a huge and impressive building from the out side, but just like any other museum from within. this is a hands on museum for adults as well, with areas for experimentation. one device measures brain waves and its a competition for the one who is more relaxed. if you do, a ball goes away from you to your competitor. so of course we had to try this thing, and we were both not surprise to see who won.

later, my un relaxed wife and I played with shadows (see link to photos below), planes, trains, genetics, seen a pig born (yuk) and a cow birth (also yuk), chicks hatching (well we saw the after hatch, so cute) and other things for the most of the day as well as an Imax movie about Orangutans and elephants in ranches that save them and release to the wild and decided to add these ranches to our never ending list of things and places to do and go. we went to the beach right after but did not go in, no bathing suite, shame nice looking beach , then dinner followed at , you guessed it, uncle Julio's, you have to try it! tell Julio's , that I sent you.

 

on the next day after omelet breakfast we went to a local water park, nothing fancy, but water slides are still fun and the kids (Michael age 6, Arielle age 9, Maya age 10 and I ) went from slide to slide, the repeated... some with tubes some without and one that lets you roll around and kind of surf, lots of photos and videos on that one in the link below.

 

in the evening we left later due to severe thunder storms and drove back kind of chasing the storm and seeing some amazing lighting bolts. nature is awesome.

 

and we have met the cousins and got a long well, many photos...

 

for a while I wasn't sure what the heading of this blog entry should be, i was debating between alternatives such as Additions, junior, what's new, 9 months and every time i thought about it i came up with different name, well if you didn't get my hint.... I am ecstatic to announce the we are expecting.... so what to expect while you are expecting? I guess I will have to find out.

 

in this, we differ, I cannot keep a secret, and Alla would rather wait till the baby is 18 to tell you he/she was born... still early.. but I am kind of smug and happy, together.

 

p.s congratulations Ronit on your engagement.

 

the Chicago trip,  photos are not in order, camera problems

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biking and finches.

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