We had a relatively short day in the park today. We definitely got our latest start, too. Will and I slept until about 8. And we let Eleanor sleep until 9:30. There was a little drizzle, so we weren't in a hurry. Will made pancakes again. We left the cabin a little before 11. Our traffic today was at the entrance to the park. We waited probably 30 minutes to get up to the gate. I have no idea why it was so busy today. We hadn't ever had a long line of cars to get in. We thought maybe it was a backup from inside the park, but once we were through the gate, it was smooth sailing. Oh well. It also could have been that a lot of others waited until after the morning shower to come in. We'll never know.
Our destination today was Purple Mountain. Will had read about the Mount Washburn hike, but when we drove past it late yesterday, the road was closed. I looked it up last night and found out that the service road and trail was closed on July 12th for improvements or something. Ethan was bummed. But it did say on the website to try Bunsen (did it yesterday), Avalanche (did part of that on our way in to the park last Friday - very steep and we didn't have time/weren't prepared to do whole thing), or Purple Mountain. So we set our sights on Purple Mountain. This was is a 6 mile round trip hike, though, as it is 3 miles to the top, so a full mile longer up than Bunsen. Ethan was determined, though, so we said, let's do it!
With our traffic jam getting into the park, and a 20 minute drive to the trailhead, it was already noon, so we ate part of our lunch stuff before starting the hike. Then we got ready with bug spray, etc. We made sure to pack not only Ethan's small water bottle this time, but also one of our big bottles, too. Yesterday, we were out of water at the top. We started off but I realized early on that we forgot to put on sunblock. It had been cloudy and I meant to just pack it to put on later but forgot. So Ethan and I went back to the van and got sun blocked. We told Will and Eleanor to go on and that we would catch up. When we were back on the trail, it took us a full 15 minutes to catch up to them, meaning Eleanor was really motoring. She was also motor-mouthing, Will said, and was providing their bear repellant by keeping her mouth moving at all times. They do say to talk on your hikes to warn any wildlife you're coming. She's likely more effective than bear spray.
When we caught up to them, we passed them and told them we would see them later. They weren't sure if they would try to get to the summit. This trail was a lot more closed in than yesterday's trail. There were tall pine trees on both sides of it for most of the hike. After about a mile and a half, these very long switchbacks started. You would likely go 300 meters before you would turn and do it again. It wasn't very steep, maybe 10 percent grade, but it was just long, and the switchback above was so much higher. They were really far apart. For the last mile or so, the trail wasn't very wide, and off the one side, you would have a decent slide down sandy rock. I wasn't anxious, but wondered if Will would make it that far.
Ethan and I had set a goal of getting up in an hour twenty minutes. I had my GPS app tracking us, so every five minutes it would tell us how far we'd gone at what pace. Ethan lagged behind a bit, but we did little bursts of "maximum effort," and we made it to the top in an hour eighteen minutes. We were a bit disappointed that this peak didn't have a little house with a sign and hikers log like Bunsen Peak. But, we had the top to ourselves. I seem to get good cell service at the top, and I texted Diane to ask her to Google the elevation for us. She came through, of course: 8392 feet. And we climbed about 1500 feet from the bottom. The GPS app said we'd gone 3.2 miles. We took some video, pictures, and enjoyed some well-deserved water and a snack. Ethan was really determined to do an Instagram Live video, but my cell service had disappeared, so we weren't able to.
Our walk down was uneventful, and quiet, as we were pretty tanked. It took us an hour and four minutes. So you really don't gain that much time going down. Maybe if it had been a lot steeper we would have. When we got back, Will and Eleanor were finishing up some lunch. They had only been back 15 minutes, apparently. Eleanor informed me that she had really wanted to go all the way but that dad had to stop at 2.6 miles. They were less than half a mile from the top, but his anxiety with the narrow trail got the best of him. Had he not had Eleanor to worry about, he could have done it, he said, but he was holding onto her hand. I was really impressed that Eleanor made it that far and had wanted to keep going, too. She might be a hiker yet! Ethan and I had a little more lunch and then we drove off to find a place to jump in the water.
We decided to go back to the Firehole River, knowing that it was warm and the kids had really loved going in the other day. We found a spot to park just off the road that had a little area to access it. The kids thought it didn't look "rapidy" enough, but it looked a bit deeper than the last time we went in so we gave it a try. Well, it may not have looked very "rapidy," but the current was strong. I got in and went to the middle and could hardly walk against it. I tried swimming but it was like one of those indoor personal pools where you can just keep swimming but never go anywhere. About 100 yards ahead of where we were, it definitely got rougher and it looked like it may have even had a small little waterfall, so we gave the kids a spot they couldn't go past. Eleanor really wanted to find a log to float on, and there were some on the other side of the river. So I started that way, but it got deeper and soon I was in to my neck and was having a hard time going against the current. To make matters worse, Eleanor came to join me, so I had to grab onto her and try to get us both to where I could stand better and move against the current. I panicked a little and called for Will to help, but I was able to get over to the side quickly and get out of trouble. No waterfall rides for us. Don't worry, grandparents: we weren't even close.
We stayed in the water for maybe 25 minutes. The kids would walk back a ways, and then they would float to Will and I and we would catch them. I told them all to take a few mental pictures. In the fall, when I'm super overwhelmed with 3 classes to prep for, in addition to my normal life, I will return to my float on the Firehole River for sure.
The water was very warm but outside the water it was only in the low 70s with a breeze, so it was freezing when you came up out of the water. You had to stay in the water to keep warm. Finally, we were all chilly enough to want to get out and get dressed. I used the skills taught me by my California cousins to change out in the open, under a towel. I'm also teaching Eleanor these skills. The boys choose the minivan. :)
At this point, it was a quarter to 5. Will suggested we head for home, surprisingly. It would be our earliest departure. But we definitely made the right decision. We have been home for a 30 minutes, and the wind just picked up significantly. Will looked at the radar, and a storm is coming. We can't even keep the grill lit right now, so we may be doing our frozen burgers in a skillet. We stopped at the store on the way out to try to find some chocolate cake. Today is our 14th Anniversary, and chocolate cake is a tradition of ours, starting way back in China on our 1st anniversary in Beijing. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a good chocolate option, so he got a lemon meringue pie instead. That will do, and I think the kids will like it. We have a few champagne flutes here, so we will do an anniversary toast during our fancy burger and fry dinner. :) All of our anniversaries spent traveling are good, so I'm not complaining. I did a six mile hike, and floated in a mountain river today. It's a win!
With that, I will sign off and post this so I can just relax the rest of the evening.
1 comment:
Oh, delete that (very sweet) birthday shout out! It doesn’t need to be a part of your family record! 😊 Fill your happiness/relaxation bucket up as much as possible! Great job hiking everyone!
Happy 14, lovebirds!!!! ❤️
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