September 5, 2009: Stanley, Idaho to Mammoth Hot Springs, WY

Following our last breakfast at the Stanley High Country Inn (a great place to stay if ever find yourself in Stanley, Idaho), we pack the car and get on the road for Mammoth Hot Springs. Our route found us heading north on Idaho Route 75 to pick up 93 north to 43 east to 15 north to I-90 east to Livingston, MT and then finish by following 89 south through Gardiner into the northern entrance of Yellowstone Park and on to Mammoth Hot Springs. We aren't too far along on our day's journey when we have an unfortunate encounter with a deer somewhere north of Challis, Idaho, doing considerable damage to the driver's side front fender, headlight, hood and side panel. We ourselves are not hurt, the car is mechanically sound and drivable after the mishap but the deer was not so lucky... and we certainly were quite shook up after this happened.

Most of our northern route followed the Salmon River and also followed the same pathway that Lewis and Clark followed through Idaho. Once we head east on MT route 43, we followed the Big Hole River for much of the way east. Route 43 turns north at Wisdom, MT where we stopped at the Big Hole Crossing Restaurant for a delicious lunch... and also purchased a six-pack of Wisdom Amber Ale brewed by the Big Hole Brewing Company. Once we picked up 15 north and then 90 east, we were on interstate highways and made very good time... but the scenery was not nearly as beautiful! We stopped briefly (hop off, hop back on I-90) in Bozeman, MT for gas and continued on the last stretch of our journey to reach Mammoth and have time to briefly visit the nearest part of the Hot Springs before having dinner in the Mammoth Hot Springs dining room... excellent meals!

We were a bit surprised to find thermal features along the Salmon River and made one brief stop for photo opportunities...

View of the Salmon River from alongside the road near the hot springs shown in the above photo)

Just for the record... our poor smashed rental after colliding with a deer...

Sunset view of Mammoth Hot Springs Village from the lower walkway at the springs...

Lower terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park...

September 4, 2009: Stanley, Idaho and vicinity...

Another lovely day in Stanley, Idaho... Michael off on another mountain biking adventure and me busily playing photographer... Mike's ride start took us down a dirt road off the main highway through some marvelously beautiful countryside... so of course I stopped along the way on my return to the main road to take photographs before continuing on to Stanley Lake where I did some hiking and took more photographs!

Roadside view of the beautiful Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho...

Sandhill Cranes are slightly over 3 feet tall and easily spotted from a distance... this is the best my telephoto lens was able to do at capturing this group...

Mt.McGowan reflected in Stanley Lake near Stanley , Idaho... this view was my lunch time vista...

Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, Idaho... another of the many wonderful views to be seen...

September 3, 2009: Stanley, Idaho and vicinity...

Woke up at 6:30 AM MDT which is oversleeping by EDT time standards... felt pretty good! Breakfast and get organized for the day... Mike to mountain bike and myself to go to Redfish Lake and figure out the day from there... Dropped Mike off to head out on his ride around 10:15 AM and headed to Redfish Lake... By the time I figured out what I wanted to do for the day, it was almost noon and I paid my money ($15 round trip) to take the shuttle boat service from the main dock to Redfish Inlet.

Once at the end of the lake, things got a bit tricky... wanted to hike to Lily Pond and the guidebook said go ~80 feet to the trail head after crossing the second bridge over the creek... BUT... I went somewhere between 300 and 500 feet beyond the second bridge without ever reaching the trail head for Lily Pond... so back down the steepest part of the trail I went... back to the bridge to see if I could figure out where I went wrong... and luckily met up with some veteran Lily Pond trail hikers who assured me I was on the right trail. SO, I think my guidebook meant go 800 feet past the second bridge to reach the trailhead because reach it eventually, I did! And I suppose it didn't hurt me that much to hike the roughest part of the trail twice.

Made the 3:00 PM shuttle boat back to the main dock and headed back to Stanley... met up with Mike on the road but he didn't want a ride so made his way 'home' on two wheels while I stopped and took MORE photos... What follows are a few from the day's adventures.

Early morning shot of Bakery with Sawtooth Mountains in the background...

Mike on his way to bike Fisher Creek trail...

Modern day range workers mending a fence... two working (one holding the rail and one pounding away) and two supervising...

View of Mt. Heyburn on the way to Redfish Lake...

Victoria at Lily Pond with Mt/ Heyburn in the background...

Sawtooth Mountains as seen from the rear of the shuttle boat taking passengers back from Redfish Inlet to the main dock at Redfish Lake, Idaho...

Roadside view of the Sawtooth Mountains...

Sun setting over Stanley, Idaho as seen from the airport....

Moonrise over Stanley, Idaho...